Everything is in slow motion!

Everything here is in slow motion except the traffic! A lad at the hotel knocked on the door at 7.30 am and woke us up to ask if we wanted a cup of tea - it arrived an hour and a half later!

We're in Gangtok at the minute - due to depart tomorrow in our rickshaw and faced with a ridiculous 120 km downhill road, which none of us are looking forward to. We got our last flight from Delhi to Bagdogra on Thursday -  it flew straight past Bagdogra and landed somewhere else, and we were told they'd drop us off on the way back to Delhi!  At Bagdogra we got a jeep taxi to bring us to Gangtok. McGill haggled the taxi fare down to about twenty five quid - for a 4 1/2 hour journey! 

And what a journey it was - its all uphill, on winding mountain roads with sheer drops.  The road is full of pot holes and sections have been washed away or covered in landslides. The drivers all beep their horn constantly but don't use their brakes very often.  We were all like rabbits caught in the headlights! We did see some monkeys sitting by the side of the road, which was a brief distraction from the fear.

We did eventually arrive in Gangtok, but we know we have to go back down the same road tomorrow in a vehicle that is totally unsuitable.  We had a quick drive in a  rickshaw yesterday - they are bonkers ... go really slow and I almost tipped over going down a steep bit from a landslide - Jukesy was no better though he thinks he's a natural rickshaw driver (pity his legs won't fit inside the vehicle).

Started taking malaria tablets and McGill is hallucinating and seeing mice everywhere we go! We've been drinking the 8% local beer a lot so are either drunk or hungover depending on the time of day. Football match and leaving party tonight, and then the reality of it all starts tomorrow.