(Continued from https://musings-of-a-fiftyplus.com/2023/06/20/honi-ko-koi-rok-nai-sakta/)

April 29th

Reporting at Yuksom (5700 ft)

Catching a share cab in the roads of Pelling was a juggling act – Yonesh managed to do the talking to drivers coming from opposite direction, all the while we were moving in our tempo traveler ! He talked while the vehicles crossed each other in traffic checking if they can take a passenger to Yuksom. Pelling to Yuksom is 3 hours by road. Finally I jumped on to the shared cab with all my bags, after saying bye to my husband and friends. It was a very emotional moment when suddenly I was all alone. It was nearly 1 pm and I was hungry but I had nothing to eat, nor drink as all of this exchange happened in minutes. The driver was kind to stop when I asked for a washroom break . Washrooms in Sikkim are always neat with water provided for even if it is in the middle of jungle. I also got a 2 ltr bottle of water, (1 ltr bottles are banned), and continued my journey. I had the address of YHAI camp site in Yuksom, and a mobile number for the YHAI Coordinator Mr. Chhetri .

The driver dropped me on the main road in Yuksom and directed to cross a playing filed and walk up to reach the Namgyaling homestay. Imagine me – 57-year-old carrying a 10 kg back pack, a smaller 4 kg carry bag, a 2 liter water bottle, and a small tote bag walking this distance, reaching the said-house and standing at the gate of the house – finding nothing – no sign boards, no directions, no YHAI campsite !!! I checked with few youngsters walking by, no one knew this YHAI camp! On walking ahead I found one lad who knew about this place and informed me to walk another half a km – by then it was 5 pm and was getting dark with thunderous clouds, as if it will soon rain. I walked with all my might for another 20 minutes, tried running as I wanted to avoid the rain .. but the weight I was carrying was heavy. Thankfully I found the said building and sighed in relief once I showed my admit card, and all documents to Dr. Raja, the Program Incharge. The moment I entered our allotted room, I was welcomed by a tall leggy girl who looked at me and said “Where are you coming from” I said “Pelling “- to which she said – “Ohkay, that is why you are looking so fresh!” 🙂 That made my day, could float on air – yahoooo I made to Yuksom.

April 30th

Begin the trek to Sachen(7200 ft) via Bakhim

Dr. Raja and Mr. Venkat flagged off our Trek to Goechala. As we were the first batch of the season, there were many glitches, which became more towering as the days passed. Importantly, we got our batch registered with necessary documents at the Interpretation center as we were entering UNESCO heritage site – Kangchendzonga National Park.

My heart was thudding with the excitement, dreading with fear, as well as thrilled to be walking on Yuksom roads.. The team members had not properly met each other, a bunch of 26 from all over the country, including 7 women aged between 40 and 57, but the inherent love for trekking was the bond between us, so it was immaterial who was who. The trek for the day was simple as we would reach Sachen by lunch time. Just had to be careful of leeches… two three team mates had these thin ones on the feet, realizing only when the blood started oozing. We reached the first milestone in an hour – the entrance gate of Kangchendzonga National Park.

Thanks Vivek Shah for this pic! My first picture during the trek – at this bridge -one I had seen on internet so many times. You can see the team mates going up from here… we were entering the Kangchendzonga National Park (KNP). Trekking on the path thru this National Park is very famous for its Rhododentron flowers which we would get ahead, was the promise made by our guide Pintuk Limoji, and I was so eager.

Thanks @Jay Shah for this VDO.

By 2 pm we reached Sachen camp, a clearing in the Park with space for nearly 25 small tent, and a kitchen area which is permanent rest point for trekkers thru KNP. It started drizzling after we had tea and the temperatures soon fell. We were three girls in the tent and by the time dinner was announced it was raining very well. Walking up to the dining tent or the toilet tent in the dark was a trek by itself. All we were given were sleeping bags, no blankets, and it felt like a punishment getting into the cold sleeping bags.

May 1st

Reach Tshoka(9650 ft)

We were promised pakka rooms in Tshoka, giving our steps much needed energy. The trek up was arduous, slippery at many places with the rains. After lunch, we got hailstorm, all the ponchos came out pronto. By now, most of the girls knew each other well. Dakshayini – a yoga therapist from Banglore, Shubha Rao, the leggy lass- a Banker cum Marathon Runner from Mumbai, Dr. Madhuri Jain from Rajasthan, Chaitra and Tanishtha – the IT girls from Banglore. We meet such interesting people on the treks. Most of the guys came in groups and stuck to their own gang. Shubha ofcourse had made friends with most from Day 1.

I was carrying my back pack which I loved to do as a trekker but had two difficulties – One was sitting down to pee meant remove the back back which was nearly 6 kg. So to remove it, attend the natures call needed at least 5-6 minutes and most times the trek was used by trekkers going and coming so we girls never got a secluded spot. Two – my water bottle was not easy to be taken out while walking. It was a task to ask a fellow trekker to take the bottle out, sip mouthful, and then to be kept back.

Trek route was clear, mostly wooden slabs were lined on the path by Sikkim Tourism, There is no chance of getting lost, if trekking alone – I thought while I walked.

On reaching Tshoka, pakka accommodation was taken up so we had to stay in tents. Today it was a bigger tent for three, again no blankets. The night temperature must have been 6-7 degrees and I couldn’t sleep well.

May 2nd

Reach Dzongri (12980 ft) via Phedang

Away from family, away from friends, midst of beautiful mountains, overlooking an amazing valley, my birthday became memorable as we relished the beauty of Tshoka .. though no one in the camp knew and no one from home could reach me as there was no phone network, no charging point, and my mobile was dead already.

By now, me and Madhuri were mostly trekking together, exchanging our life experiences, clicking pictures, and most importantly sharing water. Once we reached Phedang, it was raining and the wind felt very cold. After lot of ups and downs, we reached the Dzongri camp site where we saw many tents of other trekking groups but not YHAI camp. It meant more to trek.. we were walking from 8 am and it was nearly 2 pm, walking continuously at our pace. After every turn, we would expectantly look for our campsite.. finally we reached the site by 3 pm. A beautiful place all for us – no other trek groups to share the place. This was a very tiring day, coming up more than 3000 ft in a day.

Unfortunately, three of our trekmates who were trailing behind, took a wrong turn and for two hours walked around without finding the campsite, just 30 minutes away from the site, as it was very foggy and clouds were moving at this height. Visibility was very poor by 4 pm and the guide with them was a young boy, new to the trek. So Dakshayini and a couple reached by 6 pm!!

May 3rd

Rest day at Dzongri

We got up at 4 am next day and walked to the Dzongri top – to watch the sun rise. This was a small mountain nearby, we all reached by 5.30 am, to witness this beautiful view around us.. lots of snow capped mountains, clouds at a distance as if we could touch them. That was a first for me… walking in the dark, ice cold wind and the morning sun – very special combo.

We were back to the camp site for breakfast, when we found that four of the teammates were returning to the base camp due to health reasons. Rest of the day was spent leisurely, walking around, watching some beautiful birds, the yaks and ponies at rest. The water was ice cold, brought from the freezing stream flowing nearby so none of us dared to wash more than our face, rest all was dry wash. We spent few hours singing old songs and listening to Dr. Manoj’s beautiful shayris.

May 4th

Reach Thansing(12894 ft)

I had tossed and turned the night due to the chilling temperature and just as I thought I can sleep, heard Shubha calling all of us out for the site was covered in snow. The tents had a layer of snow on top… which Shubha started beating down. I was frustrated – pls allow me to sleep! But then it was already 6 am and we got our black tea served in the tent.

Today there was not much of climb but the distance was a good 6-7 hour walk on boulders, crossing a valley of of rocks to reach Thansing. It started raining heavily and I was tired, and didnt hear the ponies coming behind me. The first one simply dashed me down .. thank god it was just small rocks – no major injuries. Soon we were at the camp site – a very beautiful one – surrounded by Mt. Thansing at one end, a valley, and another rocky mountain at other end.

Thanks for the Beautiful picture @Bhandariji.

A very cold day and colder evening. I remember Tanishtha didn’t even come out of her sleeping bag for dinner! Thankfully, dinner got served in the adjacent dinning hall, super arrangement. This Thansing trekkers hut had a feel of a cowboy movie setup… all wooden walls, floors creaked while we walked, huge dining table and tall bench to seat atleast 6-7, had no electricity, only candles. It was very cozy. Most of the kitchen staff were Nepali/Sikkim youngsters who were on per day wage, earning Rs. 1200 for this support, were very professional. Even the guides were mostly young boys who were always smiling, and pleasant. There were few foreigners too who came to spend the night here, and teams registered with Red Panda, Trek the Himalayas etc.

Our plan was to start next day by 12.30 am. All of us had an early dinner and slept for 2 hours.

Thanks Madhuri for the pictures.. I was so glad you were there to catch these moments. 🙂

to be continued…