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May 20, 2007 I won't bore you with my trip from Bangalore to Siliguri. After checking out from my hotel in Siliguri, competing rickshaw folks, forced me unwillingly into one of those rickshaws and transported me to the Sikkim National Transport bus terminal. Thanks to the taxi lobby, the Sikkim National Transport does not run buses anymore from Siliguri to Yuksom ( which is one of the most popular trailheads in Sikkim). After talking to the folks at the Sikkim National Transport, i was given misleading information that the best way to reach Yuksom was to go to Pelling, and take a shared taxi to Yuksom from there. Finally after a leisurely bus ride, i reached Pelling by 5:00 in the evening. The bus conductor gave me a dirty smile and informed me that no shared taxis were available to Yuksom, after 5:00 PM. Anyway, later i found out that the best way to reach Yuksom was to take a bus from Siliguri to Jorethang, and take a shared taxi from there to Yuksom. So much for the information integrity in Siliguri. Pelling, which was not that popular, when i visited Sikkim back in 1994, is now a bustling town. It's touted to be the closest town from where the Kanchenjunga range can be viewed. I checked into a hotel and was talking to my wife back home and the bed started rocking madly. Lights went off and i could smell and hear panic. Having lived in California for nearly a decade, this 5.0 earthquake on seismic scale was no terror to me. I calmy walked out to realize that i was the only non-bengali, amidst a ocean of bengalis out in the dark. The excited conversations about the tremors continued for nearly an hour, after which we were allowed to get back into the hotel and hit the bed. May 21,2007 The next day, i woke up at 4:00 AM excitedly to watch the sunrise over the Kanchenjunga. It was cold, cloudy and depressing. The last time i had seen Kanchenjunga was - never !. Thats' right. 1994 - Tashi view point, Gangtok , Sikkim- cloudy. 1994 - Tiger hill, Darjeeling - cloudy. 2007 - Pelling, Sikkim - cloudy. Kanchenjunga proved elusive to me. I grumbled "What a glorius morning" to myself and proceeded to find a shared taxi. Now i was told, that the shared taxis only start at 4:00 PM in the evening. I was in no mood to wait that long and waste another day, holed up in Pelling and watch the clouds. I had to move on. Private taxi from Pelling to Yuksom costs an exorbitant Rs 2400 for a mere 22 km ride. Finally, i managed to find a couple of people who were heading to Yuksom, converting my private taxi into a sort of shared taxi and headed to Yuksom. The route from Pelling to Yuksom (about 22 kms), is as remote, virgin and scenic as it gets. On the way, we pass along some tourist view points like Rock garden, Kanchendzonga falls. ...
 Kanchenjunga Falls
Along the way to Pelling, we picked up a 5 year old kid who was walking to the school, and a girl named Savitri who was returning from college in Pelling. When we were about 4 kms from Pelling, there was a landslide and our Jeep could not proceed any further. I picked up my 40 pound backpack along with two other bags of clothes/trekking accessories and started moving. Savithri was my guide from here to Yuksom through a shorter route around a small but steep hillock. After reaching Yuksom by noon, i checked into YangriGang hotel. The hotel owner, a friendly guy, arranged for 2 porters and provisions for my trek. One of my porter would function as a guide and cook as well. Since i had the rest of the day to spend, i thought, i might as well take a mini hike to the Dubdi monastery. The monastery is situated on the top of a hillock overlooking Yuksom. It was a 45 min steep climb to reach the place, which was pretty secluded and serene. Just out of curiosity, i asked the monk there, if Kanchenjunga was visible from this place. He said, "Yes of course. But today is cloudy, so it's unlikely to get any view".  Hill on which Dubdi monsatery is situated, as viewed from Yuksom
 Yuksom - Trailhead starts at this tiny mountain village
May 22, 2007 - Day 1 My porters, Mingma Lepcha and Suja Lepcha promptly arrived at 7:00 AM at my hotel. I had to complete a few formalities like registering at the local Police station, obtaining the Kanchenjunga national park permit and booking the Trekkers' hut (Rs 50 per night). My iternerary was Day 1 - Yuksom (4800 ft) to Tsokha (9800 ft) - 16 kms Day 2 - Tsokha (9800 ft ) to Dzongri ( 12800 ft) - 10 kms Day 3 - Rest and acclimatization at Dzongri Day 4 - Dzongri (12800 ft) to Tangshing (12400 ft) - 6 kms Day 5 - Rest at Tangshing Day 6 - Tangshing to Tsokha via Phedang Day 7 - Tsokha to Yuksom
 Suja Lepcha and Mingma Lepcha - Porters for my trek.
We hit the trail around 8:00 AM, which intially passes along the Rathong river valley. It started raining lightly. After a few minutes, we were under the thick tropical canopy, which offered some protection, although the water from the leaves kept dripping all the way. We trekked nearly for nearly an hour, with not a sight of a single flower, bird or insect, but some delightful lush green vegetation. We passed a nice waterfall along the way and took shelter under a resting place. As we resumed the trek, it started raining heavily and the next hour of trek was sheer misery, walking through the slush, with those pesky blood sucking leeches all over the place. Dzo ( which looks like a Yak ) , which are a hybrid of yak and cow, were sharing the trail with us, carrying the trekkers' provisions. Unlike Yaks, these Dzos can survive below the altitudes of 10000 feet. Cold, wet and hungry we reached a small hut. The hut was already occupied by a Czech couple, who's porters were already preparing a hot meal for them. Their guide Ang Sherap Sherpa, who runs Mountain tours and treks from Yuksom, offered me some hot tea and we kept chatting about the various trekking routes in this region of western Sikkim, which runs along the eastern Nepal border. The friendly Czech guy took a picture of me with his SLR and promised to e-mail me once he reached Czech.
After purging those leeches off my socks and a meal of hot wai wai (local Sikkimese noodles) , we hiked another hour and reached the Prek Chu river bridge around 1:30 PM. Ang Sherap gave me a stick with some salt wrapped in a peice of cloth at one end. It was to be used as defense against any leeches. Apparently those leeches hate salt. I must admit, i never got a chance to use the stick, while struggling against rain and the steep climb, reaching Bakhim being the overiding goal.
From the Prek Chu river bridge crossing, it was quite a taxing steep climb for the next two hours to Bakhim, which has a small Trekker's hut. My porters with 70 pounds on their back were making it look so easy, while i struggled with my 30 pound backpack. The strength and endurance of these porters, relative to their small physique is legendary. The rains did not make the matters any easier. Despite my poncho and hat, i still could not avoid from getting wet. At some point, i even started questioning my ability to complete the 7 days of trek. I was wet, dehydrated, leech infested socks were soaked in blood, sapped of all energy. I had no energy to change my clothes or even remove those leeches from my socks. It just didn't matter any more. I only wished, if i could just open my sleeping bag and sneak in. Migma took me inside the Kitchen, and the fireplace there was just what the doctor ordered. I had some biscuits and hot tea and chatted with the porters there for about 15 minutes. I was told by Mingma that the hike from Bakhim to my destination for the day Tsokha, was just another 45 minutes. Here at Bakhim, i met a group of 8 guys from IIT Madras, who pretty much had the same iternerary as me. The climb from here got even more steeper or least it seemed, to my already fatigued thighs. After an hour and a half, we finally reached Tsokha at 5:00 PM. It was a climb of 16 kms with about 5000 feet gain in altitude for that day. The rain and the altitude gain were the killers. The group from IIT, who had reached 5 -minutes ahead of me, had occupied the trekkers' hut and i was informed that there was no more space there for any. I thought what a rip-off ! The office which issued the Trekkers' hut permits keeps no count of how many trekkers are out there at each location on any given day. They just keep issuing the permits, i was told. Fortunately, there were some private rooms which could be rented for Rs 250 a night. It was a boon in disguise for me, as these rooms were much more comfy and they even had a bed to sleep on. As had been the case for last 3 days, it was rainy, cloudy and gloomy with crappy visibility. Ang Sherap who stayed in the same room as me , was chatting all the way into midnight, over dinner and at least 3 or 4 rounds of tea. It was milk tea, then lemon tea and then ginger tea........ We talked about his various trekking experiences, his mountaineering accident, Sikkim and Nepalase politics. He told me that Kanchenjunga was not visible from Tsokha, but there would be glorious views of Pandim range in the morning, weather permitting. May 23, 2007 - Day 2 I woke up in the morning around 4:30 and so were the Czech couple, to get a view of Mt Pandim. It was still raining and cloudy with no visibility virtually. Oh, well.... We had our breakfast and left Tsokha around 8:00 AM towards Dzongri. The trek from Tsokha to Dzongri is about 10 kms, but quite steep, with an altitude gain of about 3000 ft. What makes the trek delightful, if one happens to go during April-May season, is the splash of colorful Rhododendron flowers along the hiking trail. I was told that there are about 50 varieties of Rhododendrons in western Sikkim, of which i saw at least 15-20 varieties.
    After a 3 hour steep climb (of which i spent at least an hour taking pictures) through the Rhododendron jungle , we reached Phedang. Phedang has a trekkers' hut, but in a totally uninhabitable state. We spent about 15 minutes here, had a cup of tea and moved on. As we move up from Phedang towards Dzongri, after a while, the gradient becomes near vertical. The Rhododendron vegetation gives way to sub-alpine vegetation and then into an alpine zone devoid of all vegetation, save for some shrubs. We reached Dzongri around 1:00 PM and checked into the trekkers hut along with the IIT group. Although the trek was taxing, the absence of rain and the Rhododendrons along the way, made the trek easier than that of day 1. The Czech couple never made it to Dzongri. The Czech girl who was suffering from headache the previous night, started vomitting along the hike up to Dzongri and their group had to turn back. Initial symptoms of High Altitude Sickness, i was told. It was again cold and cloudy at Dzongri. I met a Austrian group, which had reached Dzongri a day earlier. They were pretty disillusioned, given that the weather was so crummy and they were not able to view anything so far. There's a hill near the Dzongri trekker's hut, popularly known as Dzongri viewpoint from where one can get panaromic views (nearly 270 degrees) of the Kanchenjunga range and the Pandim range. The Austrian group had been trying their luck since yesterday(both during the sunrise and sunset) for this million dollar view, with no avail. After a heavy lunch of roti/sabzi, i hit the sleeping bag. There's a small yak herdsman hut on a hillock, just opposite to the trekkers' hut at Dzongri. Since no one seemed to be interested, i decided to take a evening stroll by myself, on the hillock, hoping to get some views during the sunset. It appeared that a snowy peak started emerging out of the clouds, but soon got blanketed by the clouds. It was close, but no cigar !. As i started climbing down the hillock, i saw a bright snowy spot emerging out of the clouds on the south-west side. Excited, i started waving my hands at the group below near the trekkers hut. Instantly, they knew what was happenning and the whole gang with the guides started walking up the hill. I was pretty sure i was looking at the Kanchenjunga range, but wasn't sure what peak i was looking at. I thought it was the Kanchenjunga peak, until the guide corrected me that it was North Kabru. For a group, who had only seen rain, fog and clouds the last 3 days, it was euphoria to see a peak on the horizon. Everyone started clicking away like mad. 
A few minutes later, Mt Pandim and Narsing peak in the Pandim range started to open up as well.
 
Based on the visibility level, it was very unlikely to view the Kanchenjunga peak that evening. So the plan was to wake up the next morning around 4:00 AM and trek up to the Dzongri viewpoint to view the sunrise over the Kanchenjunga peak. May 24, 2007 - Day 3 We woke up to the loud alarm at 4:30 AM. After a cup of tea, we started walking up to the Dzongri viewpoint, which is about 1 km away and roughly 500 ft above the trekkers hut. Huffing and puffing in the thin mountain air, we reached the view point, where we were greeted by a set of prayer flags. We could see Kokthang peak, Frey peak, Rathong peak and West Kabru on the horizon. Kanchenjunga was still elsuive and so was the Pandim range. It was not exactly the panaromic views that we are sold on the travel brochures. After about 30-minutes, even the partial view vanished behind the clouds and it was time to turn back. By now, we were used to dissapointments. The best season to get clear views of the ranges, according to most trekking guides here, is between Oct and Nov. But of course, you don't get to see the Rhododendrons during that season. My quest for the elusive Kanchenjunga continues.....
I spent the rest of the day, resting and acclimatizing ( as we were around 12800 feet ) . The plan for the next day was to hike up to the Dzongri view point again and try our luck for one last time, before we proceed to Thangsing.
 Nothing to see. Nothing to do.....
May 25, 2007 - Day 4 The weather gods had sapped the enthusiasm out of most of us. Although the plan for today was to go to the Dzongri view point with the IIT guys, none in their group showed any desire to wake up. The Austrian group were in no mood to try their luck anymore. I decided to go solo. As i passed the Yak herdsman hut around 4:00 AM, a huge dog, which looked like a wolf started charging at me. I stood frozen and shouted at the top of my lungs, hoping to wake up the herdsman. Luckily he just charged past me, reversed and ran back towards the hut. I was in a shock for a few seconds. Now the path of least resistance for me, was to hike up the hill away from the dog, rather than hike back down to the trekkers hut, past the dog. Uh ! As they say, it darkest before the dawn - Metaphorically and literally, it was for me that day !. As i started climbing up towards the view point, one peak after another started clearing up from the south-west all the way around towards the north. I could see both the Kanchenjunga and the Pandim range in it's entirety - Kokthang, Frey, Rathong, South kabru, West Kabru, Black Kabru, North Kabru and Kanchenjunga peaks in the Kanchenjunga range. Pandim, Tenzing Kang and Japanu on the Pandim range. Finally my quest for the Kanchenjunga was complete !.
  Kanchenjunga peak and Mt Pandim
While the Kanchenjunga peak views from Dzongri are overrated, i must say the beauty of Mt Pandim is vastly underrated. I am in no way downplaying the mighty Kanchenjunga, but the real magnificence of Kanchenjunga is seen at Thangsing and not at Dzongri. From Dzongri, the trekking route bifurcates, one goes towards the HMI (Himalayan Mountaneering Institute) base camp and the other goes towards Goe-Chala pass via Thangsing and Samiti Lake. My plan was to reach Thangsing, stay there for a day and then return back to Tsokha. After the breakfast, we started our trek towards Thangsing, which is about 6 kms from Dzongri. After a small but steep hike initially, it's a flattish trek over rolling hills and meadows. Mt Pandim stood massively over the horizon, all along the way.
 
After a couple hours of trek, there's a knee breaking steep trail down into the Prek-Chu river. The views from here are simply phenomenal - the Prek chu river in the deep gorge below, Mt Pandim in the background and the Goe-chala pass in the far distance at the head of the valley. Thangsing is also visible from here, which is located on a large meadow overlooking the Prek chu river.
We quickly hiked down this steep trail and reached Kokchurung which is on the banks of Prek chu river. From here, the trekking trail is not well defined, which passes over large boulders. We then crossed a small bridge to the other side of the river. From the bridge, it's about 1.5 hours of hiking to Thangsing.
After reaching Thangsing, i wasn't feeling particularly well. I had a slight pain in the Knee. I could not sleep well and breathing was getting difficult. But, nothing too serious. I drank some Garlic soup (which is supposedly good for high altitude sickness) that Mingma made for me, and i felt a little better and slept the rest of the day. The folks from IIT were suffering from anxiety attacks on whether to proceed to Goe-chala or not. The trek to Goe-chala is typically a two day trek, one day from Thangsing to Samiti lake and then the next day from Samiti lake to Goechala and back to Thangsing. We were told that the trekkers' hut at Samiti lake was broken, because of adverse the weather and was never repaired. Since we did not carry a tent with us, it was not possible for us to go upto Samiti lake and camp there. The only alternative was a brutal 13-14 hours trek from Thangsing to Goe-chala and back to Thangsing in a day. Making matters worse is the high altitude. The trek begins at 12,400 feet at Thangsing and ends at 16,200 ft at Goe-Chala. The trek would begin at 2:00 AM in the morning and one would return back to Thangsing around 4:00 PM in the evening. I was clearly not upto such torture and i did not feel it was worth doing it. Goe-chala is a different trekking experience, where one hikes along the alpine lakes, over the glacial moraine and dried-up lake bed. One can also get a more up-close view of Kanchenjunga from there, weather permitting. On the otherhand, one can only get a partial view of Kanchenjunga from the trekkers hut at Thangsing. But the untold secret is the view from a hill behind the trekkers hut. The views of Kanchenjunga from this hill is just incredible. Unlike, the Dzongri viewpoint, this view point is not popular and most guides don't tell you about it. It's mostly for commercial reasons, perhaps. The trek to Goe-chala can add two more days to the iternerary and it's more money for the tour operators to organize treks to Goe-chala rather than Thangsing. The IIT folks decided to go for Goe-chala. The Austrian group who camped at Lamune, which is midway between Thangsing and Samiti, we heard, made it to Goe-chala the previous day. But because of poor weather, they could not get any views of Kanchenjunga, even after getting that close. May 26, 2007 - Day 5 The IIT folks woke up around 2:00 AM in the morning and left for Goe-chala. I sent one of my porters with them, in case there were any problems along the way and if someone had to return back. It so happened that the high altitude started to take toll on one of the guys in the group near Lamune, and he had to call it quits and return back with my porter. His returning coincided with my getting up at 4:00 AM for a hike up to the view point. One of the guides had told me not to miss the sunrise over Kanchenjunga from this viewpoint. As i stepped out of the trekkers hut, i could see Mt Pandim and Tenzing Kang right behind the trekkers hut. They looked really massive as we were at such proximity. Kanchenjunga peak was only partially visible.
It was a beautiful morning, with crystal clear visibility. I took one of my porters along and started climbing the hill. As one climbs higher, the full views of Kanchenjunga starts unfolding. By the time we were 3/4ths of the way up, we could get the full view of the Goe-chala pass and the massive peak of Kanchenjunga. It took me about 45 minutes to reach the top. The sight of Kanchenjunga from here, in terms of the perspective is just unmatched. My porter said that i was really lucky and it was the clearest view of the last 3 months.
  
To me, it was mission complete. I was relaxing out in the sun, on this cold morning, drinking some hot soup. The Austrian group which was returning from Lamune looked very happy. Ironically, they could not get any views of Kanchenjunga even after reaching Goe-chala. But this morning, they could sit in their tents at Lamune, over breakfast, and watch Kanchenjunga in all it's glory. They also had some bad news to share. Two Burmese monks who were trekking with us were in trouble, near Samiti lake. The two monks were trekking, without any porters, without proper gear, with just a backback and some meagre food provisions. They barely had rest or acclimitization at Dzongri and moved to Samiti lake directly. There plan was to reach a cave near Goe-chala and perform meditation there. One of the monks developed serious high altitude sickness near the Samiti lake. When the Austrian group were passing by the lake, they saw one of the monks bleeding profusely through his nose and mouth, and was apparently in a critical stage of high altitude sickness. Immediately we rushed porters to get the monk from Samiti lake to Thangsing. The monk was in a very bad condition, refused to take in any food or water, and was still vomitting blood. The Sikkim tourism department has no rescue teams to move a trekker from high to low altitude in these kinds of emergency, let alone any medical help. What a pity ? What happened to the monk could happen to anyone else trekking out there. The best we could do was to ask our porters to transfer the monk to Kokchurung which is about 500 feet below Thangsing, hoping that would mitigate his condition.
May 27, 2007 - Day 6 Our plan for today was to trek to Tsokha via Phedang. We descended down to the Prek chu river and stopped for rest near the log cabin at Kokchurung. We went in, to inquire about the condition of the monk. The monk's condition was still critical. Now the question was not whether he had to be transported to Tshokha or not, but as to how. I had two porters. The IIT group had 1 porter, a Guide and a mule. And there was the monk's relative (brother, i think). The porters had to carry the luggage. The guide had developed swollen shoulders, carrying the monk on a stretcher, the previous day. For the rest of us, mere mortals from plains, it was an acheivement if we made it to Tsokha with just our backpacks on us. There was only one way out the predicament, which was to go to Tsokha and send our porters back to carry the monk. After we explained the solution to the monk's brother, he broke down completely and started sobbing badly, thinking we were trying to evade him. The IIT group started discussing whether it was our responsibilty to even transport the monk. To me it was not a time for debating the individual responsibility of the monk or the moral responsibilty of the rest of us. The monk had to be moved out of Kochurung - period !. I spoke with the porters and they said they would move the monk to Tsokha, if we paid them Rs 1000, to which i agreed. Money gets man's creative juices flowing. They did the unthinkable. The trek from Kochurung to Tsokha is about 8 kms and through dense jungle. It's a very narrow trail, slippery at many points, mudslides along the way, fallen trees at many places (under which we had to crawl). Two porters would carry the monk on the stretcher for about 100 meters and leave him with the monk's brother. They would then run back, carry the 70 pound baskets. Then they would put the baskets down and carry the monk for the next 100 meters. Rinse and repeat, this drill for next 8 kms though all the obstacles i mentioned above. We reached Tsokha around 1:30 pm anxiously waiting for their arrival. We were so hungry after this hike that devoured plate after plate of momos and some really delicious Aloo paratas. The porters with the monk reached Tsokha just around 3:30 pm. Just unbelievable feat !. No, this is not some movie stunt. These are the real life heroes. The monk's condition, we heard, improved a lot, after moving to lower altitude. Now our resposibility was complete and we did all that could be done. Later help came from the monastery from Gangtok, who carried the monk down to Yuksom the same day. These folks who started Tsokha around 4:00 PM in the evening, hiked through the dense tropical jungle in the night and reached Yuksom around 2:30 AM in the morning. May 28, 2007 - Day 7 It was the final day of our trek. I woke up in the morning and stepped outside, with a cup of tea. It was an extremely clear day, with great views of Mt Pandim. Yuksom in the valley below, the hills of Pelling above Yuksom, and the hills of Dargeeling were all clearly seen. What a contrast to the first day of the trek, when we arrived at Tsokha and it was all rainy and cloudy with zero visibility ! . Without the rains and with some moderate sunshine, it was an easy 16 kms down from Tsokha to Yuksom. We reached Yuksom around 1:00 PM. I did not care to wash myself, just walked into Gupta's restaurant, and devoured as much as i could. May 29, 2007 Goodbye Yuksom ! |
