Dzoongri top trek, Yuksom, West Sikkim

The mighty Himalyas!

When my husband announced at the beginning of the year that we should go trekking in the Himalayas, I scoffed at him and said that there was no way two terribly out of shape adults could do such a thing. However secretly a part of me also wanted to embark on the adventure and so I gave my approval and he made all the reservations for the Dzongri top trek with his old PHd advisor. His advisor from his days at Georgia tech was visiting India and we decided to go on the trek with his family in the third week of October. T's family from America was incredibly fit and their two young daughters are cross country runners and soccer players. T and R also run four times a week. Also D, the seventh person in the crew had just run a marathon! S and me spend all our time traveling to and from work and have become incredibly lazy. We were running "couchathons" instead of marathons. Anyway the last week was spent climbing the nine floors of our apartment complex multiple times in a bid to build up stamina.

Day 1- Travel from Bangalore to Madras to drop K off

K is 22 months and thus he could not accompany us on the trek. It was too dangerous and treacherous. Therefore we decided to drop him off at madras with my parents. They were really waiting for his arrival and I was very comfortable leaving him with my parents. They were so confident of looking after him and I was at ease knowing he was in good hands. I need to write a separate blog thanking my mum and dad for doing this. They are incredibly supportive and I don't think I can do half of the things without them. We started early morning from Bangalore so that we could reach madras by mid morning and work the rest of the day from home. The traffic entering madras was pretty bad and I was finally glad to be off the road when the journey ended. I was under the weather, possibly because of the excitement and rush of impending journey. But anyway after a nice day at Madras, I was ready for bed. K cried so much that night and I felt that maybe he sensed he was not going to see his parents for a week. As usual maternal guilt set in but my mum asked me to stop worrying and start enjoying. Wise words from one mum to another!

Day2- Travel to Baghdogra from Madras on Indigo

The cyclones had inundated madras roads the previous night. I was anxious about the state of the roads. My father who is generally laid back, decided we should probably leave at 5:30 AM for our 8:30 AM flight, unsure about the state of the roads. We quickly got ready and I kissed K on his forehead not wanting to wake him up and finally ready for our 7 day adventure in the hills. Dad's first posting after medical college in the army was in Sikkim and so he was also pretty excited about hearing from us about the state of sikkim after nearly 30 years. We reached the airport in record time of 15 minutes. So much for being paranoid! Looks like rain water harvesting, really does work and madras has reaped the benefits of some good planning by the municipalities. At the airport, after checking-in we bought ourselves some coffee and settled at the gates. Madras airport does look very spiffy now and almost is a worthy competitor to the Bangalore airport. Meanwhile another storm was brewing, we had not heard from our guide who was due to pick us up from Baghdogra airport.The previous night my Dad made several call to Sikkim tourism and found a number that we used to eventually reach the cousin of the tour guide operator. He left the company but assured us we were in good hands. S also independently after some website digging found a  number that reached the same guy.

Selfie at the airport!

As soon as we landed at the airport, we did get a call from the driver thus relieving us of any tension we might have had on our tour guide operator. We used "Sikkim travel express" and  by and large they were good but suffered from communication problems. Maybe next time we go on a hike, we'll use india hikes.
T and family along with D arrived at around 2 PM. After lunch at the airport, we set off in our rickety car to Yuksom. The driver made an unscheduled stop to buy a television near the airport. If this had happened in Bangalore, we would have been annoyed but the holiday mood, made us ignore the delay. The road from Yuksom to baghdogra was good in bits but otherwise was a nightmare. It was tough to look outside the window at times, as one narrowly missed the steep drop from the narrow mountain road we were traveling on. The  driver who was driving slowly on the flat roads in the plains,  was in a tearing hurry to make up for lost time on these curvy hair pin bends! Finally we reached Yuksom after a brief stop for dinner at Joerthang at about 11 PM. The dinner at Joerthang was at small roadside eatery called Annapurna. We were just glad that our friends from Atlanta were ok after that meal!Enough said...

Day 3- Day 1 of trek from Yuksom to Sachen 18000-2200 meters

At the beautiful Tashi gang hotel!

We stayed at the lovely Tashi Gang hotel at Yuksom and after a lovely restful night, we were up at 6:30 AM to get ready for our trek.I opened the windows to look at the beautiful Pandim snow capped peak from our hotel. The mountain looked so enormous but at the same time inviting that it beckoned us to climb up to get a closer view.

View of Pandim from the Hotel

Cuties at Tashi Gang hotel!

S told me that Kanchenjunga was  behind it and we were excited to get started. The hotel staff were very courteous and the breakfast was yummy. The cook had twin daughters who were 10 months old and reminded me of K. They were identically dressed and looked so happy.
I would imagine anyone would be happy in such an atmosphere. At about 9:30 AM we met our guide Mangal, who helped us get the entry to the national park and also helped us hire our sleeping bags.
At 10 AM we were all set with our staff of 10 people and 4 yaks(Dzo) ready to scale the heights. T and group had water bladders, energy bars and were ready to walk. S and me just had two bottles of water and no snacks.

Starting the trek.

Our Nzo with groceries.

The mighty cook!

This really told because there were no shops on the way and by 11 AM our breakfast was well digested and we had another two and half hours to go. The steep mountains began to tell on the well rested physique and I was tired but somehow pulled through.
S and me had a nice little argument on the way which actually distracted me from the strain of climbing. Finally at 2 PM we victoriously reached Sachen and were glad to see T and family. Sachen campsite was very nice but absolutely primitive as there were no bathroom. So though it disgusted me initially, by the next day, I took it in my stride and actually began enjoying it:-) The advantages were the great views of the mountains from any side. The cooks cooked us a great lunch and a scrumptious dinner and we were off to sleep by 7 PM as it was pitch dark. Another thing we had to get used to was sleeping in sleeping bags with no air mattress/mattress pad. The first night was tough but slowly we were getting used to the primitive existence.

Day 4- Day 2 of trek from Sachen to Tshoka 2200- 2900 meters

The next day after a breakfast fit for the kings, energy bars courtesy R and T, 2 liters of water per person, we set off at about 8:30 AM. Mangal told us that today would be tougher especially from Bakhim to Tshoka.

View from Tshoka.

We set off and S joined T as he felt I was too slow.R feeling a little bad for me, accompanied me and so we started off together and I was also motivated by her positive energy that I think the speed improved as compared to the day before. On the way we also met another group of people from India hikes. I was glad to see some other girls struggling on the steep mountains like me and the comfort in numbers helped me go up quickly. We stopped at beautiful Bakhim for a quick break to buy biscuits and fill up water.

S and me crossing one of those mammoth bridges.

After the nice refreshing break of "some peyt pooja" and drink, we set off on the hike from Bakhim to Tshoka. I found this to be very difficult with slopes almost at 60 degree angle and just when we were close to Tshoka, one of the girls from India hikes told her friend that she was done and could not proceed. I also encouraged her saying If I could do it, anyone could.

Campsite Tshoka!

Buddhist temple remains at Tshoka.

My group was already at Tshoka and I was climbing up slowly with my newly found friends from India hikes. We chatted away and reached the top and I think the distraction of chatting about mundane things, took the pressure off the climb. The campsite at Tshoka was simply beautiful. We had a better view of Pandim and could see a little portion of Kanchenjunga. The grassy patch on which our tents were perched, overlooked this grand scene.  After every hike, we were served  Tang juice which was very refreshing. I usually hate Tang but was looking forward to it everyday.  A hot lunch was served after about an hour and I took a nice nap on my sleeping bag in the tent after that. As the sunset, the sky was filled with stars and I had never seen such a beautiful scene. We ate a delicious dinner gazing at the stars. This was probably the best night according to me as the temperature was just right, the local beverage just good enough, amazing company and delicious food that made the world seem perfect at that moment. I missed my little baby and hoped he was ok with my parents because we were out of cellphone signal range and totally lost to the world at that moment! I would also like to write about the lovely views we were treated too when we had coffee or breakfast at Tshoka. The scenes were just incredible with the hanging clouds. At certain points I felt like I was floating amidst the clouds. Look at the picture below courtesy our friend D.

View while we sipped coffee!

Day 5- Day 3 of trek from Tshoka to Dzongri  2900-4200 meters

I woke up on day 3 of the trek surprisingly fit and happy. I was also raring to go. We visited the nearby stream to fill up water and used the water filter from T to fill all the bottles. Also Tshoka had a small tuck shop where we bought some essentials of parle G, five star and good day. L just loved parle G and preferred that to her American snack! After a breakfast of eggs, bread, peanut butter, jam and honey we set off to Dzongri. Below is a picture of me at the bottom of the steep slope I was about to climb. The after picture was not so happy!

Bottom of the steep gorge.

We were told that it would be a 5 hour trek. We were to stop for lunch at Phedang. I found a dip in temperature as we were climbing up. Certain sections were very beautiful and we could see Darjeeling and Yuksom in the distance. Another thing that was absolutely amazing was to see the steep dip to the sides of the pedestrian track we were walking on. I'm sure anyone with fear of heights would have fainted on seeing the drop. Another feature of this path was the wooded path of the forest with lovely rhodendrons on either section. This really made the climb very easy and I was really thankful to the park authorities for that. After about four hours, we reached phedang and were treated to a scrumptious lunch of vegetable cheese sandwiches, soup and deliciously cooked chana and cauliflower. We also saw a huge number of hikers that day and people from all parts of the world hiking either to Dzongri or Goechala. After being fed and watered, we set off on the last leg of the journey to Dzongri. I was particularly worried about altitude sickness as S had vomitted at Tshoka that morning. I took one tablet of dimox and also made S take one. The trek from phedang to Dzongri was also steep and we were constantly stopped by passing yaks and ponies. In fact at one of the narrow paths up towards Dzongri, a Dzo nearly walked into me and I just clung to a thick rhododendron and was saved.

This was our view of kanchenjunga from Dzongri.

Towards the end near Dzongri, we were greeted with snow flurries. I could see kanchenjunga very clearly in the distance. Me, this person from the tropics who thinks anything below 22 degree celsius is cold, started picking up pace on seeing the beauty of the scene ahead. We reached the top and as soon as we reached the tent, S had altitude sickness. Poor S was just so tired that he wanted me out so that he could just rest. Our guide mangal brought him some garlic soup and that was followed by Dimox and an anti-emetic. After that S took it easy in the tent, while I joined the rest of the gang in the camp house. However just before going there, I stopped at the tuck shop and bought myself a "Kurkure". Yes I felt i needed some fat to congratulate myself. Since it was below freezing, there was a nice room for all the campers. This was our dining room minus heating in below freezing conditions. We played some cards there while we waited for our dinner and met some other hikers. I was surprised by the number of non-indians. This place was definitely on the tourist map and no guesses for why it was so popular. That view was just spectacular and one that made all the pain to get up to this point totally worth it. Just ten minutes before dinner showed up, S arrived and we all ate together. We had to retire early as the plan for the next day was to climb up the small mountain to Dzongri top at 4:30 AM to catch the sunrise. As I entered the sleeping bag, I was very cold. I did not sleep well thru the night as it was bitterly cold and no amount of sweaters and jackets could shake it off. I wish I had listened to my mother and brought the thermals. I never used thermals all my life including Pittsburg because we always had heating in all the places. I think this was the first time, I was in such cold conditions without heating. Anyway at around 2:30 AM, I got up again to go to the "loo" and the wierd lady from wyoming who was next to our tent  asked us to pipe down. So with great difficulty I tried to tiptoe to the bathroom at -10 degrees celsius and after the visit, basically waited to get up at 4:00 AM.

Day 6- Day 4 of trek from Dzongri to Dzongri top and descend back down to Tshoka

Climbing up Dzongri at 4:30 AM.

At 4:30 AM, in the bitter cold, we set off to Dzongri top. This was a small hill compared to all what we had done before but the bitter cold, the steep hill and the ice on the path made the climb difficult for me. My tropical upbringing had not prepared me for this. Anyway the husband was getting annoyed by my speed and kept harping on the fact that we were going to miss the sunrise. I told him to go ahead but he gently reminded me that we had only one torch. Another thing that should not be forgotten by hikers is to have one torch for each member of the team. Anyway finally as we were nearing the top, S surged ahead as dawn was breaking.

Another view of kanchenjunga.

Sunrise over kanchenjunga.

Us in front of the mountains again!

I was huffing and puffing my way up the mountain and by the time i reached the very top, the sun had risen but boy was it a sight. To see the magnificence of kachenjunga and see how it towered over Pandim in the rays of the morning sun was poetic.  We stayed there sometime, looking at the mountains and taking it all in.

Buddhist prayer flags at Dzongri top.

The buddhist prayer flags on the mountain top gave a sacred feel to the whole place and I felt a rare kind of spirituality just standing there. To think Mt Everest was towards our right and maybe just 500 meters higher that kanchenjunga was sending shivers down my spine. Also literally there were shivers running all through my body. After having taken in all the sights, sounds and smells of the mountain, I decided to start the descend down with S and D. The steep slopes resulted in me slipping three times down the hill and after that I was very scared about slipping on ice. It sort of reminded me of the "black ice" days of Pittsburgh. The funny thing is that even the yak poop was frozen and we had a good laugh about that.Finally we reached down and then I turned back triumphantly to look at what we had just climbed!!!

After breakfast and refreshing hot water face wash (who would imagine that I would be happy to just have that!), we were ready to climb down to Tshoka. I bid farewell to the mountains with a heavy heart. We did take our time climbing down as one had a beautiful view of kanchenjunga from down as well. The previous day, we were keen on reaching Dzongri before day break and hence did not pay attention to the scenery. Added to this we experienced  snow flurries and S's altitude sickness problem. However on this day, the temperature was great and sunny and even though it was cold, the sun did warm things up. T did a yoga pose (standing on his head) against the mountains and again I was impressed at how fit he was. He's my

We did it!

fitness role model now! LL and me climbed down the mountain singing songs from "The Sound of Music" and tried out our British accents. L had me in splits and brought me up to date with challenges facing a 13 year old. Meanwhile Sancha, our other guide was also extremely chatty and not wanting to be left out egged me on to sing "Lungi dance". Thus our climb down to Tshoka was not that painful and very entertaining. We reached Tshoka at about 2 PM and relaxed on our patchy green area waiting for our lunch to arrive and savoring the adventures of that day. After lunch T and the girls played football with our contingent. They were all super impressed by the girls ability to play football. So was i! I would like K to be this active when he reaches that age. We basically chilled out after this and had some local beer which was pretty awful and visited a buddhist temple. The temple was lovely but sadly not operational. At dinner, all the staff got together to entertain us with local nepali folk songs and dance. They also wanted some indian bollywood and I belted out Lungi Dance. Finally they also wanted an american folk song and D and the Ls sang up "Fee fyy fiddleii oo" which brought back memories of my church park music class days with Handel Manuel.

Day 7- Day 5 of trek from Tshoka toYuksom

This was the last day of the trek and we climbed down from Tshoka to Yuksom. The trek down was expected to take 6 hours. This was possibly the longest day in terms of hours spent but we figured they made us do this as the it was only downhill. Everyone was very fast and completed the entire trek in about six hours. Slow coach me took eight hours to do the same thing and many parts of the trek were spent in solitude. I think that is one of the lessons learned from this trek. Speed is important and it can be achieved if one is fit. My company back down hill was Mangal. It was as good as walking down alone as he was not the chatty type. He even left me on my own when I was close to exit and I had to find my way back to the hotel. I was absolutely annoyed and frustrated at this point but brushed the tears aside and asked the locals for the way back to the hotel. On the way, since it was Diwali all the houses were decorated with bright orange marigolds and that did help in lifting up my mood. I reached Hotel Tashi gang at about 3:45 PM and met Sancha just about two minutes short of the hotel. S saw me as I reached the hotel and said "Finally". He was beginning to get worried and had almost decided to come back to the park to find me. If only he had walked with me:-) That is a battle which I guess neither of us will win. Anyway, a nice refreshing bath after 5 days of no showering was an excellent treat after the walk downhill. Then I recharged my dead phone and called the parents. K was fine and they had a blast which was great news to the ears. We finally ended the evening with sikkimese dinner and a bottle of red wine. What a great trip it was and in the words of Sir Edmund Hilary "It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves.". Till we meet again, holy himalayas- Adios!