June 10th, 2009 -- To the Himalayas we go

After a short, but enlightening stay in Mumbai we woke up ~early to get going to the foothills of the Himalayas (Sikkim).
Below was our day O traveling
Mumbai @6am --> New Delhi (Go Air)
New Delhi --> Guwahati (Go Air)
Guwahati--> Bagdogra (Go Air)
Bagdogra --> Pelling @ 9 pm (via jeep)

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It was a long trip out to Sikkim, but the highlight, by far, was seeing Mt. Everest (and the Himalayan Mtns range) out the window of the plane. AMAZING! Imagine being in a plane @ an altitude of ~ 30,000 feet and look directly out the window and level with you is peak of Everest... gives you an idea of how impressive it is that people climb to the top.

Long car trips in India are always an adventure b/c the only traffic law in India is that the bigger vehicle has the right of way... other than that it's pretty much a free-for-all. This drive was especially troubling b/c we traveled up to Pelling on one lane roads carved into the side of the mountain. You put a lot of faith in your driver as any slight deviation to the right and down you go off a very steep cliff. Oh and did we mention that there were tons of mudslides in the region due to the monsoon rains.

We finally arrived in Pelling (1750m elevation) around 9pm and stayed at a backpacker's hotel called Garuda. We chose Pelling because it has spectacular views of Mt. Kanchenjunga, the 3rd highest peak in the world at 8500 meters (Everest is 8800m). Not as well known as Everest and K2 b/c you can't climb the peak (considered a holy mountain). Hopefully we get to see the peak tomorrow. Hotel owner told us best time to see it is 5:30am.