❝A TWENTY-SEVEN DEGREES NORTH LATITUDE, when crossing on foot border post between Nepal and India to reach Sikkim by land you can't imagine a night with a fireplace in the Oak Hotel de Kalimpong, one of those hotels that are missed (I repeat for the second time), perhaps also because the trip is almost initiatory: the discovery of Mahakala and its auspicious sacred cham dances in the remote Rumtek Monastery wait me. Two intense days, and from the Kalimpong oak to the Rumtek bamboo, a cozy resort at the foot of the monastery, Bamboo Retreat, distant from Gangtok, state capital, about forty kilometers. My friends Vishal, on the Sikkim side, and Anjan, on the Nepal side, make sure I don't get lost.
Some German scholars also fell into the accommodation with the same objective of attending the end of the year festival (Tibetan year), who refused to share the after-dinner chat and tea, even though they appeared in every photo, no matter how much you avoided them. A young Rajasthani man, who was managing an organic garden for the hotel, along with his Mexican friend, joined us to climb the monastery. We talked over breakfast about celebrating together. Lhosar (New Year) en Darjeeling.
The electric stoves heated the rooms and it was possible to take a shower without much noise.●
Novices at Rumtek Monastery during the Tibetan New Year celebration.
