Having spent the a couple of days being driven around Namichi district, I settled in Namchi for a few days. It’s a small town. I didn’t venture very far outside the town square, where my hotel was.
Namchi may be the only place I’ve been to on this trip that has a pedestranised town square. It make a big difference. There are lots of benches and other seating. As a result, the square is populated all day. Young and old sit in the square. And because there are no scooters, cars or autos, children can play safely — and dogs can sleep!
There’s a giant TV screen in the square. On one day it was showing a football match. It was also showing a promotional film about the changes that have been going on in Namchi. They’ve been investing in solar panels and other things to make the district more sustainable. They’re also making the district more pedestrian-friendly.
Most places I’ve been to in India have not been designed for pedestrians. Even if there’s a pavement, it soon fizzles out. You’re then walking on the road, competing with vehicles for space. If you’re a wheelchair user, it’s even worse. The pavements that do exist are often uneven. I’ve not seen any people in wheelchairs except in shopping malls where there are car parks. Trains also have space for people who have a disability or, as the signs say, are “differently abled”.
In some ways, India is an accommodating country. For example, on my last trip and this trip, I saw many people who are transgender. The culture wars around transgender in the West seem absent here.
Over the past few days, I’ve been taking it easy, sometimes going to The Bodhi Cafe. On one occasion, I discovered this market, which was off a road I’d walked on many times. It’s not the first time that I’ve found there’s more going on in a town than it seems.
When I passed through Namchi the other day I went to the Magistrate’s Office. My Sikkim permit was valid for 15 days and I wanted to extend it. It was just a precautionary extension because I still had about six days left on it. When I spoke to the official, he said that I needed to wait until there were only two or three days left on the permit before extending it.
Since I ended up returning to Namchi (instead of staying in Pelling), I went to the office again. Luckily, it was a short walk from my hotel. This time, they extended the permit without fuss.
Although I explored Namchi on foot, I was hindered by the heat. Namchi is about 1600m above sea level. It’s higher than Ben Nevis, the tallest mountain in the UK! Despite its altitude, Namchi is still hot at this time of year. Thankfully, the temperature in the evenings is pleasant.
In East Asia, especially Japan, convenience stores (like 7-Eleven) are common sights. Sometimes you can see several within a fifty metre radius. In India, the convenience shops in the photo below are very common. They can be a few meters apart. Various snacks are usually draped over the front. Sweets, drinks, toiletries and other essentials are also available. There are so many of these shops that I wonder how they survive.
In Gangtok, someone had given me an ayurvedic cough sweet in Starbucks. It was quite effective against my pollution-cough. Whilst walking one day, I asked a random convenience store if they had any of the sweets. I was pleasantly surprised that they did: one rupee per sweet and there were a few flavours!