Day 81 Tuesday 21 November, Pelling, Sikkim to Siliguri, India

Feeling sick in Sikkim (for the first time on the whole trip) we leave late and drive slowly down to the valley floor and follow the river down to the plains. We’ve visited all the parts of Sikkim you can visit with an ‘inner line permit’ , without seeing a single snow capped mountain, which are apparently visible from all parts of the tiny state. To go anywhere else you need to be part of a tour and have special permission as they are very sensitive about the Chinese. It's interesting as before we leave Pelling we happen to catch a program on BBC about the China/India border with lots of shots of the nearby Namchu pass and Tsompo lake which we had thought of visiting. It looks bleak and cold so we don’t feel we’ve missed out.
We see lots of monkeys and a mongoose runs across the road at one point. Then we reach Siliguri and check into the Conclave hotel we stayed in on the outward journey.

Weather 10.5C Misty
Distance today: 142km
Distance from start: 15,257km