Adventures in Mystical Sikkim

Day 47 and 48 of the amazing Pedal the Himalaya tour.

The grand views of the mighty Kanchenjunga the third highest mountain in the world had called for me again.
We had been on the road and air for over 1200 kms for a week travelling from the farthest eastern corner of India to Dibrugarh and then Siliguri in West Bengal where we would get our bikes fixed and continue our pedalling quest into Sikkim from Darjeeling.

We spent our Diwali in Darjeeling listening to lovely Nepali festival music and attended the puja at the old Mahakal Temple the only temple and monastery of its kind where both Hindu priests and Buddhist monks conduct simultaneous prayers together. It was truly serene and a rich experience.

The next day was possibly the worst descent of my cycling life. The 27 kms descent to Jorethang in Sikkim took us five hours as we literally had to hike down more than half the distance with our bikes. The road had come apart and it was what is called the brake pad killer road. At the end of the day our wrists were hurting as the steep gradient of the road was too strong for the brakes and our grip. However, the agony of the descent was made hugely tolerable by the stunning views of some of the worlds most spectacular tea gardens making the finest teas!