“Love is more than a noun – it’s a verb; it’s more than a feeling. It is Sharing, Caring, Sacrificing, helping…”- William Arthur Ward. I know it sounds corny, but we all know it’s true. My fellow travelers and lovely souls were all excited in helping me with my travel series (read Part 1 to know the context). We were in Sikkim for a very short time and had our fair share of traveling drama before and after. But that didn’t kill our spirits – it was high and bright throughout! Before traveling to Sikkim, for extra, precautionary I borrowed a woolen poncho from my friend Shreya. Eventually, it was then shared by all 6 of us in various temperatures, styles, and body type. The primary motto was to show how a simple, basic piece of garment can give you various looks based on how you style them. In a world, with zillions of population with diverse body type and personality, you need more unisex or androgynous clothing that suits a wider range of aesthetics. Shreya’s Poncho completely nailed it!
Rajmita Kaur is a professional teacher Like Sumedha and her roommate. They are both currently living in Chennai, and this entire trip started with these two planning to escape the heat of Chennai. Rajmita was all excited shooting for this series and is wearing the poncho little differently with the sides folded on her shoulders. I parted her hair into two plaits and gave my dangling earring to wear.
After surviving 12 hours with no electricity and butt freezing cold, with the temperature dropping down to 7 degrees in Zuluk, we traveled higher altitude the next morning. Through Lungthung village at 11,500ft and Nathan Valley which is 13500ft high. It was 3 degrees in these parts and I survived by doing jumping jacks every time we got out of the car (not kidding..haha)! We traveled to Thambi point from where you can see Kanchenjunga (third highest mountain located partly in Nepal and partly in Sikkim) but unfortunately, it was too cloudy with the sun popping in and out.
The same day we came down through the old silk route, to this tiny village called Agamlok. It is a tiny Sherpa village on the Eastern part of Sikkim and the onset to the Old Silk Route. Beautiful views of the Singalila range along with the mountains of Bhutan and Tibet, this place is a real treasure of the travelers. After traveling from such high altitude, Agamlok, was relatively comfortable with just 10 degrees outside.
Soufiane El Assal, originally from Morocco now living in Bombay, working as a development operational engineer. The first thing I noticed about him was his unique glasses. This charming young soul is a complete goofball when you start getting to know him. Capturing him was the most difficult and fun! Since he had a long lean structure, he didn’t roll the poncho’s neck like rest of us (rather, he didn’t had to).
Coming down from Agamlok, we stayed in a beautiful resort off the old silk route called Phalongthara silk route resort in small cottages. with a beautiful view to the jungle. It was completely off the radar with no human contact within the 6-kilometre radius.
Lorato Maswe, is a smart young girl, originally from Botswana. Currently lives in Mumbai, working as a Java developer. She was a ton of fun and was on point with experimenting. Her love for headgear made us wrap the poncho as a head scarf and wrapped the rest around the neck. Personally, I feel cold even on my ears, so I always keep them protected during winters. So people like me can try this style out.
The poncho saved us in our cold drunken night adventures, became the best travelling game, made us look forward to every day of the trip and became a reason to stay in touch after the trip. All-in-all it was a fabulous experience, with all the love, memories, moments, food and nature that we shared together.
EAT PRAY LOVE TRAVEL ♥