The Hunt for Red Panda: Bumpy Road to Paradise

They say all things worthwhile cost a great deal. In our case, the more than worthy secret pocket of Sikkim in northeastern India cost us one day's sanity and comfort - in the long run, a small price to pay.

The journey began with a delay leaving Washington (British Airways was in its most disorganized state-no one appeared at the check-in desk until actual flight time), which caused us to miss our flight to Delhi. Thanks to the Bear's hard-line strategy with the customer service rep at Heathrow we were given a free day room and lunch at a transit hotel so we were able to take a nap and shower during our then eight hour layover. Sadly, we lost the money for our hotel in Delhi where we originally planned to spend the night. Hopefully we can make it up during another planned trip to Delhi.

The flight to Delhi was smooth and provided some rest, though once at the airport we had some trouble figuring out where to get an Inner Line Permit for Sikkim: according to several guide books and websites these permits are available at the four main entry point airports in India (Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai) though no one had any idea what we were asking for. We finally gave up and just waited for our flight to Bagdogra Airport in West Bengal which turned out to be the bumpiest, most frightening flight of our lives. True, I can be a little dramatic about matters over which I have no control but I honestly thought we were going to be flipped over by the storm clouds or hit a high Himalayan peak. And once we hit ground and ventured into West Bengal, we realized the bumps weren't over yet.....somehow we managed to get to the Sikkim Tourist Bureau in Siliguri fifteen minutes before it closed (thanks to our skillful cab driver, weaving around bikes, vans, tuk tuks, goats, dogs and the occasional cow), got the permit and seats in a jeep headed to Gangtok and proceeded on the most terrifying car ride of either of our lives. Four and a half hours of hairpin turns, horns blasting as jeeps, trucks, monkeys and pedestrians shared the road and our driver played the popular Asian game of how many vehicles can I pass every minute, all along sheer cliffs threatening to drop me, the Bear and seven Indian gentleman over the unguarded side of the sometimes unpaved road. At one point, the gentleman next to the Bear even vomited on the floor of the cab (he got out at the next stop) which added to our increasing nausea and left the Bear in agony for the remaining two hours to Gangtok. Oh, and did I mention that the majority of this journey was in the dark and our driver waited until it was pitch black to use his headlights? Anyway, we made it to our comfortable enough Hotel Sagorika on Upper Arithang Road and crashed for ten hours, spent this morning enjoying dosas and chai at the Rasoi Pure Veg Cafe and exploring the town before popping into this Cyber Cafe.

All said and done, was it worth it? To be surrounded by peaks of 16,000 feet and up, a kind and helpful Buddhist culture, shops that smell of incense and cafes selling the most delicious chai? I would say yes.