The crunching sound of the virgin snow as I step my foot and walked over it, seemed like a melody! It was just the beginning of all the sn...
The crunching sound of the virgin snow as I step my foot and walked over it, seemed like a melody! It was just the beginning of all the snowy trails ahead.
I am back with a new episode of this blog series. This is sequel to my previous post .
Today was the shortest day of the trek yet the most tiring day! It was a regular 6-7-8 tea-brekfast-depart routine we followed today as well. We had to cover just 6kms to reach Sandakphu. But it was not the usual 6kms that we had covered on the previous days.
Some views of the day!
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| The trail! |
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| Beautiful :) |
The first 2 kms were easy until the shoulders started speaking!! But this time around, I was kind of used to it. I knew that I had to keep walking that's all.
We reached our first water point for the day, where we filled up some fresh water and continued again.
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| 3.5 kms away they said! |
Another an hour into the trek, what I saw was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen!! The snow! It was the first time, I was seeing such snow covered mountains, and the first time I was gonna walk on it! I was overjoyed. Believe me, the first times are always special, no matter what! Live and cherish those moments. Coz when you experience the same things again, its never gonna be the same.
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| First sight of snow! |
The crunching sound of the virgin snow as I step my foot and walked over it, seemed like melody! It was just the beginning of all the snowy trails. I absolutely loved it. :) At the same time, it was equally challenging. Well, I am writing this from the perspective of a first timer, who is trekking in the Himalayas. I hope, one day when I have done more challenging treks, I laugh it off seeing that it got challenging for me.
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| Lunch point near Sandakphu |
Another hour later, and we were at our lunch point for the day. Needless to say I was the last one, but it didn't matter to me. I reached tired, shoulders aching in the chilling cold, hands almost frozen, I threw my bag away and comforted my shoulders.
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| Map with various peaks around. |
We hogged almost everything that crossed our sight. From Thukpa, to wai wai noodes, to omlettles and maggi, bisciuts, choclates, you name it. It was that tiring.
The Sandakphu base camp was just another half a kilometer away and I had regained some energy, and in the mood for some recordings. This half kilometers was the best of the trek. See the video below.
As I reached the peak, I was very happy that I finally did it. From a person, who once had no idea if he could complete the trek, was now at the peak, and by now, I had learnt a lot of lessons, that life had in store for me! It felt really inspiring. I felt really strong. That inner sense of happyness you get when you know you did something which you never thought you would, is truly one of a kind!
I had to get this pic clicked, it meant a whole lot to me!
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| Yes!! I did it :) |
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| Warming our feet! :) |
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| Local people. Mother and her cute kid posing for the cameras. :) |
After the tummy were satisfied, I went out to explore and get some clicks. It was really windy then, and clicking even with the gloves on, seemed like a hassle.
I then crossed the border and here's the proof below!
Crossing border had never been easier! 😁
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| One of my favorite clicks :) |
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| After crossing the border 😝 |
After an early dinner, I along with few others opted for the tent, while some opted to stay in the tea house. Again, my first time in a tent, and the sleeping bag.
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| Tents ready!! 😍 Ready to doze off. Or am I? |
Some views from morning!
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| Beautiful sunrise :) |
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| Mandatory pic! 😁 |
Sandakphu to Sabagram
We set sail for our next camp at Sabagram. Again, it was a 12-13 km trek. Sabagram is almost the same height as Sandakphu. The trail was awesome, as we had to go through the snow covered regions for most part of the day! |
| Amazing sight to see! |
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| Tired! |
It was a great sight to see the vast vast landscapes with snow everywhere. There wasn't any steep ascents or descents compared to other days, but the trek after the lunch looked a little difficult mainly due to weather.
On this trek, I also met this guy Barry, who even at 60 loved to trek and carried his backpack on his own without opting for porters. I was motivated!
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| Selfie with Barry! |
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| This was our lunch! PC : Sushma |
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| View minutes after lunch! :) |
It was getting cold, and the clouds moved through my face every second, and the running nose never seemed to stop. The last 200 meters, we witnessed a lot of snow. It was pretty clear that the weather growing bad. We all were gathered in a circular wooden shelter, until the tents were pitched.
The dinner was amazingly delicious or we were so tired that everything tasted so yum.. Washing our cutlery in that chilling cold, with that freezing water was a big pain in the..
We slept off in the most beautiful campsite along the trek!
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| Our tent! |
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| A temple at the camp! PC: Sushma |
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| The Sunshine!! |
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| Frozen twigs! |
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| Kanchenjunga peak!! Had to zoom quite a bit. |
This day we were supposed to trek to Phalut where we would get very near to Kanchenjunga and get the clear view of the Sleeping Buddha. Due to bad weather we headed to Gorkhey, the most beautifulvillage I had ever seen.
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| All packed! Ready to leave. |
Sabagram to Gorkhey
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| Just left Sabagram :) |
This was a trek through one of the most beautiful regions of Singalila National Park. The 11 kms trek downhill with steep descents took a toll on my legs and shoulders.
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| They didn't know I was clicking! |
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| Now they know I am clicking! :D |
We could see the blooming Rhododendrons all along the trail today!
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| The white variety! |
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| Bliss! |
After a snowy patch, began the green trail through the Bamboo forests!
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| It was beautiful 😊 |
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| Trees so tall!! |
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| Looking up the sky! |
We stopped for lunch at this beautiful village Samandhen. It was a flat flat region with forest all around. Also, it had the most beautiful houses. A perfect spot to click some pictures.
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| The most beautiful hut :) |
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| Teeny tiny flowers! |
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| Beautiful! Isn't it? |
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| Our porter, Mindoop! |
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| Look at this kid, you can see the innocence through his eyes! One of my favorites for a reason!! |
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| Just another beautiful house! |
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| On the way to Gorkhey! |
After the lunch, in no time we were at Gorkhey, our last camp! It was the time to relax finally!! Some of us visited the Ramam river bed which demarcated Sikkim and West Bengal, while some of us visited the near by Shiva temple.
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| Ramam river. Prayer flags add a very peculiar vibe!! |
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| Trying to capture the flowers. |
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| I am out of captions! 😓 |
We sang songs, while our co guided matched our tune with his Guitar in flawless fingerstyle. So quickly, it was time to hit the bed again, and I went through all the photos I clicked along, and I had come a long way from where I started !!
The last day trek from Gorkhey to Sepi was just a formality. It was the easiest of trails, yet it was very difficult to step foot further, as we knew the trek had come to end!! I felt a kind of silence as we continued towards the last point. Everyone knew this was it. Goodbyes and farewells were in order.
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| Last day of the trek! :( |
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| From where it all began! |
I was a changed person for sure after the trek. Physically (coz of aches ) and mentally! One experience, that surely changed my perspective about life. A new life had begun! I would like to thank all my friends, whom I bugged a lot asking about the treks. Special thanks to Sandeep and Sushma - my friends who tolerated me for one week in the mountains!
In my next blog, I will write about my bike trip to Manali - Leh - Kashmir. and give some insights about one of the most highest rated bike trips. Subscribe to the blog to receive notifications for new posts. Till then, keep watching, keep travelling!
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