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Trek -1
The Journey Begins! I am into corporate industry by force but an avid traveler and nature enthusiast by choice. My heart always belongs to Mother Nature where I travel to far away from maddening crowd to soak myself into the raw beauty of God’s creation.
I have traveled many a times to lesser known places in North Bengal and Sikkim hills due to my fascination of Mount Kanchendzonga and unknown villages and my passion of lifestyle and travel photography, where I try to create travel stories and promote those unknown places through my photos and in return I get enormous warmth and mental peace from the people I meet during my sojourn. I think that the only way we can return some happiness to others is by spreading it.
This time around, I planned for a small hike along the hills with a very close friend of mine(Santanu Pathak) who also shares similar tastes of nature and equally enthusiastic about Himalayan terrains. This time around we planned for South Sikkim to a lesser know trekking spot called Maenam top and my target was to try my luck and catch a glimpse of the very rare and shy Red Panda.
Everything
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The Storm Closing by! got arranged in proper time with the help of Bikram Pariyar and his group(Global Tours and Travels) at a local place called Temi. We traveled to Ravangla via Damthang and from there our ascent to Maenam top started and the plan was to stay overnight at the top and enjoy the beauty of Himalayan night in a two person tents. We planned to take an alternate route to reach to Ravangla via Borong village to make our journey a bit more interesting. Every precautions were taken as the region is infested with Himalayan black bears and they are easily provoked if found during the trail.Also,night halts at Maenam is not a common phenomena as the weather pattern changes very often due to the topology of the area.
After an hour of steady ascent, the weather god started getting angry and drizzles started pouring in and we had no options but to carry on the hike as the forest was getting heavier with every half mile of ascents and if we lose time here, it can be fatal during evening hours if are not able to make it through the top. Incessant rains continued while we made valiant efforts
Trek -3
Ice Age! by pushing us through the dense vegetation and slippery jungle routes. There were places where the gradients were almost 60 degrees but our group was not losing time and kept surpassing every difficulty. After travelling around 6 km upwards, we took a breather and had a fresh dose of tea and light snacks and that's the moment the hell broke loose and severe hail storms ascended on us like a barrage of warnings of the dangers ahead. It lasted for half an hour and suddenly like a typical Himalayan terrain, the weather got clear and lifted our spirits. We marched 3 more kilometers before taking a break around 3.30 pm for lunch and we measured that around 3 km of steep ascent is left. We completed the meal in no time and started the last leg of our journey with a renewed vigor but the wind started catching us and dark clouds started gathering for a feast. It was unbearable to carry ahead in the thick and steep forest but we had no options but to carry ahead with all the mental strength we have. The porters were hurrying anticipating a snow fall while we cannot lose their track also
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The Great Mountain in its glory as the bears can be found at any corner of our passage and we must stay in a group. This ordeal continued for another hour and finally we reached the top of the hill around 5.30 in the evening and there was a solitary shelter in the shape of Gompa and we hurried in its veranda. There was only single soul present in the Gompa and the priest was in course of 1 year meditation and he only use gestures to communicate while he is not in meditation. We gathered around a pile of fire woods and started to feel back our senses while Bikram and the porters went to collect more fire woods for our dinner preparation. Just as we started to prepare for the cooking, the worst thing we anticipated happened. The snow storm took a toll on us and visibility almost got down to zero and forced us to lit the solar lamps .Myself and Santanu somehow managed ourselves into the sleeping bag while the temperature within a matter of minutes plummeted down to -10 to -15 degree C. We thought that's the end of world for us as the furious blows of wind were making us
Trek-5
Mt Kanchendzonga from Maenam top numb with each minutes passing by an even the doctor Brandy started giving up its effect. Our porter and guide somehow gathered courage and started to light the fire woods carried by us and we were lucky that we could arrange the fire to keep us warm. The rampage continued for almost couple of hours and making 6 inches of virgin snow all around us. We were at a height of almost 12000 ft and I could feel that the heaven is not far away.Well; the heavenly beauty was there in the next day. After the eventful night, me and my friend somehow managed a good 2-3 hours of sleep and I woke with the sound of faint chirping of birds. It was around 5.30 in the morning and when I came out of the tent I was dumbstruck with what I saw.
Where ever I am looking around, it was ice age as if we were stranded in Antarctica with floras and faunas covered in snow. Far in the distance out of this entirely white world, the first hue of orange morning sunshine has fallen in majestic range and made it glitter like a gold and made the
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The place where we halted over night entire scene like a dream. This ambiance could not be captured in camera and I chose to see it rather than looking for my camera. I have been seen many sunrises, moon rises, sunsets in the back drop of the majestic hills, this time around, and it was simply out of the world. With memories in mind, I started packing my bag preparing for an arduous decent in the virgin snow but the smile of satisfaction in face. The descent was a time taking affair with soft snows everywhere and had to take precautions at every step. Doing an adventurous off route trail to Borong seems daunting and time taking and since we have night train to catch, we dropped the idea of it and continued our journey in the snow clad mountains and promising the Red Panda’s to be back again.
Yes, God has provided us some challenges but finally when we reached our destination surpassing the same, we witnessed such marvel of God and Mother Nature, which we will cherish till the last breath of our life. This has made us believe the age old adage once again, “Fortune favors the Brave” and yes we toiled hard
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Memories will remain! with our mental strength to envisage the beauty of Mother Nature at its furious and fascinating best.
Travel Info:
Best time of hike is Sept-Nov and March-April.The trek is easy to moderate and need to be ready for abrupt change in weather conditions at Maenam top.For permits and hotel stay at Ravangla,Sikkim ,Bikram Pariyar and his group can arrange the same.
For more information regarding the trek and its arrangement,please contact Mr Bikram Pariyar(+918972428489) of Global Tours and Travels or drop me a message at
canirban77@gmail.com so that I can connect you to him.
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