YUKSOM, SIKKIM

YUKSOM

The mists did not clear and I did not ever manage to see those splendid views although I hear that they were visible the very next morningL C’est la vie.
Off we went in the hired jeep merrily and the family in the hotel draped the white silk scarf, the Khada, around my neck in friendship before leaving. We did not get very far before the jeep broke down so we sat by the road for an hour or two before deciding we would not have time for the sight seeing so two of our group walked back to Pelling and three of us continued straight to Yuksom in another jeep as the mechanic tried to work on the first one.
The picture is of a guru I met both in Pelling and Yuksom.
This is a really quiet small village, most of the trekking starts from here so the streets are full of small mules and yaks all loaded up with every imaginable object that one needs to go to these high altitudes. There are also many porters, cooks and guides and they have to bring every possible necessity. Most of the restaurants are tiny and one eats outdoors under straw covered roofs. The sun comes out every morning but by afternoon, this week, everything clouds over and strong wind and rain sets in. The storms have been bad and the electricity has gone out frequently so we are being romantic eating in the candlelight. Showers and hot water are scarce. Picture is of my little guesthouse where I was very happy.
Because there is not much to do here for the inhabitants they seem to laugh and play games a lot. Children and adults laughter is frequent. There are games of cricket, football, children chasing each other and general merriment . There is no bus service but jeeps run between the important points. Everything closes at 8 pm by law so it is very quiet. People get up very early as the jeeps leave at 6.30 and treks start out as early as 4 a.m.
The picture is of the girls from the guest house washing the clothes and scrubbing them on the stone. They are always singing as they work. The girl on the right was adopted by the family when she was young and her mother died.
I’ve been going on nice walks around and just enjoying the bloom of spring. Here among these mountains one meets the same people again and again as travelers wander between villages so sitting in the middle of the village until the jeeps arrive is a favourite past time as acquaintances from the last hotels pour out.
I left Yuksom on St Patrick’s Day feeling sorry to leave my tiny cozy room. I got up early and took a hike up a mountain to the top where there is a monastery – they are always at the top and have great views. It was a bit of a sweaty job as the mornings have turned warm with spring like weather. In the afternoons it often rains with very loud thunder in these mountains. It was beautiful and quiet up there and the walk down was great. I enjoyed breakfast in the sun before catching a jeep to go on to the next place. It seems that the leaving time has little to do with reality. I arrived on time and my luggage was piled on top and off we went but in the wrong direction. I don’t know why but after a while we returned to the original place where more people boarded. Then we waited for about an hour after which we started again but stopped literally every few minutes either for the driver to chat with someone, to shake hands, to hop off and buy something, to allow a passenger to hop off for some message etc., but finally we were off.
I stayed in Hotel Yangrigang, email yan@yahoo.com Cost around 300 to 400 Rs a room.
With the $ about 45 Rs and the Euro at 62.