Hill words
Read the signboards
Half the place names in these hills are descriptions. Learn a few words and the map starts talking: Maneybhanjan is the pass of the prayer wall, Sukhia Pokhari a pond.
On the map
A pass or saddle on a ridge. Maneybhanjan sits on one.
A pond or small lake: Sukhia Pokhari, Namthing Pokhri, Kalipokhri.
Village: Sillery Gaon, Icchey Gaon.
A ridge or hilltop, also spelled dara on signboards.
A stream or small river: Suntalekhola, Srikhola.
A mountain torrent, the kind that crosses the road in the monsoon: Pagla Jhora.
A settlement or hamlet, as in Bhutia Busty.
Market town: Teesta Bazar, Chowk Bazaar.
Pass, in Tibetan and Sikkimese: Nathu La, Jelep La.
Lake, in Tibetan: Tsomgo.
River, in Tibetan and Sikkimese: Lachen Chu, Lachung Chu.
At the monastery
A Buddhist monastery. Walk around it clockwise.
A stupa, often by a path or a pass. Keep it on your right as you pass.
A wall of carved prayer stones. The 'Maney' in Maneybhanjan is often explained this way.
Wind-horse prayer flags in five colours: blue, white, red, green, yellow.
A white scarf offered as a greeting or blessing.
Masked dance performed at monastery festivals, often in winter.
On the plate
Steamed dumplings, the default hill snack. Veg, chicken or pork.
Noodle soup, best on a cold evening in Gangtok or Lachung.
A ring-shaped rice bread fried at Tihar and other festivals.
Fermented dried greens, cooked into a sour soup.
Yak or cow milk cheese. The hard kind can take an hour to chew.
Fermented soybean, eaten as a curry or pickle.
Fried bread stuffed with spiced meat, Tibetan in origin.
Young fern fronds, cooked as a vegetable in the monsoon.
On the road
A Sumo, Bolero or Maxx sold seat by seat; it leaves when full.
To hire the whole vehicle: a 'reserve gaadi'.
The jeep stand in each town where shared jeeps leave from.
The two-foot-gauge Darjeeling Himalayan Railway.
Elder brother, elder sister: a polite way to address a driver or host.
Spellings vary between signboards, maps and languages. We use the spelling you are most likely to see locally.