14-17, February
Jerry and I are back from Sikkim and about to head out to Bhutan in the morning.
We will be in Kolkota on the 25th for our last event in this huge and different country.
On the 3rd we begin our return trip.
Got a new passport stamp for Sikkim. Another to come with Bhutan. Missed Pakistan and am not sure about Bangladesh. Will decide that once in our timeshare? Will arrive there on the 25th for sure.
Travel in the Mtns. of India is a wild time. The roads are narrow and full of bumps and switchbacks. We drive only during the day. 60 miles may take as long as three hours.
Of course, we must stop for tea at least once.
We have stopped writing because of the computer problems. It is difficult to
use computers and sometimes they just stop. This AM they did not work for the
entire city of Darjeeling. Patience is a learned thing and in India one is
patient or one has mental problems. You who know me realize how steep the
learning curve is during this trip.
Met with a Nepali family today and I have taken on the responsibility of school tuition for a young girl named Shittal, which means cool. I visited her school and met the principal. She was 6th in her class so she is bright enough. Her family came to my hotel and I met the mother, father and big sister. Have pictures that I will share. The costs are nothing but for the family the cost is nearly a month’s salary to send her to school for one year. I will have information on others who need help if any will be interested.
I will write up the story of this full trip and send it to you all when I find a better spot to work. India has many computer experts for a reason and that reason is that every possible breakdown or problem occurs to them and their equipment. Thus, they have faced each and every problem in computer world. I have met only a few and will be happy to get back to the USA and a simpler computer life.
Only two wks left in this trip and during that time, I will move from the cold of Sikkim and Bhutan to the heat of Kolkota. Actually, I will be in a timeshare south of the city about 50 miles and be near the Bay of Bengal. This trip has been very good most of the time. The poverty and dirt becomes a heavy blanket at times and for that I would retire to my hotel room with a bottle of beer and CNN/BBC. Another day and more wonders to see usually brought me out of the doldrums. I did step where Buddha stepped and walked the Ghats of Varanasi a special place for all Hindu. The Dalai Lama was a stone throw away and I could not see him but he was felt. I argued politics and religion with many and literally talked to hundreds of people. I have found a smile turns many. And I have laughed a lot and use the smile to change people. The poverty bothers me as does the way Indian women are treated.
India is in a state of flux that will turn the country on its head. I am glad that I made this trip and am planning to return. I guess by helping Shittal, I have cemented the hold that India has on me.
17-23, February
We have completed our tour of Bhutan and have found the country to be as beautiful and as mystifying as we expected. We have been to the passes between many valleys.
Each pass is filled with Bhutan prayer flags and many holy stupas. The spring is just arriving and some of the flowers are blooming. In a two-day period in one valley we watched the trees move from no blossom to full blossom as both the red and white magnolias were bursting into bloom. Amazing.
And then we drove past a short space where the bright red rhododendrons were in bloom. Along that drive that topped 3500 meters the snow was falling and stopped with about 5 inches on the passes. Driving down was a trip.
In any case, we depart Bhutan at noon and will arrive in New Jalpaiguri to catch the train into Kolkota where we will arrive in the Morning. We will tour Kolkota and then drive south to the time-share arriving tomorrow evening.
The trip goes well and we have just about a week left. Both of us are healthy and full of???? Jerry’s bag is lighter by a bunch and mine is heavier.