For nearly a week I am now in Sikkim and I feel much better here. Though it is quite cold and I have no heater in my room I enjoy the beautiful nature (wild x mas stars, bamboo trees, hibiscus and a lot of plants we just now from pots in the flats) grow here. The hills and mountains are green, the people are more honest and clean! and after India it is really a relaxing zone. Today I am at Gangtok, the new and modern capital of Sikkim and we celebrated x mas here. Funny enough all the shops in town are decorated like X Mas and people are wishing us merry X mas. There was even a santa claus yesterday and the babtist church had a public coral in the pedastrian zone!!!
Tomorrow there will be lama dances in the old monastery of Rumtek: Mahakala and they are celebrating Sikkimeas New Year called Lossong.
I stay at a guest house were some years ago Ole was also staying and they told me some stories of this time. But the atmosphere at the new monastery is really strange and I felt not like going in there.
In a week I will travel on to west Sikkim. There are many holy places like a cave of Guru Rinpoche and hot springs. Looking forward to that.
So I wish you all a happy new 2009!!