Awesome Kangchendzonga

Our next stop is Pelling in West Sikkim. It is easy to get around Sikkim in "Share Jeeps". They run often & are inexpensive, but crowded. This time we hire a jeep to take us to Pelling. The road is narrow and rough in places & includes very steep climbs and decents. We travel thru beautiful country & what I can only describe as "cloud forest", very lush vegitation, with lots of ferns and moss. 

Arriving in Pelling we walk to Pemyangtse Monestary, one of the oldest & most important in Sikkim. There, we are blown away by the wooden sculpture on the third floor, "Mandala of Padmasambhava's Heavenly Abode". It is a 3D wooden mandalla that took to monk who built it 5 years to complete. 

Next day at dawn, the clouds clear for a while & we get our clearest & clostest view of the Khangchendzonga Massiff, 3rd higest peak in the world. It is considered a diety in Sikkim & it is easy to see why. It takes our breath away just to look at it. 

Next day we rent a Jeep, along with James from Britian, & visit the Holy Lake of Khecheopalri. 

View of Kangchendzonga

It is considered a footprint of the Goddess Tara & is said to be so holy that birds pick out any leaf that falls in the water. 

That evening, back in Pelling, we see a buffett set up in a nearby hotel. We wander in and are not sure if they are serving the public or if this is for a special group. The workers hustle us in & start filling our plates with delicous south Indian cuisene. Turns out that this was a buffett for a tour group, but they have all finished eating. Now the staff is eating and cleaning up & they want to share with us. They are very friendly and generous hosts and seem to enjoy feeding us almost as much as we enjoy their wonderfull cooking! there is no charge for the meal, but we leave a generous tip and are thankfull for the beautiful day we have had in this beautiful place.


source:http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Sikkim/Pelling/blog-722340.html