Mukti Rules!

Sorry for being out of touch for a few days, but after searching for a week, we've finally found a place with both internet access and electricity at the same time. Unfortunately, the computer we're using was built in 1845, so I apologize if this post doesn't have all the fancy web links and photos that you, our loyal readers, have come to expect.

We're in Sikkim -- http://encarta.msn.com/map_701516543/Sikkim.html -- a tiny nubbin of India wedged between Nepal, China (Tibet), and Bhutan. We're in the Himalayas, and we look out every morning to the third-highest mountain in the world (a mere 800 feet shy of Everest).

We came here from the south -- we flew from Chennai to Kolkatta (Calcutta), then on to Bagdogra, followed by a 3-hour jeep ride to the town of Darjeeling (land o' tea). Oh, and the 3-hour jeep ride? It was a total of about 50 miles. For those of you on O'ahu, it was just like the road up Tantalus (winding, steep, and with uncleared landslides). But only one lane. For three hours.

Darjeeling was a wonderful change from the south, since in Darjeeling it's very cool (highs of around 75 degrees, lows around 50). Our first stop? "The Buzz," a restaurant/bar where we saw the legendary rock band "Mukti" from Gangtok. They opened with "Take it Easy" by The Eagles and closed with -- wait for it -- "Sweet Child Of Mine" by GnR. Best cover band in the Himalayas -- ever.

After four days of relishing in the cool mountain air and drinking tea by the gallon, we traveled another 6 hours by jeep (down the mountain, up the mountain, down the mountain, up the mountain) to Pelling, Sikkim. We had to get a special permit to come up here, and we had to promise not to try to sneak into China or Nepal. You can get millet beer in a wooden barrel (tastes like sake) and whiskey in a bottle shaped like a dagger.

After a few days of lounging around our fancy hotel ($10/night), ordering room service and watching cable TV (too bad we missed the ending of "John Tucker Must Die"), we headed north with two other Mukti fans (these German girls we met at the concert in Darjeeling a few days before). The first day we hiked for almost 8 hours to a small town by a lake, and the second day we hiked another 6 hours to a small town by another lake. Each hike involved several hours of steep downhill followed by several hours back up. We've met a bunch of people doing 9-day hikes up to 5,000 meters -- we've made it through 2 days and we want to cut off our legs. Tomorrow, we may return to Pelling -- depends on whether the landslide over the road has been cleared -- since all of our clean clothes are there. Or we may continue to sit around here and smell like yaks.

But there is a reason for us to move on: Mukti. They're from Gangtok, about 90 km from here. We wanted to know when they might be playing, and we were trying to figure out how to get this information. At our hotel last night there was a guy from Gangtok who was getting ready to lead a group of Israelis on a 4-day trek. We said, "Hey, have you ever heard of a band called Mukti?" And of course, he said, "Yes, my friend is the guitarist." He called his friend -- apparently, they'll play whenever they have an audience. So Deb, the Germans, and I are planning to go to Gangtok in a day or two (just as soon as we get our t-shirts -- saying "Mukti 4ever" -- finished).

We'll post our beautiful photos soon. In the meantime, for anyone who cares, our cell phone number is as follows (sorry, meant to post this ages ago): 00919846947753.