Thangu, lying at 4114m in the far north of Sikkim, is the last inhabited village before the mountains of the […]

Thangu, lying at 4114m in the far north of Sikkim, is the last inhabited village before the mountains of the […]
Feeling less than inspired by the guidebook description of Kalimpong as ‘grubby’, with ‘a recent history of neglect, decaying infrastructure […]
“They were in a fun mood and we enjoyed some banter while we bought them some drinks and Theng practised his flirting skills again, while I did them some instant polaroid photos for them to keep. One of them didn’t like her image though, and handed it back to me insisting that I do a better one.”
“A group of women started pointing at me and then stroking their arms up and down saying “Sữa Khổng Lồ!” and laughing. They kept saying it to me as if repeating it would make it any easier for me to understand and others joined in the hilarity. I looked at my arms to see what they were pointing out but was none the wiser.”
Returning to the Lisu village in N.W Thailand where I had stayed last year, I had a surprise in store for Asur and Asa
as we waved goodbye to her, and her grandchildren dressed in Western clothes, I came away hoping that in some small way, the photos I’d taken that day had helped more in the preservation of their precious culture than in contributing to its demise.