5th February - All the Fun of the Fair

We have a lie in until 7 a.m, switch the fire on to heat the room and then get up. There is nobody else at breakfast and it is rather quiet about the house. R says that she is feeling significantly better and is up for a more ambitious walk this morning. As it is Sunday we feel a religious theme might be appropriate. Yesterday we discovered a short cut to the park on the ridge, which we need to pass on our way to the Enchey Monastery,  one of the many Buddhist centres in Sikkim. Our route takes us up a series of steep hairpin bends. R spots some small green and yellow birds with bright red beaks, but they do not hang around. When we get to Enchey there are plenty of people around and a queue to get into the main temple.  We content ourselves with looking at the exterior and R spins a couple of hundred yards worth of prayer wheels.

The next place we want to visit is Ganesh Tok, a viewpoint and temple. Lonely Planet gives directions for walking here which are less than comprehensive.  We are advised to turn left up the hill at a stand of prayer flags. The hillside is awash in stands of prayer flags so this is less than helpful. According to online maps the main track is going in roughly the right direction so we stick with this. Every now and then there is a zigzag to gain height with pedestrian steps to cut the corners. We walk past lots of small wooden bungalows that look to be kit built and spot a blackbird but it is a bit different so we need to look it up. Everybody we pass smiles and says good morning. It is a bit cloudier than yesterday morning but definitely warming up. Fleece jumpers are shed and we slap up with Factor 30. The track leads us to a tarmac road only a couple of hundred yards from our target. We have done about 3km and climbed about a thousand feet, from c. 5,500 to 6,500.

On the climb we could see a modern, hexagonal two storey tower that we assumed to be some kind of tourist facility. When there we see that it is actually part of a Hindu temple, dedicated to Lord Ganesh. There is also a car park, with some vendors' stalls and a cafe. We are not alone. A few dozen less intrepid types have made the trip up the hill by taxi. R decides that we need to visit the temple so it is shoes off and up the stairs. At the top she dives straight in while D is dissuaded by the No Photography sign and walks round on the balcony. Back at the front door he peers in to see what R is doing and is waved in by the priest. Most of the temples we have seen have been quite dark, relying on artificial light, but this has windows all round letting plenty of light in onto the rather splendid Ganesh statue. No Photos permitted so if you want to see it click this link. 

https://www.darjeeling-tourism.com/darj_00010a.htm

R is already resplendent with a red and yellow mark on her forehead and apparently has had her name included in some sort of chant. D is ushered forward and gets the paint treatment, plus a salt spoon full of water and a couple of small holy mints. The moment of truth arrives as the priest waves his hand over the donations basket. Somehow the small notes appear to have sunk, leaving 100s at the top. It has been a cheap morning otherwise so D dibs in a hundred bucks. The mints are good, but not that good. Back at the bottom of the steps one of the vendors invites us to get rigged out in some kind of local fancy dress. We pass and head to the cafe for two black teas and a small packet of biscuits,  much better value at Rs 30. Opposite the car park is the entrance to the zoo but we are not really zoo fans.

Having exhausted the delights of Ganesh Tok we turn for home but by a different route which takes us by a footpath through a shady conifer forest. This must be where the litter from elsewhere in Gangtok gets dumped. Why do so many people in India care so little about their beautiful country? The descent on this side is quite steep and the path very broken up in places but we get down to the road without mishap. Some freak of acoustics means that we can clearly hear the bingo numbers being called on the roof of the Lal Bazaar even though it is a couple of miles away and several hundred feet below us. Our route takes us on a mixture of roads and concrete stairways that have been built to cut the corners. Going downhill is quite sore on the knees and we are glad to regain mainly level ground as we walk back by the locked up park. The squirrels were a bit more static today and D got a picture.

It is still quiet back at Mintokling House and we take the chance of a short siesta before ordering a pot of tea. The clouds have lifted and it is a very pleasant afternoon so we adjourn to the garden where R sketches and D gets some bird photos. We find this place to be very relaxing. If only there was an easier way to get here. But then everybody would come and it would not be as peaceful. Anyway,  enough idling. We have a plan for tonight.

D wants to sample the delights of the funfair that we overlooked when we had a beer a couple of nights back. We have not seen a full blown funfair in India before this year and the two that we have seen were both in Sikkim. We pay our Rs10 each to be admitted and walk around. There are a lot of stalls that involve gambling, including dice and a spinning table game that looks a lot like roulette. There is also a huge tombola stall with prizes that incude massive flat screen TVs. We dare not buy tickets. How on earth would we get it home. There are also some mechanical rides including a big wheel, a rather weedy looking roller coaster, a U shaped set of rails with revolving cars that looks positively dangerous and a thing a bit like the waltzers. D forks out Rs50 for a spin on the latter and considers it money well spent.  R is delegated to take photos and does a pretty good job given that D forgot to put the camera on the movement setting. As we exit the fairground the setting sun is just catching Kanchenjunga and a hovering cloud formation. 

Thrill seeking over, we take an aperitif before heading to the 'Taste of Tibet' restaurant for supper. We order Thenthuk, a filling soup with sheets of pasta in it as well as Shyaphale, translated on the menu as 'fried pies', but really very tasty pasties. LP recommends Dansberg, a local beer, to go with these but it is a bit malty for D's palate.  R just necks it. An excellent meal, £7 for two including drinks. R is feeling much better and hankers after a sweet so we find a ladoo shop that is just about to close and buy a couple of traditional Indian sweets. The climb back up the hill via street and stairs is lung bursting on a full stomach but we make it.