Sikkim: Learning is an uphill climb

Between Gangtok and the small town of Singtam on National Highway 31-A, children wait for any passing vehicle to hitch a ride to school.

They walk on the hilly terrain every day and learn in the lap of nature. The mighty Teesta river flows along the highway. At night the water howls. Most of the drivers who frequent this 85-km-long stretch are known faces among locals, so children have no problem in reaching home or school on time.

Even then they do walk quite a distance, up and down, because nobody gets a free ride everyday.

Photos taken from a moving vehicle in August 2012. This is an old post that was taken down after the images disappeared due to an error in Google Photos.