Day 116, [Thursday 27th March 2008]
Previous day: Day 115, Pelling, Sikkim [Wednesday 26th March 2008]
Next day: Day 117, Yuksom [Friday 28th March 2008]
First we go to the SP to extend our Sikkim permits. As we arrived here late we need an extension to allow us to remain in the state legally. We hitch a lift in the back of a jeep, then work our way through labyrinthine corridors of the police offices, asking everyone we meet which office is the SP's. Clutching our permits in our hands, we barely get the words "Ess Pee" out of our mouths before they're already pointing one way or another.
Eventually we find him, and he makes us sit waiting in front of his desk as a parade of underlings troop the room requesting advice, or a signature or an audience. Eventually he takes our permits and passports, and with a great show, his finger running underneath each line, he reads each part of both documents before stamping them and handing them back.
Then we start our Monastery Trek, heading towards Khecheopalri Lake. It's steep downhill for about an hour and a half, then we have lunch by the rushing water, sitting on a rock eating some bread and cake we bought at the Pelling Tribal School bakery on the way back from the SP.
Then it's steep uphill followed by a flat stint along a road to the lake. It's incredibly peaceful here, quiet and still. We're the only people around. A pier leads through some marshland to the edge of the lake. We remove our shoes and walk along it, spinning the prayer wheels which line each side. Prayer flags flutter all around, and the grey mist merges with the grey horizon.
There's not much else around except a couple of tobacco shops and a tea stall, We spend the night in a trekker's hut, in a bare room, which is also very cold. But it's only Rs. 100, and they make us dinner - fried rice and beer.
Next day: Day 117, Yuksom [Friday 28th March 2008]
Previous day: Day 115, Pelling, Sikkim [Wednesday 26th March 2008]