The Eastern Himalaya.
For Bhutan, it is best to consult Claude White’s Sikkim and Bhutan (Arnold, 1909). It would be necessary to obtain special leave from the Government of India to travel here; and the country is not very promising from our point of view.
Sikkim.
For Sikkim, consult Mr. Freshfield’s Round Kangchenjunga, and several papers by Dr. Kellas in the Alpine and Geographical Journals.
Sikkim is a region of tropical contrasts, merging on the north into Tibetan conditions. The vegetation is magnificent. The great peaks in the south are difficult; in the north much easier, where the isolated peak of Chumolhari (23,930 feet) has long challenged attention.
The starting-point is Darjeeling, reached by rail in a day and night from Calcutta, or in three days from Bombay. A call should be made on the Deputy Commissioner, especially if the climber intends to enter native Sikkim. At present permission would not be given to enter Nepal or Tibet, and probably not for Bhutan. Stores can be bought beforehand at Darjeeling, and a Buddhist cook should be, if possible, secured.
The semi-Tibetan natives of Upper Sikkim, and similar immigrants from north-eastern Nepal, are splendid material for glacier work. Dr. Kellas with these people found himself quite able to dispense with alpine guides. They are cheerful, smiling and easy for Europeans to get on with, fond of a joke, and, if handled well, honest and reliable. For the first part of the journey in the lower country temporary coolies can well be used.
Nepal.
In Nepal, though in certain circumstances the frontier is not inviolable, yet for a variety of reasons, not all political, an Englishman is not likely to be able to penetrate to any of the great peaks. At the same time, for the mountaineer as well as for the explorer, few journeys are better worth making than that up the valley of the Gandak, or the Kosi, into the heart of the grandest of all mountain ranges.
Kumaon and Garhwal.