BPD: Zuluk, a magical village

(BPD: Zuluk, a magical village in East Sikkim, 24 Apr '15) 

At Rongli in East Sikkim, the weather was very fickle. When I arrived from Reshi after a couple of hours drive in the morning, the bright day with abundant sunlight suddenly turned cloudy and there were small showers. As people scrambled into the houses and shops for shelter, the rain stopped, but it looked like it could pour again anytime.

That's when the taxi driver brought the news that due to sudden snowfall in the higher ranges of Zuluk, the Army was issuing permits only until Zuluk village. This would effectively cut out Tsomgo lake (pronounced locally as 'changu', which I found after much looking up!) and the descending route onto Nathu La pass through the mountains. After much deliberation whether I must cut short the trip and return to South Sikkim, I finally decided to visit the Zuluk village and spend a night there. In hindsight, this was a blessed decision, since I thoroughly enjoyed the stay in the tribal village and had some great sightings, as I will explain below.

As we finally started the ascent towards Zuluk from Rongli town around 12 noon, the weather was cloudy and the scenery magical, as if straight out of a fairy tale book! The road was through a mountain of densely populated pine trees along the sides, and dotted with rhododendrons sparsely. Once we gained some height, the clouds kept passing right through the roads and it looked as if we were transported to entirely another world. As we crossed Phadamchen, a small mid-way town with a police picket, the permit papers were verified and the vehicle let to pass. I heard that the security in this part of Sikkim is quite tight and the Army is selective about issuing passes, and the duration is only for a couple of days, at the maximum. Foreigners are not permitted to visit these areas adjoining the border, and the passes to Indian tourists have been given only in the last 2 years. Rightly so, considering the fragile conditions on the border with China, with this road directly leading up to the Nathula pass & being a high-altitude area with inclement weather, its better to take precautions; the memories from India's Kargil war are still vivid. Crossing Lingtam, we finally reached Zuluk in about 1.5 hours.

Cows on the way to Zuluk village	Public School near Zuluk, Phadamchen

Zuluk, or Dzuluk is a village on the Old Silk Route at an elevation of 9400ft, and has a small tribal population with just about 80 families, and under 500 people in all.  Majority of the inhabitants are immigrants from Nepal about half a century back. The village cultivates potato, radish and cauliflower, though the cultivation season is 3 to 4 months shorter in a year, due to heavy snowfall covering the fields. With the opening up of domestic tourist sector, the village had seen brisk economic development in the last 2 years, with people opening up their houses for home-stay (the only mode of stay for tourists here), people operating tourist taxis, apart from the few odd shops opened to cater to tourists. The army has an imposing presence in the village with 3 armed units being permanently stationed and several army facilities, storehouses and training camps throughout the Silk route. 

The Zuluk village	The tin-roofed hut, my home-stay

Cute 9-month baby in the house

Upon reaching Zuluk, I decided to stay at the home-stay run by the taxi driver. The home-stay is a small extension to their tin-roofed, wooden-walled home that adjoins the road. They have setup 3 small rooms, next to theirs, with beds and other basic facilities for visitors. I was warmly welcomed into their living-cum-bedroom by the large joint family of 8 people, along with a very cute 9-month baby boy and a hyper-active Pomeranian dog. The homes in Zuluk mandatorily have a fireplace that's called the 'bukhari' or 'bukhara' locally. Its a small stove to burn firewood, with the smoke passing up through a make-shift chimney that opens up just above the roof. This is a local but in-genuine setup that can be accommodated in any small place, while it keeps the inhabitants very warm in extreme cold weather conditions. This works economical for the tribals, since this just needs firewood that's available as bamboo trees in abundance, in the forests around.

I was served hot tea and then lunch which I shared with rest of the family. It was a great feeling to be gathered around the 'bhukara', accepted as part of the family and having warm conversations, with a simple but tasty food. This was one of those places where the homes are tiny, but the hearts huge and warm.

Family gathered around the bukhara	Simply and tasty food served

I took a stroll around the village, wherein most of the houses were similar, and half of them own a Tata Sumo, a sign of the tourist economy. The village has a Shiva temple overlooking the hill and there is a huge statue of Shiva on top of the temple with water pipes setup such that the water emerges out of Shiva's locks and falls on the ground to create a fancy effect! I then stopped by at the only store in the village and chatted up with some locals over tea, again by the 'bukhara'. The people were all uniformly warm and extremely courteous, to the point of disbelief. With the evening left to be spent, I sat by the window of the home, that has a striking view of the agriculture fields, and paused to write and reflect. The feeling and satisfaction was indescribable!

In the night, the locals indulge in Tsonga beer, which seems to be the staple drink in Sikkim. Dinner was rice, dal and subji, which was also a common feature in the state, wherein the intake of rice is quite high. In Sikkim, apart from rice, people take thukpa, chowmein, momos and very occasionally roti. After a conversation on the local customs, I retired early to bed in anticipation of the early morning ride up the snowing mountain to catch yet another, but a better glimpse of Mt Kanchenjunga.