Basketball at Midnight

After an arguably mediocre stay in the tourist bastions of Rajastan and Uttar Pradesh, I’ve been a bit reflective about how relaxed and enjoyable my weeks in the not-really-Indian parts of North India have been. You heard about me in Tibetan Leh and the non-hassley but very Hindu Rishikesh and trek to Gaumukh. Central Nepal aside from Kathmandu, bleh) was a little more intense than Uttarakhand, but the last week in Sikkim and “Gorkhaland” have been fantastic.

Case and point : I have walked through local taxi stands at least– AT LEAST– three times in the last four days without anyone asking me if I wanted a taxi. When I asked for the jeep stand to Darjeeling, someone actually walked me 3/4 of the way.

Perched atop higher and more dramatic foothills of the Himalayas, and with some fantastic views of their snowy big brothers, the cities themselves have been magnificent. Although Gantok is derived from the term “top of the hill,” it should be “side of the hill” since the ridge is a park and the city is built with steps going from the roads that form switchbacks up along the side. Many buildings are many stories tall (like 10) because they have entrances on both the lower and upper roads.

Darjeeling at least has buildings on the ridge–the cheaper guesthouses are located there! I’m staying in one with a panoramic view of the valleys. It feels that Darjeeling has better overall vistas, and definitely better views of the Himalayas. It’s too bad I couldn’t get to Pelling in Sikkim because it sounds like that village is equally dramatic.

I met a couple from the UK on the roof at sunrise this morning, and joined them for an all-day hike to Tiger Hill, which supposedly has a view as far as Everest on a clear day (though clear, the Northwest had clouds rolling). Interesting kids (though 27), the man was an artisan butcher, and the woman a cheese marketeer, in a farmers market in the UK. They sold their house and have worked out a plan to buy 10 acres with cash, probably in either Australia or Canada, and start a farm (mostly animal-based), do their own slaughtering and retailing to farmers markets. Right now, they’re traveling the world, in part to visit prospective places to settle, and in part to volunteer to see how different people take care of their animals in a similar environment. So why Australia and Canada and why 10 acres? They’ve spent a fair amount of time working out numbers and looking up citizenship requirements. In the UK, land is just too expensive near any populated area to try such an endeavor, but in the mentioned two countries, one can become citizens very easily if they have a small farm with a small marketing system (in Canada, if you have CA$3,000 in annual sales). These are also places where they can get 10 acres with the proceeds from their house sale (after their budgeted traveling expenses).

So I was thinking….. Perhaps….. if John McCain gets elected….. 10 acres, CA$3000, and then… Citizenship! At least I won’t be mocked and criticized by the entire world when I travel in the future. That would be a nice relief.

Without a transition, let me jump to my final comment on my current location: if you noticed, I quoted teh name of my present location, “Gorkhaland.”  Gorkhaland is a state that is not a state.  The area here is part of West Bengal, but the state looks a little like Idaho if there was a bulb at the top of neck (and “Gorkhaland” is the bulb).  The people here are mostly Gurkhas (Nepalis) or of the Tibetan/Chinese stock and suffer from a lack of services provided by the state government in Kolkata (i.e., Idaho Falls)- there isn’t even a hospital here.  So, the locals have been pressing for their own state for about a decade, and most shops have a sign to that says “Gorkhaland,” and one of the signs at the entrances to Darjeeling says “Welcome to Gorkhaland.”  There is even, perhaps unsurprisingly at this point in history, a militant ethnic faction that has assassinated a few political leaders and has recently threatened terrorist activities (yes yes, I know.  I’m leaving soon).

Anyway, it’s my last day in Darjeeling, and tomorrow I fly to Delhi (gah!), and in three days, I fly back to the US to fulfill my civic duty. I hope my parents received my absentee ballot. Otherwise it’s a long drive to St Louis for a day.