Yogyakarta

Ancient Capital

July 2024

Yogyakarta is in the south of the mountains in Central Java and home to Java's first ancient capital. My hostel called Happy Buddha was to the south of the city and a 20 minutes bike hop from the station. On reaching the hostel, I was greeted by Ardi who was in charge of the hostel and soon settled in comfortably into the Aircon private room that I had booked. 

Ardi gave me an orientation and the first thing that I did was to book the tickets to Borobodur which is limited per day and sells out very fast. I could get a climbing ticket only 3 days later and that too for the afternoon when it would be reasonably warm. After booking the tickets, based on Ardi's recommendation, went to have a Sambal meal at a nearby local restaurant which turned out to be extremely popular and crowded. It took almost an hour but finally I emerged having a wonderful lunch of Sambal Masak Teri (Anchovies) and Sambal Gudangan ( long beans, spinach, beansprout, cassava mixed with spicy grated coconut called Urap). The vegetables are half boiled, so they taste both crunchy and fresh. I had it with rice and Ayam Kampung Dada Goreng (translated as fried chicken breast from Kampung)

In the evening, went out for a stroll at Jl. Prawirotaman which was a few meters from the hostel, which is a street in the backpacker district with hostels, money changers, cafés & restaurants. This would be where I would spend most evenings in the restaurants and in the bars with live music

After hiring a bike for the next 3 days (Honda automatic and very popular in SE Asia), I set out for a nearby drive to the hills at the special region of Yohakarta and near the town of Imogiri. The roads were pleasantly good, marked well, with no honking and it was a pleasure going all the way up to the pine forests.

Prambanan Temple Complex

The next day, I set out for the world heritage site of Prambanan temple complex which was a 45 minute drive from the hostel. The site has an impressive complex of both Hindu temples (Prambanan is dedicated to Shiva and has Vishnu and Brahma temples as well). Nearby are the slightly older Buddhist temples of Lumbung, Candi and Sewu. All of them were built in the 8th and 9th Centuries.

Some historians suggest that the construction of Prambanan probably was meant as the Hindu Sanjaya dynasty's answer to the Buddhist Sailendra dynasty's Borobudur and Sewu temples nearby, and was meant to mark the return of the Hindu Sanjaya dynasty to power in Central Java after almost a century of Buddhist Sailendra dynasty domination (dual dynasty theory). Nevertheless, the construction of this massive Hindu temple signified a shift of the Mataram court's patronage, from Mahayana Buddhism to Shaivite Hinduism.

While exiting, I saw that there is a Ramayana ballet which is held on the Prambanan grounds. Unfortunately, the tickets were not available, also it would have been too late in the night for me to drive back, so I decided to instead go for another performance, Ramayana Ballet Purawisata which was in Yogya near my hotel which was a day later.

Borobodur

The next day after Prambanan is another highlight of Yogya which is the world famous buddhist site of Borobodur. The temple along with two other important sites - the Mendut Buddhist monastery and the Pawon temple is located in the North West of Yogya near the hills alongside the Progo river. Starting early in the morning, reached Borodur by 9 am. My Borobodur tour was at 0130 PM, so had a lot of time to explore the nearby areas. 

Umar and Yasumi

Near the Pawan temple is the Limanjawi art house. There is a decent art collection of local artists and antiques. The curator Umar took me around and I decided to buy a painting there. Umar is an artist from nearby and he married a Japanese, a lovely lady called Yasumi. While they packed up the paining, I sent and spent time having lunch at a delightful location by the river, Eloprogo Art House, owned by another artist friend of Umar called Sony.

Sony

Sony turned out to be an interesting person. He was from Sumatra and spent his artist days in Jakarta and Nice in France before deciding to buy a place and settle down to a life of contemplation in Borobodur. He runs a cafe and a homestay and for now, has stopped painting. Interestingly So is actual name is Santosh which he changed to Son and then added a Y. He wasn't aware of what Santosh meant and it all seemed wonderful to me how history moves on integrating the past with the future.

Sony talked about Atisa, a Buddhist philosopher from Bengal who had a major influence on Buddhism in Indonesia. I made a mental note to study more about him. Atisa spent time in Sumatra during the Srivijaya empire in the 9th century before going back to India and becoming the abbot at Vikramshila Monastery. He then went to Tibet and laid out the Buddhist path of the 3 vehicles- Hinayana, Mahayana and Vajrayana. He was one of the major figures to spread Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism in Asia and inspired Buddhist thought from Tibet to Sumatra.

Looking at Borobodur as I approached it initially wasn't that impressive, somehow I thought it would have been bigger but once you start climbing the different levels and you reach the top, you realize the scale of the vision and construction. There are thousands of statues and relief panels exposed to the rains and elements over the centuries and it is a wonder that it still stands. The largest Buddhist temple complex in the world, it was built in the 8th century. It is shaped as a 3 dimensional Mandala and represents Buddhist cosmology, combining the square as earth and circle as Heaven. There are 3 levels - Kamadhatu (world of Desire), Rupadhatu (World of Forms) and Arupadhatu (world of formlessness).  As you climb up the levels, at the top there are no images as you contemplate the act of reaching Nirvana and it is topped by a stupa. 

Ramayana

After finishing the tour, I picked up my painting from Umar and he pointed me to a scenic route along the river which I took as I came back to Yogya. In the evening, I had scheduled to attend the local Ramayana Ballet which was at 0730 PM. The performance was in Javanese style dance and song which had great pyrotechniques with fire and crackers and Hanuman running around burning Lanka all of which I enjoyed thoroughly. The performance was mainly for tourists but I also saw locals with their Hijabs enjoying the performance without any religious connotations. Indeed Ramayana has such an influence across South East Asian culture, whether it is in Thailand, Laos or Indonesia.

In the evening at the nearby Warung Heru, Ardi had told me that there would be live music and I saw a live band playing English and Indonesian Music and I enjoyed the next 2 hours listening to them as Singers and musicians alternated.It was mainly a local crowd of music affecinados with Indonesian women and men having their beers and cigarettes.

Leaving Yogyakarta

On the last day, decided to explore more of the city. I went to the Kraton which is the Royal palace of the Sultan. The current Sultan and his family stays there. On arriving there was a shadow puppet show (Wayang) which had started complete with musicians and story tellers. After the tour of the palace, I stopped by a Gudek shop which is a dish made from jackfruit. I had a Fried chicken, cow skin (Krecek) and Gudek (Jackfruit boiled with palm sugar and coconut milk over hours).

In the evening, I thought of going to a museum where it turned out there was a Javanese dance performance. I was joined from the hostel by an Londoner who turned out to be a 2nd generation Muslim from Bangladesh. She was an English teacher and was travelling solo across Indonesia during the summer break. The performance was for over 1 1/2 hours and we struggled to understand the story till we hit on the right brochure. 

Videos

Train - Jakarta to Yogya	Borobodur	Prambanan Temple

Jakarta

The Sprawling Metropolis

July 2024

I took a grab taxi from the airport to the Hotel and he first impression was that of a well kept city, almost like a cleaner version of Mumbai. There was a mild smog in the sky. Traffic was heavy but moved fast. Unlike Vietnam which promoted 2 wheelers, there were lots more cars on the roads.

In the afternoon, near the hotel had a lunch of Urat meat balls and Rusuk beef ribs. Finished dinner with Nasi Gorang Bistik (steak fried rice). Noticed that the trust factor is a little less here and one has to pay in advance before ordering food similar to Indian Darshinis. 

A Walking Tour

The next day, I decided to go for a walking tour to get an orientation of the city. Guruwalk is a popular free walking tour and the pick up was from a hostel further south in Central Jakarta, My Capsule. We were a total of 11 of us mostly from Europe, there was 1 Scot, 2 from Belgium, a few Germans, English, Dutch and 1 person from Chile. Our guide was a young man named Fajz. 

As part of the walk, we first took a commuter line train to the Kota station which is the old Dutch part of the city, Batavia. We walked up to the Glodok China town which is one of the many china towns where the Chinese were kept quarantined by the Dutch and undergo periodic upheavals. The last anti Chinese riots happened in 1998 and a rising tide of Islamic conservatism threatens to open up the country's ethnic and religious fault lines. Chinese make up 1.2% of the population and traditionally one of the most prosperous groups. About 80% of Indonesian are Muslim, 10% are Christians, the rest Buddhists and Hindus. Fajz told us that Indonesians have their religion written in their ID cards. Adults can change their religion, but many of them don't convert, just become non religious, as it is a hassle updating their ID cards and facing drama from their families.

We visited the Buddhist temple, the traditional markets and had fried balls of Combro Pedas, a dish from west Java made from grated cassava and fried. We then took a mini bus to go to the old Harbor, Sunday Kelapa and a small boat ride around the Harbor. You can see the Pinishi boats and the fact that the sea water level is higher than the land, an indication that Jakarta was sinking. 40% of the city is below sea level due to flooding in the alluvial plain and illegal groundwater extraction. The capital is now moving to East Kalimantan in 2025 to ease the pains and will be called Nusantara (means outer islands)

We then walked to the Jakarta old town along the canal, the Dutch East India company (VOC) warehouses, the last remaining Dutch drawbridge and the colonial houses along the canal. The old town square has the Town hall and old colonial building converted to museums and cafes. The first church is now the puppet museum, while the second one became the cafe Batavia. The court house is now the Museum of Fine art and Ceramics. To make the square give a feel of mini Amsterdam, the government has provided free cycles for kids and you can see them cycling all across while their families enjoy their time out. 

After lunch, a sour and spicy Bandeng (Milk Fish) at Kedai Seni Djakarte restaurant and dessert (Poffertjes which is a traditional Dutch batter cake and ice-cream), we took the commuter train to Central Jakarta to visit Istiqlal Mosque, the world's 3rd largest after Mecca and Medina, which can accommodate 120,000 worshippers. The Mosque was built in 1978 and surprisingly modern with geometrically grated windows and a sleek Minaret. Interestingly, it was designed by a catholic architect, Frederich Silaban who was awarded after a country wide competition. It was testament to the modern interpretation of Islam by the worlds largest Muslim country. Directly across is the twin Cathedral which was built in 1901. As we finished the tour of the mosque, the clouds gathered and the skies poured during the evening. Like any tropical country, it is quite warm in the day time and then in the afternoon or evening, there are brief thunderstorms accompanied by rains. We told our goodbyes and I came back to the hotel. 

Galleries and Museums 

Next day, I was off to Central Jakarta to see the National Museum. The roads were wider and wound around the Monas or Monument National, a marble obelisk to commemorate the Indonesian independence. The Museum was closed for renovations, so went to check out the National Gallery. Artist exhibits keep changing and one of the buildings had a modern exhibition while another building had exhibitions of Amrus Natalsya, Misbach Tamrin and Adrianus Gumelar, all artists in the 1960s and who were persecuted during the Suharto regime due to their communist leanings.

For lunch stopped at a restaurant called Bale Lombok which had Bali-Lombok food and had an Ayam Betutu Bali Komplit - Braised chicken in Betutu spice mix. 

On Friday morning, I went to DOSS electronics to buy an Insta360 Go 3S. DOSS is a chain of electronics stores and the variety of cameras, professional video equipment and drones that were available was more than you could get in India. 

After that I went up towards the old Batavia city and for lunch had Soto Betawi and rice (Beef soup) at the same restaurant, Kedai Seni.  Post lunch, I visited two museums - the Puppet museum and the Arts and ceramics museum. Indonesia has a long culture of puppetry from the days of the Hindu kings and the Puppet museum which was housed in one of the old Dutch buildings had an exhaustive collection of puppets. The curation however was not as good as the museums in Vietnam. There was limited English narrative and I used Google translate to go through the exhibits. The arts and ceramics museum was in another Dutch building and had a good collection of paintings from well known Indonesian artists. However, the curation was not as a good as the National Gallery. 

Had a round of Black coffee before returning back to the hotel. Unlike Vietnam where there are big chains of local coffee shops like Highlands Coffee, I didn't see any in Jakarta other than Kopi Tuku (only in south Jakarta). Starbucks is the number one chain in the cities. This is a big opportunity for a local business to develop around it as the country prospers and consumers are willing to spend on quality coffee.

When I was exiting Jakarta later during the end of the month, I visited a few art museums. Near Sarinah Mall, there is a building called Jakarta Art Hub which has got many small galleries exhibiting modern art by young Artists. However, the ultimate place for Modern and Contemporary art is the Museum MACAN, a must visit for art lovers. Exhibitions keep changing and when I visited, there was an exhibition of the works by the Australian artist Patricia Piccini who uses hyper realistic sculptures portraying imaginary fusions of humans, animals and machines and lets us imagine a future where humanity and other creatures may coexist in potentially the same bodily form. The exhibits were outstanding.

Transportation 

Transportation wise, Jakarta has an excellent road system, well maintained and marked, with separate 2 wheeler and well managed bus stops. The Rail MRT was clean and efficient. Definitely better than anything in India or even Bangkok and Vietnam. Honking is also negligible. Cars are well maintained by the drivers unlike Uber or Ola in India which are dirty. Traffic is heavy but orderly.

Shopping in Jakarta 

The best things to shop in Jakarta are antiques, Batik, Electronics and if you are into it, high end branded items. I bought the Insta360 3S here as the price was competitive and it was not available in India . Jakarta has multiple malls and street shopping destinations. Best Malls to visit in Central Jakarta are Grand Indonesia Mall for High end brands and Sarinah Mall for designer Batiks and handicrafts. Also don't miss the Bartele Gallery which is inside the Mandarin Oriental Hotel for antique maps and prints. In South Jakarta, the best Mall is Senayan City for high end brands. In West Jakarta, The Central Mall is a must visit.

The best place to buy Batiks and general handicrafts is Plaza Blok M in South Jakarta which will remind you of shops in India found in the wholesale, one-town areas. 

If you are into antiques, best place is JL Surabaya in Central Jakarta though there are many fakes and knock offs, so one needs to bargain hard.

Cuisines

Indonesian food varies from Island to Island and it is difficult to keep a track of various variations. I have covered the broad categories in a separate Food article. Jakarta is full of street food and world class restaurants and cuisines including a lot of Japanese and Korean food. Mall restaurants are very popular A few of the restaurants where I had local cuisines and I would recommend are below

Bale Lombok: This is a restaurant popular for offering Balinese cuisines. I tried out an Ayam Betutu Bali Komplit (Braised chicken in Betutu sauce from Bali). 

Kedai Sene Djakarte: This North Jakarta restaurant has some wonderful Poffertjes (legacy of the Dutch) and I also had a Soto Betawi which is a Beef soup by the Betawi or Batavias, an ethnic group native to Jakarta.

The Atjeh Connection: This small restaurant is famous for its Aceh food (Place in Sumatra) and their Coffee (Kopi Sanger), the nearest to South Indian Filter Coffee that you can find.

Leaving for Yogyakarta

It was now time to leave Jakarta for Yogyakarta and the spectacular Buddhist temples of Borobodur. Early morning, I took a cab and reached the Gambir train station which is where the executive class trains start from. Trains were sparkling new and not at all crowded, so it was a pleasant 6 hour journey across the countryside.

Indonesia - Food

July 2024

Sambal

Staple Food and National Dishes

Food in Indonesia is tremendously varied due to its geographic and cultural diversity and in the influence of countries like China, India, Europe and other Asian countries. Each region has its own distinct cuisine.

The staple food is rice (Nasi) though sweet potato, Tapioca, corn and Sago are also used. Most popular accompaniment is Fish seasoned with Tamarind, tumeric, salt or simmered in coconut milk. Vegetables include Water Spinach, beans and the Dutch brought in carrots, cauliflower, cabbage and tomatoes. Greatest influence has been the Chinese with noodles (Mie), soya source in which Indonesians add sugar (Kecap Manis), tofu and soyabeans. 

Rendang

Most meals start with a bowl of rice, a side dish, condiments like chilly sambal, krupuk (wafers made from tapioca, fish, shrimp and deep fried) and fried coconut or peanuts.

The five national dishes declared by the government are Soto (Traditional soups), Rendang (spicy meat with coconut milk), Sate (grilled skewered meat), Nasi Gorang (Fried Rice) and Gado Gado (salad with vegetables, tofu, fresh vegetables with rich creamy peanut sauce). 

Other Popular Foods

Apart from these, other popular street foods are Bakso (beef meatballs) and Siomay (steamed fish dumpling). Both have Chinese origins. Other Chinese influences are Bakmi (wheat based noodles) and Bihun (Rice based noodles). Gudek is a jackfruit dish boiled with palm sugar and coconut milk and is popular in Yogyakarta. Other country influences - Martabak is an Indian Muslim dish (curried meat filling in a wrap). Nasi Kebuli is a type of Pulaf. 

Ingredients and Preparations

Gudek Shop in Yogyakarta

Salads can be Rujak (made from mixed raw fruits, cooked vegetables and sometimes cooked meats)

Preparations can be Gorang (Fried), Kuning (Turmeric), Sam (sour), Lilith (wrapped around like in a Sate), Bakar (grilled) Pepes (using banana leaves to wrap)

Dishes can be Chicken (Ayam), duck (Bebek), Fish (Ikan), Shrimp (Udang), Sapi (Beef) 

Vegetables (Sayur) are Petai (stink bean), Jengkol (dog fruit beans), Kankung (water spinach)

Coffee drinking

Unlike India, where the British taught the entire country to drink tea or Vietnam where coffee drinking culture is quite widespread, Indonesia doesn't have a strong local coffee drinking culture other than the big cities. The coffee is mainly Kopi Tubruk (brought from the middle East) which is without filtration and with added sugar. The pleasure of stopping by at small shops in Vietnam having freshly brewed coffee was something I missed in Indonesia. The coffee that people made were from instant coffee pre-sweetened packets.

Indonesia - History and Culture

July 2024

The name Indonesia was given by the Greeks and stand for indos nesos or Indian islands. These were well known for their spices and the islands first came under the influence of India. Most names in today's Indonesia are still derived from Sanskrit. Eg: Sumatra comes from the Sanskrit Samudra. Similarly, Jakarta comes from Jayakarta, victorious city

Quick History 

The first kingdom was set up in Sumatra, Srivijaya (Today's Palembang city). Sumatra got it's first Muslim kings in the 1300s in Samudra Pasai (now Aceh)

The second ruling kings were in Java, the Shailendra's and Sanjaya's. First they were Shaivites and then Mahayana Buddhists. Shailendras built Boribodur and Sanjayas built Prambanan temples later in Mataram, their kingdom. Last to convert to Islam, they were converted by the mythical Wali Songo, nine saints, primarily Sufi. Their most important king was Sultan Agung. Their new capital was called Yogyakarta, named after Ayodhya and Surakarta. 

These kingdoms were divided into 2 by the Dutch by the Treaty of Giyanti in 1755. Daendels was sent by Dutch empire in 1800 by the government. He built what is known as the great post road. During the British annexation, Thomas Raffles annexed the local kings and introduced direct taxation with land peasants. After Napoleon defeat, Indonesia was handed back to the Dutch.

Raffles and Daendels advocated private enterprise and growth of coffee and indigo cash crops. Later the government reverted to taxation through local intermediaries and by 1850s remittances were 1/3 of state revenue. After that again is started to be privatised

The 3rd ruling kings were in Surabaya further east called Majapahit. They built the Temple of panataran. They were second to convert to Islam after Sumatra including Lombok and eastern Islands. 

Ethnic groups 

Java's inhabitants include three major ethnic groups, the dominant Javanese, the Sundanese, and the Madurese.

Culture Observations:

There is a visible middle class which comes from it being an upper middle income country like Thailand unlike Vietnam or Laos which are lower middle income country. India is also lower middle income but because of sheet population we have a middle class in the cities. Per capita GDP of Indonesia is 5270$ Vs 2731$ for India. Smoking and drinking are not taboo though liquor is not easily available like in other tourist countries.

Two Generations

Women though having a Hijab are quite active in the economy and I saw many Grab bike and car women driver which you don't see in India or Vietnam. Women and men have an equal relationship and mix freely with each other. Women generally do not wear shorts in public unlike what I saw in Vietnam and wear full length pants which are quite stylish.

The Hijab though common is not enforced. I asked one of the girls who was from Sumatra and was waiting on me at Easy Groovy restaurant in Yogyakarta. She said she wears the Hijab but at work she wears work clothes which was T-shirt and shorts. Another receptionist in my hotel at Malang and a guy who I met there said that there is no restriction on what can be worn and it is on the individual.

The country is mostly clean with well made roads and lane markings. Honking is limited and people considerate of others. Islam is not on your face except in one case when I saw space being made on the road for Namaz. The Masjids do have the call to Azan, but in general I felt the religion was private and restrained. I saw many locals taking photos in temples and attending the Ramayana dance drama, so religion is not exclusive. One has to however be ok to wake up early morning especially in the smaller cities or hotels/guest houses near mosques. The Azan starts at around 4 am, so you have to be an early sleeper or someone who can sleep through the Azan call! 

Politics

Wibobo, the current president of Indonesia has been focused on building infrastructure similar to what is happening in India. They have also focused on adding value to commodities like Nickel and encouraging battery manufacturers instead of exporting the basic commodity. They are also targeting 2045 to become a developed economy. It is expected to be the 4th largest economy by 2050.

Borong

Borong Nature camp

June 2024

Borong Nature Camp

After a long drive from Yuksom through some beautiful scenery, waterfalls and a pleasant cloudy weather, we arrived at Ravangla town. Since Borong would be isolated, we stocked up on drinks and snacks and after having a good local lunch started off towards Borong. The Borong Nature camp consists  of a few cottages on a steep slope overlooking a valley. Below you can hear the sound of Rangit river coming up faintly. The river separates West sikkim from South Sikkim. Across the valley, there were clouds but on a clear day you can see the snow capped mountains peeking through. 

Sanjok Gurung is the owner and host of our homestay and we were welcomed by him and his family after which we settled down into our cottages. Sanjok, he told us later is originally from the Silk Road area in South Eastern Sikkim, where he has a hotel. A few years back, he bought about seven acres of land in Borong where he grows crops and has made a few cottages. The tourist season was almost ending with the rains about to begin. Once the rain starts, he would close the camp and go back to his home. The camp has a few of his relatives helping out including his sister who works as an employee in a nearby school.  

Sanjok Gurung, our host

Over breakfast the next day, Sonjok told us his life story. He had been a monk and he spent over 12 years in Bilakuppe, near Mysore Karnataka studying to become a monk before he left and started his own business.  He said he learned a lot about doing business from the Tibetans in the monastery who are by nature very good traders. We asked him whether the Monasteries get enough children to study and become monks. He said that typically in the lepcha community, one of the kids is given to the monastery as a monk, and nowadays people just have one kid. So, the monasteries have been getting students mainly from Nepal instead, generally from poor families. Religious identity seems to be fluid nowadays and Sonjok interestingly told us that some of the original inhabitants, Lepchas have been converting to Christianity whereas some of the Rai's who are originally Hindu Brahmins are converting into Buddhism. 

On one of the evenings, Sonjok talked about the path of becoming a Lama in Buddhism. He has been to many countries as part of being a Lama. They have to go through extensive training and be ready to teach and preside over rituals. They can at any time decide to leave the monastery and lead a life of a householder which is what he did. However to become a monk, they have to take permission of the parents as this is a life of celibacy which cannot be reverted. Sonjok also said that once of the key philosophers who they had to study was Nagarjuna who was from region of Amravati. He is considered as the most important philosopher of Buddhism and is compulsory study material. I made a mental note of getting a book and learning more about Nagarjuna's philosophy.

We asked Sonjok about Organic Farming and whether there is demand for organic produce since Sikkim is known as an Organic State. He said that there is a huge  demand, but the population growth in Sikkim has slowed down and thereby number of people in the farms have been reducing. The government of Sikkim has even promised one government job per family in Sikkim because of which many people now prefer government jobs instead of the hard work of tilling their farms. Further, the government has progressive policies like 1 year paid leave and 3 months paternity leave.  Many farms are now converting back to forests. 

Nowadays most families opt for only one child. The government in fact gives economic incentives for families who have a second kid. Some families have been adopting children from tribal areas in the Dooar plains of West Bengal, but this is becoming lesser due to strict adoption rules and hassles of integrating them into the community.

Local Organic Market

Above our camp on the opposite Mountain, one can see the Eklaviya foundation school. On day 2, we decided to walk down to the river to experience the hot springs. Halfway down the path, we saw a Church. A man called out to us and joined us. He said his original name was Gurung but he has now converted to Christianity and his new name was David "bro". David had a stall near the hot springs where we could have some snacks and change into swimming clothes. Apparently a lot of people come from Bhutan and Nepal to the hot springs during the winters.

Gurung David Bro

The hot Springs was a great experience. The hot water poured out of an opening on the ground and had collected in a pond which was green in color due to the algae. We sank into the water and soaked in the heat. David collected the hot water at the entrance of the spring and gave it to us for drinking. It was therapeutic and smelt of Sulphur. After spending a few hours, we climbed up back to the camp which took us almost 2 hours since it was a steep slope.

The Sikkimese don't have much of a breakfast. People have their lunch at 10:30am. Then they have some tea or snacks in the office and have their dinner at 5:30pm. By 7:30pm they go to sleep and wake up by 0430 AM. Such healthy living! Sanjok joked that during the tourist season they had to keep awake till almost midnight as the Bengali tourists would come down for dinner only by 10 PM! 

We noticed that smoking in public places is strictly not allowed in Sikkim. Also goods cannot be displayed in front of the store, garbage is collected diligently and there is minimal honking and noise. There's a big difference in terms of the discipline and the look and feel between Sikkim and the plains like Siliguri. A lot of it is due to the local hill culture of community feeling, respect and cleanliness. Sanjok told us that the Government had even sent some officials to Bhutan to learn from them where the environment is even better. 

After a few days, it was time to go back. Sanjok arranged for a car and we packed up and drove away towards Siliguri. We left with a happy and yet heavy feeling, our hearts filled with wonderful experiences and warmth of the people. As we got off the hills into the West Bengal plains, I wistfully looked back at the forests and the greenery of Sikkim, probably the best preserved in India and the last Shangri-La. 

Hung Hri

Hung Hri Monastery Hike

June 2024

On Day 2 of our hike, we moved from Dubdi monastery to Hung Hri monastery. We descended into the valley to meet the river and stopped for some time at Elephant Falls. In between 2 streams of flowing water, the rock was shaped like an Elepant's head, hence the name. The water was pristine and fresh.

We then stopped by a farmer's place for some local wine. He was the older brother of the farmer we had met at the camp site and also related to Sanjeev. Our guides and the farmer and his wife then made some Tongba, a millet wine for us. Ragi is cooked and combined with a khesung, which is a local microbial culture and kept for a few days. Manish mixed water into the fermented millet and then squeezed it to get a cloudy liquid which he then poured into glasses for us to drink. It tasted like Sake - warm, slightly alcoholic and smooth with a mild, milky, mushroomy taste.

After a few glasses, feeling nice and fuzzy, we started our ascent to Hung Hri. For lunch we stopped at another relative of Sanjeev, where we took a small nap. In the room inside, I could see that their son was preparing for the civil services exam as there were lots of notes and learning tips stuck onto the wall.

Finally we reached our homestay in the evening just as the skies opened and it started raining . The homestay was attached to the monastery, a beautiful place overlooking the fields and the valley below. The homestay owner and his wife helped us settle down for the evening. They have three daughters, of whom 2 of them were at home that evening. The youngest one is in sixth standard and the middle one is in 11th standard. Both the daughters study at the Eklavya foundation school which is a residential school for the local communities and an hour away by bus. The daughters along with a group of students had come with their teachers over the weekend to camp at the monastery. They made their own food and generally had a good time before going back the next day. 

The next day, we climbed further up to the Hung Hri Top and found a solitary monk staying high up in the mountain. Food is sent from the monastery for him and he had a makeshift house with a basic kitchen to manage. The monk knew only Tibetan, so even the locals found it difficult to communicate with him.  

After having lunch back at the homestay, we started our descent down the valley. We spent some time at the hanging bridge near Phangrong before reaching our new home stay called the Tarebahim. The homestay was in our guide's village and the hosts were related to Sanjeev. We were apparently the first to stay in the homestay and were given a traditional welcome with a shawl. 

The whole family and our guides prepared the dinner for us. We were impressed with Sanjeev and Manish, they were masters in everything! One of the relatives set up a Karaoke and he tried to teach me to sing a Nepali song, Sadhai Sadhai by the band Mantra. We all took turns singing while the cooking was on. 

Day 4, we went back to the hanging bridge. There was a small waterfall and a crystal clear pool. We spent the day jumping into the refreshing water and swimming. After a few hours, we started our descent back to Yuksom. Along the way, we found a new home being built on the slope. The whole village men had joined in to build the house as is the custom. Someone was splitting the bamboo, while others were putting the the roof together. 

After reaching Yuksom, we said our byes to Sanjeev and Manish who had become our friends. It was a great trip with fond memories and insights into the lives of the locals. After a few days, we started our Journey to Ravangla and further on to the Borong valley, our next destination.

Dubri

The Trek up to Dubri

June 2024

Sanjeev and his friend Manish are our guides on the trek from Yuksom. On day one, we trekked up to the Dubri monastery and camped a little bit higher near the monastery. Due to the wet season, there were leeches everywhere and we had to periodically scan our shoes and clothes and remove the leeches.

The place where we pitched our tents was on a flat ground with a beautiful view. There's a farmer's house nearby who stays with his wife, and small kid with a patch of garden. The farm was given by the monastery to them for about 1000 rupees a month. In their village there was a landslide and so they had to come here and restart farming. Typically they farm potatoes and they also have cows, which gives about seven odd litres of milk every day. They also have a few goats and chickens. 

We had interesting dinner discussions with Sanjeev and Manish. Sanjeev is a Buddhist from the Limbu community and his friend Manish is chhetri. Both of them have been close neighbors and friends ever since they were kids. Both of them started talking about South Indian movies and we found out that a lot of people in Sikkim watches these movies in OTT which was quite a revelation to us. They were aware of all the movies, the heroes and the actors, many of who I was not aware of or just heard about them. The conversation veered around Mahesh Babu, Allu Arjun, Ram Charan and many more as we settled down for the night.

Next morning, we had another interesting conversation around cryptocurrencies. Sanjeev has  a Dada Ji, who apparently heard about crypto in 2008 by one of the travelers. He was told to buy Bitcoin at that time which would have been a few cents or dollars which he ignored and regretted later. Now he is an expert in crypto and he has been educating all the folks in Yuksom. They may not have a demat account for stocks but have an account in Wazirx, a local crypto exchange! 

Sanjeev was explaining to the farmer and his wife in Nepali what the entire blockchain technology was and how it cuts out a bank like SBS (State Bank of Sikkim) where there was a scam recently. 

It was a surreal conversation high up in the mountain passes, something I would never have imagined. The farmer nodded his head completely understanding the concept of decentralization and power going out of these centralized banker scamsters.

We finished breakfast and said our good byes to the farmer and his family. Giving some money to the mother for the baby, we moved out to the jungle trail for the second day of the trek.