Sikkim, Assam and on to Varanasi

I'm sitting in Kolkata airport waiting for our connecting flight to Varanasi, having come from Guwahati, the capital of Assam in the North East early this morning. 

The first couple of days in Assam were fantastic - we headed to the Kaziranga National Park where Asian one horned rhinos live along with elephants and Indian tourists. We took an elephant safari early morning, it was busy with other people doing the same but we got really close to many rhino and had a beautiful experience up close with the elephants after the ride, feeding them grass and looking up their trunks. Amazing animals.

The second day not quite so good. This time it was Dan's turn to be ill, and he managed it quite spectacularly, getting so dehydrated we had to go to the local dispensary and get him on a drip. Some scary moments but he soon improved, particularly when we were taken to the nearest government hospital and we realised if he didn't get doctor's approval to go back to the hotel we'd have to stay there. It was horrendous in there, way worse than the other hospitals I've seen. So so dirty, worse even than toilets you find at bus stations and so on here. Sad and shocking to see these conditions. However he's now improved and we decided to continue with our plan to go to Varanasi, where we'll stay 3 days before heading to Kolkata then home...

In the last few weeks things have stepped up for elections here, lots of political rallies around and much news of corruption, re-polls and violence around polling days. In Darjeeling the most noise was being made about Gorkhaland, the proposed state that people in the area want to form, separate from West Bengal but still India. After spending some time in this area, very different culturally from the rest of West Bengal, this really makes sense. People are only concerned that they will be able to manage and organise this change themselves. Time will tell but Gorkhaland is supported across the area. Sikkim is a separate state, everywhere we saw flags with umbrellas signifying the popular political party there. Industry was all over the place in Sikkim and I heard that they are receiving much more money for tourism also (including for much better roads) creating some tension between the Darjeeling area and Sikkim. 


In Assam, part of the politically volatile North East due to its proximity to Burma, Tibet and also due to the diverse mix of migrants and people there, military presence was visible in the towns and there was a clear feeling of tension. However we were welcomed in Bokakhat (first time not the second time = hospital!) where there was a huge mela (festival) for the god Hanuman's birthday (Hanuman Jayanti) He's the monkey god who represents servants, and was a key figure in the Indian epic Ramayana. The festival was a big garish, bright lighted affair with large plastic moving statues of the gods. We were given tea and sweets and shown around by the organiser and then filmed for local tv!

Binayak Sen, an Indian activist has been released from prison and this has been big news here. However there are still many Orissan activists from the area I was researching in that are in prison, and many more at risk from imprisonment, sentences and discrimination for speaking out for their land and rights. Despite being a 'democratic' country, there is a law here that prohibits sedition (subverting/ speaking out against the country). This theme has come up time and again during my stay here - that merely speaking out or showing an interest in human rights is a crime and something to be fearful of. Until this legislation and attitude are addressed how can India move on?

If you're interested in keeping up with events in Niyamgiri and the latest on the Dongria Kondh and if they are to be labelled as terrorists and treated accordingly, you can follow the Facebook group 'Save Niyamgiri' (http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/group.php?gid=31785088220&v=info) Survival International also keeps fairly up to date with the latest. There's also Surya's fantastic Youtube site http://www.youtube.com/niyamgiri

Let me know if you're interested in getting more involved.

Namaste. See (some of you) in a weekish :)

Tourist time

So here we are in tea land (no longer just me here, Dan joined me just over a week ago :). Darjeeling is a nice town, once you get away from the unbearable diesel fumes of the jeeps, which are the main form of transport on these hill roads. We're about 2000 metres up so it's cold! We've been having coal fires in our hotel room and I've even bought some woolly socks and long johns. Will make the return to UK a little less of a shock I guess. We've ended up staying here longer than expected as the predicted Indian stomach issues have finally reached my body. I'm sitting waiting for some results now so we'll see... We were all ready to go on a 6 day trek yesterday, to the Singalila mountain range from which you can see Everest and other high points of the Himalayas. We may still start this trek tomorrow depending on what the doc says. Feel lucky that we're here where the hospital has a gastroenterology specialist, everyone speaks good English so talking about medications and things is straightforward, and we're in a nice clean hotel room. 

Yesterday was a wipe out, just watching films and clutching my stomach while Dan ran around for me, and most of our time here has been pretty chilled out - drinking tea (of course), taking short walks, visiting the zoo - which actually seemed more humane than some British ones and eating Tibetan food. The culture is very different up here to the parts of India I've been in. Buddhism is blended with Hinduism - great to see two religions tolerating each other and combining gods, worship and celebrations. Below you can see the Buddhist prayer flags at the temple on the highest spot of Darjeeling, where there are Hindu temples alongside monkeys, sadhus and Buddhists reading their thangkas.

People also look very different and speak Nepali and English along with Hindi. Many people here are of Tibetan and Nepali origin, although there are also Indians running restaurants, hotels and shops too. It's amazing to see the weights that people carry - huge gas cylinders, pieces of furniture, all sorts, attached to the head with rope. Sherpas are the original descendants of the Everest area, and are famous for their mountain climbing and for carrying weights such as these. We had a look around the very random but interesting Himalayan Mountaineering Institute's museum, which placed pictures of famous mountaineers from the 1920s next to a model of a Tibetan bride, a very modern looking headtorch and statues of Hindu gods!

The hospital have been really helpful but we were shocked yesterday to see a dog running around and today to see the receptionists chewing on paan while smiling and confirming we'd be able to see the doctor later on. 

Before coming here we spent a few days in Kolkata, enjoying the street food, getting Dan acclimatised to crazy Indian city life (and me after being in the more chilled rural south!) and doing a bit of shopping. We decided to take a trip to the Sunderbans, a mangrove forest and river delta area, for a 3 day tour with the knowledgable, incredibly friendly and hospitable guys from www.tourdesundarbans.com - highly recommended if you're ever in Kolkata and have a couple of nights to spare. The area is known for its Bengal tigers, and they had actually spotted quite a few this year. We werent so lucky but saw about 50 types of birds including massive Caribou storks, monitor lizards, baby crocs and just generally enjoyed sitting back on a boat, chilling in the village and seeing a cock fight and a night market.



Stomach depending we hope to get going on our trek tomorrow, and then onto Sikkim for some monastery and lake visits. It looks like a beautiful place and will be good to see more of this chilled out Buddhist hill country before heading to Assam and Varanasi, which will be far from that!