The night before we were due to leave for Sikkim a huge gale force storm descended upon Darjeeling, it lasted about 7 hours and we were sure that we'd not be able to head out the next day - to our surprise thought when we got up in the morning it was clear-ish!

We met up with our Spanish friend Silvia and went off to get our Sikkim permits. Being India things always have to be difficult, we had to go to two separate offices across town, we managed to get lost at one point and went to the Magistrates home instead of the Magistrates Court - it ended up taking us over 3 hours to get the permits and this was just the beginning of our trip.

Poor Ant didn't really want to go trekking in Sikkim, but very reluctantly he came. He thought nothing of reminding us that he really didn't want to be there and the permit fiasco didn't help his mood.

We arrived in Pelling late and thankfully the family of the guest house we stayed cooked us dinner. Tired and full we headed to bed, but just as we went to our room it stared to pour with rain, Ant's mood deepened into a sulk - I don't think it was helped with Silvia and I laughing at him! The next morning we headed off early for breakfast only to find that there were no proper restaurants. We had to settle with vegetable chow mein and Ant with tomato sauce on toast - Ant's mood only deepened and he was very close to pulling out of trek. Anyway, enough about Ant's mood, I may set him off again - I'm pleased to say though over the course of 4 days his mood lightened and we even got a smile out of him.

We spent the next few days checking out the countryside of West Sikkim on our self guided tour a hand drawn map and instructions: Pelling - Lake Khechepuri - Yuksom. It didn't take long for us to realise that it was a great decision come trekking, the scenery is breathtaking - we walked through bamboo forests, down moss filled tracks, every hour or so passing by local villages - which consisted of a few houses, a couple of cows, some chickens and a few goats. The paths were at times really slippery and steep (down and up) and there were loads of leeches that had a good go at climbing up our shoes to suck our blood. Ant got some wicked bites, but Silvia and I managed to flick the suckers off before they did too much damage - though when they got stuck on your finger man did they have a mean suck! We'd heard horror stories of leeches falling on heads and being found in clothes, thankfully we seemed to escape these nasty suckers!

We visited monasterys and we were fortunate enough to catch a glimpse of monks doing morning prayers at Pemayagtse Monastery in Pelling - inscence, chanting, drums, horns, shells, it was a magical experience. We stayed in small villages with local families and ate some of the best local cuisine we've had on our trip. Our favourite village was definitely Lake Khechepuri where we stayed for 2 days (it would have been more were we not flying out on 15th September) - chilling out, playing cards, Ant and Silvia sampling some fine goat medicine, practising Buddhist meditation and some really hard yoga with Pala - an 83 year old village man who is way fitter than all of us, he tried to get us to do this crazy cross legged jumping thing... all I achieved was a sore muscles!

There were numerous jeep journeys to and from Sikkim. Imagine a normal 4x4 that in the West would sit 6 people the ones here are crammed with 13 inside and at least 2 hanging on outside driving along some of the windiest roads I've ever been on. Somehow we always seemed to get put in the back of the vehicle - bumpy and bloody uncomfortable, but you don't have to worry about falling out of the vehicle in the case of an accident, they'd need a tin opener just to prise you out of the sardine can.

As usual you meet some great people on your journey and much of the trip you spend laughing with the locals or being laughed at, either way you have a lot of fun! During one jeep ride a local girl was certain that Ant, Silvia and I were 'together', it took us ages with a lot of lauging and animated hand movements to try and explain that Ant and I were married and Silvia was just our friend - I'm still not sure she was convinced. The same girl also wanted to come to NZ to get a boyfriend as she thought Ant was handsome (I think she must have left her glasses at home that day). Another a man spoke for what seemed like hours about not always be taking photos and I should look at a mountain or sunrise to feel the energy and beauty that nature can provide - I am going to try this soon! I also received a sparkly Indian ring from a sweet woman who wanted me to remember her forever, sadly the ring has turned my finger black so I'll have to put it away in a special place.

We sadly had to leave Sikkim, but this is a place I want to return to. We headed back to Darjeeling for one night and then on to Kolkata - though that trip is another story in itself!