Nice but hard on posting that there are still parts of the world without internet cafes. Or, with internet cafes (2 of the towns) but with no actual internet, or just not for the last four days they insisted.
Feels like all movement since last Friday's morning departure - for the police picnic by the Teesta. The picnic an orgy of huge cauldrons of food, whisky and beers that kept being topped off. All of a sudden we'd killed 6 hours by the river (ended in dancing and songs) and everyone stumbled about trying to identify drivers within identical police Gypsy jeeps. Blue police lights a-flashing (the officers drunk and so keen to impress authority on the tiny houses passed) we made off in a jagged line on the hairy one lane roads - splitting with the gourp when they headed north to gangtok, we south to Jorethang.
One flat tire en route and a case of Sikkimese Dansberg beer in the back. Felt like college (not mine but what I imagine) except there was a princess sitting next to me, and we were passing the beer up to a high-up police guy in the backseat, and we were in Sikkim.
Amazingly arrived at Jorethang mostly okay, picked at some chicken curry, had another beer (for the night) and crashed in what I think were police barrack rooms for the night.
Jorethang a trading border town, as unpretty as a place can be while still being located smack in the Himalayan foothills. "More Indian" said Little Hope, "than the rest of Sikkim". And Kelly - Little Hope's son, kept asking when we'd "return to Sikkim". I wondered the same into our second day.
There for the 6th Annual Ministers Gold Cup Archery tournament, which LH's husband was chairman of (for?) and a competitor in. Took place in a dusty central field, with sandbags shaped into a platform and arrow-stopping backboards at both ends and a tin-sided Canteen, just behind the army parachute viewing pavilion, on the long side. The men (in 18 teams and a round-robin scheme) took turns shooting arrows - amazingly (and to my eye, not visibly) from one end of the 100+ meter field to a tiny target on the other. There was a somewhat confusing scoring plan, a lot of whooping and since you had to either stand at the shooters end, stand at the shot- at end, or stand in the middle and see little of the arrow's arc - there was not too much action really.
Photographed dutifully though, squatted and tried all sides to look like a pro, but photos pretty dull. Some of the men in the traditional Sikkimese "Kho" dress but most had the arms of the top tied around their waste, sneakers and jeans. We always long for the ethnic...this was not the place.
Hope and I with kids retired to the canteen for beers, then to a friends house for a rest and National Geographic channel (have now seen Secrets of the Inca Mummies twice), then to a restaurant for more food and beers, then back to the friends house...A day of waiting, killing time and beers. Not my best day in Sikkim, and felt like a wasted one but for the fact I can tell of an archery tournament.
Sikkimese Archery:
- A traditional sport. Competitions taking place in the farmer's fallow times - between harvest and next planting - when the fields are bare for the match.
- A friendly rivalry between small towns - accompanied by drink (chung - a millet, sake-like drink - more on this to come) and lots of food.
- Traditionally bent bamboo bows and arrows - the latter tipped in a rough iron point fashioned by village blacksmith.
- Cure for an arrow wound: heat end of offending arrow and soughter wound shut.
There's a lot more to report where this came from but must figure out lodging for tonight and map the next few days. Up in the air whether I'll stay with itinerary and soon be off to Nepal and move around dates and try to trek up north.
Stay tuned.
All best to devoted readers, if you're still there.
C
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