The family at Three Sister’s homestay welcomed us enthusiastically. As there are no cafes or restaurants nearby all food was included in the price, which was extremely reasonable. The family were busy with their farm. They told us that they grow all the food they need to survive except for oil and rice. As well as having crops they have goats and cows. A dog and a cat also hung out around the homestay buildings. Our accommodation was simple but fairly comfortable. The water was cut off on our first night., but after that it was on regularly and we had an immersion heater for hot water in our bathroom as well as our own kettle to boil water. I have lost my water filter bottle so I have just taken to boiling water and refilling a new bottle I have bought, which is probably a bit better than using a filter in any case. Most places that we stay provide a kettle and quite a few also supply filtered water, that can be boiled in addition to be one hundred percent safe.

There were three generations living at the homestay. The Grandparents hung out at the homestay, doing various jobs such as sifting plants that had been left out to dry to extract the seeds or beans from them. The Grandmother wore traditional clothes and beautiful jewellery, including a large nose ring. I noticed that these were worn by all the older women in the village. The parents were busy tending the farm for most of the day,

On our first day we decided to just hang out on the homestay and do some walking in the area. After a delicious breakfast of home cooked paratha, one of the three daughters of the family offered to let us walk with her and her aunty to her workplace so she could show us around the village. She is a clerical worker at a local health centre. We were worried about making her late but she was remarkably laid back. She told us her boss doesn’t get in until 10:30 and she has a really good relationship with her. The health centre mainly provides support to women and children. They have a duty to report any significant safeguarding events to higher authorities, for example if a girl who is under age gets pregnant. It sounded like local attitudes to girls and women are quite empowering.

I noticed signs everywhere about the ‘Jan Jeevan project’ and looked this up. It appears that it is a project to bring clean drinking water to everybody in India. It started in 2019 and has almost succeeded, a massive achievement especially considering that COVID happened right in the. middle of its implementation. All the local villages have signs saying that they are ‘non outside defecation zones’ which I guess also supports water cleanliness and disease prevention.

After we said goodbye to our guide Tim and I had a further wander, got a little lost but managed to find our way back home. A relative of the family who lives across the road came over to chat to us. Apparently we had been spotted in the village and people had commented that we appeared to be enthusiastic walkers. I wasn’t sure if this was sarcasm or not as Tim and I had been huffing and puffing up and down the many steps linking different areas of the village.

The nephew of our homestay host, Dhan, is a taxi driver who lives nearby, so our host arranged for him to take us on a trip around the local monasteries the next day. The road to Ralong Monastery was perilous. Water was dripping down from the cliff, presenting a high risk of landslides. Dhan told us that the water source for the village came from here. We passed quite a few other non four wheel drive vehicles. It seems like a normal activity here to get round in a small car on very challenging roads. It is something we would never attempt in the UK and I am in awe of the skill and patience of the drivers. The trick seems to be to drive very very slowly.

As usual the monks were welcoming. A ceremony was occurring in the first monastery we visited, so a 10 year old monk had been left on duty and showed us around. He did a very good job. We got dropped off in Ravangala where we fuelled up on cappuccino in a local cafe. After that Dhan picked up his sister on her way home from school. He and she gave us a tour of smaller more local monasteries and a lake on the way back to the homestay.

Dhan agreed to take us to Pelling the next day. We were a bit worried about this as he told us the road was very bad and either he had to make a diversion via Namchi or drive along the terrible road. We asked whether it would be better to get a four wheel drive vehicle, but he said it would be fine for him to take us as long as we started early. We left him to choose which route to take. He decided on the shorter but more dangerous road.

The journey between Ravangala and Legship was the worst section of road. I have to admit I was terrified in parts. It did not help that Dhan kept saying ‘This is a very dangerous road.’ We stopped briefly so that he could have a break after we entered Western Sikkim and the road conditions then improved somewhat. Tim told me later that he saw a car similar to the one we were driving on at the bottom of one of the gorges we were passing through. It had landed on its roof. Luckily he didn’t point it out to me at the time. Tim thought that from the position that it was in the driver had been making the journey in the dark and had missed a hairpin bend, doubtless to join the many ghosts in the forest. Dhan’s driving was amazingly skilled.

We arrived safely in Pelling and said goodbye to Dhan, who set off back home in good time to avoid having to drive in the dark. Our hotel was not as friendly and personal as the homestay, but was much more luxurious with a hairdryer and electric blanket. We spotted the tops of the high peaks of the Kanchenjunga range teasingly peaking out above the clouds from our window. We settled down to unpack and plan our time in Pelling.