10-12 Borang, Lapagaon, Dorba
A 15-day Trek - Tamang Heritage & Ruby Valley in Nepal
Daily Trek Diary - Days 10 to 12
Ganesh Himal range as we climb up from Lapagaon towards Magnegoth
Daily Trek Diaries:
Day-10 > 13 Nov 2018 - Trek from Sertung 1920M to Borang 1700M
We left Sertung at 8:15AM after saying goodbye to the nice couple who ran the Teahouse there and started climbing up to a ridge to Awai-Gaon and thereafter crossing several more ridges, ups and downs, and finally steeply went down to Borang, reaching at 12 Noon.
Looking back at Sertung .... from the first Ridge top
Saying bye to the nice Sertung-GH owner couple ... Nima (R) in blue jacket
Reaching Awai-Gaon Chorten at 10:15AM
We reached Borang Village at Noon ... greeted by festoons of Prayer Flags
View of snow peaks (maybe?, Pabil L & Salasungo R) in the Ganesh Himal range ... as we went down from Borong to the River and bridge below
The ridge-top painted gateway arch above Sertung ... and before Awai-Gaon
We went to Lama Hotel Teahouse in Borang but had to wait a while for the owner to turn up at 1:00PM and allot me a room and then start cooking a Dal-bhat lunch. Meanwhile I had a beer and then Lunch ... and finally a nice afternoon nap.
In the evening had local Rakshi in Teahouse dining-hall along with some men who were School Teachers (?) attending a Meet or some Training there in Borang.Today was there last day and they were celebrating with Rakshi, before leaving for their homes next day.
Day-11 > 14 Nov 2018 - Trek from Borang 1700M to Lapagaon
We left Borang at 7:00AM going down steeply to the river and crossed one S-bridge at 7:50AM and then a 2nd one soon at 8:15AM to reach the diagonally opposite mountain from Borang.
We said good bye (7:00AM) to the Borang Lama Hotel owner above and left
From there it was steep climb up to Lapagaon. Finally reached Lower Lapagaon at 11:00AM.
Lower Lapagaon at 11 AM ... The kids Swing of 3 tall Bamboos can be seen
We still had more climb to reach Upper Lapagaon at 12:30PM. We walked further into the village and to the Secondary School playground opposite "Anjali GH" where we stayed. Lapagaon is a fairly big village with biggish population. The location of our GH was perhaps the village square; so lots of folks walking around there. After Lunch, I spent the afternoon watching the villagers walking around the GH and also a football game that some kids were playing at the school ground opposite the GH.
Kids on a swing ..... at Lower Lapagaon
My Teahouse "Anjali GH" (R) at Lapagaon
Kids playing football at the School playground .... opposite our GH at Lapagaon
Day-12 > 15 Nov 2018 - Trek Lapagaon to Dorba via Magnegoth
Nima had said today would be long day to reach Dunche, so we started early at 6:30AM from Lapagaon. But towards the end things went wrong, it became dark and we lost our way as we descended from Ruby Valley Gateway and finally landed very late (10:00PM) at an unknown place instead of Dhunche (later identified as Dorba) and stayed the night at roadside Teahouse, which was just a basic shack. Still today's trek was an unforgettable experience. Nima was feeling sorry he had taken a wrong turn and lost the trail in the darkness, but such things happen.
Teahouse Owner Lady, the "Mizoram" guy and Nima .... as we leave Lapagaon
View as we leave and climb to the Ridge above Lapagaon
The walk from Lamagaon to Magnegoth was a very long walk. Initially through some mustard fields and the through waves thickly forested areas and ridges, without any teahouses or village on the way. In fact till we reached a Kharka, presumably Magnegoth, at 14:40 there was no signs of Humans but we did see some Langurs on the way.
After climbing higher from Magnegoth we came out of this Gateway (at 2:50PM);
that was 'welcome sign' for trekkers going into Ruby Valley from West to East
From this gateway it is a steep climb down initially in a on a trail with well laid stone steps till we reached a campsite at 4:00PM. The Porter-Guide staff at the Camp said it would take us 4 Hrs to go down to Dhunchet from there! that means we should reach at 8:00PM.
At 5:15PM we crossed a stream on a Box bridge and continued climbing down. Soon it became dark and we had to take out our torches to see the trail. It was still a long way to Dunchet. Somewhere we lost a turn and ended up going taking a wrong turn. Nima asked me to sit and wait at a spot so he could go ahead and find the trail. But the forest was thick and there were many streams running all over the place.
Nima and I knew we were truly lost. Still we plodded on and on. Then suddenly we a torch light shining ahead and Nima shouted to them. A man and two kids appeared. They were searching for some lost cattle. The man said we were way-off to the North of Dhunchet trail; but he knew the way down to the road and asked us to follow. It was still another 30 minutes when we reached the road and a further 20mins down the road to reach a road side Teahouse Shack. Luckily they took us in and the lady there made some Noodle soup for us and provided some space to lie down and sleep.
Next morning we got up and found out that the place name was Dorba and we got some awesome snow peak views from there. See next page for those pictures.
The Dorba roadside Teahouse shack we stayed last night
Looking back down at Lapagaon as we climb the Ridge above the Village
Himalayan Langur we saw at 1:30PM in the forests halfway to Magnegoth
At 4:00PM we passed a big party of foreigners camped here in tents
The box bridge we crossed at 5:15PM
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