BPD: Pelling's wish-fulfilling lake!

(BPD: Pelling's wish-fulfilling lake!, 22 Apr 15)

Pelling is just about 14 km from Darap and is a 20 minutes drive up the hill, which makes it easy to access the places of interest in and around Pelling, while staying in the tribal village. I was chiefly interested in 3 places of historic and/or religious importance - Khecheopalri or the 'wish-fulfilling' lake, Rabdentse palace ruins of the first capital of Sikkim and the 500-year old Tashiding monastery.

The scenic, Kanchenjunga waterfalls

I had tagged along with a group of Bengali tourists who had planned a local sight-seeing tour of the city. On a 'touristy' mode, we were driven around a list of places including the road-side Rimbi waterfalls, majestic Kanchenjunga waterfall and Singshore bridge, the second highest hanging-gorge bridge in Asia.

A suspension bridge at Rimbi	Selfie stick in action, at the waterfalls!

View of the river deep below, through holes in the foot of Singshore bridge!

Due to paucity of time, we couldn't visit the Rabdentse palace ruins. I enjoyed the visit to the Tashiding monastery that is a revered Buddhist place of worship, considering it was founded by one of the three wise men who unified the Sikkim Kingdom and identified its first King. During the evening time when we had visited, the daily prayer ritual was on and it was a fascinating one for the eyes and ears at first sight. Hundreds of young (and very young) monks were seated in rows, each with a small scrip of manuscripts neatly laid out on the desk in front of them. There were a line of monks with the 'dungchen', or Tibetan horn and another row of monks, each with a drum and gong. Facing all the monks, at the head of the table were 5 'senior' monks on a slightly elevated platform and leading in the prayer. As the monks at the head of the table chanted, all other monks followed suit, to a culmination with the high-frequency sound of the gong and beat of the drums. Apart from the sight, the sound of the chants was mesmerizing and I tried to capture a 2-minute audio grab of the same, posted here. We stayed back in the monastery, seated for over 45 minutes, lost in the beauty of the ritual.

The Khecheopalri or wish-fulfilling lake, is in the shape of a foot when viewed aerially from atop the hill nearby. The local folkore goes that no leaves are allowed to float on the lake and anytime a leaf (from the thousands of trees in the forest around) falls in, they are dutifully picked by the birds and taken away! The lake waters looked clean and clear when we visited as well. The lake had a teeming fish population that was hungrily feeding on the snacks thrown in by the tourists, an act which was forbidden for the tourists! Getting the blessings from a Nepali pujari who stood worshipping the lake, I paid a visit to the ancient-looking monastery adjoining the lake.

A Buddhist lucky sign	Nepali pujari at the lake

Colourful prayer flags	The Khecheopalri lake

Abundant fish life in the lake	Back at the home-stay, writing..

With the drive around Pelling done by the evening, I got back to the village home and spent the rest of the evening writing and interacting with the locals.

BPD: Tribal home-stay in West Sikkim

(BPD: Tribal home-stay in West Sikkim, 20-22 Apr '15)

After Darjeeling, there was an enticing option to go on a 5-day trek to Sandakphu valley through a Rhododendron forest in Singalila national park, West Bengal. I impulsively decided against it at the last minute, in favour of Darap in West Sikkim. I looked up the homestay and made a call to the owner on availability, after starting from Darjeeling and while travelling in the shared taxi. This turned out to be a great choice, for I had a good time and ended up staying 3 nights in this tribal village, near Pelling in West Sikkim.

Makaibari tea estate, on way to Jorethang

The journey to Darap was long, as is any journey by road in Sikkim, more so for shared modes of travel. I did 4 break journeys to cover just about 80 km in over 6 hours : Darjeeling - Jorethang - Geyzing - Pelling - Darap. Again there was a varied mix of people in the taxis - an unsure taxi driver with a faulty break-wire that gave away during our journey, a Nepali school teacher from Darjeeling, a milk cooperative employee from Sikkim and a bereaved Bengali visiting his in-law's place for his father-in-law's last rites.

Shiva's Homestay	Guest rooms, with a view

Morning view from the room...	A shot, by the bell

The Darap home-stay is run by Shiva and Radha Gurung, who live by the principle of 'athidhi devo bhava' and it was an absolute delight to be in their company. The highlights included the courteous service throughout that made you feel extra special, a reliable guidance on tourist spots of interest in Sikkim, yummy home cooked food, a beautiful & pristine village and a comfortable home with a good view of the Kanchenjunga range, and finally Sikkim's native Tsonga home-brewed beer.

Sikkim's own historic Bob Marley!	Tsonga beer ready to be tried

While at the home, I met a lot of interesting travelers as well. There was this Tamil couple from Bangalore - Arvind, a creative, prolific film-maker and balanced by his better half, Ramya working in the corporate world. We had a good time chatting late into the night on a variety of topics ranging from film-making experiences, travel, people and their prejudices. They were a great company and we instantly struck up a good rapport, but unfortunately the time was short and they were on with the next leg of their journey to North Sikkim, by the next morning. I had also met a couple from IIMK, Kerala who were on their graduation trip and ready to get into the corporate world. However, the guy was on the cusp of getting into the Indian Civil Services, with an impending final interview, just after the trip. Such was the nature of my trip - I bumped into a lot of interesting people from different walks of life and quickly became friends, albeit for a short duration. 

Early morning dew drops, in the garden	Unintended, hilarious caption in a poster!

Perfect 'local' breakfast!	Ever-gracious hosts: Shiva, Radha, Durga

Every day over dinner, Shiva regaled us with the history of Sikkim unto present state and also shared interesting folk tales about the local village and Pelling. After all, these are the things that a home-stay provides and and gives a different world of experience, which can never be matched by hotels or resorts.