Sikkim: Barely India
We’ve spent the past few days in the Himalayan state of Sikkim, which was cold and mostly overcast, but worthwhile all the same. A respite from the very Indian-ness of India was much appreciated, as Sikkim feels like a completely different country. In fact it has historically been separate from India, and still feels more like the former Himalayan kingdoms nearby than India itself. Three ethnic groups (including Nepalis) make up the population, there isn’t a rickshaw or sadhu in sight, and it is devoid of the general noise, chaos and dirtiness that define so much of India.
We spent our first two days in Pelling, visiting the two oldest Buddhist monasteries in Sikkim, which were pleasant if unspectacular. The views from Pelling are said to be majestic, though we barely saw any of them as it was overcast for 99 per cent of the time in the parts of four days that we spent there. Fortunately one morning a tiny portion of the sky – quite literally about one per cent – became clear for a very brief time, and that portion remarkably happened to include the highest mountain we’ve ever seen: Kangchendzonga, which at 8586m is the third highest mountain in the world after Everest and K2.
Moving on from Pelling, we wanted to see a nearby lake and in doing so stumbled onto a fabulous, tiny village that was extremely rewarding in its innocence and remoteness. A 20-minute scramble uphill from the nearest road, the village has 23 houses, about 100 residents and one monastery. There are no roads or transport in the village and most of the houses are wooden, creating a picturesque scene even though Kangchendzonga is not visible from there. We spent two nights relaxing there, chatting with the 12-year-old boy at our homestay who can speak five languages, playing cricket with the other kids and enjoying the peace and quiet.
Yesterday we returned to Darjeeling, which was as overcast as it had been during our first visit. But today was a fabulous morning, and we spent it looking at Kangchendzonga in the distance, walking through tea plantations and admiring some of the British architecture here. It’s really quite amazing how our perception of this town changed almost instantly when the sun came out.
Tonight we’re going by train to the city that was, almost five years ago, the first place we ever visited in India: Calcutta, which I should probably start calling Kolkata by now. From there we have only one more region to visit in India: the state of Orissa with its three famous Hindu temples that are said to rival any of the historic religious structures in the rest of the country.
Meanwhile, I’ve put up a bunch more photos here.
Tags: Asia, India, Sikkim, South Asia
Nick