Bathing Optional

India : Sikkim - The Cloudy Kingdom, Mar. 2007

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Our first day in Sikkim began with great sunrise views from the ridge above its capital, Gangtok.
Prayer poles.
Sikkims Royal Palace stands high on the ridge over the city.
Prayer flags in the hills.
Prayer flags.
Sunrise through prayer flags.
We cant get enough of those prayer flags.
Giant white chorten at one of Gangtoks main monasteries.
Prayer wheels.
Near Gangtok is the monastery town of Rumtek whose Dharma Chakra center is the head monastery for the sect led by the powerful Karmapa and one of Sikkims most important monasteries.
Avoid temptation, young monks.
We arrived in Sikkim just in time for Tibetan New Year (Losar). We were lucky to visit Rumtek during a day long festival including amazing lama mask dances.
Head lama.
Masked monks, dancing, chasing away the bad karma from the preceding year.
Dancers.
Performer.
Inspiration for Predator?
The comedic relief between masked lama dances involved Reagan and some other clowns running around and whipping audience members with cloth straps.
Skulls.
Performers.
Bright garments.
Non-performing monks looked on eagerly.
Young performers.
Everyone was enjoying the performances.
Performer with knife.
Happy, young monk.
Temple balcony.
Another member of the comedy troupe.
Evil, evil, go away.
The finale.
Great shoes.
Fantastic robes.
Lost in the performance.
Enjoying the show.
Observer with prayer spinner.
Rumtek monastery prayer wheels.
Monks clothing hanging out to dry at Gangtoks main monastery on top of the hill.
Morning chanting inside the monastery temple.
Boddhisatva image.
Buddhist library inside the Tibetan Center in Gangtok.
Near Pelling in West Sikkim, this sign reminds us that the Himalayan range visible from here includes the worlds third hightest mountain! We both were given white scarves from our guesthouse owner in celebration of Tibetan New Year (also our anniversary).
Happy Year of the Golden Pig! New Years treats sit on the counter of our guesthouse in Pelling.
Local child in Pelling.
Prayer flags and mountain homes.
On a hill over Pelling sits one of Sikkims most important monasteries: Pemayangtse.
Temple monks circle the temple and chant a New Years prayer.
Temple dormitory.
Temple flower.
Uas at the temple.
We decided to hike down into the valley below Pelling.
Typical Sikkim rural home.
Country home.
Some Sikkim ads claim that it is the Switzerland of the East and this type of architecture may help that image.
Sikkim is a land of deep valleys, snowy peaks, and rolling mist.
Never seen bamboo this thick before.
Hillside home and prayer poles.
Hillside farm.
Following a trail of flags but uncertain that they are leading us somewhere.
How I would love to live in a mountain home like this one.
Local kids.
Trying to find our way back uphill to Pelling.
The next morning, another perfectly clear day begins with superb views of the Kanchendzonga range from our guesthouse balcony.
Wow!
Mountains and Buddhist prayer flags -- this is why weve come to the Himalayas.
Beautiful!
The Himalaya -- amazing!
Prayer poles.
All of Sikkims transport trucks have eyes like these.
Himalayan foothills.
We climbed to the top of the steep hill over Pelling to the Sanga Cholling monastery where we found this monk studying by a small stupa.
The temple at the Sanga Cholling monastery, our favorite in Sikkim.
Mini-temple.
Ashe on her way up the hill.
Young monks studying the sutras.
Young monks.
Butter lamp inside the temple.
Temple Buddha.
The wonderful Himalaya.
Flag shadows.
Love those Himalaya!
Studying monk.
Ashe felt right at home on this mountaintop and by a stupa.
Monk in the woods.
Local boy.
And his sister.
Tough to study with those mountains all around.
Amazing!
Waterfall.
Us at Ringi Falls.
Us with our new friend, Jay, a 79-year-old who continues to travel like hes 25, for 5 months of every year. He was born and raised in our favorite country: Myanmar.
A bridge of prayer wheels leads out to Khecheopari Lake, a holy lake in the shape of Buddhas footprint.
Flag over Lake Khecheopari.
Ashe spinning the largest (and heaviest) prayer wheel weve ever seen!
Local farmers near the lake.
Typical rural home in Sikkim.
Temple stupa eyes.
Ancient, mossy stupas above the lake.
An old monastery sits high on the hill above the lake.
A mix of Nepalese, Indians, and Tibetans call Sikkim home.
Temple colors.
Shop boy.
Nose ring, a mountain, tribal custom.
Waterfall.
Hill temple in Yuksom, our favorite of West Sikkims small towns.
Old, old prayer wheel in the mountains.
Mountain path up to Sikkims oldest monastery over Yuksom, which was once the royal capital.
Temple incense urn.
Monastery window curtains.
Yuksom temple.
Colorful temple windows.
Sunrise lights up the peaks over Yuksom.
Beginning the long hike into a remote valley hotspring below Tashiding village.
Waterfall.
Forest home.
Village boys.
Taking a break along the trail.
The Himalayan way of carrying loads. Who needs a fancy, custom fit, weight balancing hiking backpack when all you need is a leather strap across the forehead?
Oh, did we mention that the load theyre carrying is smelly manure?
Village boys.
Local youngsters.
Most village homes have their own cow and a few chickens running around.
The trail to the hotsprings was more of a yak trail through the hills and we were lost dozens of times along the way. Getting lost is not a problem, however, when mountain homes with incredible plumbing like this can be found along the way.
Trail goats.
The final bit of the trail followed the beachy shores of the river towards the hotsprings.
Our first glimpse of the riverside hotsprings.
A couple fantastic bamboo bridges cross the river at the hotspring village.
One of those remarkable bamboo bridges.
The shelters and homes at the hotspring village are nothing more than bamboo frames covered with dried leaves.
View from our shelter window to the river and hotsprings.
That night, the local family with whom we were staying cooked up a great meal for us in their kitchen/dining room/bedroom.
Maciej trying out a local brew. Drunk from a bamboo cup using a bamboo straw, it is probably the largest cocktail well ever see.
Our bed for the night was the riverside rock covered in straw.
Ashe along the river the next morning.
The reason we hiked all the way out here: the hotsprings! I may not look too happy but we were loving the hot water following months of promised hot water at hotels that rarely was delivered.
Lady at the springs.
Hundreds of these leaf guys hike the Himalayan hills daily.
Rice terraces.
Village boy.
Local kids in small village on our way back to Tashiding.
Children.
Nose ring.
Another lady with some great jewelry.
Village boy.
Tashiding home.
We saw this woman around Tashiding town all afternoon before I could finally get her photo. Great style!
Above Tashiding is another of our favorite monasteries in Sikkim. We spent a few hours on the grounds and attending an evening sutra chanting ceremony.
The Tashiding Monastery is a combination of several buildings, including a very old, wooden temple.
Temple Buddha.
Curtain with Buddha images above the door.
Behind the main temple is a collection of many stupas standing together including the great stupa which clears all of a viewers sins simply by their looking at it.
Water offerings to a Buddha image.
Monk painting prayers on stones.
Us by the monastery prayer flags.
Stupas.
The eyes of the great stupa are always watching.
Prayer rocks.
Temple ceiling.

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