Late
Monsoon did not deter our spirit to get the glimpses of the Crowning Glory of
the Nation Mt. Khangchendzonga. A
good long 7 hours drive from Bagdogra to Yuksom in Western Sikkim through
patches of bad roads, cascading waterfalls flowing onto the road, lush green
forest cover and misty hills all added to the scenic beauty the Sikkim is known
for.
Yuksom (means meeting place of three Lamas),
the old capital of Sikkim, a peaceful valley which is the gateway to one of the
most popular and beautiful trek in Sikkim the Yuksom-
Dzongri -GoechaLa Trek.
Yuksom is all of two roads, with beautiful large monastery and stupas, home
stays and few hotels play host to travellers. A bright day would mean a good
view of Mount Kabru for visitors to Yuksom. With almost 24 hours
electricity, clean environment, fresh water and enterprising people Yuksom is
indeed a dream land.
Our Trek to GoechaLa,
started from small lanes of Yuksom leading to the entrance of Khangchendzonga
National Park (KNP). Unlike the other Himalayan range North-East Himalayas are
a blanket of green cover, rich evergreen forest and huge trees embrace the
hills, with bright white patches amidst, which indeed are waterfalls rushing down
finding its way to join the giant streams below. Sounds of the gushing of water
and the wind overpowered the rains, as we trekking on a fairly well carved path.
With lashing rains and leeches around there was
little option for camping in tents, small trekkers lodge was our home, my team
decided in sleep in the lodge I happily opted to sleep outside with just a roof
on top, surprisingly it was not cold enough to send me back into the lodge.
Day two was going to be a long trek gaining altitude
to our next destination Tshoka, with the trail going up-and down all through
the forest, keens were getting tired, and gloomy weather with occasional showers
did not help either. Even a few kilometres in the higher altitudes can be
gruelling more so with unfavourable weather, we reached Tshoka at about 3pm
fully drenched, just in time for some hot noodle soup and Tea.
Tshoka is a larger place with better trekkers’ lodges,
we were indeed disappointed to meet fellow trekkers who were returning from
Dzongri due to bad weather and we were hoping weather would change as we reach
Dzongri. As I woke up, weather that seemed fine was a complete whiteout in few
minutes, but that did not deter us from hitting the trail to Dzongri at 7.30am,
Dzongri was a long slipper trail and was the toughest day of the trail, we had
the company of Himalayan Mountaineering Institute Trainees heading to their
Basecamp via Dzongri carrying their 20-25 kg back pack and it remained me of my
training days in Nehru Institute of Mountaineering.
Couple of foreigner trekker friends ended up in
tent due to shortage of space and with rain all through the night their tents
turned into mini-pools by morning. With no clear weather we stayed another day
in Dzongri, with very little hope to proceed further. Next day with weather not
giving much hope and given the fact that we had to cover two days of trek in a
day, we had to take a sad and hard decision to trek back to Tshoka and to
Yuksom the following day.
The last day of the trek as we headed back the
weather got better, and we could see all that we missed when we had trekked up.
Birds, Butterflies & Insects were out in the mild sun making merry. Flowers
blooms and the marshy rocky walls of the trial turned brighter and greener, as
Sun cleared the mist, lichens hanging from trees with swinging branches from the giant trees looked like the
trail turned into Paradise on Earth overnight. Every waterfall was our water
and photo break, crossing the bridges with gushing crystal clear water
underneath was more fun. It was time to cherish the real beauty of the trail
that we missed for the last 5 days due to bad weather. There was indeed
disappointment that we could not complete our mission, but in the mountains
it’s the weather that all ways wins.
As we exited the KNP, the forest department was
getting ready to receive UN delegation, the delegation scheduled to visit KNP
and trek through the trail to assess if KNP indeed deserves the UNESCO Heritage
reorganization. I wished the forest staff good luck and hoped next year I will
be trekking in the region that has a UNESCO Heritage tag, which it truly
deserves.
Back in Yuksom, a hot shower and strong cup of
masala tea at Gupta’s restaurant took away all the tiredness, feeling fresh
once again. Gupta’s restaurant is indeed a place to hang out in Yuksom, good
hot food, friendly ambiance and Gupta Ji sharing his journey of 23 years from
Bihar to Yuksom hooks you there for longer time. With Yummy aloo parata and few
cups of masala tea, we left Yuksom with pleasant memories and a lasting friendship, back to the hustle
bustle city life, which we did not miss much….with a promise to return next
year.
-
Kavitha Reddy