The market....Kalimpong style.

When everyone had emerged from Mangal Dham temple, Sanjeev suggested that we walk back to the hotel which was just a short distance away. The drivers would take us to the center of town and from there, our walking route would take us through the market.


The first part of the walk was through a typical market area. Vendors selling produce, dried goods and prepared foods for sale.

There were the food vendors too.  With Sanjeev's help, I got a snack to nibble on.  The color was kind of freakish but it was tasty.  I have no idea what I was eating though.

The other part was basically walking through a shopping area....Kalimpong style.

We even interrupted the local tailor to inquire about what he was sewing.  Turned out to be a man's shirt.  For a few hours wait and a few rupees less in your wallet, you can walk away with a custom tailored shirt.  Not bad.  The guy looks a bit grumpy in the photo but he was actually very pleasant to chat with.

Just about the time we left the shopping area, it started to rain. I didn't have either my rain jacket or umbrella so I was picking up my walking pace to avoid getting too soaked.

We followed Sanjeev's directions to get back to the hotel.  About a block from the hotel, I spotted a map of the town.  Uh....a little late.  Oh well.

By then, it was late afternoon. Just a short while to rest before meeting up with the rest of the gang for dinner.

Dinner was at a local restaurant where the meal was unexciting. But, the company more than made up for it. I was seated with Paul, Libby and Mike and we were seated at a table next to two young girls - Molly and Zoe. Molly is the Connecticut and Zoe from the UK. Both were back in India visiting a village that they had worked in 3 years ago during their gap year. Zoe was particularly chatty and Mike is extremely sociable so we had a lively conversation with them.

Dinner over, it was a short walk back to the hotel. Back in the room, I did my nightly duties which include writing this text. About 3/4 of a way through writing this posting, the lights went out but since I wasn't done writing so I lit the candle to finish up.

Oh...., and there was joke printed on the back of the matchbox.....a little bit of Indian humor.  Though I found it to be an odd place for a joke, it was nice to end the night with a smile. :-)

Night, night.  Tomorrow, I'll be sleeping in my bed in Bhutan!