THE TRIP TO REMEMBER
It was 16 th of october,2015.The puja vacation has just kicked off. Well, when i say "puja vacation" it simply refers to my beautiful wife,Smritikana,a teacher herself,who enjoys this long vacations quite often and for myself my profession doesnt help me with this but somehow i have developed this deep seated liking to explore the world and reinvent myself.Last january we were out for Andaman and now we are all set to venture north of bengal and west sikkim.This time we have with us my friend Saumya and his wife Shrabani.Saumya,having known him from my childhood,is a travel-freak to say the least and has done something sort of PhD when it comes to visiting sikkim.He says " sikkim brings out a new ME in ME"
We did some decent shopping before we started as is the case everytime we are out for a trip.My wife just loves to wear new things and makes it a point even if it means skipping our puja shopping.
Well lot of introduction i made. We eventually boarded PADATIK express from sealdah.It was pretty punctual given the standards of indian railways. We reached NJP by 9.30 am next morning.Rajesh Bhai was all prepared there.It would be unjust if i dont spend some sentences about Rajesh Bhai,our driver.Not just a driver,but we have developed a special kind of relationship with him, more so with Saumya.We first met him during our first trip as a couple to darjeeling in a memorable and special trip which the world reckon as our " honeymoon trip".Rajesh bhai is just a sweetheart.
The Day 1 of our trip is destined to Tinchuley,a not-so-common destination.Toyota Innova was what Rajesh Bhai had to offer.We did our breakfast at Sevoke as is the case everytime we pass the place.Tinchuley being a little unknown place,we have to reconfirm the route every now and then.The road was more or less good with bumpy rides sometimes.We reached Tinchuley,a fortress of 3 hills as they say,located just beside kalimpong seperated by teesta.On the way one can view THE TRIVENI,where 2 rivers meeting to form teesta.The ride upwards to tinchuley was through and in between slopes of tea gardens.We reached to GURUNG'S guest house,only decent stay as far as i reckon,in the hill.We found Mr Gurung a well educated,well spoken,well behaved person who takes his business very seriously.We reached there by 4pm and did some site-seeing to spent rest of the day,the tinchuley monastry and a sunset point.The weather was very good and that makes us believe that the next morning would be great for us.As Shrabani boasted, it is for her good luck,that the weather in hills remains crystal clear when she sets her feet in this region.
And she said,we witnessed, with all our awes and disbelief the SLEEPING BUDHHA.For me and Smritikana it was our first fortunate moment to stare,stare for long,at the majestic KANGCHENDZONGA. The view point at tinchuley was a rare one,even in the eyes of more experienced saumya and shrabani. One can see a 180 degree panoramic view witnessing sunrise in the east and sun-bathed peaks of KangchendZonga in the far west and that too with slopes of tea garden at the back drop.Quite a stunning view i must say.
After this exhilarating experience early in the morning we started for Tumling and Tonglu,actually these places are in the trek route to sandakfu.It is for my friend Saumya,who always stride for unusual tour palns we are out for a 4 hours journey to tonglu,and more interestingly we have also planned to come back to tinchuley once again at the end of the day.So total 8 to 10 hrs ordeal,or even more,how long,which saumya was even unaware of, was about to begin.
But honestly the day we spent was one of the best as throughout our journey we kept watching the Kangchendzonga through our right windscreen of innova and that was special.At Manebhanjan,the starting point to sandakfu trek one can take a motorvan althrough the way to sandakfu.And let me tell,you cant take any other vehicle but for Land Rover,Old one,1956 make ,which were available there for hire.We took one such and set out.The journey was a weird yet interesting one.The road was so bumpy that once we thought that it is impossible for us to complete the journey in one peice but to our surprise we found that we had ultimately made it to tonglu and the credit goes to super sturdy land rovers.
Tonglu is place,at around 10k feet,cold and serene with one of the closest view to kangchendzonga,a place where you just can stand with one feet in india and the other in nepal. We did taste the local beer,ROXY as they call it and that created a lot of anguish to our spouses.On the way back down to manebhanjan we halted at Tonglu,also a beautiful place and visited the trekkers hut there.surprisingly we completed our days plan very early and Rajesh bhai gave us good suggestions about how we could make good use of this unexpected extra time left. So we dicided to give a short visit to each of these following places. Lepchajagat,ghoom and batasia loop,short of entering the darjeeling town.At evening after a long long journey we were back to Gurung's guest house sipping tea and pakoras.
Next day,our 3rd day,early morning we left tinchuley as today also we have to cover a long distance to west sikkim to a village named OAKHREY.First time into sikkim,i must say,that i was dissapointed with the road condition and i thought sikkim tourism was on the flourish.Oakhrey is a small peaceful village,tourism there was still at large.One can spent really quality time into the unexplored village culture who really dislikes the cacophony of some places like gangtok or pelling and one cant miss the cloud and fog that hovers constantly over oakhrey.We were lodged at a homestay,the only option you would expect in that remote place.We spent the rest of the day exploring the village through the woods.
Trek to Varsey,was the next day's plan. The morning had the bite,was a bit more chilly than our likings and we started to trek from a place called HILLEY.One have to buy tickets from the counter for a trek dstance of about 5km up. We were told that this is an easy trek so we didnt bother either and our wives took on their stride to lead the trek as they seemed pretty enthusiastic about it.Well the trek for first 3 km was pretty easy through dense forest and small falls but the last 1km was a steep one which we dint really expect and all of us was panting virtually.Rajesh bhai,who started the trek at saumya's forceful request,rather unwillingly became the most vocal at this point and started cursing saumya though in the subdued manner.Our wives also now being defeated was considering to call it a day and then me and saumya took the opportunity to lead.All the tiredness phased out,all the agony releived when we reached the summit and ironically we were left breathless with the breathtaking view of the Kangchendzonga once again. To give you one more example of Shrabani's lady luck,the cloud that was all the while obscuring the peaks now cleared off as if the show was just waiting for us to be unvieled. One more thing is worth mentioning that we missed the rododendron at this time of the year at the varsey valley.As they say,if someone visits the palce in march april they will find the valley burning in red glaze if rododendron.
We came back to oakhrey and left the place for Pelling,our final destination.We were all drained out that day and with little pain in our a** we visisted the SINGSORE bridge,the 2nd highest bridge in asia, few beautiful waterfalls.Pelling didnt greet us that well as we found heavy cloud and adverse weather there and also for the fact that after so tinchuley and oakhrey ,the congested town life of pelling didnt spark much enthusiasm in us.We went for a short trip to pelling monastry but abondoned the idea to visit the pelling hellipad.The last day of our trip we rather found the hotel rooms more comfortable
Next day,it was our way back to NJP.On the way though we stopped to visit SAMDRUPTSE monastry at Namchi.The monastry was worth visiting.The big statue of Padmasambhaba is probably the biggest statue of a real person.We didnt visit the TRIDHAM which would be better if we did.
Altogether it was a great trip.A memorable one. And this urge of sharing a blog is something i was inspired of by someone as i am looking forward to share more of my trips in future
It was 16 th of october,2015.The puja vacation has just kicked off. Well, when i say "puja vacation" it simply refers to my beautiful wife,Smritikana,a teacher herself,who enjoys this long vacations quite often and for myself my profession doesnt help me with this but somehow i have developed this deep seated liking to explore the world and reinvent myself.Last january we were out for Andaman and now we are all set to venture north of bengal and west sikkim.This time we have with us my friend Saumya and his wife Shrabani.Saumya,having known him from my childhood,is a travel-freak to say the least and has done something sort of PhD when it comes to visiting sikkim.He says " sikkim brings out a new ME in ME"
We did some decent shopping before we started as is the case everytime we are out for a trip.My wife just loves to wear new things and makes it a point even if it means skipping our puja shopping.
Well lot of introduction i made. We eventually boarded PADATIK express from sealdah.It was pretty punctual given the standards of indian railways. We reached NJP by 9.30 am next morning.Rajesh Bhai was all prepared there.It would be unjust if i dont spend some sentences about Rajesh Bhai,our driver.Not just a driver,but we have developed a special kind of relationship with him, more so with Saumya.We first met him during our first trip as a couple to darjeeling in a memorable and special trip which the world reckon as our " honeymoon trip".Rajesh bhai is just a sweetheart.
The Day 1 of our trip is destined to Tinchuley,a not-so-common destination.Toyota Innova was what Rajesh Bhai had to offer.We did our breakfast at Sevoke as is the case everytime we pass the place.Tinchuley being a little unknown place,we have to reconfirm the route every now and then.The road was more or less good with bumpy rides sometimes.We reached Tinchuley,a fortress of 3 hills as they say,located just beside kalimpong seperated by teesta.On the way one can view THE TRIVENI,where 2 rivers meeting to form teesta.The ride upwards to tinchuley was through and in between slopes of tea gardens.We reached to GURUNG'S guest house,only decent stay as far as i reckon,in the hill.We found Mr Gurung a well educated,well spoken,well behaved person who takes his business very seriously.We reached there by 4pm and did some site-seeing to spent rest of the day,the tinchuley monastry and a sunset point.The weather was very good and that makes us believe that the next morning would be great for us.As Shrabani boasted, it is for her good luck,that the weather in hills remains crystal clear when she sets her feet in this region.
And she said,we witnessed, with all our awes and disbelief the SLEEPING BUDHHA.For me and Smritikana it was our first fortunate moment to stare,stare for long,at the majestic KANGCHENDZONGA. The view point at tinchuley was a rare one,even in the eyes of more experienced saumya and shrabani. One can see a 180 degree panoramic view witnessing sunrise in the east and sun-bathed peaks of KangchendZonga in the far west and that too with slopes of tea garden at the back drop.Quite a stunning view i must say.
After this exhilarating experience early in the morning we started for Tumling and Tonglu,actually these places are in the trek route to sandakfu.It is for my friend Saumya,who always stride for unusual tour palns we are out for a 4 hours journey to tonglu,and more interestingly we have also planned to come back to tinchuley once again at the end of the day.So total 8 to 10 hrs ordeal,or even more,how long,which saumya was even unaware of, was about to begin.
But honestly the day we spent was one of the best as throughout our journey we kept watching the Kangchendzonga through our right windscreen of innova and that was special.At Manebhanjan,the starting point to sandakfu trek one can take a motorvan althrough the way to sandakfu.And let me tell,you cant take any other vehicle but for Land Rover,Old one,1956 make ,which were available there for hire.We took one such and set out.The journey was a weird yet interesting one.The road was so bumpy that once we thought that it is impossible for us to complete the journey in one peice but to our surprise we found that we had ultimately made it to tonglu and the credit goes to super sturdy land rovers.
Tonglu is place,at around 10k feet,cold and serene with one of the closest view to kangchendzonga,a place where you just can stand with one feet in india and the other in nepal. We did taste the local beer,ROXY as they call it and that created a lot of anguish to our spouses.On the way back down to manebhanjan we halted at Tonglu,also a beautiful place and visited the trekkers hut there.surprisingly we completed our days plan very early and Rajesh bhai gave us good suggestions about how we could make good use of this unexpected extra time left. So we dicided to give a short visit to each of these following places. Lepchajagat,ghoom and batasia loop,short of entering the darjeeling town.At evening after a long long journey we were back to Gurung's guest house sipping tea and pakoras.
Next day,our 3rd day,early morning we left tinchuley as today also we have to cover a long distance to west sikkim to a village named OAKHREY.First time into sikkim,i must say,that i was dissapointed with the road condition and i thought sikkim tourism was on the flourish.Oakhrey is a small peaceful village,tourism there was still at large.One can spent really quality time into the unexplored village culture who really dislikes the cacophony of some places like gangtok or pelling and one cant miss the cloud and fog that hovers constantly over oakhrey.We were lodged at a homestay,the only option you would expect in that remote place.We spent the rest of the day exploring the village through the woods.
Trek to Varsey,was the next day's plan. The morning had the bite,was a bit more chilly than our likings and we started to trek from a place called HILLEY.One have to buy tickets from the counter for a trek dstance of about 5km up. We were told that this is an easy trek so we didnt bother either and our wives took on their stride to lead the trek as they seemed pretty enthusiastic about it.Well the trek for first 3 km was pretty easy through dense forest and small falls but the last 1km was a steep one which we dint really expect and all of us was panting virtually.Rajesh bhai,who started the trek at saumya's forceful request,rather unwillingly became the most vocal at this point and started cursing saumya though in the subdued manner.Our wives also now being defeated was considering to call it a day and then me and saumya took the opportunity to lead.All the tiredness phased out,all the agony releived when we reached the summit and ironically we were left breathless with the breathtaking view of the Kangchendzonga once again. To give you one more example of Shrabani's lady luck,the cloud that was all the while obscuring the peaks now cleared off as if the show was just waiting for us to be unvieled. One more thing is worth mentioning that we missed the rododendron at this time of the year at the varsey valley.As they say,if someone visits the palce in march april they will find the valley burning in red glaze if rododendron.
We came back to oakhrey and left the place for Pelling,our final destination.We were all drained out that day and with little pain in our a** we visisted the SINGSORE bridge,the 2nd highest bridge in asia, few beautiful waterfalls.Pelling didnt greet us that well as we found heavy cloud and adverse weather there and also for the fact that after so tinchuley and oakhrey ,the congested town life of pelling didnt spark much enthusiasm in us.We went for a short trip to pelling monastry but abondoned the idea to visit the pelling hellipad.The last day of our trip we rather found the hotel rooms more comfortable
Next day,it was our way back to NJP.On the way though we stopped to visit SAMDRUPTSE monastry at Namchi.The monastry was worth visiting.The big statue of Padmasambhaba is probably the biggest statue of a real person.We didnt visit the TRIDHAM which would be better if we did.
Altogether it was a great trip.A memorable one. And this urge of sharing a blog is something i was inspired of by someone as i am looking forward to share more of my trips in future
Need some pics doc.
ReplyDeleteNeed some pics doc.
ReplyDeleteMay be in the bligs to come
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteGreat narrative bhakta...well done
ReplyDeleteThanks Safi.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteWonderful doc...
ReplyDeleteThank You trina.keep reading my travel blogs
ReplyDelete