Art By Tali Landsman

Before we embarked on our journey to North Sikkim, we bought a few warm pieces of clothing for Jules in the city of Gangtok. I had already brought with me from home everything I needed for the cold weather. Our guide Sudesh, bought a ski hat, a scarf, gloves and a heavy jacket. For Jules we bought a new warm fleece jacket, a warm vest and warm sweatpants to sleep with in the room when the electric power fails, which we heard happens a few times per day. We knew that after the power is cut off, we would have no heater, and it might get very cold. We spoke to a British couple who had just returned from North Sikkim, and they described the Nature as stunningly beautiful, but that the hotels we will be staying in were freezing cold and that they had to sit in their beds wearing all of their clothes, and that they were still shaking, with their teeth chattering. To enter North Sikkim, we needed to fill out more permits and paperwork, and to hire a local car that was registered ...

We left North Sikkim early in the morning. We had breakfast at 6AM and were packed and in the jeep by 7AM. The drive south was beautiful, despite the narrow treacherous roads that were full of pot holes. We had to exchange our car for a car that was registered in the state of West Bengal, and not in Sikkim. At that point, we also said our warm farewells to our Sikkim guide Tashi, and, by the side of the road, we met again our old driver Raju, and drove south to Kalimpong. Our guesthouse in Kalimpong belongs to General Jimmy Singh, who organized our lovely tour in Sikkim. General Jimmy does not live in the house any more, as he has moved to the rural village of Samthar, a few hours away. The house is now operated as a guest house by his business partner Catherine, who is also our guide Sudesh's sister. Catherine welcomed us with open arms and a huge smile. Her young boy, Ron, is a delightful and very confident little boy who speaks very good English. They took us to o...