Dzongu- not trailed on Google Maps yet!

In the wilderness beauty of Sikkim, on the remote GPS coordinates, lies this virgin land, untouched and pristine. The aboriginal tribe - The Lepchas call this place by the name Dzongu. Dzongu is an officially demarcated reserve for Lepcha community. This Lepcha tribe has inherently protected this beautiful, virgin land to the utmost proximity with nature. One needs permission to legally enter this part of North Sikkim. Permission actually means that you need your passports and passport photos to enter this land.And believe me, as of today September 2013, you cannot search this place on Google maps. Nearby area Mangan is listed though, however searching by "Dzongu" or "Passingdang"(village name) results nothing on Google Maps(it says unable to find location!).

The inhabitant Lepchas here worship the nature and feel that disturbing any element of it would bring disaster to their land and may bring natural calamities like earthquakes, landslides etc. And hence they have preserved this land as their mother God, living harmoniously with it, respecting and worshiping the mountains, rivers, trees of this land. 

Once you reach Gangtok, Dzongu is 4 hours from there by road. We  took a halt of one day at Gangtok to visit the nearby Monasteries and some places around. We went to Rumtek monastery, Ranka monastery and a few others. We liked Ranka monastery as it was not much touristy and was peaceful during that time.

Next day, Mr. Gyatso, owner of Mayal Lyang Homestay at Dzongu, had come to receive us in his SUV to Gangtok and soon we realized that only SUVs could withstand those merely non-existing roads (not throughout though). Also we understood why the To/Fro travel budget to this place was high as compared to other places. Once you enter Dzongu, it will not take time for you to realize that the place is a land of waterfalls, butterflies, rivers, and mountains. Within few minutes of passing the main entry of Dzongu area, we experienced a natural and free car wash. That's true, there was a waterfall on the road itself, underneath which our car passed by. Watch this video if you want to have a glimpse of it as well.  

We were welcomed to Mayal Lyang (Which means hidden land) Homestay by his family which consists of Mr. Gyatso, his wife Samsay, his cute 2 year old kid Aadon, his mother, father, one dog and two cats. Believe me, beyond this time reaching there, we never felt out of their family. The whole family took care of us, their hospitality is off-limits. The Homestay is a clean and comfortable cottage, built in the traditional Lepcha way. 

Mayal Lyang Homestay, Dzongu, Sikkim

Homestay build in old Lepcha way over the wooden pillars

Place where we enjoyed sipping Sikkimese tea in homestay

However, I would expect one to understand that this is a homestay and not a hotel. So one should go there with an expectation to be at home instead of expecting lavish luxuries at the place.

Just to give you a glimpse of Dzongu from my eyes, things you can expect from this place:

What you hear? The gurgling of river, hymns of birds and chants from the monastery.

What you eat? The organic food that these people grow in their organic gardens around their homes. 

What you smell? The light smell of burning wood from the kitchen as you would experience the traditional cooking chullah* in their kitchen where they use wood for cooking. Hey not just that, these people do not use geysers for heating water but just have a pipe running underneath their chullah which heats the water which is used for taking bath. Interesting was there way of living.

What you enjoy? Small treks to local villages, sitting beside the river, passing by rickety bridges, serenity of monasteries, waterfalls, local traditional food etc If you are a butterfly enthusiast, then you MUST go to this place as there are more than 500 species of butterflies to spot. What not to expect? Restaurants, luxury hotels, shopping avenues etc

We stayed at the homestay on the day of our arrival, enjoying the local garden, butterflies, stories from Gyatso and Samsay about the Lepcha tribe and so on. Samsay cooked Sikkimese traditional delicacies for us, and in the most fascinating kitchen I had even seen- an old traditional Lepcha kitchen. She is imbibed with so much passion for cooking that she went extra mile to try out different things suiting our taste buds. I must say she is an amazing cook and a good kitchen organizer. 

Traditional Lepcha Kitchen

Next morning, we headed for Rongyung River which was just 10 minutes’ walk down the hill. Kalzang, Gyatso's cousin was our guide that day. He was sweet and cooperative. The fast flowing river had a wooden broken rickety bridge. It was an amazing experience to cross that. 

 

Rickety bridge we crossed over Rongyong river

The other side of the river was a forestry land with butterflies around. We suddenly felt in trap of Leeches and soon we found some of them already sticking to our feet and shoes and sucking blood. We removed our shoes, dragged them out of skin. Don't be scared! they do not cause any pain, but cause just skin itching that happens for a few days. For me, it was the first experience with Leeches. However, for my husband Mohit, it was a norm as he had been to western ghat rain forests multiple times and he had experienced bigger ones there. We crossed the rickety bridge again to find a place to sit down besides the river and enjoy the fast jumbling water. The place was so serene with just the sounds from the nature that you could easily spend hours there. 

Since we had come in rainy season, one could expect rain anytime. We trekked back uphill in the rain. On the way, we stopped by at one of the houses where one of the lepcha man was preparing alcohol out of Millet in a vessel set on fire. This local drink, also referred as Chi, is very popular there which most of the people prepare at their homes. It is a holy drink which is served in glasses made of Bamboo and is often taken as a Prasadam.In the evening, we trekked to a Monastery nearby. There were little monks giggling and smiling. I did not miss a picture with them. Later in the evening, we spent hours talking about the intimidation of hydro power projects planned in this area and how the Lepchas had been fighting against them to preserve their land. Gyatso was one of the ACT activist who had been working on the conservation of Dzongu area by standing against hydro electric projects that were mushrooming around River Teesta and river Rongyong.  

Next early morning, we were to trek to village Lingthem. It was a short trek uphill of around 2.5- 3 hours through the paddy fields and bamboo grooves. It was cloudy so we could not have a view of Mt. Kanchenjunga. Though the pictures at homestay  show a beautiful view. We were still hoping to get a glimpse during our stay in Dzongu. We could otherwise see the "Body Gaurds" as they are called of the peak. This was a beautiful trek with so much picturesque. We thoroughly enjoyed the shortcuts we took during the trek which passed through narrow steep climbs.In 3 hours, we reached our destination- The monastery which was closed. We had our packed lunch that Samsay cooked and having that, I was yearning for tea when a local villager came and asked us to join them for a local ceremony that was happening nearby. We were invited to a house where more than 50-70 people were gathered. In one room, some were enjoying millet beer, in another- Buddhist monks were chanting prayers. Some rooms were occupied by people chatting and eating and one room was filled with ladies praying hymns and rolling Manichakras. It was 21st day of the departure of the mother of the house. As per their tradition, people celebrate this day as they pray for the peace of the soul departed. We clicked some pictures, talked with the localities, enjoyed the local tea and trekked back.

 

Village people celebrating 21st day of departure

Later in the evening after getting back to homestay, we talked about the life of Lepcha tribe, their culture, their religion, their beliefs and their origin. This discussion lasted for hours with Gyatso and his family. Mohit and I were so much intrigued with the discussion of this tribe that we started reading more from their little library about Lepchas in Sikkim.  

Next day was planned for a visit to a holy lake called Hee Gyathang which a smaller sect of Lepcha people worship. This lake is famous for the silver fishes. The people who consider it holy believe that the day these fishes vanish, they would too. They come and tie prayer flags around this lake. it was serene and beautiful place. We went to this place on Car but were coming back on foot. Around 8-10 kms walk. On the way, we got down at the river and had a good time relaxing. We were tired in the evening. Just sat back and chatted with our new friends in the homestay.  

Next morning we went to Lingzya waterfalls. I had a great time enjoying my reading and Mohit with his camera. We sat there for hours just enjoying the simplicity of the place. Later in the evening, we headed for the hot water spring at Lingdem village. It was relaxing natural spa to have.  Next day, we did not want to leave this place but had to as we had our flight next day from Baghdogra. And guess what, the last day was a blessing on us as we had an awesome view of Mt. Kanchenjunga while we were leaving this beautiful land of butterflies!.


Oh did I miss something? We had almostttttt stopped an aircraft from taking off to get into it ;-) So one piece of advice if you plan this trip- Traffic to Baghdogra(part of Bengal) is unpredictable. Take a leap of two hours atleast than your travel time from Sikkim to Baghdogra.

<<More photos coming soon as they are on Mohit's HDD. It will take time for me to steal those :p
BTW the last one above is the one I stole already >>