I went to the post office again this morning to buy a stamp and post a letter. The young couple in front of me were sending postcards to half of America. They sat down for probably the rest of the day to stick two stamps on each postcard. I did have to ask them if I could borrow their glue, which the counter staff had lent them.
My next destination was the Institute of Tibetology. The walk there took about 45 minutes.
I bought a ticket and looked around the small museum. This was mostly about Mahayana Buddhism. There were many artifacts and photos of the various Dalai Lamas. You weren’t allowed to take photos. There were warnings of fines of Rs1500 (£15), which was enough of a deterrent.
Much more interesting was the Tibetan Library on the first floor. It was a peaceful place. I sat down and read my book for a while.
As I was about to leave the library, I saw the young stamp couple from the post office! We spoke briefly then I went to the gift shop. I bought a sticker of the wheel in the Sikkim flag.
As I was about to leave, the stamp couple appeared again! Their names were Kevin (US) and Sophie (UK). They had met in SE Asia not too long ago. We walked together to the monastery up the hill. After looking around, we walked back to the main road, exchanged details, and said goodbye.
We were going to have dinner together but I had to return to the town centre. I had an appointment with a tour agent to arrange a trip for tomorrow. After finalising details, I went to my usual shopping mall to have a masala dosa.
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