Finally made it to Sikkim!

I took us 72 hours, 3 different trains and a 4x4 to cover nearly 2000 miles but we have made it at last. I (Paul) had a minor mishap in calcutta station when the solitary bottle of beer in my bag smashed cover all my clothes in beer and glass so what with that and my tablets wearing off I wasnt the happiest of people for Simon to be with. A few more tablets and a reasonable nights sleep on the train and everything was alright in the morning though. When we got off the train in New Jalpaiguri we met 3 philipino volunteers who had in turn met someone on the train who was going to help the get a 4x4 to Gangtok in Sikkim for a reasonable price. When we got off the train we were still unsure as to whether we were going to Sikkim or Darjeeling but we decided we couldn't turn down the offer of help so Sikkim it was. It cost us 300Rs for 4.5hrs in a 4x4. The roads in a lot of places were pretty good and they're working on the roads where they're not good but there were still some places that seemed to have just been washed away and the drivers insist on going as fast as humany possible. There a loads of road safety messages all along the road including "Better late than Never", "Safety on the road means a safe tea at home" and the favourite "It is not a rally, enjoy the valley!" Despite all this we made it safely, crossing the border (picture) was a mere formality and we arrived in Gangtok about 5pm. Today we looked around at a few of the local sights, cable car, waterfalls, viewpoints, etc while they are making up some permits for the two of us because tomorrow we are off on a 2 day 1 night trip up to the north of Sikkim to a village called Lachung (google it and check it out). We'll be back in Gangtok on Wednesday evening and then thursday we'll take a 4x4 over to darjeeling if all goes to plan, which it usually doesn't!

I've uploaded a few more pictures so have look at them.

Hope everyones well at home and Simon says Hi!

Paul and Simon