Fully Sikkim

With only four more nights until we touch down on the golden soils of Australia, we can think of little else than the family, friends, beaches, foods, soft beds and clean air that awaits us. But here is a run down of the events in Gangtok.

It's been a few days (almost a week I think) since my last Blog effort. This internet cafe is highly regulated which means no photos are available just yet (maybe in two days when we arrive in Calcutta). Heather spent the first night in Gangtok hunched over the toilet vomiting, it took a couple of days of rest and not eating anything but dry toast for the stomach to finally recover.

While Heather lay in bed I went exploring the hill overlooking Gangtok. After walking the first few km's of a 7km hike up the mountain, the soles of my boots, recently patched up with strapping tape, finally gave up (nothing some shoe goo won't fix) and I was forced to catch a taxi the last few km's up to Ganesh Tok - the Ganesha temple overlooking Gangtok and looking towards Kandengzongri (I've forgotten it's exact name already) - the third highest mountain in the world (constantly shrouded in cloud). Next to the temple was a zoological park with enclosures so well made for the animals that getting a glimpse of one of these himalayan inhabitants would take half a day of waiting and staring. I bypassed the bears and leopards and deers, going straight for the red panda enclosure and waited patiently for half an hour until the pair of red-raccoon looking creatures finally started moving around - it gave me quite a thrill and I imagine that half the joy of a naturalist/zoologist is the reward for being patient - true for any aspect of life I daresay.

A family of noisy Indians scared the Red Pandas away and I made my way back to Gangtok (more walking with floppy soled boots until a taxi silently glided (engines always are turned off on the downhill) down the mountain behind me and I jumped in.

No sooner had Heather's 'Gangtok Gut' passed when I was struck down with a similar bug and have been vomiting for the past two days - including spending most of a 4 hour cramped jeep trip with my head half out the window in preparation for more vomit attacks, as we wound our way back down through the mountains to Siliguri. After a restful night last night and some toast and tomato soups I finally have got my appetite back this morning and am ready for breakfast number two as soon as I get off the computer.

We have one more night here (to watch the champions trophy final) then down to Calcutta for two days then the flight home - so close we can taste it (when we aren't tasting diesel fumes and Masala)

I have been thinking about a number of things recently, not sure which or when any of them will surface on this blog, given the time each will require to explain. How about I just throw the question/idea into the air. Some people claim to be 'non-practicing' in their religion. How can this be so - your religion does not define you in the same way as your ethnicity - you can't be a non-practicing Caucasian. Neither can you be a non-practicing murderer - if you aren't doing it then it isn't you. So...can you be a non-practicing human? Does being a 'human' imply some humanitarian responsibility/obligation. And people who neglect their responsibilities aren't just non-practicing - they are inhuman.

I have also been thinking about the positives and negatives of India's future. The Government here has some creative and committed policies on tackling poverty, but the wealthier (and, I'm sad to say, lighter skinned) sector of the community looks at beggars with disdain - I realise it is caste related - but this again is another example where 'culture' and 'tradition' conflicts with humanitarian ends and should be cast aside as the unenlightened and barbaric state of mind that it is. I believe in the preservation of culture in museums, not in daily life - culture has always changed, merged, compromised and evolved - to try and grab hold of any culture and maintain it with no regard for the effects on humans and the environment is narrow minded and pointless. I am not a proponent of our global system of capitalism and wealth creation - but short of a full scale revolution (which I think is impossible) this is the system we have to work with. If McDonalds can bring employment and wealth to the poorer nations in an environmentally sustainable and informatively responsible manner then I am all for it - even if it means that certain dishes or traditional foods/cooking methods are relegated to the archives.