Gangtok is built on the sides of very steep hills, and this gives many of the buildings, and the businesses in them some odd characteristics. It took me a day to realise that, although I was on the same level as the reception desk just by the entrance from the street, with a room number in the 400s, I was on the top floor of the hotel. A corollary of this was that all the other rooms, including the dining room, were down multiple floors. The dining room had an exit into gardens on level 0. Earlier there had obviously been access to the hotel by a path to the dining room before plots had been divided and altered. It also took me a couple of days to realise that other businesses were built on the same plan, so going in by one entrance and out by a different one could result in being some way away from where anticipated.
The other characteristics I noted were more to do with the global spread of technology and the Indian sense of colour rather than things to do with Gangtok itself. Technology is providing a global lingua franca - I needed to obtain some replacement batteries, earphones, and a USB lead at various times during our trip. Eventually I located all of these, mostly here in Sikkim. The batteries (round Li ones) were unremarkable, except for their packaging which was a lurid pink and silver; the USB lead a very bright purple in colour; and the earphones, and their lead, bright pink and white. Quite a change of image for my gear. All of the items were purchased in places where the shopkeeper's English was either non-existent or minimal, and my Hindu or Nepali a figment of imagination. Nonetheless, the technology itself provided the vocabulary to talk about it - asking for a USB lead for instance does not require a commonality of language. Presumably this is bad news for the Academie francaise as most of this new language arises from (American) English.
The other characteristics I noted were more to do with the global spread of technology and the Indian sense of colour rather than things to do with Gangtok itself. Technology is providing a global lingua franca - I needed to obtain some replacement batteries, earphones, and a USB lead at various times during our trip. Eventually I located all of these, mostly here in Sikkim. The batteries (round Li ones) were unremarkable, except for their packaging which was a lurid pink and silver; the USB lead a very bright purple in colour; and the earphones, and their lead, bright pink and white. Quite a change of image for my gear. All of the items were purchased in places where the shopkeeper's English was either non-existent or minimal, and my Hindu or Nepali a figment of imagination. Nonetheless, the technology itself provided the vocabulary to talk about it - asking for a USB lead for instance does not require a commonality of language. Presumably this is bad news for the Academie francaise as most of this new language arises from (American) English.