Day 9 Gangtok 7th July 2009

our Crappy Rp250 room... our clothes line.. hehe

Today woke and had bread and strawberry jam for breakfast. After that, immediately head out to sort our “illegal status”. We went walking in search for the tourism office. After 15mins of walking up hill, (this place everywhere seems to be an uphill climb) we finally reach the place. The area is called MG Marg Rd, where all the tourist and shopping area is. We went into the office, and was greeted by this Nepalese guy sitting behind the counter. We told him of our situation and that we would like to apply for the permit if its possible. His partner advise that it’s best we head to the Foreigner’s Registration Office (FRO) for advise on this matter as the inner line permit (ILP) is a very important document and have to be applied before entry or at the border checkpoint Rangpo. I mention to him that we did not know we need another permit and when we pass the checkpoint we weren’t stopped so we didn’t thought too much of it. He advise that maybe our faces looked like their local people so the police miss out.

So we headed uphill, downhill to find the foreigners office and went up to the 2^nd floor and was asked to sign in on the log book by the security officer in his brown uniform holding a rifle with a dagger at the top. He asked where we are from and looked at Ramli and said :” You look like a Nepali.. with a big grin”.. kekekke we laugh and make our way up to the FRO office with our hearts thumping so hard. Went into the room and the officers weren’t in yet. It was about 1023hrs so we guessed their working hours should be 1030hrs as mentioned by the first guy we met yesterday evening.

After a few mins a stern looking man came in and sat at his desk, took out a log book and ask if we are here to have our visa extended. We told him no and again explain the situation to him and he shake his head and said to us that this ILP is very important as Sikkim is a protected area so permit is required even on top of our Indian Visa. He look out the window and ask us for our passports and visa copies and ask us to sit down. Heart still thumping…. Saw him filling a form and was thinking hopefully that was the ILP.. We were quite most of the time as we are just awaiting for the stern officer to tell us that we need to pay a penalty or something…

After a while another officer came in, much more friendlier. Asked where we were from and ask if we stayed at Kanchang View cause he saw us yesterday evening twice, once walking up the hill and once walking down the hill.. Hehehhehe he stayed near our hotel. He relief our stress a little. The stern officer walk out with his log book and our passports.. Hmmm return in about 5 mins and asked us over to his desk and gave us our ILP!!!! Wow this was the biggest relief we have ever felt… phew!! We warmly thanked him and left the office with our heads held high walking proudly as a “legal” Tourist!! Allhamdulilah!!

Map of Sikkim

me lost in MG Marg Road?

So now we headed to the tourism office thinking of checking out where we could go today and the next few days since we have already got our ILP we might as well stay a few more days to worth the while of the “illegal” scare.

We walk along MG Road and saw a Altitude Adventure and this guy was waving at us so we decided to go in for a chat and check what are our options within our budget. He recommended us a 3 days 2 Night trip to Yumthang Valley about 140kms away from Gangtok. What we see on the pictures he had hanging in his shop was tempting, valley with flat river bed.. Woooo!! And there are hot springs and water falls to visit. Asked him to quote us his best rate, USD350 for 2 pax for 3d/2n full board…Wow we thought so expensive ah…. Hmm Hmmm Hmmm .. How should we do it or should we go for the 2d/1n option of USD200 for 2 pax full board.. But this trip we will miss the Yumesamdong Valley which is further up than Yumthang Valley…

We asked him again to quote a better rate, and we offered him to give us at USD300 and asked if he could get some other travel agents customers to share the jeep with us so we could save some costs. He say he will try and look for others and let us know if he was able to get anyone else. Meantime we were doing our calculations if we are within budget to do this trip.. Count and count, ok guess we could do this after all the stinging for the pass 8 days we have accumulated excess perdium of a total Rp14K+ so its about equivalent to USD300 with some excess. Same time he confirmed he could offer USD300 to us and if there is anyone who comes up he will of costs lower the costs for us.We gave him copies of our passports and 2 passport photos so he could arrange the permit to visit North Sikkim as it seems permit is required to enter as this is a extra protected area. So we guess this is the price we have to pay for a paid tour… Bo pian but finally some “action”… Reporting time tomorrow 0930hrs… Yeah yeah!

Tapping live from the DB box..

Lall Market

another view of Lall Market

Time to look for lunch and then some sight seeing in the city. We walked down Mg Road to Lall Market as the shops on MG Road are closed on Tuesdays.. Hmmm . Lall Market didn’t have anything interesting to offer us. So we just continued walking and came to a small alley with some shops around. Saw one decent enough “fast food” place so decided to walk in and try some vegetarian food..

Ashrafiah fast food

When we walked in, I sat down and Ramli went to the counter and wanted to ask what was available for us. Then he call for me and say look! I think this place is Halal …I like is it! He pointed to the “ayat2” that was hanged above the counter and asked the lady if the food is halal and for muslim? She nodded with a smile. As you can imagine how ecstatic we were!!! Yahoo finally some chicken or beef or anything !! Yeah… Than I ordered a Chicken Chow mien, Ramli wanted a Chicken Briyani… But when he ordered the lady advised there wasn’t chicken available today only vegetable.. Aiyah!! So no choice we have to settle down with vege chowmien.. I can see Ramli’s face all upset…kekekke

our chowmien

Chappati with Beef Curry!!

After finishing our chowmien, Ramli still not satisfied with his lunch.. Went and ask the lady again if anything else was available, she said how about momos( steam gyoza or dumpling) he like hmm ok.. than she asked or you want Chappati with beef curry..Wah immediately Ramli’s face lighted up la!! Ya ya ya that’s all he kept saying… keekekekeke Thru the counter we see the lady preparing the chappati all fresh!! Wow must taste nice. About 15 mins she serve the long awaited meat to Ramli!! Was fantastic….Finally and at last he was “full filled’… kekekk The shop name is Ashrafiah Fast Food. From Gangtok ropeway building, walk straight to the alley on the left where you can see UBI Gangtok Granch India Bank, walk straight about another 5 mins and you can see the shop on the right side. Small shop..

View from somewhere

View from National Highway road

Our faces distorted by the 12/24 hehehhe

With our ‘full filled” stomach we walked down hill towards the bus station to check if any taxi can bring us to the sights in Gangtok town. Asked one and told him we wanted to go to Tashi View Point (to see the Himalaya Range and Mt Khanchendzonga (3^rd highest mountain in the world) and a Bakthang water falls. He said ok 1 destination at Rp100.. Hmmmok lor go… he hopped in than after he made a small u-turn he talked to another taxi driver and than asked us to move over.. Ahhh ok move , so on the way this young chap asked if we want to go to7 points at Rp600 we tried bargain but he say no cannot.. Ok la why not since we have nothing much to do and the distance with the up and down hill is too much for us…

1^st Directorate of Handloom & Handicrafts – Boring!

2^nd Enchey Monastery – It started to rain so all misty couldn’t see much and is cooold.

Look at the speech bubble.. kekekek

Ramli looks pregnant..

3^rd Ganeshtok (Indian Temple) – Also boring, as shoes need to be taken off I went in and check out first. Walked around and only interesting sight was seeing 2 Europeans seating behind the temple playing poker cards..Ermmm is this allowed or polited?

4^th Tashi View Point – Hoping to see the Himalaya View, at first there was hope as it looks like the clouds are clearing but it changed within minutes. A thick fog passed and covered up the whole view than it started to rain again..

5^th Gonjang Monastery – Told driver don’t have to stop cause it seems unnecessary to us. Rainy and the building seems plain.

Bakthang Waterfalls

6^th Bakthang Waterfalls – Wooo nice water Fall but is starting to pour so we just took some quick pictures and left a.s.a.p. before we got wet.

Than the taxi driver say ok that’s all, will drop you off at Mg Road.. huh I was thinking 6 stop not 7? Aiya I thought nvr mind la, I don’t think the last one would be of any interests to us also cause of the weather. But I guess we should have just stuck with Tashi View point and Bakthang Falls and save the Rp400.

Wonder around MG road searching for a open internet café since it was raining. Did some research on our next destination Nepal and how to get to Varanasi, India. Which railway station or by bus. After 1 hour left in search of 3 eggs to cook for our dinner. Walked around got lost for a good while then passed the wet market which was still open at 1700hrs.. Not bad and seems very busy with people doing their supermarketing. We finally saw some eggs and bought it for Rp10/each.. Wah seems expensive Rp30 for 3 which is about SGD0.90, I think can get at least 5 ah in Singapore. But maybe theirs are fresh eggs from the back yard chicken and not mass produced like we have at home. Walked around the wet market for a while than headed back to hotel.

Omelette cooking in process

our dinner

Cooked the rice and than the semi steam/fried omelet and as usual ate with our he bee hiam. Oh my its running out.. One more dinner with rice and it will be finished…Jialat .. Enjoyed our dinner with a additional item… Showered and for me tried to read a book but fall asleep. Ramli was editing some pictures and retired shortly after packing up thet things while looking forward to Yumthang Valley tomorrow.