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Published: June 27th 2013
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A peculiar sound far in the wild woke me up in the middle of night. I was not deep asleep but the exertion of the 21 km trail was taking a toll on me and I was not able to move my muscle and the reflexes were going weak. The sound repeated and this time it seemed like a sharp cry of some wild beast not very far from our two person’s tent. Santanu on the other hand was already into the world of dreams and somehow managed himself into the sleeping bag. The solar lamp was also almost in the verge of calling it a day and in its twinkling light; Santanu seemed to me like a 6 feet anaconda peacefully sleeping beside me.
Well, the day started on a different note when we started our hike from the small village of Temi at South Sikkim. After a short breakfast, we gathered around the temple to offer a small prayer and started our hike through the vast tea gardens of Temi and our first stop was at Cherri Resort. It was a 6 km uphill hike in the backdrop of South Sikkim hills. The weather was nice and easy
with intermittent mists in our way. I collected my "Khukri" which I ordered quite some time back and Bikram made all the arrangements for procuring a genuine Khukri. Well, it was a matter of time and that piece of brutal metal took a shelter in my belt and somehow I was feeling like Rambo walking in tea garden.
After a small and nice tea break at Cherry Resort, we started our next hike till Damthang and this time around, the hike was along the road and hence it seemed cake walk for us. The distance between Cherry and Damthang is around 5 km and we strolled our way in the Damthang circle (or may be square).That's the place where we had to take our overnight ration for snacks and dinner.
Tendong has its own share of history as I heard from Bikram that a lethal flood swept the southern part of Sikkim quite some time back during which a group of locals braved their way up to the Tendong top to take shelter. They offered prayers there and to their belief the flood stopped post that. From then on, every year they go to offer prayer on a
special day and the place is sacred for them. Government has made arrangements by laying bricks in the entire stretch of 9-10km of hike from Damthang till Tendong top but its lack of maintenance and the mist has made the entire path slippery with every chance of falling down. One has to take care while hiking down the track.
We started our hike upwards and the trail seems to be easy for the first 2-3 km but post that the misery of slippery roads gave us a nightmare of a climb. The steps were covered with moss and the overnight rain has made it more difficult for us to step up the speed. The place though seems to be out of ordinary with gentle breeze and chirping of birds all through our route. The various colors of Rhododendrons coming to full bloom made the ambiance like a heaven. The greenery around was treat to eyes and soothing to mind. I just sat for sometime on a rock to get myself lost into Mother Nature and appreciate its beauty and creation. Santanu recited few lines of Tagore to make the environment more enigmatic.
Evening was approaching fast and we
had to reach the top as the area is notorious for Himalayan black bear and there were past instances on human attacks also. Around 5 pm, we reached the Tendong top which is at 8500 ft and I was head over my heels by looking at the rustiness of the place. Quickly, I took out my new instrument and waded into the jungle like a seasoned warrior and started collecting the dry fire woods for our food and night shelters.
Post a mini snacks session with Pork meat and wai wai, Santanu came into his groove and started strumming Bikram's guitar. With Brandy and meat, our medley started with Bengali Songs and then followed Nepali folk songs. While the cook got busy to get our night portion ready, I got into the mood of night photography and the ambiance gave me enough stimuli to dare the boundaries of unknown. Bikram and Dhiraj bhai took guard for watching around me in the vast darkness while I took some night snaps before we regrouped again for the dinner. Dinner was fast and tasty and our tent was also ready. Bikram was not feeling confident somehow to allow us in the tent
all alone as it started drizzling and the fire which was supposed to protect us from the wild animals, was in the verge of taking its last breathe. We insisted though to be in the tent and somehow managed ourselves with a torch, Khurki and lots of courage and went into dim light of the tent.
The sound suddenly seemed approaching our site and I had no other option but to wake Santanu up. He rushed up in his sleeping bag and I have already gripped my Khukri in the meantime as my last resort of defense. The sound seemed to penetrate the jungle loud and clear and it was none other than a barking deer. Well,we were initially not sure,but once it was around 50-60f away, we got very sure about the sound. What came next is the thought of a deer barking in the middle of a night and this is a warning call. They don't fear Bears but they do fear Chitu (Cheetah) though which we thought is not a possibility until then. The silence was gripping us while the drops of rain falling from leaves or an insect crawling under the tent was making a
huge impact to the ambiance. Initially, I thought to get out of the tent and call Bikram and team who were sleeping around 10-15 meters from our tent but as soon as I opened a little portion of the tent, the darkness outside just gulped us like a demon and we thought otherwise. This continued for almost 45 minutes and suddenly, the way it got started it just stopped and there were dead silence everywhere.
Somehow after waiting for few more anxious moments, we went back to our bags and pushed against each other to gather courage to spend the night. The morning broke with faint chirping of birds and Santanu was already out of tent. He told me that the weather is very dull and Kanchendzonga is shy again to appear in front of us.I heard Bikram's voice and inquired about the last nights incident and he told that it was barking deer indeed and I trust him as he has spent 12 years in Army in various forests and hills.so,if that was a barking deer, what it was barking for? Well...Bikram said "It could be Chitu sir"...........!!
Our overnight expedition at a jungle at
8500 ft came to completeness with this statement and without any further words; we started preparing for our decent to Damthang.
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