Day 15 from April 2010

Day 15

In Yuksom, Sikkim, the day begins when light appears. Sort of 6 am-ish. And after going to bed at 8pm, this wasn't too hideous. In fact it was lovely, as we were greeted with views of some of the highest Himalaya. And, cradling cups of hot chocolate as a warming aid, we sat outside looking at the view of Kanchenjunga, and breathed the slowly warming crisp, clean air as the village came to life. Yak passing, bells clanging. Kids running, giggling. Men loitering, smoking. There's a different kind of silence up there. A true silence that makes you glow with pure happiness. People are shouting, yes. Birds are tweeting, yes. Pots and pans are clattering, yes. But this all seems to only exaggerate the calm, as the noise seems pathetic compared to the vast miles of nothing in every direction. There are generally no mechanical noises. Until the jeeps arrive for the day.

It's quite the spectacle when the jeeps arrive. The owners of the vehicles are the village heroes. More valuable than doctors or teachers. They bring supplies, news, tourists, and the adventurous villagers back home. So there's always a good turnout. Shopkeepers, hoteliers, cafe owners, gawking children, relieved relatives, busybodies, and nosey parkers all gather for the daily ritual.

Yuksom sits at an elevation of around 2000m, and consists of a few shacks, a few concrete buildings, a few shops, a road and a few quaint eateries. It's main tourist draw is the fact that it is the starting point for the Goecha La trek. This is a 8 day (± 2 days) hike to the Goecha La pass. At 5000 metres, you are greeted with truly jaw dropping views of Kanchenjunga, and other large mountains. Apparently. We had no time to do it, but it remains high on the list of want-to-do hikes. Otherwise, Yuksom is just a lovely lovely village, with friendly people, and beautiful mini walks to various Buddhist monasteries.

We did one of those mini walks to Dubdi Gompa, up the very steep, but amazingly well kept cobbled path.








Lovingly tended gardens and fantastic views (when the clouds parted) greeted us at the top of the hill. And again, silence that allowed one to feel at one with one's inner one.












At the bottom of the hill, we had lunch, and played (=sharked) a spot of poker with a friendly Aussie man.
Surveying the scenes of men standing around, women nattering, and kids playing a serious game of marbles (which involved innovative use of your fingers to catapult the marbles at scary speeds), one of us piped up with -
'I wonder what people do here all day, everyday'
In all his Aussie wisdom, the man responded-
'Root.'

(That's Australian for having relations)


After lunch, we walked again, this time with the INSANE Tassi as company and as guide. Using the word guide very loosely. We went to another couple of monasteries and the birthplace of the Sikkim King. It was just delightful -

















After this nice walking, we dinnered with a person who's name i cant remember, but i think it was Beardy McKnowitall, and a couple of annoying french Buddhists that had previously patronisingly scolded Sam and Pat for walking the wrong way around the prayer bell house thing. Yes yes, you are westerners that have adopted a religion that is not usual for westerners, and yes, Buddhism is probably the best of a bad bunch. But if you would please get off your high horse and hang with us down on earth, or at least on a less obtrusive equine, everyone would be oh so much happier, you pompous swines! I have great trouble with the self righteous swagger adopted by those that think that they have found themselves. Those that have truly become close to finding themselves must surely know that every single person, including themselves, is occasionally a twat, can therefore dissect, analyse and learn from their mistakes, learn from others mistakes, apologise, and forgive if necessary. But this changes you. So you can never truly find yourself, because yourself is constantly moving and changing, with every conversation, thought, experience and exchange it evolves. It is a big enough challenge to vaguely keep up with yourself, and nigh on impossible a challenge to find it. So those that walk with the air of being a better human than you because they KNOW who they are, are embarrassingly mistaken.

Open-mindedness is a term fraught with contradictions and misunderstandings. Mostly because those that accuse people of being closed-minded and fling the term open-minded about are usually so hell bent on opening their mind that it actually does the reverse. They do not let anything considered normal/usual in and automatically believe the unbelievable and follow the unconventional with great vigour lest they be witnessed going against all that they stand for. Consequently they shut their noggin off to a huge percentage of life. It is these very people that are the ones that usually find themselves. And i suppose it's easy to find yourself with a closed mind - there's no where for it to run and hide. The great Tim Minchin nicked this off some other great person -

'Open your mind too much, and your brain will fall out.'

Unfortunately, this mentality is very much intertwined with a specific breed of traveller. And this specific breed makes up a fair few of those knocking about India. Some examples of the sort of folk i'm on aboot -

Example 1-

'Chaps, I'm just heading down to the main Ghat to play on my Authentic Indian Bamboo Flute, as i know there will be a tremendous amount of people sitting there enjoying the ambience who cant help but listen to my vague attempt at correctly playing the Indian scale that my good friend Vimal from Goa taught me over christmas. I will occasionally sneak a glance to my force fed audience, to see that they are watching/listening, and hopefully a mental sadhu will come and talk to me and i will take a photograph so when i get back to England i can tell everyone who cares to listen about the day i was hanging out at the Ghat practising my Authentic Indian Bamboo flute and a sadhu came and sat with me and we philosophised, smoked a bidi, meditated and stuff, yeah. So I'll see you all later for some Chai Tea, yeah? '

Example 2-

'Oh my godddd, Lucy, how are you? I havent seen you since Osho's Ashram. It's sooooo, great seeing you again. I'm fine yes, just been experiencing life for the first time, you know? Life. Yeah, i knowwwww, it's amazing isn't it? Really? Well, this morning i woke up and did my exercises, and the VIBRATIONS! Oh my god, i've never felt anything like it. What? No, but what i felt was real, you know, 100 percent. I was in touch with every atom. It gets stronger every day. The world has so many colours now. I don't want for anything, i need no material items, only my inner self. Me and Gouri? Well i gave him a rose when we said good bye at Osho's as a symbol of our love. He tried to get my number and address, but that's just weird. I had to explain that my love for him was deeper than anyone else could understand, and what we had at Osho's was so magical that it shouldn't be forced. He cried. He cried a lot. But that's because right now he's a youthful being - he will grow. I love his soul, and i am forever connected with him now, you know? And our souls will meet again if it is written…..'

*access internet on expensive mobile device*

'Shit, he's found me on facebook.'

Example 3-

'I'll have the cheese toasty and some chips please. Oh, and a Chai. Thanks. Can you tell me if you think this is good Julianne? I get so insecure about my poetry. Oh my god, i'm so nervous. I'll have to read it quietly so only you can hear, not so everyone in this small cafe hears my words of self discovery.'

*In a VERY LOUD VOICE*-

'Candles glimmer
Behind, father moon shimmers.
A cloud of souls forever balloon to the sky,
With open arms, welcomed for a while.
The bosom of mother earth
A mantra of re-birth
Inside myself, i search readily
Awaiting the moment of discovery....'

*Friend says it was lovely behind clenched teeth, repressed cringes and embarrassed glances*

-'you really think so? Oh, thankyou so much, it means a lot. Sorry to have to ask you, i just needed reassuring….

…This fucking chai tea tastes of cow.'

Side note -
What do Chai Tea, the River Tyne, the Sahara Desert and Mount Fuji have in common? - Answers on a postcard.

But these 3 examples were all people in their youth. Which is fine, and very forgivable. These 2 french buddhists were being preachy and annoying, and they were using their adult-ness to give greater weight to their statements. Which is verging on unforgivable. Like Matilda's Dad.
Pointless, hopeless people. Except to each other.

Rant rant rant rant rant. (that's a cross between a rat and an ant, thus-)




Back to Yuksom -

We wandered the 300 metres back to our sleeping place.

We saw an ant pulling a butterfly wing -



And a vicious snaggletoothed dog, that growled.



Bed by 8 pm again. zzzzzz