Rather a frustrating day to say the least – have a driver who can’t speak English and because I was on my own he thought he’d bring his wife and 16 month old boy! The road was hideous – potholes and remains of rock slides - and there was solid low cloud so very poor views. Mother was sick pretty quickly poor thing and the beautiful child grizzled between suckling and sleeping.  There were lots of wonderful flowering shrubs but I dared not get the driver to stop in case we woke the child for more grizzling. From 5,400 feet at Gangtok we went down to the valley to about 2,000 and then went up the other side of the steep valley and down and up and round and down and round and up – endless hairpin bends and switch backs, enormous rock slides labelled as areas of ‘active shooting stones’ or ‘sinking zone – go slow -  inconvenience regretted’ - for 6 hours with only a stop to look at a huge Buddha and have a momo until we reached Pelling at 7,250 feet. We arrived in fog and it is pretty cold and the village is full of eco lodges.   I was promised a lodge on my own several yards from others in a jungle – there is no jungle and hardly any foliage over 3 foot high at the moment – and my lodge has 3 bedrooms and the neighbouring one has a ‘famous’ footballer in it with his new wife and about 15 friends – smoking and drinking and making a racket.  There is no wifi but I have a tv and watched the Williams sisters battling it out for the Australian final – they both looked like most unattractive black yetis until I was able to narrow the screen and normalise them! They do play the most extraordinary tough game.  After they'd all had dinner 3 chaps came back to the neighbouring bedroom and proceeded to verbally fight till well after midnight when I banged on their door and asked them to continue in the morning.  It worked!  at 6 a.m they started again as they cleaned their teeth and every other orifice too by the sound of it.  the Indian morninng chorus is truly frightful.  This photo is of two bulls ploughing a rice paddy.  I thought they used ox but obviously not for these were well hung.. PICASA LINK NOW HERE