Suitcase and World: Gangtok Ropeway. Cruisin' above the street.

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Gangtok Ropeway. Cruisin' above the street.

On our way to Ganesh Tok, Merle had spotted a cable car and when we found out that we could actually ride it, we all agreed to add that to our agenda. We asked the driver to take us there and so he did.

For 60 rupees each, we would get a roundtrip ride on the cable car which is officially known as the Gangtok Ropeway. There are three cable car stations. One at the top of the hill, one in the middle and one at the bottom. We got on at the middle section. When the car arrived, there were already quite a few people on board. We wanted to wait for another car to come along but we got waved to board and so we squished in with crowd of Indian tourists. Merle and Mike made their way to the front of the car and I stayed at the back.

When the cable car left the station, it headed uphill. At the time, we didn't realize there were three stations so when it arrived at the upper station just after a few minutes, we thought that was all there was too it but luckily that wasn't the case.








So it was back down to the middle station. The group of Indian tourists disembarked and it was the three of us plus about 5 other Indian gentlemen who, we found out later, were on a business trip to Gangtok and decided to do some touring on the side.

The car then headed downhill and we soon passed over the streets of Gangtok. About halfway between the two stations, the cable car stopped momentarily so we could enjoy an amazing view of the town and the surrounding hills. I snapped a few photos of the streets below. All I got were pictures of cars....I was hoping to capture some people in action but alas, it was not to be :-(




As we chatted with our Indian co-passengers, the cable car continued its descent to the lower station. No new passengers boarded so we began the roundtrip back to the middle station. Time flies when you're enjoying yourself so before I knew it, we were back where we started.

We parted ways with our Indian co-passengers. They were a very nice group of gentlemen and it was a pleasure to have shared the ride with them.

Back to the car.  Next stop.  The Cottage Industries.