The voyage to S****m has brought back a memory from 1998. At that time I met my friend Pushpa where the train finished and we caught a jeep up to the border of the state where foreigners have to check in. About half way up I had some lovely momos. By the time we reached the border gate my tummy decided it did not like momos much. I was about to check in when I decided I needed to go outside very fast. I left the momos in the garden beside the big house where foreigners report in. Nearly 30 years down the track I recognised the house but could not take a photo of it. In the photo it is the yellow building in the distance. There is a new check in place closer to the welcome arch.
This time around reporting in could have been fraught too but for the efforts of people waiting in the bus interceding. I did say to my friends if we are going to S*****m I will need a permit. They asked the bus driver when booking the tour but he said you can book in when you arrive. Not so. One needs to apply online. Fortunately the staff were very kind and Amit printed off the documents I needed to supply like copies of my visa and passport. It was also fortuitious I had a digital copy of my passport photo on my phone too. Eventually we were on our way. I did feel sorry for the people waiting in the hot bus though.
The trip in and out was very slow and took several hours longer than google predicted. The trip out was particularly interesting because a dozen of us were supposed to catch a jeep from G*****k to K*******g. In the end we joined the others on the bus. I sat beside a didi who decided it would be good to sing. She was quite a loud singer. I was debating whether to wear my noise cancelling headphones or not. I decided it was probably too rude. After about half an hour she stopped and asked me if I liked her singing to the L**d. To be fair I did not. However, I thought it was very nice she wanted to sing so told her that.
It was very hot and cramped for five hours of slow travel. I was able to listen to a couple of messages by RT Kendall on total forgiveness and forgiving yourself. I discovered him a week ago and have been listening to what is posted online. He also has a very good message about grieving the HS
We got off the bus at the turnoff to K*******g and waited for a taxi. Some turned up and we arrived about 7pm. We were all extremely snackish by this time as we had not eaten lunch. I had some lovely momos. They came with soup which was very bland. Thankfully tummy has forgotten how obnoxious its younger self found momos. I also had a butter naan which was tasty but not good enough to make the top five best naan bread I have ever eaten. People find it very strange I eat butter naan "dry" as they call it.
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