It seems like an age ago since I was in Sikkim and a month on the road really is. I arrived in Gangtok the central town of the province of Sikkim in Indias far north east. It is a bustling tourist town for Indians and home to an affluent mix of Nepali, Tibetan and Anglo-Indians which showed all of us backpackers up with their fine jeans and rip off labelled outdoor wear. To get into Sikkim you need a permit. Free in price but not in hassle. It had meant I held up a jeep load of locals for 30minutes at the check point. As I walked down the street in Gangtok, dodging the evening rain two guys I met at the checkpoint shouted “New Zealand Girl”. They beckoned me into shelter where I met a German guy and two Hungarians. We needed a group of at least 5 Foreigners at least to hire a jeep and get more permtits to be able to go to the holy lake of Changu bordering Tibet. It meant we would be going high into the hills, near snow! And after months in the heat I was excited to use the mer...