BEBIENDO ¿¿ ????

Drinking, 'Tomb bah ' or 'Chang', which is the equivalent to Tibetan beer. It was a big challenge to find somewhere to drink it as it is regarded as a drink for the poor (only 15 ruppes which is like 20 pennies). It is made by boling some kind of small seeds (they looked like mustard seeds). You have to pour some hot water into the mix and leave it to cool for about 5-10 minutes and... ready to drink :) It was a nice experience although the bar lookes a bit dodgy or clandestino... But we got to meet a very nice bunch of Sikkim guys there and we have been invited to come back in the future and go to their villages : (not sure if it was the beer happines ..)   

Tsomgo Lake, Sikkim.

Here I am riding Michael the Yack!. A great experience visiting the holy Lake, close to the border with Tibet at about 3500m of altitude. The lake itself is quite nice, but the trip through the slippery hills, with the fog and the rain was something to remember...  Riding a Yack was very cool!!!

Panoramic view of the lake. One of Edu's expertees on panoramic pictures:)

This is the view from the car ride to and from Tsongo lake... quite scary.... but hey! we've survived!

DARJEELING Tea!

We have to admit that our first impression of Darjeeling was quite poor. We arrived in a packed jeep in whixh instead of the legal 9 people allowed we managed to fit 12 people... The constant rain and the awful hotels we saw as we arrived, added up to the heavy weight of the rucksacks and the frustation of people who did not understand a word of what we were asking.. Having said that, once we found a nice hotel and had a warm shower, we saw the beauty of the place :) We did a tour to a Japanese temple, a famous stone (though it was just a stone Tenzing Rock....) and Yes! Happy Valley Tea gardens where they grow the tea sold in Harrods! There is a fun video from a lady who 'invited us' (plus fifty ruppes per tea cup) to the best Darjeeling tea in the whole valley! This picture is a selection of 6 different qualities of tea which ou have to smell and guess.. Eduardo got it right, I couldn't smell much...

Drinking the tea at the lady's house. Don't miss the detail of the dog on the right hand side, it was key for the picture!

Crossing the border. So! The time came and our Indian experience got to an end when we reached this particular bridge which divides Nepal and India. The Border is called Karkavita, and to be very honest, there is not much difference bewteen both countries.. Well, we suppose the language, the currency, which is Nepaleese Rupees and.. nothing more! At least at this particular city, once you start going up towards the Himalayas, things change!

Can you guess which arm belongs to whom??

Even if we have not seen the sun as such for many days (remember we are in Monsson time and clouds and rain are our faithful travelling friends.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

We decided not to get a guide of Nepal (MISTAKE) and so we spend the first 2 or 3 days wandering around a couple of dodgy cities before we managed to get to Chitwan, an AMAZING natural park. Of course, no trip will be completed without certain difiiculties. As we got to Chitwan bus stop, as the bus was leaving the station I realized I had left my bag with every impotant item on it!! So!, we managed to get almost the whole town in a revolution to get my bag back!. And yes, remember my double line of luck, I got the bag back with everything and a huge smile from about 6 police men, very proud of the trustable Nepaleese people :)