Skywalking amidst the valleys - My Sangacholi experience

If you’re a guy from Sikkim, you mostly know every nook and cranny around every district of the state. But there are some places you would have missed even after growing up here in the mountains. I have been to West Sikkim quite a few times but only for family work and attending marriages, so when my friends asked if I’d like to join them on a trip to see the skywalk in Pelling, I couldn’t say no. My friends and I are usually busy with our own work—some are in the force, some work in a hospital, and some work in corporate offices—so it’s not quite we go on trips. 
 
One of my friends who is in the force had returned from his post a while back, and it was his idea to go to Sangacholi. He called me last summer and had said that he will be arriving the following week. He said, “keep your salary in your pocket cause we’re about to go on a trip.” “Okay, but where are we going to go?” I asked. “Sangacholi,” he said. I asked him where it was and he said it’s the Pelling skywalk. The locals know Sangacholi by the name “Pelling skywalk” or just “skywalk,” so when he said “Sangacholi,” I thought it was some holy place or a pilgrimage site (which we happen to have in almost every hamlet and small town). I was half correct. My friend said it in fact was a new site where a big statue resides upon a valley. I don’t know if it’s just me but I think Sikkim has a thing for big statues – you’ll find them in most parts of the state. 

I, along with my friends, his brother, and some mutual friends left for Sangacholi on a Monday. As it’s the first working day of the week, we assumed there would be fewer locals and non-local tourists around the place. Our group likes to go on ventures often but don’t like crowded places too much—we believe it messes with our zen. The day before our venture, we were talking about how long the trip would take and where we would eat. “It’s a four-and-a-half-hour journey,” my friend said. “What about food?” I asked. “Food? We need to hunt deer and birds along the way, get your spears ready,” he said jokingly. 

                                                       Pelling Skywalk

Finally, the day arrived. My friends called me up early in the morning: “oi uthis? (you up)” he asked. “Yeah, why? Want to go right now?” I asked jokingly. He replied in an instant saying “yes! Meet us after 10 minutes” and hung up. We packed only stuff that we thought we needed like, water, some chips, and drinks, and started off from Gangtok to Singtam, then Yang gang, Ravangla, and finally Geyzing. These are the four towns where you can buy additional supplies if needed.

We were all excited as most of us hadn’t been to Pelling before. I always saw many of my friends posting pictures of them walking around the skywalk and posing before the great statue of Chenrezig, which made me envy their experience. And now I was about to do the same. As we were heading to Singtam, we could see students and people going to their schools and work, respectively. I felt nice knowing that we were heading for some fun time and that too on a Monday—a day when I personally have to make double the effort in my workplace. But it really didn’t really felt like a Monday; more so it felt like a festival where everyone is free and having a good time. I guess the days in the week don’t define how your day goes but what you do on that particular day makes it different. Listening to Pink Floyd, we reached Singtam.

 The journey from Singtam to Yang gang was not too good but not too bad either. Some parts of the road were horrible but some parts were well kept and the car drove like a knife in butter. Many hours had passed when we arrived at Ravangla. Roads in Sikkim tend to be in good shape but are mostly narrow compared to roads in the plains but Ravangla was an exception with its wide roads. The pine trees, cold breeze, foggy environment, the cold winter atmosphere was a joy to experience after the heat waves we had been tolerating in and after Singtam. The adventure spirit came back again and we were eager to reach our destination. “How long till we get there?” I asked. My friend joked again saying, “We get there when we get there, but you can fly off these pine trees if you want to”. We all started a small friendly banter till we reached Geyzing. We stopped there for a while to refill fuel. Again I asked my friend: “How long till we reach now? and no jokes this time.” He laughed and said, “We’re about to reach. But tell me, do you know about the statue of Chenrezig?” I said no and asked him to elaborate. He said, “That statue might be the highest statue of Chenrezig in the world as it’s located at an elevation of 7200 ft above sea level. But what I like more than this is the fact that it is also known as Avalokitesvara, (One who looks with an unwavering eye,) the most revered of all Bodhisattva, embodying the compassion of all Buddhas. He listens to the prayers of all sentient beings in times of challenge and difficulty.” I was impressed by his knowledge and mocked him by saying “Damn, the boy is smarter than he looks.” We had a good laugh, the tank was refueled, and we were off once again.

                                         Chenrezig Statue

I was excited to see the statue now and couldn’t wait any longer. After some time we finally arrived. We parked the car and went towards the skywalk. We were told to take off our shoes before walking on the glass floor. Most of us were thrilled to walk on the skywalk while some were getting a little nervous thinking it might break. After roaming around, we went up the stairs to check out the Chenrezig Statue. “Ayo tero statue, there it is,” my friend said to me whilst pointing at the humongous structure. As we were moving towards the statue of Chenrezig, we could see his two front hands in a devotional gesture, clasped in front of his jewel-draped heart. His upper right hand was holding his special symbol, a crystal akshamala, or rosary, a symbol of the never-ending cycle, while his left hand was holding a white lotus, signifying that he frees the sentient beings from the muddy waters of suffering and hellish realms to the pure states of enlightenment. He is draped in silk garments, both legs in the “diamond pose” of mediation, and seated on a row of lotus petals. The view was breathtaking. “Oi, photo! Get some of my pictures,” my friend exclaimed. After taking some pictures that consisted of my 2 friends posing like an old couple from the late 70’s we went to get some food. We could’ve taken a little more time but we had to return the same day so were in a hurry. My friend decided to have lunch at a small Nepali canteen where we each had a bowl of noodles. 

The day was coming to an end and the sun was beginning to set. The atmosphere was warm and the sky looked orange. I took a last glance at the statue from afar and could see the orange light reflecting on the statue's drapes; it looked heavenly. The day had been spent well and I and my friends were a bit exhausted by the journey and walking around the pilgrimage site. But the bonding we had and the good memories that we shared together is something I’ll treasure immensely until our next journey. It’s been five or six months since my friends I have been on a road trip together but I hope it changes soon.

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