Washing your face seems impossible, here you will be
required to fathom the scenario, when every time water comes in contact with
the skin it gives you a sensation of numbness and being cut in a slow and
steady pace, due to it being just too close to the freezing point. This exactly
was what I had to go through on my struggle to freshen up, and this freshening
up was done after witnessing the awe-inspiring view of the golden rays of the
rising sun kissing the Himalayan range, from Sandakphu. Such extremes were the
experiences I had, and if given a chance of revisiting the place? Any given day
would be a big YES!
I term myself ‘lucky’ to have the same school bunch as my
group even after 6 years of having done with schooling, though we tend to
get busy dealing with our own lives we make sure the get-together we have
should be one which will have its sweet memories for years to come. Similarly
this time we planned a trek, some adventure, yeah! Being born in the hills,
adventure is an inherent character trait of ours. Trek was decided, this was
easy everyone agreed to it but the main problem that arose was deciding the
place. Finally after about a month-long debate, over the place and the
condition required, the place decided was Sandakphu, which was the nearest and
the easiest of all the other options. The date to the Trek decided was 16th
November to 20th November. Six of us were all set to leave
everything behind and ‘live the moment’, six days of pure adventure and nature at
its best! The blog rather than providing a detailed guide is more of a
narration of how the first trek to Sandakphu feels like.
16th of November 6:30 am, Darjeeling Taxi stand was the
rendezvous. All with a rucksack and a sleeping bag, unanimously agreed on the
condition of not taking a guide, it would be just us. A taxi from Darjeeling to
Maneybhanjyang, 26 km away and the gateway to the trek was booked.
Maneybhanjyang, a small town called for a tea break and a final check on the requirements
for the trek, we were set for the journey, I was the most enthusiastic of the
lot, as I had been waiting for this moment for a long time. It was at 9:00 am
our trek uphill started, first two kilometers till Chitrey was steep and we
were slower than expected, trying to find a shortcut gave us the chills of
being lost on the very first day of the trek, after which we kept ourselves to
the main road. Gairibas 20 km from Maneybhanjyang at a height of 8600ft was our
first day’s destination. Several areas were selected for our photo-shoot, something we failed to notice at first was too many stoppages makes you more tired,
and leave you with a greater distance to cover on the latter half of the day,
when you are actually tired. Driven by hunger and with nearly a quarter of the
total photos of the entire trek we reached Meghma, which is just 9 km away from
Maneybhanjyang, it was 1:00 p.m. and decided a halt for lunch at the place, without
any hesitation we devoured through the toothsome feast as we had a greater
distance to cover, the owner of the shop was kind enough to guide us regarding
the shortcut leading to our first day’s destination. The time, as it passed by
triggered a decrease in temperature, the condition was such I had three layers
of clothing and a rucksack weighing 8 kilograms, was sweating from inside yet
it was cold, keeping that aside, trekking through rocky roads, with few scattered
houses on the scene, seldom barking of dogs and the pure and organic music of
nature soothing to the soul was the tranquilizer, the feeling of ‘mental high’.
However, something that bothered was how much more for the destination to arrive
as we just had a few hours of sunlight left. What we had feared was to walk in
the dark with no house on the scene and here we were living our fears. The
clock had struck 6:30 pm when a light brighter than our flashlights at a
distance appeared on the scene, it was a dwelling, our destination Gairibas. The
first house itself that we enquired had a dorm on offer and the booking of 6
beds were done straight away at a price of 250 per bed. To be honest, the place
that we booked was not that great considering the food and the service
provided, would have gone for other better option, but everything was compensated by the quality
of sleep. The first day to the trek made me look forward to days that would come.
Day 2
The sun was out, embellishing the marvelous scene, it could
not get any better. We stared with some fresh apples that we had carried along,
noodles, and butter toast which we ordered there itself, a perfect morning.
We left the place at 8:45 am, the destination to reach was Sandakphu
the booking for the night had already been made at a cost of 200 per bed. The
distance to cover however was just 12 km, but the climb from 8600 ft. to 11,929
ft. made it challenging. The route was steep, and the addition of heavy rucksack
made the climb tougher. Kalipokhari fell on the way demanding us to stop and admire
the lake, we took a break as it was already 11:30 am the decision made was to
start after lunch. Lying there in the grass observing the clouds, as we
waited for the lunch to be prepared made me realize I had never been so close
to the clouds, it felt like I can almost extend my arm and get hold of those
white ‘cotton candies’ that were just floating above me, at that moment all I
could wish for was the time to stop, I would have happily embraced that feeling
forever. There is something about nature that I have experienced, the more you
lean towards it the more it calls for you. Though we were hungry the call for
the lunch was an interruption. Lunch on offer was noodles and Yak meat, since
being a vegetarian I stuck to the noodles. 6 km more of climb to go and with
every decreasing kilometer milestone, the sense of achievement was getting
stronger. Resting in some places, capturing our moment together and feeding
ourselves with protein bar we continued towards our destination. The clock had
struck 5:00 when finally, we stepped our foot in Sandakphu. The feeling can’t
be jotted down, yet giving it a try, it felt like I Just scored the only goal,
on the 90th minute of a football final, leading my team to victory,
something out of this world. Sandakphu the place has half of its area falling
in Nepal and the other half in India, the National flag of both countries stand
tall at the respective parts, since the place being such, we had the experience
of dining in Nepal, and resting in our room in India. A game of UNO, in our
room, concluded our second day.
Cracking of the dawn shading its path rich golden with the
entire Himalayan range to be seen was simply a treat. After watching nature’s time-lapse, the toughest job was to freshen up, as the water was just
above the freezing point.
The Day had to be started early as we had to cover a
distance of 21 Km towards Phalut. Unfortunately, two of our friends could not proceed
with the trek any further, due to a sprained foot, and a bad cold caught,
emerging into a snag. Reduced to four an unenthusiastic act of helping them
back to Darjeeling in a taxi from Sandakphu had to be performed. We however
continued, Phalut awaited us with a room booked, here again, we paid an amount
of 200 per bed. We started towards our destination at 9:30 am. Sandakphu the
particular area, can be sketched as a bit commercialized one holding few shops,
therefore the scenic beauty, what we actually seek is towards Phalut, everyone thinking
of this trek make sure Sandakphu to Phalut is included as well. The advantage
for the day being the route, which was not steep allowing us to cover a greater
distance at a lesser time. We walked through the path, appreciating what the
place had on offer, not a single human soul was seen for the first 8 km. We
took a couple of breaks, our body started demanding proper lunch, after about 15 km with
no sign of shop visible, a break was taken to have what we had brought with us,
nuts, chocolate, protein bar, the weather too was not in our favor, there was a
rapid drop in the temperature, a thick mist had us covered blocking the
visibility of even the route in front of us, let go of the view, it was
freezing and we were left with the only thought of reaching Phalut, the sooner the better. I
still can frame it, none of us uttered a word for a few kilometers, waking like
a robot just programmed to reach Phalut, and the first question asked was how
much more to go? The daylight started to cease topped with the mist getting
denser, our flashlights had given up on trying to cut through. Hands and the
exposed part of the face were freezing, yet on the inside, I was sweating, due
to the layers of clothes I wore and the rucksack I carried. It was unexpected, but
candle lights just in front of us, and here it was Phalut, which has just one
guest house and no electricity. It was 5:30 pm, the first thing we did was went
to our room and threw our rucksack after which we changed and drove ourselves
towards the kitchen basking us to the firewood that was lit and the best thing,
our food would be prepared in that firewood. Sharing the guesthouse were a
couple from Mumbai and a group of friends from Kolkata. The day though totally
different from the other days was concluded in a similar way, a good cozy sleep.
It was freezing outside, and the entire land was covered in
a white blanket, since the sunrise could not be seen we decided to spend the
extra hours in our bed, a lazy morning.
The day was to be spent traveling towards Gorkhey which was
the final destination where we would spend the night. The distance to say was 15
km, but since it was downhill we felt no pressure at all. After devouring
ourselves on chapatti and ‘alu dum’ we bid farewell to the people and started
at 9:15 am, the trek downhill was easy and flawless, and with no breaks at all,
the destination was reached at 12:30 am. The view was somewhat hypnotic, hence I
fell in love with the place, we booked a homestay, which consisted of two
double rooms, at the rate of 600 per room. Into our rooms we went to freshen up
and change since we had the entire afternoon, we decided to rest for a while
after our lunch. It was late afternoon, and we started to explore the
surrounding. The homestay was a beautiful one with a big lawn, outdoor sitting,
and a place for a bonfire as well, the hosts were equally good. The dinner was a
leisurely one with much chitchat and laughter. Since it was our last night
together, we decided to sleep a bit late, being close to nature and away from
technology, surely fixes our biological clock, sleep and wake up cycle is set
perfectly. The sleep was just awesome.
Day 5
Honestly, I was happy the trek went on good, yet sad it was
the day the trek would conclude. I wanted it to go on for a few more days.
We started at 8:30 am towards Sirikhola, from where we would
take a cab back home. The route was again a climb but was not steep. We took no
breaks, and the destination was reached as early as 11:30 am, the site of
proper road, car, and network in our phone, was some different feeling at the
moment. Waiting for the cab called for a snack break. If given a chance of
revisiting the place? Any given day would be a big YES!
Note
Few things to keep in mind for all the first time travelers
are as follows:-
v Try
to make the baggage light.
v Try
not to take frequent breaks.
v Take
an extra set of warm inners especially during winters, no matter how cold it is
you will sweat.
v Snacks
are available till Sandakphu, but will be expensive.
v There
will be no proper network throughout the trek.
v Book
the place beforehand for Sandakphu and Phalut at least.
v Plan
your trek properly.
v For
all non-local tourists, taking a guide is compulsory.
v Carry
a garbage bag along, as frequent snack break tend to litter the place.
v Enjoy
your trip to the fullest.
