My Sikkim Experience

“You cannot stay on the summit forever; you have to come down again. So why bother in the first place? Just this: What is above knows what is below, but what is below does not know what is above. One climbs, one sees. One descends, one sees no longer, but one has seen. When one can no longer see, one can at least still know.” - Rene Daumal

It was the November Diwali holidays. The initial plan had the same old philosophy – visit as many places as you can in the short vacation you get. The eight of us (Nirmal, Muneeb, Das, Angad, Masoom, George, Rashmi and me) made a plan to do the popular Yuksam-Dzongri trek in West Sikkim, and everyone was on a tight schedule. Masoom and I took extra leaves and headed out earlier than the others, hoping to visit Kolkata and the Sunderbans in West Bengal for a couple of days. Then we were to rendezvous with everyone at New Jalpaiguri (NJP) station, which is a big railway junction for trains heading to the eastern parts of India, and a gateway to Sikkim.

But things rarely go according to plan …

The Taxi Driver Who Took Us To Sikkim

Thursday, October 28th 2010, Bangalore to Kolkata

We departed Bangalore by a 6:15 PM flight to Kolkata, via Chennai. There were some tense moments at the start, as Masoom’s bus to the airport got stuck in some unexpected traffic, and we made the flight minutes before it took off. Since we arrived at Kolkata late at night, we decided to bunk at a cheap hotel in the city. My roommate Raj, who happens to be from Kolkata, gave us the contact of some taxi driver who he said was a ‘good guy’, and a ‘quiet guy’. “You have to make him talk, and he’ll tell you everything” he told me over the phone. After taking us to an overpriced filthy hotel, probably a façade for a brothel, and charging us double the amount we had agreed on, I realized I misunderstood what Raj actually meant.

Annoyed with the situation, we changed our plans. We would ditch Kolkata altogether, and head to Sikkim right away, hoping to meet up with everyone at Yuksom, the starting point of the trek. Our original plan didn’t give us time to see Gangtok, so we thought we’ll head there first.

Paddy Fields Forever

Friday, October 29th 2010, Kolkata to Siliguri

Our train to NJP would depart Sealdah station at 6:30 AM, so we slept on the platform. For breakfast, we opened a box of dry fruits and sweets that I got from office for the occasion of Diwali, which had enough goodies to last us for most of our Sikkim trip. When the train finally arrived in the morning, we were the first to get seats in the general compartment, thanks to a deal with some coolies.

The journey to NJP was surprisingly quiet and without incident for a general compartment, and the view outside was of endless rice fields. We arrived at NJP station around 6:30 PM, took a shared auto to Siliguri which is about 10 minutes from NJP, but were unable to get a shared jeep to Gangtok as it was late, and vehicles don’t usually travel the mountainous route in the dark. So we decided to crash at Siliguri for the night, and found a cheap place for 300 bucks.

I guess it was this night when we started seriously considering a crazy plan to trek from Gangtok to Yuksam in 3 days, which is 114 kms by road, and then do the 50 km Yuksam–Dzongri trek with the whole group over the next 4 days. There were signs we weren’t the brightest adventurers when we lost our way back to our hotel after dinner. But no adventure would be the same if you didn’t go bananas at some point.

The Waitress & the Blues

Saturday, October 30th 2010, Siliguri to Gangtok

We departed Siliguri early at 6 AM, and it took us around 4 hours to reach Gangtok on a shared jeep at 140 bucks a head. The drive was amazing, with the steep valleys and the roar of the River Teesta below stirring your senses awake, getting you out of that lazy routine that creeps in through endless hours of sitting at a desk and staring at a light bulb. We had our first sample of momos here too, the popular dumpling seen in the movie Kung Fu Panda. We were finally seeing signs of what we had come here for, as we ascended the mountains that lead to Sikkim.

Once you cross the border, the road leading up to Gangtok should not be driven by first-timers – you will be dangerously distracted by the beautiful women who walk on the road, build the road and even police the road. In Gangtok, we met a few trekking operators to figure out if our trekking plan was feasible, using jungle trails, or ‘shortcuts’ as is the term used by the locals. We were told it could be done, but we couldn’t negotiate an agreeable price. Then after an hour of walking around, it suddenly hit us that Gangtok was very beautiful, and it would be great to just relax and explore the city after all the traveling. So we decided to stay for the night, and start our trek the next morning instead.

MG Road, Gangtok

We found a cheap hippie shack on Tibet Road (300 bucks a room), dumped our bags and walked around the town a bit. MG Road, which was once busy with vehicles, is now a commercial street bustling with people. And they have English hits playing throughout the day on water-proof Bose speakers, all courtesy the Sikkim government!

Night falls early, and in true Indian fashion we headed to the ‘Love, Peace and Music’ pub, but not before we drank some beers at a local wine shop to save up. We had heard about the local brews ‘Hit’ and ‘Dansberg’, and after a couple of bottles, we were happy. At the pub, after a forgettable live performance by a one-man metal ‘band’, we were treated to a local act that opened with an energetic ‘Surfing With The Alien’ by Joe Satriani. And then they were joined by an American tourist on the harmonica, and performed blues classics by Muddy Waters, Chuck Berry and others. Brilliant!

There was this waitress at the bar who deserves a mention. There was something about the way she smiled I guess. I normally wouldn’t wait an hour for a beer and smile in the end, but she was special. We met some other travelers after the show, including a Punjabi dude who quit his job to bike all across India, and Dennis the harmonica player, whose path crossed ours numerous times over the next few days. You couldn’t be blamed at this point if you had a really good feeling about Sikkim.

The Adventure Begins

Sunday, October 31st 2010, Gangtok to Khecheopalri Lake

We woke up early on Sunday, to take a shared cab to Peyling, from where we planned to trek to Khecheopalri lake. I was sad to leave Gangtok so soon, but the drive through the mountains as you enter West Sikkim looked promising. Our cabbie dropped us off at Geyzing (120 KMs from Gangtok), which was around 10 kms from Peyling by road, or another cheap shared-cab away. But there was an alternate route through the jungle that was only around 5 KMs – a shortcut! We decided this was it, we would start our trek at Geyzing itself.

The initial stretch was hard as we were carrying 10 KG backpacks, climbing a constant 30 degree inclined road, on legs that hadn’t warmed up. We met many people on the way – from a middle-aged man in the army, to a young boy who ran up the road to his school in Peyling every day, to a father carrying his baby and waving us on from his porch. People around here were not used to seeing trekkers, and their curiosity meant they were more eager to hear our stories, and share some of theirs.

We reached Peyling after around two hours of trekking, and it was already 2:00 PM. We asked around for a guide to take us to Khecheopalri Lake, as at this rate we were sure to be trekking in the darkness, which arrives early around 5:30 PM. Almost everyone we asked told us it was impossible, at least for a bunch of scrawny tourists like us, and they estimated the distance to Khecheopalri to be anywhere between 15 to 30 KMs. Fully knowing we might end up stuck in the forest at night, we didn’t back down, and decided to do the route without a guide.

We had a rough idea of where Khecheopalri was – far far away. We had to descend for a few kilometers before crossing one of river Rangeet’s tributaries, and then climb a little before we hit the road on the other side. From then on, you could follow the road and make it to Khecheopalri in about 12 KMs. The descent was one of the best parts of the trip, as we had no clue what the route was. But the route happens to pass through villages in the forest, and is frequented by the locals who were always happy to help out. Most of them were quite amused at our seemingly mindless idea of ditching a jeep ride for an arduous trek to Khecheopalri. At one stage we were running on a narrow trail surrounded by 10 feet drops on either side onto cultivated fields, as we tried to catch up with two guides (pictured on the right).

There were numerous streams along the way that offered us plenty of water to freshen up and refill our bottles, but there were a few knee complaints and back pains from lugging our backpacks. Regardless, we managed to reach the stream below, and our first suspension bridge in Sikkim. We had stopped earlier in Peyling at a bakery around lunchtime, but didn’t really eat much. And now it was around 4 PM, and all we had was the box of sweets and dry fruits I was carrying from Bangalore. At the time, as we munched on almonds and rich cashew sweets, we couldn’t really complain!

A little more climbing on busted knees and we finally reached the road, where we fell down flat out of exhaustion. A short break and we were on our way again, not worried about nightfall anymore, as we were trekking the rest of the journey on road. It was around 5:00 PM now, and we came across a fork in the road with one way headed to Yuksom, and the other to Khecheopalri Lake. It would be an uphill 10 KMs from here.

At first we had no problem finding houses and some people on the way. But as night fell and we climbed higher, signs of civilization were gradually starting to disappear. We were pleasantly surprised to hit a Nepali shack around 6:00 PM, and took some time out to rest and rethink our plan of making it to Khecheopalri. When we told the locals about how we had started our trek from Geyzing, some 30 KMs away by road, they were stunned to hear about our journey, and took special care in making us a spicy hot meal of maggi with loads of vegetables.

Khecheopalri was still 8 KMs away, and we were offered a cozy stay, plus transport to the lake in the morning by Pradeep, the innkeeper. The noodles, however, gave us a fresh burst of energy, and we didn’t want to give up after coming so close. And so we headed out again for the last time, leaving behind the comfort of a warm bed and good hosts, cause we weren’t satisfied by that. Further up the hill, we had a strange encounter. The valley to our right was by now reasonably steep, and we could see a lone flashlight far below, busy searching for something. Could it be a lost traveler? We screamed out, the light shined at us, but we got no response. And so we hurried away from the light, as we started assuming the worst. A while later we stopped at a bridge, with a huge stream flowing just below, but invisible to us in the darkness. Some cats took the opportunity to startle us with their silly territorial disputes, but we treaded on. An hour and a half of climbing later, and we caught first signs of civilization – possibly a small Buddhist shrine.

Buddhist Shrine

Some more walking, and we spotted a small building in the distance. Reaching the entrance, we were treated to a sign that read “Trekker’s Hut – Khecheopalri Lake”. We had made it.

Inside, we were given a basic double room for 300 bucks, and were served fried rice and thukpa for dinner by our hosts, who were surprisingly strict vegetarians. We were told to be up by 5:00 AM sharp the next morning, by the young boy who was managing the place, who would show us around the lake. Outside, the rain started to pour down heavily, amidst the biting cold at that altitude. We both knew we were very lucky to be sleeping under a roof that night.

The Wishing Lake

Monday, November 1st 2010, Khecheopalri to Yuksom

We woke up on time to find that our guide was up already, practicing his high-school math. We headed out immediately, and climbed a hill to find an old cave with some Tibetan Buddhist idols, and a bird’s eye view of the lake, which is shaped like a giant foot. We even caught a glimpse of Yuksom village, our destination for the day.

We descended down to the lake, where our guide took leave to continue with his studies. It was around 6 AM, and we were the only ones there. The famous wishing lake was at its tranquil best, and I think the time I spent here was one of the most peaceful moments in my life.

After a couple of women dropped by to offer prayers, we met a monk from Darjeeling who cheerfully tended to our curiosity about Buddhism. He invited us to drop by the monastery, where the morning prayers had just commenced. We were allowed inside the prayer area, where we sat quietly and listened to the monks chanting some sort of a prayer hymn, with a loud drum and an occasional horn as accompaniments. I managed to distract a couple of monks while trying to snap a quick photograph.

Back at the trekker’s hut, we freshened up and had a nice breakfast of pancakes. I met a kid who was doing some gardening work outside, who was of a lower caste to the ones inside. He asked me for some money, to which I politely refused and gave him a sweet instead. After a little bit of rest, we were trekking again at 11 AM, on our way to Yuksom.

The Khecheopalri-Yuksom trekking trail is well known, and we met some Dutch trekkers on the way, who had started out from Yuksom in the morning. The route is again a trek down a mountain slope, across some river bridges, followed by a short walk along a road and a final climb through the forest to Yuksom. In total, it would be around 10 KMs. When we hit the first river bridge, something was out of place and caught Masoom’s eye. There was a lone yellow plastic bag wedged right in the center among some rocks, with a pretty strong current making it hard to access.

Masoom recovering the plastic bag

We took on the challenge of recovering the bag, and with our water-proof Quechua trekking shoes, we looked all set to do it clinically. Until my right leg slipped and I went nearly knee-deep into the stream. The same shoe that doesn’t let water in, now had lots of cold water trapped inside. This proved to be a costly mistake over the next few days, as the wet shoe was very difficult to wear at single-digit temperatures. We did manage to get the bag out though.

Lepcha girl is shocked to see us

On our way to the main road, we met some Lepcha kids climbing the forest trail on their way home from school. We had heard the Lepchas were among the first tribes to settle in Sikkim, so it was exciting to finally meet some of them. Once we hit the road, we followed it past a huge bridge which was part of the Ranjit hydel-power project. As I was snapping photos here, the Dutch trekkers we met earlier zipped past us on their return to Yuksom. It was a little embarrassing to be beaten after having such a huge lead, but trekking is best enjoyed at a gentle pace I told myself. A little more ahead, and we found the trail heading to Yuksom. Four more kilometers to go!

Innkeeper's kids at Yuksom

Only problem was, it was four kilometers of raw climbing on a forest trail. My knees were failing, I did not like the feel of my backpack, and the sun aptly chose this moment to bake us. We got into a ‘trek for five minutes, break for ten minutes’ routine, and would stop to lie down wherever we found shade. Behind us, way down below we spotted the bridge we just crossed an hour ago, and miles away on a hill we could spot a tower we were once next to. Pride of accomplishment was beginning to settle in. A couple of kilometers more, and we spotted some kids playing football in a field, with some buildings in the background. We were in Yuksom.

We headed to the first hotel we could find, Hotel Blessing. We got a really nice room for around 300 bucks, and a warm host who made us feel very comfortable. In the evening, we headed out into the town and were told to ask for a ‘J. B. Kaka’, who could do all the arrangements for our trek to Dzongri. After meeting him and a few other trekking operators, we learned that it is difficult to get a 4-day trek organized in such a short notice, as it involves procuring food supplies, yaks, porters, vessels, sleeping bags, tents, entry permits, a guide and a cook. We finally settled on a deal with Mingma, a man we found reliable enough to pull it off. We were to pay 800 Rupees per head per day, which was much higher than what we expected, but unavoidable given the circumstances. Done with this, we headed to a bar and over some beers had a good laugh over why we found it so hard to locate ‘J. K. Baba’ in Yuksom.

Hunger, Cold & Exhaustion Greet Us At The Himalayas

Tuesday, November 2nd 2010, Yuksom to Bakhim

Early in the morning, we headed to town for a breakfast of yak-cheese omelette and French toast. Meanwhile, the remaining six were on their way to Yuksom by a jeep from Siliguri. We met up around 9 AM, and after freshening up, the group was trekking by 10:30 AM. We were late to start the trek, but with a guide I didn’t expect that to be a problem. On day one, we were to reach the camp site Tsokha, which is at an altitude of 9941 feet and at a distance of 16 KMs from Yuksom. That should be okay I thought, having trekked 33 KMs over the last two days.

Fast forward to 6 PM. The light had almost totally faded away, most if not all of us were exhausted, and we still had a few hundred meters to climb in the darkness. It was decided at lunch to camp at Bakhim, 2 KMs before Tsokha, as we were running short on time. The temperature had plummeted possibly into single digits, and we arrived at Bakhim freezing in the cold. Since we were late and didn’t carry our own tents, we were lucky to get a room at the trekker’s hut, the only establishment at Bakhim. After a hot meal of rice and potatoes, we hit the sack early, having 12 KMs to reach Dzongri the next day. Some of the guys had struggled more than the others on the trek. At that point of time, I wasn’t too sure all of us would make it to Dzongri.

Walking Through the Clouds

Wednesday, November 3rd 2010, Bakhim to Dzongri

Bakhim sunrise

So we departed Bakhim for Tsokha around 7 in the morning, climbing through some grasslands with gentle slopes. Two hours later, we reached the point where we were supposed to start our trek for the day. Next came the climb from Tsokha to Phedang, which basically has a small hut which is used as a kitchen. Though the climb was exhausting, the presence of snow over the last kilometer had us excited. A lot of the guys were seeing snow for the first time.

After the whole group arrived at Phedang, we were served generous quantities of hot noodle soup. Throughout the trek, we had a food shortage as the organizers didn’t pack sufficient supplies, but this was a rare occasion when we all ate heartily. Eating lots of food is very important on a physically demanding trek, and I know this as we were able to cover the final 5 KM climb to Dzongri without too many complaints. And upon arrival, our eyes were given a small treat.

Yaks above the clouds, Dzongri sunset

Now why is this pic next to this para?

That night, we drank a local brew that our guide called ‘Bamboo’, but is more accurately called Chhaang or Tongba. Though it seems light on alcohol content, beware that you can overdose on Bamboo, especially after consuming 14 of them. Symptoms of overdose may include singing songs impromptu with lurid hand gestures, smiling sheepishly for hours, before you start throwing up every half hour for a period of two days. At 13,917 feet above sea level and a temperature around -10 deg C, you don’t really want to do anything to advance the onset of altitude sickness. Keep away from the Bamboo.

The eight of us had to sleep in a small wooden hut. During the night, the temperature dropped further and it was ridiculously cold. We were sleeping in North Face sleeping bags rated at –30 deg C, and we were still shivering. I opened my sleeping bag up at night, which caused it to lose all the heat insulated inside. But I managed to catch some sleep, probably out of exhaustion. We would have to wake up early the next day, to beat the sun before it reached Mt. Kanchendzonga.

Here Comes The Sun

Thursday, November 4th 2010, Dzongri to Dzongri Top to Tsokha

We were up on time, which was 3:45 AM. Our guides however, weren’t. We went out to locate them in their huts, and were surprised to see the dogs sleeping out in the cold. Tea at 4:30, and started the final climb at 4:40. We needed to push. The sun would be out by 5, and we had at least a kilometer to climb. Only five of us were attempting it, along with our guide, Pradeep. I think we reached Dzongri top two minutes before sunrise. Our guide was impressed with the pace. After climbing the previous day under misty conditions, the skies had cleared up during the night, with not a cloud visible for miles in any direction, giving us an excellent view of the mountains. Given how foggy it was just the previous day, I can only describe it as a godsend to those who climbed Dzongri top that morning.

The Dzongri toppers

Mt. Kanchendzonga at sunrise

We spent some time taking in all the views – Goecha La pass, Rathong Glacier, the numerous peaks of Kanchenjunga and other mountains. One by one, we slowly retreated from Dzongri top. Masoom and me were the last to leave. After spending five days in Sikkim, four of them on foot, this was going to be the zenith of our journey. A tune by the Beatles came to mind, that was probably written for a moment like this. The sun had come out, and the ice was slowly melting. We left shortly after.

Homeward Bound

November 5th to 8th 2010, Tsokha to Yuksom to Siliguri to Kolkata to Hyderabad to Bangalore

The return trek was thankfully easy, as it mostly involved descending. We stopped to take a dip at a waterfall near Sa Chen, which probably sets the record for the coldest water I’ve taken a dip in. We took an overnight jeep ride back to NJP, from where we caught a train to Kolkata in the morning, arriving in the evening. I would’ve enjoyed eating kaati rolls and sweets at Kolkata, but I was turned off by the poor hygiene of the city. We slept at the airport, and caught an early morning flight the next day to Hyderabad.

Our hosts in Hyderabad (Nawabs Tolia, Sandeep, Mithun et al) gave us a taste of Hyderabadi luxury, before packing us to Bangalore on an AP local bus. I’m still craving for those mouth-watering paneer sandwiches though, and the bus ride wasn’t too bad actually. We reached Bangalore early on Monday morning, and the trip was finally over. I owe a big thanks to the whole trekking group, who stuck it out over those four days, under very difficult conditions.

And a big thank you to all the people we met in Sikkim, who were the real highlight of my trip. As an ambitious traveler who wants to see as much of the world as I can, I was amazed by the culture of the people there, where they don't care about what happens on the other side of the mountain, let alone other parts of the world. They are satisfied with the simple lives they lead, which is very different from other cultures. I hope that someday I can learn to be content with what I have, like the Sikkimese.