Sikkim – land of natural beauty and diversity (part two)

We took a very late, heavy breakfast the next morning, as it is normal in the mountain region due to the cold climate. The daughter of the family told us that usually people have a late breakfast at around 10 or 11 am and do not eat anything besides a snack till dinner is served at around 8 or 9 pm. She is studying in Darjeeling and was visiting her parents after a long time. One could see her happiness being at home with her parents and her younger brother.

Daily life in the mountains

In the following days that we spent with the family, we learned a lot about daily life in this region. By chance there were holidays during our visit and the brother of Mr. Gurung came with his family for a visit from Gangtok. The whole family opened their home to us and through their warmth and kindness made us feel a part of their family.

During our time there, I realized how hard the life in the mountain region is for the local population. But all the people that we met seemed to have quite a positive and peaceful outlook on all the challenges. Especially during the pandemic when tourism, the main source of income in the region, came to a complete halt.

However, as the elder daughter of Mr. Gurung’s brother pointed out, who works as a doctor in Gangtok, rate of depression and suicide are unexpectedly high in Sikkim. Furthermore, there is a lack of medical care in the villages. For emergencies, people mostly have to travel quite far to the next bigger town to receive medical help.

But on the other hand, as several persons that we met confirmed, people rarely fall sick. If someone falls ill, he or she visits healers in the villages. Only if the healer is unable to help, they go to see a doctor in one of the bigger towns.

Becoming part of a festival

During our stay in Darap, Mr. Gurung told us about a big local festival. The holy Buddhist scriptures containing the teachings of Lord Buddha are carried in a big procession from the close-by famous Pemayangtse monastery to several villages in the region. This time, a resident of Darap had the honor to receive the books as the first person. After being there overnight, they traveled to another village.

Thanks to Mr. Gurung and his brother, we were allowed to see the monastery from inside and participate in the three hour long procession (please check out the Youtube video). It was an honor and a wonderful experience to observe the rituals from such close quarters. Once we reached Darap at the end of the procession, we were invited to the house of the family who was hosting the books for Darap this year.

A big tent was erected for all the guests, where lunch was offered. It was also the responsibility of the family to host the monks who accompanied the books from the monastery. Once we reached the designated house, we were guided to one of the rooms at the back of the house, in which around 20 people were seated. One of the women present gave us different snacks on two plates and we were offered Indian milk tea.

Getting invited to the festivities

Sitting among the locals and observing the interactions around me, I saw that women and men sit separately, which surprised me. I always thought that gender separation is not that prominent in the Himalayan region and the North Eastern parts of India. After some time nearly all the women left the room together.

Suddenly, everyone stood up, except us, not being aware what had happened. A gentleman entered the room and later on we learnt that he is a local politician. What astonished me most is that people simply accepted us among them, without asking questions. The gentleman next to me started conversing with us.

Once he heard that I am from Germany he told that a woman from his village is married to a German and lives in Munich since many years. I wonder how small this world is, sitting thousands of kilometers away from Germany in a small village in the Himalayas and hearing about this unexpected connection.

Visiting two remote villages

On one of the following days, we visited two very remote villages near Darap. Both villages were difficult to reach and the curvy road leading to them was sometimes barely passable with the car sliding several times. But on both occasions, the saying that the most difficult to reach destinations are the most beautiful holds true. Especially the second village, which is located right beside a wild river with only a foot bridge leading to it, is surrounded by incredible beautiful nature.

To reach the village, one has to cross the bridge and climb up a hill. The first person that we saw was an elderly lady clad in one of the beautiful traditional dresses. She was sitting on the grass field in front of her house with her grandchildren surrounding her. The three children looked at us with big eyes from a distance and after some time the boldest one, a baby girl, smiled at us while her brothers still hid behind their grandmother.

A variety of influences

The grandfather joined us and talked with our guide Kalzang and driver, who had brought us to the village, in the local language. I kept wondering again how extremely diverse the mountain region is regarding ethnicity, languages, customs, religion and origin. With Sikkim being surrounded by Nepal, Tibet, Bhutan and West Bengal, there has been an immense variety of influences throughout the centuries. This has given the region their own, very specific cultural and historical make-up.

The village is bigger than the other and even had a school, situated a little higher than the house of the family. Unfortunately, due to lack of funding and number of students, the school will be closed soon. Then the children of the village have to travel further to receive education.

We sat there for quite some time, only listening to the the wind, the birds and the gushing sound of the river below. When we climbed down the hill again, Kalzang suddenly pointed to a particular plant that is growing on the fields on the roadside. „These are marihuana plants“, he told. Seeing my completely blank facial expression, he added: „This is for the cows. When they have a stomach ache, people feed them marihuana.“

Sikkim as an unexplored region

Like many other locations, people in both the villages have started their own homestays, but were not yet able to welcome many guests besides hardcore trekkers who pass through this region. One reason for that is, that commercial advertising of homestays is not common in this region. The other main reason is that Sikkim is still largely unexplored and overall untouched by tourism.

There are mostly tourists from other parts of India traveling to Sikkim. But even within India it is not the main travel destination. As Mr. Gurung told us, international tourists very rarely travel to Sikkim. If at all, they come for trekking in the stunning nature.

When we resumed our journey after a few days, I left Sikkim with a heavy heart and the feeling that there is so much more to see and so many more places to visit there. The simplicity of life in this region, the beautiful, smiling faces of the people we met and the breathtaking beauty of the nature has left a deep impression on me and I know for sure that I will come back.