ON invite from my friend Dominic, I agreed to travel to Darjeeling for the NA convention. I however was not registered for the convention, but rather had somethingelse on my mind. A trek to Dzongri Top to view the Kanchanjunga face to face. The trip was planned from the 17th of September 2012. We travelled by train to New Jalpaiguri and later by a Taxi to Darjeeling. The train ride was very long, it took us 2 full nights and a day. There were a lot of military personnel in the train, and they were fun to be with. We shared a lot of food and stories along the way. Traveling in the sleeper class, taught us ,any small lessons of survival and mutual existence principles. Upon reaching Darjeeling, I quickly had a cold shower in the room which Manish had occupied. Immediately after that, I took a taxi to Jorethang and then to Yuksom. The drive was a very difficult drive, as we had to pass through many passes. There were many a land slides and the driver was really skilled and experienced to negotiate the roads. The taxis, often Tata sumos, could be hired after buying the tickets at the ticket counter. The fare was Rs. 120/- from Darjeeling to Jorethang fixed by the Motor Syndicate, often run by the Nepali Movement.
Upon reaching Yuksom, about 5 in the evening, we discussed the tour plan and bought food and other materials from a local shop. Later had dinner, Poori and Subji at Hotel Gupta and went to sleep early. And upon waking up at 5 in the morning, our trek started to Bhakim. On this day, it was raining heavily and I had forgotten to bring my rain gear. Hence my guide, Salman, choose a easy remedy, by cutting a large peace of plastic cover which went around our head, this was tied to our hips using a string from one of the trees. It as pretty old fashioned way of ensuring rain protection. We also had bough bread and eggs which we had to transport it safely to Bhakim.
At Bhakim we had our packed lunch and spent the evening talking with the proters who arrived there. The cook in a small house there was Purbha who as kind enough to prepare lunch and tea for us. All the people here wore gum boots (mostly bright yellow in colour) and all drank pretty much Tongba (local brew). It was also learnt that the leaches here stick onto the Yalks, thus sparing us of their bites.
On the next day, 22nd Sept '12, we woke up early after crashing the night out with the porters, guide and the cook, we left to Dzongri after breakfast, bread and eggs. On the way we had black tea at Choka. The first few Kms was good and easy, with a slight steap, but route got difficult after a while. All the way, it was beautiful to watch the moss on the trees and the plants. We also saw a lot of mushrooms, some edible and some poisonous. After around 5 hours or more of trekking, we reached Dzongri at about 3 pm. The place was very quite, there were no travellers / trekkers / visitors except for us. We stayed the night there and shared the tinned Tuna with the family which runs this only lodging up there. The Tuna was given by our NA friend Alistair. At this time the altitude sickness started hitting me and I started to feel dizzy. We slept with our sleeping bag of -0degree.
Woke up in the morning and headed to the Top to view Kanchanjunga. It was at 4 in the morning and it was dark. The night was crazy as my jaws were stuck and my lips had swollen due to breathing from the mouth to get that thin oxygen. The clouds and the mist was playing hide and seek as we collected water from the stream. At 5 AM we reached the top which is covered with prayer flags. The mountain was visible and we enjoyed the view on the top. We later came back to the lodge, had our breakfast and headed back to Yuksom. On the way we also stopped at Bhakim for lunch and met the HMI boys who were going up the trek. This coming down, we did it in a single day. My left knee went for a toss, and I really struggled to reach Yuksom. After reaching Yuksom, I had some dinner and went to sleep.
The next day, I woke up early had breakfast and headed back to Darjeeling via Jorethang. Reached Darjeeling in the evening and had a scrumptious meal at Keventers for Rs. 200/-.
The trek was amazing and I made a lot of friends and learnt a lot from mother nature. It was an amazing trek, as it was my first for three days. It is not advisable to do this trek for three days, but rather for 5 to 6 days, as i
t gives time for acclimatization. However the experience was amazing and I hope those reading this would be inspired to do this trek.
Upon reaching Yuksom, about 5 in the evening, we discussed the tour plan and bought food and other materials from a local shop. Later had dinner, Poori and Subji at Hotel Gupta and went to sleep early. And upon waking up at 5 in the morning, our trek started to Bhakim. On this day, it was raining heavily and I had forgotten to bring my rain gear. Hence my guide, Salman, choose a easy remedy, by cutting a large peace of plastic cover which went around our head, this was tied to our hips using a string from one of the trees. It as pretty old fashioned way of ensuring rain protection. We also had bough bread and eggs which we had to transport it safely to Bhakim.
At Bhakim we had our packed lunch and spent the evening talking with the proters who arrived there. The cook in a small house there was Purbha who as kind enough to prepare lunch and tea for us. All the people here wore gum boots (mostly bright yellow in colour) and all drank pretty much Tongba (local brew). It was also learnt that the leaches here stick onto the Yalks, thus sparing us of their bites.
On the next day, 22nd Sept '12, we woke up early after crashing the night out with the porters, guide and the cook, we left to Dzongri after breakfast, bread and eggs. On the way we had black tea at Choka. The first few Kms was good and easy, with a slight steap, but route got difficult after a while. All the way, it was beautiful to watch the moss on the trees and the plants. We also saw a lot of mushrooms, some edible and some poisonous. After around 5 hours or more of trekking, we reached Dzongri at about 3 pm. The place was very quite, there were no travellers / trekkers / visitors except for us. We stayed the night there and shared the tinned Tuna with the family which runs this only lodging up there. The Tuna was given by our NA friend Alistair. At this time the altitude sickness started hitting me and I started to feel dizzy. We slept with our sleeping bag of -0degree.
Woke up in the morning and headed to the Top to view Kanchanjunga. It was at 4 in the morning and it was dark. The night was crazy as my jaws were stuck and my lips had swollen due to breathing from the mouth to get that thin oxygen. The clouds and the mist was playing hide and seek as we collected water from the stream. At 5 AM we reached the top which is covered with prayer flags. The mountain was visible and we enjoyed the view on the top. We later came back to the lodge, had our breakfast and headed back to Yuksom. On the way we also stopped at Bhakim for lunch and met the HMI boys who were going up the trek. This coming down, we did it in a single day. My left knee went for a toss, and I really struggled to reach Yuksom. After reaching Yuksom, I had some dinner and went to sleep.
The next day, I woke up early had breakfast and headed back to Darjeeling via Jorethang. Reached Darjeeling in the evening and had a scrumptious meal at Keventers for Rs. 200/-.
The trek was amazing and I made a lot of friends and learnt a lot from mother nature. It was an amazing trek, as it was my first for three days. It is not advisable to do this trek for three days, but rather for 5 to 6 days, as i
