We woke up at around 8 and packed some day packs for our hike to Kacheperri Lake. We left most of our luggage at the hotel, and had a small breakfast of porridge and eggs. Kacheperri Lake is a high altitude lake about 20 km from Pelling. It is sacred to both Buddhists and Hindus, so the small lake is surrounded by monasteries and a small temple. There is a small trail that takes you most of the way, and then you have to walk along the road. We walked down the road to where the trail started and headed out. It was a lot of fun to just walk through the woods. The first part of the trail was on the shaded part of the hill, so it was wet and slippery and quite steep. But eventually it leveled off and was a lot easier. There were a lot of little streams that had to be cross on small foot bridges that mainly were logs placed over rocks. It was by no means isolated. Off of the trail there were many small farmers' huts and fields of corn and grains. It was pretty cool to see such a different way of life. We asked people for directions when the trail split, but unfortunately most people were speak Nepalese and so we weren't able to talk to them in Hindi or English. Sometimes there were little kids who asked us for chocolate, which I thought was a funny thing to ask for out in the middle of nowhere, but we didn't have any. Finally we reached to the bottom of the valley, crossed a large river, and started to head up hill. We met up with the road, which was easier to walk on but not as much fun. It was pretty tiring by the end, especially when jeeps would pass on the road and kick up the dust. Around 4 pm we finally got to the lake. It was really swampy so unfortunately there wasn't any place to put our feet in. There were also signs warning of crocodiles which I thought was odd. The lake was small but beautiful, lined with Buddhist flags and crystal clear. There were lots of fish jumping. It was an interesting clash, with the Buddhist architecture, but then there were other tourists who were giving puja in the lake. The two religions kind of seemed to easily coexist. We walked back about 1 km and found a family guest house. It was a larger house with a husband, wife, and son living in it. They also had a dog, a puppy, chickens, two goats, and a cow. In the back there was a garden and a small corn field. Our room was small but clean, with a clean shared bathroom at the end of the hall. Rooms were 150 Rs a night. We put our stuff down and went back towards the lake to have some Maggi noodles and tea. There were some men in the restaurant drinking beer and playing cards, although I couldn't figure out what game they were playing. Everybody seemed really relaxed. We went back and took a nap. We could hear the mother and son in the garden trying to round up the goats and the cow, with the puppy following them around barking. At night there was no electricity, so Andrew and I had nothing to do except lay down and stare at the ceiling at talking. It was really peaceful. The boy came up and asked us what time we wanted dinner and we said around 6. At 6 he came back up and said it was ready. So we went down stairs and he lit some candles for us. We had egg curry, crispy potatoes, and fried rice. It was obvious that everything on our plate was either from their garden or someplace near by. It was really cool to see that this sort of sustenance living still existed and seemed to serve this small town fine. They boy served us and when we asked for the ketchup he looked really embarrassed and said he was really sorry he just forgot. It was really cute. Then a bunch of fireflies came out and while we were eating Andrew and I tried to count as many as we could. We then went back to our room and quickly fell asleep. Saturday October 11 Day #112 We woke up the next morning at 5 am to have a breakfast of potatoes and eggs. Our jeep came at 6 am and took us back to Pelling and Hotel Garuda (50 Rs). This time the jeep was not crowded because we were going the opposite way of traffic and it was so early in the morning. We had some lunch and spent the day reading in restaurants and walking around the small town of Pelling. Pelling is West of Gangtok, and closer to the border with Nepal. It is not much of a town, just one street with about seven hotels, the tourist office, a post office, a couple of shops
We woke up at around 8 and packed some day packs for our hike to Kacheperri Lake. We left most of our luggage at the hotel, and had a small breakfast of porridge and eggs. Kacheperri Lake is a high altitude lake about 20 km from Pelling. It is sacred to both Buddhists and Hindus, so the small lake is surrounded by monasteries and a small temple. There is a small trail that takes you most of the way, and then you have to walk along the road. We walked down the road to where the trail started and headed out. It was a lot of fun to just walk through the woods. The first part of the trail was on the shaded part of the hill, so it was wet and slippery and quite steep. But eventually it leveled off and was a lot easier. There were a lot of little streams that had to be cross on small foot bridges that mainly were logs placed over rocks. It was by no means isolated. Off of the trail there were many small farmers' huts and fields of corn and grains. It was pretty cool to see such a different way of life. We asked people for directions when the trail split, but unfortunately most people were speak Nepalese and so we weren't able to talk to them in Hindi or English. Sometimes there were little kids who asked us for chocolate, which I thought was a funny thing to ask for out in the middle of nowhere, but we didn't have any. Finally we reached to the bottom of the valley, crossed a large river, and started to head up hill. We met up with the road, which was easier to walk on but not as much fun. It was pretty tiring by the end, especially when jeeps would pass on the road and kick up the dust. Around 4 pm we finally got to the lake. It was really swampy so unfortunately there wasn't any place to put our feet in. There were also signs warning of crocodiles which I thought was odd. The lake was small but beautiful, lined with Buddhist flags and crystal clear. There were lots of fish jumping. It was an interesting clash, with the Buddhist architecture, but then there were other tourists who were giving puja in the lake. The two religions kind of seemed to easily coexist. We walked back about 1 km and found a family guest house. It was a larger house with a husband, wife, and son living in it. They also had a dog, a puppy, chickens, two goats, and a cow. In the back there was a garden and a small corn field. Our room was small but clean, with a clean shared bathroom at the end of the hall. Rooms were 150 Rs a night. We put our stuff down and went back towards the lake to have some Maggi noodles and tea. There were some men in the restaurant drinking beer and playing cards, although I couldn't figure out what game they were playing. Everybody seemed really relaxed. We went back and took a nap. We could hear the mother and son in the garden trying to round up the goats and the cow, with the puppy following them around barking. At night there was no electricity, so Andrew and I had nothing to do except lay down and stare at the ceiling at talking. It was really peaceful. The boy came up and asked us what time we wanted dinner and we said around 6. At 6 he came back up and said it was ready. So we went down stairs and he lit some candles for us. We had egg curry, crispy potatoes, and fried rice. It was obvious that everything on our plate was either from their garden or someplace near by. It was really cool to see that this sort of sustenance living still existed and seemed to serve this small town fine. They boy served us and when we asked for the ketchup he looked really embarrassed and said he was really sorry he just forgot. It was really cute. Then a bunch of fireflies came out and while we were eating Andrew and I tried to count as many as we could. We then went back to our room and quickly fell asleep. Saturday October 11 Day #112 We woke up the next morning at 5 am to have a breakfast of potatoes and eggs. Our jeep came at 6 am and took us back to Pelling and Hotel Garuda (50 Rs). This time the jeep was not crowded because we were going the opposite way of traffic and it was so early in the morning. We had some lunch and spent the day reading in restaurants and walking around the small town of Pelling. Pelling is West of Gangtok, and closer to the border with Nepal. It is not much of a town, just one street with about seven hotels, the tourist office, a post office, a couple of shops
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