(From top): A view of the Yumthang valley; flags fluttering in the wind; a shop selling Sikkimese goods; the picturesque Tsogmo lake; a line of shops next to it

Sucks to Batman. My new favourite superhero is the Border Roads Organisation, the branch of the Indian Army which daily conquers hardship and danger to necklace the hilly throat of Sikkim, and our other border states, with strings of beautiful road.

Like all contemporary superheroes, it has the superpower of advertising, so Sikkim is plastered over with signs like ?BRO: Mountain Tamers? and ?BRO: Bringing People of Remote Into the Mainstream?, and rightly so. It takes extreme gumption to build roads in this magnificent but wildly inhospitable place, cutting them out of rock and ice on slopes that look like 85-degree gradients, and maintaining them in the face of constant downpours and landslides. Only the most graceless traveller would not give up fervent thanks.

Not far from the airport at Bagdogra, just beyond Siliguri and the Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary, National Highway 31A begins to rise towards Gangtok alongside the rushing green Teesta. At every bend a new aspect unfolds, another range of hills fading into mystery, the road plunging into yet another green-clad fold of mountain, clinging like a flimsy hemline over another plunging cleavage.

Crossing from West Bengal into Sikkim at Rangpo, the road gets better, the shops brighter, the people different-looking. You become lost to a sea of mountains, struggling through the crests and troughs of mighty green waves, concentrating on how apt it is that Sikkim means ?crested land?, and on not driving off the edge into a thousand feet of air.

The lights of Gangtok define an urban sprawl with the comfort of nice hotel pillows on which to lay your spinning head. ?Ha ha, this is nothing, just 6,000 feet in four hours,? says the manager. ?Tomorrow, for Tsogmo Lake, you?ll climb 6,000 feet more in two hours.? I arrive at Tsogmo Lake (pronounced Somo, aka Changu) at 12,400ft with a head made of cotton wool, though that has as much to do with the beauty as with the altitude.

Tsogmo, en route to Nathula, is the most accessible of Sikkim?s many high-altitude lakes, a glacial mirror reflecting the snows around it. ?Many Bengali films are shot here,? says the driver. It is, indeed, crawling with Bengali tourists, who comprise the second-most common life form in Sikkim after orchids and rhododendrons.

That afternoon, we heave ourselves up a slope towards Rumtek monastery, 45 minutes? drive from Gangtok. It is full of precious artworks and manuscripts, debating monks and armed ITBP soldiers. Rumtek is a hotbed of unrest because the Indian government won?t let the Karmapa take his rightful seat there. Stickers everywhere protest this, one soldier tells me that China is eyeing Rumtek. Over a dinner of thukpa and pork gyarey, I think again that this very different land, too, is India, and feel greedily grateful.

The enormous northern district of Sikkim opened quite recently to tourists. The six-hour drive to the flower-carpeted Yumthang valley is breathtaking (you really can just drive through Sikkim without ever getting out of the car, and have a splendid time). Just when it seems that nothing can be more beautiful, something is. The vegetation is soothingly unfamiliar ? trees laced with orchids; teak, and explosions of purple flowers. I wish I had a book of botany. After a while, everytime I close my eyes, I see range upon range of dark green mountains.

The night passes in a charmless concrete box in the remote town of Lachung (6,000ft) at the foot of fantastic fang-toothed mountains whose peaks are in the clouds. It?s dead cold all night but the morning sun brings respite, and we climb rapidly into the snowy lap of the peaks. We drive to Yumthang through the Singba Rhododendron Sanctuary, a glory of flower, moss, and rock; and onward to Yumesomdong, a few kilometres short of the border and too far for most tourists to bother with. The solitude and the view are magnificent. In the high reaches of these mountains you feel composed of something other than flesh and blood: twigs, perhaps, or snow, or leaves; things that are fragile and melt away, but are part of the land.

Back in Gangtok we rest the night before driving five hours again, this time west, headed for the birthplace of the kingdom of Sikkim at Yuksom ? also a popular trekking base. On the way we pause to walk a steep half-hour up to Tashiding monastery, amid trees and bird calls. Among the chortens at Tashiding is the Thong-Wa-Rang-Dol, so sacred that just the sight of it will cleanse you of sins. And then there?s the wind, whispering through huge old trees and prayer flags.

Trees, wind, and prayer flags are the key ingredients at Yuksom too, at the shady, grassy knoll atop which stands the huge old three-seated throne of the Sikkimese kingdom, beneath a pine so enormous and ancient and iconic that it is grown over by moss and vines, a huge old bearded grandfather tree that has stood witness to everything and isn?t telling. It is an enchanted place. The throne, and the great chorten before it, containing soil and water from all parts of Sikkim, seem like portals to an older, more magical time. Similarly bewitching is the stiff but gorgeous uphill walk to Dubdi monastery, through a thick sun-dappled forest full of soft fallen leaves carpeting an old flagstoned path. The emerald Kartok lake, ringed with boulders and trees, makes a fine complement to the overall flavour of Yuksom.

Even further west, past sacred Khecheopalri Lake where great dark fish glide beneath the surface, lies Pelling. It?s mostly a collection of hotels and serves as the base from which to explore the famous Pemayangtse monastery and the ruins of the second capital of Sikkim, at Rabdentse. Although the weather plays spoilsport, Pelling is also famous for its views of Kangchendzonga. We potter around Rabdentse ? a little more worldly than Yuksom, but after four hundred years its remaining bricks still wear an air of authority. It lies in the depths of yet another uphill, forested approach, and commands a strategic view of the surrounding country.

From Pelling, it?s four hours? drive back to Bagdogra. Sikkim?s dramatic landscapes are astonishingly beautiful, astonishing accessible, astonishingly overlooked by most non-Bengali Indians. That has its benefits: may it remain forever unspoilt.

Photographs by Milan Moudgill

Carry on in the cabin

Airlines can be tough about check-in baggage. Janine Martin surveys the minefield of regulations

Consider this: you’re a harried business executive flying overseas to attend an important meeting. You’ve barely made the flight — no thanks to the nagging wife, crabby kids with demands for the latest Pokemon plaything, and, crowning it all, traffic of the ‘shoot-yourself-in-the-head’ variety. So you’re feeling hot, heckled and terribly on-edge. You can’t wait to sink into your seat and throw open your laptop to go over the final figures before that make-or-break meeting. Ah! If only life were that easy!

Before you can say Arthur Hailey, a dour-faced airport official rudely informs you that your laptop can’t be allowed inside the cabin. “Aircraft regulations” is cited before you’re dealt the “cabin baggage weight exceeded” explanation. There goes your plan to prep yourself before entering the boardroom!

Ever found yourself in a similar sticky situation? Remember it all boils down to weight watching. Every airline has its own weight limitations that passengers have to follow. Here’s a handy guide to help get the facts and figures right before your next trip.

While First Class highfliers usually have the option of carrying two pieces of hand luggage, for Economy passengers, most airlines allow a single piece of hand luggage not exceeding a weight of anything from 6kg to 10kg. Then again, a few carriers allow you to lug a second piece along too — but only if it’s a briefcase or a laptop. The condition: don’t cross the weight limit.

British Airways allows its First Class and Club Class patrons to haul into the cabin, a medium-sized bag plus a briefcase or laptop, but they should all add up to 18kg. The same applies to their World Traveller Plus (premium economy) and World Traveller (economy) ticket holders, just as long as they limit themselves to 12kg and 6kg respectively.

Such baggage regulations cut across airspace. Closer home, Air India also allows passengers to pack in a laptop but again, only if the normal hand baggage limit of 8kg to 10kg is not breached. While Indian Airlines (IA) does not lay down any weight restrictions, it does follow the one piece concept where the sum of three dimensions must not exceed 115cm. “We are flexible though and two hand bags can be allowed if, in total, they confirm to the 115cm limit. We also permit laptops over and above the one bag limit. But in any case, a major role is played by the Central Industrial Security Force at the airport,” says an Indian Airlines source.

Quite a few carriers allow fliers to carry along those much-needed extras along with the stipulated hand luggage. Jet Airways allows a flat 10kg as cabin baggage across both its Club Class and Economy sections. “Laptops and cameras are allowed in addition to the 10kg quota,” says reservations manager, Kamala Roy, Jet Airways, Calcutta. Keep in mind though, that if you’re on a flight originating from Jammu, Leh or Srinagar, hand baggage isn’t allowed for security reasons.

Sahara too allows passengers to bring along a laptop in addition to a handbag that weighs no more than 7kg for Economy passengers, and no more than 10kg for Club Class fliers. On IA flights, quite a few items are allowed besides the regulation hand baggage. So you can cart along an overcoat or wrap; an umbrella or a walking stick; a camera or binoculars; a purse and of course, a few glossies to read. If you’re taking baby along for the ride, you can carry baby food and a carry basket for the little one. Handicapped passengers can take along a wheelchair (the fully collapsible kind), crutches or braces.

In fact, most carriers including Lufthansa and Cathay Pacific allow more or less the same. Cathay Pacific also shows the green light to items like a briefcase (no more than 4kg), a laptop (no more than 4kg) and an infant collapsible pushchair (if cabin stowage is available). All this in addition to the regular baggage allowance which ranges from 7kg to 15kg, depending upon the class of travel.

Emirates allows duty-free purchase of liquor, cigarettes, perfumes in reasonable quantities for First Class and Economy ticket holders. That’s in addition to the stipulated limit of 7kg or 12kg depending upon the ticket you hold. The carriage of certain musical instruments is also permitted in the aircraft cabin. But that’s only if you’re packing a smaller instrument like a clarinet or a violin. Larger ones like a cello or guitar need to be checked into the hold or kept on a separate seat for which you’ll have to pay extra. Emirates — as does all other airlines — permits ‘wheelie’ bags (strolleys) as cabin baggage, provided they are within the 45 inch overall limit.

Small wonder then that most luggage manufacturers are churning out strolleys and hand baggage items by the dozen. Leading luggage makers VIP manufactures a range of strolleys and suitcases that adheres to most cabin baggage specifications. There’s the Atlantis Deluxe, Oxford, Pepperworks and Infiniti models, all ranging between Rs 1,399 and Rs 3,099, which are ideal for stowing in the aircraft cabin. This apart, there are plenty of other hand baggage options in the market that have provisions for a laptop as well.

Route map

The latest to jump on the New Zealand bandwagon is Thomas Cook which is offering a ‘Spirit of New Zealand’ package with 7 nights and 8 days in some of the country’s best-known places: Christchurch, Auckland, Rotorua and Queenstown. The tour offers three or four-star comfort with breakfast and one other meal thrown in. Take in the sights and sounds of the country with city tours of Christchurch and Auckland, and trips to Cashmere Hills, Glowworm Grotto, Rainbow Springs, Agrodome and Whakerewarewa. One of the tourist hotspots in New Zealand is Milford Sound, a true spectacle for waterfall lovers. And if just the sight of the falls isn’t enough, consider the river cruise to get really close up.

The entire package is 12 days — 4 days in Singapore — and will cost approximately Rs 1.7 lakh. But you’ll have to fork out extra cash for the airport tax, visa and Mediclaim charges. Air travel is by Qantas and exit points are Mumbai or Delhi.

There’s another new way to fly non-stop to Heathrow Airport. British Midland which is spreading its wings outside Europe, has just started its four-times-a-week flights from Mumbai to the British capital. What’s enticing for travellers is that the airline has great timings and you can reach London before sunrise, ready to do a full day of business meetings or just sightseeing. Thanks to its good timings, British Midland may steal a march over some of its rivals even though it is a newcomer to Indian skies.

My favourite holiday

Kiran Uttam Ghosh,
designer

Strangely, one of my finest holidays has been one I did alone, a trip to Rome. I stayed at this simple beautiful White Villa, Casalpalocco, outside Rome. The silence of the Italian countryside, a couple of ambling dogs, amazing aromas of fresh cappucino and acres of green gardens is the memory that stays with me. I had found nirvana. The Italians really do know how to appreciate the finer things in life, whether its the laid-back life, the fine cuisine or amazing ice cream.

It was destiny. I was tired, looking for some peace, while the lady who rented her villa, Dariya, an ex high-profile banker working in Tokyo, was taking a break from her career to bring up her two kids in her home town. Coming from my hectic life, we got along like a house on fire. We walked along the Via Della Conciliazione, the Trevy Fountain, the Spanish steps with chic men and women hanging all over — nobody looked like they were in a hurry. We crashed a Valentino party and gaped as limousine after limousine drew up with exotic Italian women. I enjoyed the Italian Gelatos, it was only three days but they were moments out of time. Sometimes I wonder what happened to Dariya, we lost touch... I wonder if she managed to go back to Tokyo as planned, leaving Paradise behind..