Hi
my last Sunday in Sikkim.... tomorrow is a holiday so I am going to Gangtok, the captial of Sikkim for a day of sightseeing. The population of Sikkim is just over 500,000 ie twice the size of Brighton and Hove... so i am not expecting Gangtok to be huge. It has the Institute of Tibetology though which is supposed to be very impressive and I am looking forward to seeing it. Then just a few more days of teaching before I head back to Siliguri and fly to Pune (Poona).
Staying ith the Khakhas has been delightful. In the family there is Daniel and Karuna (father and mother) and three children - Darius, Kripa and Serah who are aged 14 - 10 - also living there is Karuna's sister and another teenager whose family connection I keep forgetting. All are very friendly and welcoming and very easy to be with. They live about 40 minues outside of Namthang in the butsy area ie countryside and it's a ery pleasant 10 minute walk down the hill to school. The house is two buildings - sitting room and bedrooms are the in the main building which is on two floors. The family bedrooms are all on one floor and I have the \bottom floor with my own verandah and beautiful flower pots which Daniel looks after. There are two spare rooms next to my little room. In the next building is a "dining" room and a fairly basic kitchen. The sink is outside next to an open fire which they used to cook on but now have a two ringed cooker in the kitchen. The bathroom is a squat toilet and a bucket to flush next to a cold water tap and the inevitable washbasin with no plug. The last building is the cow and goat shed.
The only flat surface in Sikkim is man made and so there is very little flat surfaces for the children to play (very unfortunate that all the boys passion is to play cricket - they do it despite the lack of flat surface). The garden is terraces and currently maize intercropped with ginger is being gown as well as tomatoes, onions, beans. There are lots of trees, including some fruit trees and I have just had the first peach of the season! Milk is from the cow, veg from the garden or the local market which is on Thursday and the other stuff needed eg rice, sugar and tea is bought locally. The Khakhas don't have a car as do most people here so everything is carried from the road down the very steep path to the house. When I first arrived it was raining and I had to carry my heavy pack down this very steep slippery path and I was so worried I was going to slip and make a great entrance. Everyone else of course, goes up and down little narrow paths in flip flops with the greatest of ease.
The family get up very early - between four and five. I get up around 6 which still feels fairly early to me but of course is very late to them. A lovely cup of sugary tea with boiled milk is brought to me around 7 after I have finished doing some yoga on the verandah. The verandah is made of concrete so not the easiest of surfaces but it is very clean and has the most beautiful view of the surrounding countryside, including Tibet on a clear day! Breakfast is the biggest meal of the day at around 8 - 8.30 - rice, dahl, curry if I am lucky. Sometimes they give me things like cornflakes and white sliced bread - not so filling. Lunch is at school and could be noodles or puffed rice and another welcome cup of tea.
After school I tend to potter, go for a short walk, do some yoga, prepare some lessons etc. Then another meal of rice, dahl and curry before an early night.
The family is very closeknit and each have certain jobs that they all do so the house runs smoothly. Johne and Darius look after the cow and collect tow huge baskets of leaves and branches twice a day for the cow and goats. They milk the cow and take the surplus to nearby houses. Anita, Karuna, Serah and Kripa all do the housework, wash the clothes and cook. Serah the youngest and her aunt look after the hens and chicks. Unusually daniel does all the food shopping. He is also the main gardener but all the children help in the garden.
A dry stone wall was built whilst I was here.... two older men and a "boy" all working in flip flops with Daniel,Johne, Darius and Karuna all helping shifting huge baskets of stones up and down steep paths, breaking up large rocks. Health and safety would have had a field day!
It's been lovely to be looked after - have all my meals cooked etc so I have time to gaze at the landscape. namthang is 4,500 feet high and totally surrounded by other mountains. On a clear day there is 180 degree panorama of snow capped mountains. Mountains everyhere..... and once you are up here this high there is no reason to drop down to the very bottom of the valleys at all. I feel like I'm the grandfather in Heidi (if I remember the story correctly) - happy to live up high and not bother with the rest of the world. I do insist on doing my own clothes washing after I had a lesson from Karuna. Cold water, soap, concrete slab and a scourer-thingey is required plus a little wooden stool so I don't have to swat. It take me a good hour but it feels like the least I can do not to add more work onto Karuna (who also teaches nursery children at school in the mornings.)
It's time to leave next week - I shall be sorry to leave such lovely people who live simply and well in such a remote part of the world.
Off to grab some samosas and some mangoes before catching the shared jeep back to Namthang - not a bad life!
Bee
my last Sunday in Sikkim.... tomorrow is a holiday so I am going to Gangtok, the captial of Sikkim for a day of sightseeing. The population of Sikkim is just over 500,000 ie twice the size of Brighton and Hove... so i am not expecting Gangtok to be huge. It has the Institute of Tibetology though which is supposed to be very impressive and I am looking forward to seeing it. Then just a few more days of teaching before I head back to Siliguri and fly to Pune (Poona).
Staying ith the Khakhas has been delightful. In the family there is Daniel and Karuna (father and mother) and three children - Darius, Kripa and Serah who are aged 14 - 10 - also living there is Karuna's sister and another teenager whose family connection I keep forgetting. All are very friendly and welcoming and very easy to be with. They live about 40 minues outside of Namthang in the butsy area ie countryside and it's a ery pleasant 10 minute walk down the hill to school. The house is two buildings - sitting room and bedrooms are the in the main building which is on two floors. The family bedrooms are all on one floor and I have the \bottom floor with my own verandah and beautiful flower pots which Daniel looks after. There are two spare rooms next to my little room. In the next building is a "dining" room and a fairly basic kitchen. The sink is outside next to an open fire which they used to cook on but now have a two ringed cooker in the kitchen. The bathroom is a squat toilet and a bucket to flush next to a cold water tap and the inevitable washbasin with no plug. The last building is the cow and goat shed.
The only flat surface in Sikkim is man made and so there is very little flat surfaces for the children to play (very unfortunate that all the boys passion is to play cricket - they do it despite the lack of flat surface). The garden is terraces and currently maize intercropped with ginger is being gown as well as tomatoes, onions, beans. There are lots of trees, including some fruit trees and I have just had the first peach of the season! Milk is from the cow, veg from the garden or the local market which is on Thursday and the other stuff needed eg rice, sugar and tea is bought locally. The Khakhas don't have a car as do most people here so everything is carried from the road down the very steep path to the house. When I first arrived it was raining and I had to carry my heavy pack down this very steep slippery path and I was so worried I was going to slip and make a great entrance. Everyone else of course, goes up and down little narrow paths in flip flops with the greatest of ease.
The family get up very early - between four and five. I get up around 6 which still feels fairly early to me but of course is very late to them. A lovely cup of sugary tea with boiled milk is brought to me around 7 after I have finished doing some yoga on the verandah. The verandah is made of concrete so not the easiest of surfaces but it is very clean and has the most beautiful view of the surrounding countryside, including Tibet on a clear day! Breakfast is the biggest meal of the day at around 8 - 8.30 - rice, dahl, curry if I am lucky. Sometimes they give me things like cornflakes and white sliced bread - not so filling. Lunch is at school and could be noodles or puffed rice and another welcome cup of tea.
After school I tend to potter, go for a short walk, do some yoga, prepare some lessons etc. Then another meal of rice, dahl and curry before an early night.
The family is very closeknit and each have certain jobs that they all do so the house runs smoothly. Johne and Darius look after the cow and collect tow huge baskets of leaves and branches twice a day for the cow and goats. They milk the cow and take the surplus to nearby houses. Anita, Karuna, Serah and Kripa all do the housework, wash the clothes and cook. Serah the youngest and her aunt look after the hens and chicks. Unusually daniel does all the food shopping. He is also the main gardener but all the children help in the garden.
A dry stone wall was built whilst I was here.... two older men and a "boy" all working in flip flops with Daniel,Johne, Darius and Karuna all helping shifting huge baskets of stones up and down steep paths, breaking up large rocks. Health and safety would have had a field day!
It's been lovely to be looked after - have all my meals cooked etc so I have time to gaze at the landscape. namthang is 4,500 feet high and totally surrounded by other mountains. On a clear day there is 180 degree panorama of snow capped mountains. Mountains everyhere..... and once you are up here this high there is no reason to drop down to the very bottom of the valleys at all. I feel like I'm the grandfather in Heidi (if I remember the story correctly) - happy to live up high and not bother with the rest of the world. I do insist on doing my own clothes washing after I had a lesson from Karuna. Cold water, soap, concrete slab and a scourer-thingey is required plus a little wooden stool so I don't have to swat. It take me a good hour but it feels like the least I can do not to add more work onto Karuna (who also teaches nursery children at school in the mornings.)
It's time to leave next week - I shall be sorry to leave such lovely people who live simply and well in such a remote part of the world.
Off to grab some samosas and some mangoes before catching the shared jeep back to Namthang - not a bad life!
Bee
