Gangtok is in the Indian state of Sikkim right in the north of the country bordering Nepal, Tibet and Bhutan. We are still up in the mountains and the weather is still on the chilly side. However as this is such a wonderful place I am not in any hurry to leave and return to lower, warmer ground. The main high street here is weirdly westernised; it is a pedestrianised cobbled street with lots of shops on both sides and islands down the middle filled with flowers.

There is not an awful lot to do here in the town; so on the first day we head off to the Rumtek Monastery for the morning. It is a Tibetan Monastery up in the hills, surrounded by prayer flags and prayer wheels. The afternoon we spent exploring the town and the evening we had a first real night out since arriving in India. There is a pub here call Live & Loud that serves alcohol despite the rest of the town being dry due to the forthcoming election and plays music late into the evening. The following day we head off up the mountain on a long drive up to 3000m to Tsomgo Lake. This high altitude lake is very beautiful, I'm not sure the lake itself was worth the long drive up the mountain but when we got to the lake we had the opportunity to go on a yak ride. It was a weirdly wonderful experience, it's a bit like riding a short, fury horse. In the evening a group of us went to the cinema to see the new James Bond film for 40p and then had a Domino's for dinner for £2, what a bargain for such a great evening. We are on the move again tomorrow as we head off on our journey into Nepal.