Darap, Sikkim
We spent a magnificent couple of weeks visiting the west, east and north of Sikkim. Bombay was wonderful, but we were in need of cooler air, so we headed to the Himalayas.
Sikkim only became part of India in 1975 and so everything from the culture and food to the way people look is very different and feels unlike any other parts of the country that we have visited. The main language spoken in Sikkim is Nepali, although there are a number of other languages spoken by different tribes. Sikkim also became India’s first organic state this year. Over a period of around 12 years, all chemical fertilisers were banned across Sikkim’s 75 000 hectares of agricultural land. WIN!
Our first stop in Sikkim was Darap, a tiny tribal village just outside of the more popular tourist hotspot of Pelling. Getting to Darap was somewhat of a hoot…Our taxi arrived to pick us up from Traveller’s Inn in Mumbai at 4.15. Unfortunately our alarm didn’t go off and by chance I woke up at 4.03. You know that nice feeling when you wake up with a start and your heart is racing and you don’t know what the hell is going on? Well that.After some awkwardness with the pre-booked cab driver who wanted a bigger tip, we trundled into Mumbai International airport to catch a flight to Delhi. We were given a vegan meal onboard which was pretty rank, but props for trying.
We then caught a second flight from Delhi to Bagdogra airport in West Bengal. Tom’s hands dripped with cold sweat for the duration of the journey and I pretended (as I always have to) to not be remotely worried about the horrendous turbulence.We were greeted at the airport by the driver that our homestay had arranged for us. This man was possibly the least friendly chap we had encountered on our entire trip. He had piercing light eyes, although I’m not sure what colour as I was scared to look at him for too long. It was apparent very early on that small talk was not welcome. We were told that the journey from the airport to Darap, would take around 7 hours. It took us 5 and a half. To say the driver ragged it would be an understatement. Averaging at around 70 miles per hour on unsurfaced mountain rounds was an experience. We overtook every vehicle we approached and anyone who thought they could pass us was sorely mistaken.Along the way we had to stop at a checkpoint to obtain a permit, allowing us to enter Sikkim. Despite how pissed off I look in the photo below, this was a very straightforward process. It's usually possible to just fill out the necessary form at Bagdogra airport, but the chap who was there when we arrived had run out of forms. What's he like eh?
When we finally reached Dara Gaon Village Retreat, Tom hugged the driver in a “thanks for not killing me” kind of way.We spent 4 nights in the glorious village of Darap. On arrival, our host Shiva led us up some cobbled stairs. Frogs were jumping about all over the place. When we reached the top, we crossed over a magical little pond which was full of fish and tadpoles. We were led into a beautiful wooden hut where we were served a sumptuous herbal tea. Throughout our stay, any time we were given food or drink, the person bringing it would hold it above their head, before bowing to place it on the table and holding their hands together in a prayer position. We learnt from copying other locals, that holding your hands together like this was the customary way to greet people, give thanks and to show respect.
We ate wonderful food during our stay. The Sikkimese diet is very different from that of other parts of India we have visited. For breakfast, we were eating things like millet pancakes with banana and cashews, with curried potato. Lunch consisted of such things as fermented nettle soup, vegetable fried rice and various noodle dishes. Dinners were always the full works. Mountains of rice, with dal and various vegetable curries. We also learnt how to make momos, a delicious Nepali snack which is very popular snack across Sikkim, as well as most of the North East of India.
During our stay we were taken on a fantastic walk through the tribal villages of Darap. This wasn’t a touristic affair. Our guide and new buddy Namsang led as through the hills as we weaved in and out of fascinating houses, belonging mostly to members of the Limbu tribe.
Smoke billowed out of windows and doors, from indoor fires. People were so friendly and warm and more than happy to let us have a look at their homes. Many of the older women wore huge gold nose rings and big gold discs in their ears. Their smiles were infectious. The views of the mountains were incredible and we even got to see Mount Kanchenjunga peeking out from behind the trees.
Perhaps one of the highlights of our walk was stumbling upon the village’s music studio. When we came across a small hut which had various music hardware boxes in the window, we thought we’d found little music shop. In fact, what we found in this tiny room was a man of around 40 banging out tunes on Cubase.
He explained that his daughter was a singer, but she was too shy to sing for us. Instead he treated us to her incredible music video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8oTrTmI6qa8Later that same day, we were awoken from our afternoon snooze by Shiva, who invited us to come and watch some dancing that was going to be taking place in the garden. Half asleep and slightly confused, we headed outside to find nearly a hundred women, all in their best dress, sitting in rows. As it turned out, Shiva was hosting a special meeting for all of the tribal women in the area who belong to a local “self-help” society. Each member of the group pays 50 rupees (50p) per month, which goes into an account at the Delhi World Bank. In return for investing their money in this way, the bank dishes out loans to the women, in order to help empower them and support them in their business ventures. On this particular evening, the representatives from the bank had travelled to the village to meet the women and find out how the money was being spent. The members of the bank were greeted with lots of traditional singing and dancing, which we were fortunate enough to watch. The ladies also showered their guests with gifts and food. It was such an interesting and insightful event to be able to witness.
The following day we packed loads of stuff in. Our buddy Namsang picked us up and took us to see the famous Khechiperi lake. To get to the lake, we walked beneath thousands of brightly coloured Tibetan flags, a symbol of protection in Tibetan Buddhism. The lake was beautiful and so had attracted quite a crowd. Some were feeding the huge fish while others came to lay out offerings to Buddha.
We also visited the truly lovely village of Yaksum, where we wandered around the palace ruins of Sikkim’s first king who ruled the nation in 1642. Opposite the ruins, a huge statue of Buddha was under construction. We were lucky enough to see a local artist painting intricate designs around the base of the monument. Patiently he used a fine brush to paint on the tiniest details.
The highlight of our day was probably our visit to . This was much smaller than Khechiperi lake, but in our opinions, even more beautiful. Enchanting emerald green water, tiny frogs and absolute peace and quiet made this one of the highlights of our stay. There was absolutely nobody there and it was just so serene.
Later on that day we visited a Buddhist monastery. I’m not really sure what I was expecting, but the whole thing was a totally eye-opening experience. We learned that most Buddhist families sent one boy to study in a monastery, where he would usually stay either until he got married, or forever.
We sat and watched while a class of monks of a range of ages (some of them were really little) chanted together. At various intervals they all picked up instruments and made a sound that was beautiful and eery at the same time. The texture and volume gradually built up in an almost cinematic way. It was impossible to decipher how they knew what to play and when, but every now and then musical patterns would emerge and it was clear that a manuscript of some kind was being followed. Must read up about this.
Before heading back, we visited the ruins of the second King of Sikkim’s palace. To get there, we hiked through thick forest. When we arrived, the clouds were closing in on us, so although we couldn’t see any of the mountain view at all, it did feel like we were standing on a castle in the sky.
All we could hear was one bird singing. Its tune echoed around the mountains. Naming told us that people used to believe this bird was calling the sun for the following day.
In the evening, we sat around a bonfire with all of the other guests staying at the homestay and listened to a couple of local musicians who came and played guitar and sang Nepali songs.
The rest of our stay in Darap was spent relaxing and taking in the views as well as playing with the TINY PUPPIES that also lived there!
We took a lovely walk in a random direction one afternoon. Everywhere was so lush and green.
When we said goodbye, we were each given beautiful traditional Sikkimese scarves as a parting gift.
I cried when we left this dog.