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Travel Diary Sikkim, India <<back
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| 12.11.2005 06:51:28 AM - nic
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| 12.11.2005 06:55:08 AM - nic
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| 12.11.2005 06:56:23 AM - nicole
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UPS AND DOWNS IN SIKKIM
Sikkim was our trekking destination. For five days we walked (trekked,
hiked, strolled, roamed, tramped, wandered - whatever... pick one) from
village to village. During these walks we had a great glimpse of the
life of
the local people, the Lepchas, another hill people. They inhabit the
steep
hills of Sikkim; the main source of income is agriculture. They live in
simple huts, surroundend by terraced gardens where they grow rice and
vegetables. There is always a cow or two, some goats. The setting is
always
on a steep hill, seemingly in the middle of nowhere you come across one
of
these homes. The people are friendly and very sweet, sitting around the
house chatting or working in their fields. Often you hear them singing.
They
carry heavy loads on their backs, baskets full of wood or grass, up and
down
the slippery hills. Some smile at the sight of us, others look rather
confused. With the greeting "Namaste" they always bring their palms
together
in front of the face. The kids come running, yelling from far "Namaste,
hello tourist, hello photo, hello rupees, hello chocolate...",
sometimes
acting quite crazy, especially if there is a whole bunch of
them.
During these days we visited many buddhist monasteries (gompas).
Buddhism is
the state religion of Sikkim. The gompas are always built on top of a
hill
with great views and giving a peaceful, serene atmosphere. Buddhism is
very
old and well established. There are many very old and important gompas
in
the state. It is nice to see a place/country where Buddhism was around
for a
long time and hasn't been tampered with, not like in China or
Tibet.
We are both very fond of these gompas, the colourful houses with
Tibetan
architecture, the detailed patterns on the walls, ceilings and pillars,
the
many prayer flags around the whole compound, the stupas; often you hear
the
humming of the praying monks, sometimes accompanied by the beat of a
drum.
Together with the surrounding nature it leaves you in a very harmonic
mood
and makes you not want to leave. So far we have visited many of these
monastery compounds, but it seems that everyone has a little surprise
waiting...
All in all we did quite a bit of walking. The first two days we had to
remind ourselves that nobody forced us to do this; the constant up and
down
on very slippery ground, with hundreds of stones to stumble over;
having no
view at all because we're walking through a seep forested hill and
constantly having to watch the ground to prevent falling - we asked
ourselves why exactly are we doing this?? Wasn't really enjoyable. But
then
the situation improved, sometimes we walked along the road, there
wasn't
much traffic at all, very pleasent. And when we walked along the small
paths
- still damn steep, but nothing in Sikkim is straight, better get used
to it
- they weren't as slippery and not through dense forest, so we could
appreciate the great views of the endless valleys, hills and the
mountains,
and that makes walking (climbing!) a lot more fun.
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| 12.11.2005 07:02:55 AM - nicole
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| 12.11.2005 07:03:01 AM - nicole
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| 12.11.2005 07:09:41 AM - nicole
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| 12.11.2005 07:11:08 AM - nicole
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| 12.11.2005 07:14:32 AM - nicole
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| 12.11.2005 07:14:43 AM - nicole
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Hier ueben die jungen Moenche eines tibetischen Institutes einen Chaam-Tanz, der Ende November in Rangla aufgefuehrt wird.
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| 12.11.2005 07:21:39 AM - nicole
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Diese Himalaya-Bergkette ist von fast ueberall in Sikkim sichtbar. Diese Sicht ist von Pelling, der rechteste Spitz ist Mt. Kangchenjunga.
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| 12.11.2005 07:31:55 AM - nicole
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Mt. Kangchenjunga, 8586 Meter hoch, der 3. hoechste Berg der Welt
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/Travel Diary Sikkim, India <<back
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