Silk Roads and Wool Routes: Contemporary Geographies of Trade Between Lhasa and Kalimpong

It is a clear Sunday afternoon in Kalimpong, a town of about 43,000 inhabitants in the mountainous northernmost tip of the state of West Bengal. The rhododendrons are glaringly bright against the green foliage, and the air is especially pleasant after months of heavy monsoon rain and the resulting landslides that would sporadically halt transport for days on end. I walk quickly down the hill, past the Mela ground and the motor stand in the center of town, on my way to meet a man named Tsering, someone whom a friend insists I should speak with if I would like to know more about the recent history of the Lhasa–Kalimpong trade route