October 28, 2014

The ‘Orchids’ Village

I am a kind of person who loves the ‘fairy-tale’ side of life. I like the small cute houses, pretty backyards, sunshine, flowers and butterflies. In short, I am a dreamer. Being a city-dweller, I am used to a certain way of living. I am accustomed to certain sights and sounds. Therefore, a ‘village life’ is my fantasy.

When I started out with my journey in Sikkim, I was clear in my head that I wanted to explore at least a few villages. I have written about my spellbinding experiences in Darap Village (West Sikkim) and also Dilaram Village (Darjeeling). Today, I bring to you a piece of Assam Lingzey Village, which I have mentioned about in many of my earlier blog posts, but never introduced it properly.

Assam Lingzey Village is a little village near Gangtok. It’s also known as the Orchids Village, because of its many orchid farms. Unfortunately, I went there in May, which was not the season for flowers. But if you want to get lucky and see the orchids in full bloom, December-April should be the right time.

I often feel like an intruder while I travel. I guess the Assam Lingzey trail turned out to be a dream-come-true for the ‘intruder’ me. Well, at my host’s behest, I got to be a guest in a stranger’s home – the Rai family. They are a Nepalese family, who live in a dainty wooden house surrounded by lots of lushness of trees, plants and fields. As soon as I made my way into their front yard, I went berserk with my photography. To be honest, I could manage to capture only a quarter of its beauty. So yes, my photographs barely show what I saw with my actual eyes.

When my host introduced me to them, they quite liked the idea that a woman travelled on her own. The man of the house spoke in English with me, which showed their openness for tourism (not in a commercial manner though). Although they were simple and shy, their graciousness was quite evident.

The house that appeared modest from the outside was quite nicely done-up from inside. Of course, even the exteriors were beautifully maintained. But, as I was invited into their living room upstairs, I was pretty amazed to see the tastefully colourful sofas and other furniture, various décor items and the classy curtains. As I sipped the fresh cow-milk tea, I was in awe of that moment.

Later, I strolled in the backyard of the Rai House, which had a separate space for their cows. They seemed to look amused when I photographed them. It was all so close to my dream – the wooden house, the cattle, the garden, and the pristine mountain air. I was like a child who just wanted to lap up everything greedily (sigh).

Enjoy the photographs.