Apr 13, 2011

On a high called Sikkim!

Just got back from a beautiful, memorable trip to the lush green, mountainous North-East Indian state of Sikkim. What we intended as a budget trip turned out to be an awesome experience in village life and culture which is so different from ours. We covered two villages - Dzongu (restricted area for a tribe called the Lepchas, and Lingee Payong which was predominantly Nepali - stayed at some lovely homestays, met some interesting village folk, a great mountainside experience, peaceful and quiet and a super relaxant for our laptop-weary brain and senses!

Living with the villagers, eating their food, leading a fuss-free life, huffing n puffing up the steep countryside which is an everyday walk for them :) ... it was indeed a humbling experience for me and my husband. I can sum it with our host Gyatso Lepcha's words "you people must come and stay in our villages for a few days, just to realize how small we are in this world"... completely agree!!

I shall do a couple of posts on Sikkim starting with this one.

One striking thing about Sikkim and all mountain villages is their quaint and colourful wooden houses. They are usually two-storeyed ... the top for people to live and the bottom floor for storing grains and firewood. For me this was a first time, such colourfully painted homes, each with a lovely garden of potted plants - in containers varying from buckets, to paper cups, to mud pots, tiny pathways, stones and pebbles ... it was a treat to the eye as we trekked up the mountains passing one pretty home after another!

Let me show you around with a few ...





This is one of my favourites!


 Here's a post office, never seen one prettier than this!! :)

Shaded green n blue

And they had a tiny, lovely garden where I saw live poppies for the first time!



This is the homestay in Dzongu we stayed at - "Mayal Lyang" meaning the hidden land, truly!






That's for now, let me stop myself from making this post any longer :) Hope you enjoyed and loved the houses as much as I did! Shall be back with more on Sikkim in a day!

Meanwhile do any of you have a post on mountain homes? Do share them, and your experiences!
I'm sharing this at Colours Dekor and the Little Red House.

17 comments:

  1. WOW!! i've never been to Sikkim, but it sure is in my bucket list!! the pictures are so pretty!

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  2. I loved the third pic! Sikkim is such a beautiful place:)

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  3. Anonymous10:37 AM

    You've been to Sikkim.. *sigh* What a gorgeous.. gorgeous post.. I totally loved all the pics.. and cant wait to see Part2.. this is beautiful!! The yellow chair.. the blue house.. the gorgeous skies.. *sigh*.. I envy you!

    Thanks for linking in.. and making my day!! :-)

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  4. Beautiful pictures!
    My sister went to Sikkim last month on her school trip and *sigh* I envy her for being in that beautiful place for a week!
    Your pictures are gorgeous.. makes me wanna go there soon!

    :)

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  5. beautiful images!!

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  6. Sikkim is so beautiful..lovely cottages and awesome pics!!

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  7. place is so beautiful,...;-)feel like visiting soon.,

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  8. Oh that yellow chair is so pretty! So used to seeing blue ones usually. Sikkim looks gorgeous- need to ensure that I visit it someday! sigh...

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  9. Yes the place is a gorgeous one! And several areas are uncommercialized and pristine. Dont miss a chance to go there!! :)

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  10. Anonymous7:22 PM

    Wow Sikkim is cool, pristine and gorgeous!

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  11. Nice experience of Lepcha homestay, i too want to experience the same, we were taken around in the Lepcha and surprising they were quoting rock bottom rates too

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  12. Never been to Sikkim before.. But am definitely going to contact you soon to make suitable travel arrangements ;-) ;-) ....What a beautiful place you have stayed in... Wish I could unwind and stretch my legs here for days... !!

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  13. Just found your blog. What gorgeous pics these are from a beautiful, pristine land. Loved the colours. The freshness of the environment is coming across in the pics.

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  14. Is there anyone who wants a push or inspiration to go to Sikkim? Contact me, I have a hundred stories to narrate of our trip, the place and its people. In looove with the hidden land :)

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  15. Anonymous6:30 PM

    :) Really loved this collection.. Nice blog you've got here

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  16. Returned from Sikkim just today morning, and I can't believe i would stumble upon a post like this the same day. Amazing pics and amazing blog!

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