A visit to the Gurung family in Soreng

In a small wooden hut, the walls and floor hand laid in clay, in the early morning Sakun threw a couple of sticks onto a small cheerful fire and poked it, then squatted in front, huddled in a blanket. I could hear a cockerel sounding the morning alarm and a distant cow lowing. After a few moments, Sakun took a metal tin off the tripod, and poured herself a mug of tea.

Before I get too romantic, she was wearing jeans and carrying a mobile phone, and Suda tells me the house is all of 30 years old - 20th century built, after her father left the forestry office. However, it felt at least biblical, if not iron age, apart from a few late additions. The (separate) kitchen really is of clay with a few wooden supports, the house is half-timbered and looks as though it might be wattle&daub.

Here are very edited highlights of my 350 photos,some more from the same trip are in the Pelling album.

Suda is the receptionist in my hotel, Sakun her youngest sister, in her last year at school. I have no idea how to place the family: usually in India, the higher class (or richer) they are, the more English they speak. However, the parents speak none at all, and one of her uncles, who speaks good English because he works in the tourist industry - admits he left school after class 8, which I think was pretty rare even 20 years ago. They own the house, a smallholding, enough to grow all their own veg, and another house, which is rented out. All 4 of the children have or expect to attend university. One uncle keeps two wives and houses (in the same clearing), and several children. And it's clear that although they don't have tv or plumbing in the house, this is through choice and not because they can't afford it. They do have electricity and plumbing for irrigation. The son, who is musical owns a guitar, and all of them mobile phones (they skipped straight past landline). Anyhow, the whole family were extremely welcoming and friendly - especially the mother, Padma, who seems to count me as an extra daughter.

Having visited not only the Gurungs, but also a few of their extended family and neighbours. it appears the local architecture of choice for the Soreng area is wooden bungalows, often L shaped or C shaped: the extra snazzy ones have a curved bay window at the end of the L. The furnishing style is over-chintzy frills, the furniture itself a mix of solid wood upholstery, cheap plastic chairs, and small stools for a more comfortable squat. Strangely, for me they resemble retirement bungalows in a British seaside resort more than Alpine chalets. Wood buildings (and wood fires, of which I smelled several) are rare in Sikkim because of the forestry restrictions aimed at reducing deforestation. However, most of the Soreng families I visited own enough land to harvest wood from it, probably sustainably. Suda tells me that her mother uses a kerosene stove in the summer, but wood in the winter for warmth. You can see your breath in the morning, winter is definitely on the way! It's still nice and hot if the sun is out though.

I'm impressed by how they manage to dish up tasty hot meals with at least 4 separately cooked parts (rice, dal, vegetables, chappati or omelette) using only a single tripod - and also they keep the animal mash on the fire when it's not in use for human meals. I have a feeling that this is a cooking style that has a very long handed down tradition. It's also fashionable - they grow or farm virtually eerything they eat, the main exception is the rice.

Unspecified selection of Suda's cousins

Suda's sister Sakun

View from where Sakun was sitting

Sakun and another cousin

The main house

My bedroom

Intrepid explorers [1]

Suda and me

The (separate) kitchen house

Suda's brother Bai, Suda, and her mother

Suda, Bai, and Sakun

View across the Jorethang valley from the jeep home

12 Nov 2007