Kate's In India

As you may already know, Amelie is one of my favorite movies. There is a part where Amelie discreetly returns a box a precious childhood momentos to a French man, which brings him to tears of joy and he decides to contact his child after many years of silence. At this point Amelie decides to become a regular do-gooder for the world she finds immediately around her. She steps out onto the streets of Paris, the music, all string instruments, picks up and Amelie takes the arm of an old blind man. They cross the bustling street and she describes the details of the what is happening; ice-cream for such and such a price, a smiling baby watching a dog that is watching the meat turn in the window of a shop etc etc. Each time I watch this scene I feel excited about the simple things in life and, in fact, happy for Amelie because there is so much potential for good in her day. It's a happy to be here and now moment. SO, I want to share with you an Amelie moment that we were lucky enough to encounter a couple of days ago. In Darjeeling we visited this beautiful, pretty touristy, look-out called Tiger Hill. It was sunset, there were Tibetan prayer flags wrapped in the trees along the road and the horizon was absolutely stunning. On our way down the darkness creeped in quickly (sunset is just after 5 pm right now) and I was bouncing down the road,literally, shivering, trying to warm my body and wishing I had on more than my t-shirt. As we got close to town a woman stepped out of her home and commented on the cold. She then proceeded, "Have a cup of tea". Her intonation left us a bit confused- Was she inviting us in for tea or just commenting that a cup of tea would do us good? Turns out it was an invite. (woohooo!) The three of us sat down in the living room as she made us some tea and brought us cookies. She was from Nepal, her husband was Indian and they had 2 young children. They barely spoke English, but there was no need for it. Hospitality is a universal language and it came at a perfect moment that day. We did not stay long and they pointed us in the direction to where we could catch a jeep back to town. Along we went and I was warmly filled with this Amelie moment. =)

Currently we are in Gangtok, East Sikkim, India- deeper into the Himalayas. In Darjeeling we realized that traveling here takes a lot of patience and flexibility. I literally waited in line for a train ticket for almost an hour, did not move, and remained at the end of the line. I still do not know how that was possible. Luckily Adena stepped up to another window and got us some info. The next train for Kolkata with 3 seats does not leave until Saturday, so we decided to come to Sikkim. I look at where I am on the map and can barely believe it, yet I feel it. We had to get a permit (free of charge, just a formality) to come here and sign a paper saying we would not enter Nepal, Bhutan or Tibet! The jeep ride here was more exciting than the actual city we are in. Basically it is a base point for people headed out on treks, which we do not really have equipment or enough money to partake in.

I am very anxious to get back to Kolkata. It seems like a very long time ago that we were there and I am in a renewed mindset to handle the heat and streets. I have seen a piece of India that seems like an entirely different country. I feel like they should use another currency here! There is a lot of Tibetan-Buddhist influence where we are and I have been able to enter a few gompas (temples). I know that I barely understand a fraction of what the murals and figures mean, but I love looking around in them. Sometimes there is someone around who speaks English and is willing to answer questions, other times all we can do is observe. Sometimes I feel awkward because I want to show respect, yet I do not even know how to do this in some places. (Don't worry, I have the basics down of taking off my shoes!)

Tomorrow we are going to Tsomgo Lake which is only 12 kms from the border of China/Tibet! It looks like it is set between a couple of canyons (similar to lake Willoughby nat!) Then we will have one more day before our trip back to Kolkata. As of right now, we plan on spending a good chunk of time in the city, each getting into our own routines there. I will be in touch. Lots of love and hugs!