"If you don’t know where you are going, then any road will take you there"
Song of the day: Junip: rope and summit
Sikkim is a region located in India in between Bhutan, Tibet and Nepal. Normally, I have very rough plan for the roads that I am going through, just to keep all the options open. Yet, the road in Sikkim I had planned already in Finland. I had read other tourers blogs and went through other information I managed to find. I had day-dreamed with the pictures people had taken in Sikkim. I knew the roads would only go up, and I would have hard but rewarding time. That's what I thought the road would bring to me. It's easy to paint the future beforehand, but in the end the world might have another plan for us.
My first day in Sikkim started with the steepest off-road downhill that I have ever ridden from Darjeeling towards Melli, a checkpoint village to enter into Sikkim. The air was fresh from the rain and the the misty forests and tea plantations passed by. I got to the check post and the officers treated me with tasty lunch and explanations about culture and people in Sikkim. I felt happy that I had chosen this part of India, even though I was kind of terrified for the super steep roads.
On my second day in Sikkim my rear wheel was feeling a bit funny. I unloaded the bike and turned it around in order to straighten the wheel. I wouldn't have thought, that only in last three days Lady princesses rear rim would have gotten 14 cracks next to the spokes. Since I had cleaned my bike in Darjeeling, I knew the cracks were not there before. The road day before from Melli, to Jorethang was just in horrible condition. The dust from the road was so thick that I saw only three meters in front of me. The road had heavy traffic and the jeeps were racing each other's. With heavy traffic I mean constant flow of trucks, busses and jeeps on a road which looked relatively small on a map. I was covered with the dust, and even though I was wearing a breathing mask, I felt the dust both crunching in between my teeth and deep down in my lungs.
For the first time in the traffic I lost my temper. After third jeep almost crashed with me, just because of crazy driving, I started to scream. Nobody, of course, heard the scream but me, because a noisy truck was passing me at the same time honking the horn to say hello. India is absolutely a country that pushes unpredictably all my feelings up. All the hidden emotions and reactions are pushed to the surface because of constant very intense experiences and sensations that everyday life in India offers for visitors. I still have not been in another country, where I go through so many emotions in one day.
I had met a nice couple (who dreamed to walk through Africa!) on the border- bordel town and we spend the evening together in Jorhetang. We ended up sleeping in a bordel, where my room was the biggest rathole ever. Moldy and dark, next to the smelly public toilet with extremely thin walls. Every 30 min a woman was going around nocking the doors trying to ask if I want to have a bit of a "fire". It was one of these nights, that I just waited the following morning to arrive so I can escape the rathole. I also promised to myself that I will deserve a slightly better place.
The next day, I found about the rear wheel problem and I took a lift from a jeep to the next bigger town Geyzing, where everything basically is on one street. I was a bit worried about my bike on the roof, because the road continued as very bumpy one. I was hoping to find somebody who knows how to fix a broken aluminium rim or that I could find a new rim and learn how to place my spokes on it. After the whole town was helping the best they could (by calling different bikes hopes and friends and uncles) they came into the conclusion that I could not fix the wheel in Sikkim. I should look for another option.
I had been reading about tourers who have broken wheels in remote areas, but I wouldn't thought that I will be one of them. That's life, we never think something could happen to us until it does happen. The development had reached Geyzing and I had working wifi and wrote on Facebook about my wheel problem. I got quick replies and friends and touring group in Facebook were helping me to give ideas what to do. After remaking some phone calls to the nearest bike shops I learned that I will not get the wheel from anywhere "nearby" (meaning anywhere closer than 300 km away).
So this is how I got a new wheel delivered to Kathmandu: I contacted Lauttasaaren Pyörähuolto and once again they where extreamly helpful and fast to reply to me. I got a whole new wheel set from them and my lovely lovely friend Litu went to get it packed it and delivered it to Päivi from Finnish Red Cross, who flew to Katmandu with my wheel (and some Finnish food, omnomnom!!). I brought my lady princess for proper checkup to Kathmandu Bike Station and they checked my bike without charging me any money. I really can't express in words how much gratitude I have towards all the people who helped me and contacted me to offer their help.
What I did the rest of my time in beautiful Sikkim? In the beginning, I just had no clue what I should do, and I felt lonely and helpless by being stuck in cycling region of my dreams. By the time when I knew that I will get my wheel delivered to Kathmandu, I decided to pack my small backpack and started walking instead of cycling. I asked a guesthouse owner where I should go and if he can look after lady princess and the rest of my stuff. He told me about a five days trek from village to village, and took my bike into his own home to make sure she will be fine. After the first day of walking on the absolutely stunning mountains, I had to take a few days off, because my legs were hurting so much that it was a challenge to squat in the toilets. It made me to think when was the last time for me to walk and do something else than cycling or recovering from cycling? I met good people to share the walk and I liked a lot the "new" way of moving around. I really enjoy cycling, because i feel I am close to people and nature. Obviously, walking is even more slow and I enjoyed the possibility to stop smelling the flowers and seeing more than while cycling. In the end, I spend 2 weeks walking in west Sikkim before I took a long cheep ride back to Siliguri and then cycled to the border and later took a bus to Kathmandu.
The rim problem that in the beginning seemed to be bigger than any mountains I have claimed on Himalayas, solved itself out. I learned that even if I am cycling solo, I am never alone because I have such an amazing group of friends, people who support me and the local people will do always their best to ensure the continuity of my journey. The plans are there to be changed and I had to give up my determined mind to bicycle to enjoy a totally new way of moving and to meet inspiring people and feel like belonging somewhere for a moment. While taking a jeep down from the mountains, I was surprised that I had made the road up with my own power. The road condition was bad and we were driving for 8 hours downhill on steep hills, we were racing other jeeps. While cycling, sure I lost my temper and I was exhausted but I think these mountains didn't feel that difficult from the saddle as from the jeep. So the conclusion is: Every mountain is as big as we want it to be ?
