Homewards Bound

My trip back home was fun and eventful to say the least. Excited as I was to be going back home, my flight to India did manage to dampen my spirit a bit.

Me and V started for the airport with a good 4hrs buffer. But, proving Murphy's Law to be true, we got stuck in an awful jam. Thankfully with the help of friends we managed to find an alternate route but still managed to miss my flight. I was put in a later flight and I was worried I might miss the connecting flight from Paris. Of course the flight got further delayed and when I landed in Paris I was whisked off to another terminal only to be made standing in the queue for more than 1.5hrs. Luckily(?) my connecting flight was also delayed and I managed to catch it just in time. All my dreams of shopping for liquor chocolates in Paris airport duty free shops were smashed to pieces.

I heaved a sigh of relief when I landed in Delhi, but that too was cut short when I saw my name displayed asking if I could kindly see the Air France officials. No surprise, my baggage didn't make it to the connecting flight from Paris even if I did. They said my baggage would arrive the next evening. But I was leaving for Sikkim early morning next day so I had to arrange for them to send them directly to the Bagdogra airport. In a way I was relieved of not having to deal with customs any more. So off I went with my small carry-on luggage. As soon as I saw my parents all the woes and tiredness was forgotten. It was a happy Kodak moment. My parents were surprised to see me empty handed. Then another interesting incident happened. We went out to the parking looking for the taxi my parents had hired that day. As luck would have it, we couldn't find the car or the driver. We went around the parking lot for a good 1hr or so. Finally my dad found him waiting for us in the arrivals. Poor guy, cant blame him. There he was looking for 3 people loaded with huge bags and baggage and we passed by him with just a small suitcase! He couldn't recognize us!

The next day morning we were back at the airport for our flight to Bagdogra (West Bengal, closest airport to Sikkim) . The flight went uneventful and I got to enjoy the flight food complete with a little packet of pickle. When we landed we came to know the whole of West Bengal was on strike. As is normal, in such a situation Sikkim is completely cut off from the rest of the world. This posed a problem as my dad had to go to his office that day. He then booked us on a helicopter ride to Gangtok. Yippee! 3.5hrs of drive through twisting and turning mountain roads would be covered in just 20mins of flight time!

It was a small coptor with a capacity of 6+1 passengers. My parents made the 5th and 6th passenger and I happily sat besides the pilot to occupy the 7th seat. Wheee! I was the copilot!!! The pilot was a friendly Sardarji and I immediately started remembering Ricky :P

If I have been raving about the beauty of the nature of Sikkim, the view from the top tops it all! This was the first time I had viewed the area from that angle and I was awe-struck! The view was breathtaking! The pilot took us along the course of Teesta river. While near the Siliguri area, we got a glimpse of the Jaldapara Wildlife Sanctuary. I craned my neck in hopes of seeing some wildlife but I guess they were all taking a nap.

Soon we approached the hilly regions. I was filled with sensation of wonder as I looked on towards the marvelous view. Sadly the Kanchendzonga range was covered with clouds, else the view would have been more spectacular. We were flying over the green Teesta river with Darjeeling hill on one side and Kalimpong on the other. The Teesta-Rangeet meet below us looked distinct with their characteristic difference in color, one being shades darker than the other.

We then entered Sikkim as we flew over the border town on Rangpo which is unique in itself as it lies half in Sikkim and half in West Bengal. It was delighting to fly over well known towns. I was surprised to know that Pakyong is so close by to Gangtok. I must have passed through Pakyong n no. of times during our trips to my grandparents. I remember it takes us almost 1.5hrs to reach from Gangtok but looking from above, it was just on the other side of Gangtok!

As we approached Gangtok, the first thing I saw was the prominent 'TV Tower' and below it my school. It wasn't difficult to locate my home as it is directly below my school.With glee I spotted other major landmarks in the town. We landed on the helipad and I thanked the pilot for the memorable trip. We made our way through the narrow winding roads towards our home where I was welcomed by a colorful poster with a huge sign saying "Welcome Home!"