Sam + May in India

Sorry- I faked you out. I really thought I was done with the India blog! A friend asked what I would be doing for New Year’s Eve, quipping “Mars?”. I actually thought it would be a pretty tame day, preparing for the long flight home. But then…May came down with a head cold and wanted nothing more than to lie around with a steamer directly below her nose. I left her under the watchful eye of Shukla, the proprietor of Lutyens Bungalow where we are staying. She is a wonderful human being and I knew she would keep a loving grandmotherly eye on May. Apparently she personally sat beside May at lunchtime, placing her in a sunny spot and reminding her periodically to keep eating because a cold must be fed. May had to hide some of her food in her pocket because she couldn’t eat any more and didn’t want to disappoint Shukla. And since May needed space and time to rest, my friend Lalit took me on the high speed whirlwind seven hour tour of historic sites in Old Delhi (seven hours barely scratched...

We spent our last day in Sikkim at the Happiness Home with the girls. May drew henna tattoos with a ballpoint pen and her skills were in great demand. I think Diya finally decided we were okay. I am going to miss those beautiful smiles. We have had so much fun, and it feels bittersweet leaving. I love adventuring but I really miss Josey. If May and I are ever able to get her to come with us, we may take a trip around the world. If you live outside of the states, can we crash on your floor? If you live state-side, we will see you soon! ❤️

   We arrived back in Gangtok yesterday, and will be here tomorrow as well, then we will drive to Bagdogra and fly to Delhi on the 30th. We are staying in an adorable hotel called Mintokling Guest House. It has beautifully painted wood doors and windows. We took a day trip to Tsom Go, a lake north of Gangtok, this morning. It was foggy on our way up the mountain and the fog turned to snow at the top of the mountain. May and I rode yaks while the snow flurried around us - it was pretty incredible. I had a moment of fear when my yak attempted to poke May’s yak in the rear with a gaily festooned but still pointy horn. Luckily, the yak missed and the driver was able to yank his head out of range before he made contact, so May rode on blissfully unaware of how close she came to galloping on her yak. Cute as they are, I’m not sure we are supposed to ride animals with big pointy horns. I have a new appreciation for modern road making equipment, and I don’t think I will ever complain ...

There are stray animals everywhere we go, and if it were possible May would bring all of them home. At this roadside shrine we saw a man jog towards it, do 100 feet of high legs, swivel and say a swift prayer towards the shrine with a bowed head  and jog onwards, all without missing a beat. This is a Darjeeling street at 9am. By evening it was wall to wall people. We spent the day bumming around in Darjeeling, touring a tea factory and walking through the crowded markets all over town. Street vendors line many of the narrow roads, which compresses the foot traffic and makes dodging vehicular traffic more interesting. There was still the atmosphere of a festival, and we stopped to watch some small stage performances of singers and a play.  Our friend who called May ‘Enggy’ (rhymes with Benji) My favorite part of the day was visiting the local Tibetan Refugee Camp. There was a small museum chronicling the invasion of Tibet and occupation by the Chinese, with beautiful photos of ...

  Yesterday it rained on us on the way out from our trek and it was misty all the way to Rabungla. I woke up this morning to a view of a 148ft tall golden Buddha against the backdrop of snow covered mountains and a startlingly blue sky. I ran downstairs like a kid at Christmas (because it was actually Christmas) to sit in the dining room and feast my eyes while being served delicious tea. I’m getting very spoiled here. Gyatso somehow bulled his way into the kitchen of our hotel and made us banana pancakes for breakfast. He is the funniest man- he can charm his way through military checkpoints where the soldiers are scowling when we arrive and waving us off with laughter ten minutes later. Every shopkeeper, hotel worker  and driver he talks to acts like he is their long lost best friend in the same amount of time. In short, he makes things happen and is an amazing tour guide. I rode on the back of his motorcycle all the way to Darjeeling, passing through field after terraced fi...