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Never forget that most generalities have exceptions. For instance, the fact that summers in India are really hot does not mean there cannot be snowstorms in May in the mountains. Sadly, I'm not speaking hypothetically. Of my seven days of trekking in Sikkim, it snowed on four and, with the wind chill factor, was below freezing on five of the nights. Perfect camping weather!
Actually, the trek was great. I did a variation of the Dzongri Trek going up to the Goechala pass. The hike is usually done in anywhere from 8-10 days, but I elected to skip rest days and squeeze it into 7. If I hadn't already done a high altitude trek I might have been nervous about foregoing the acclimatization day, but as it was, it worked out fine. (By the way, I hate the word acclimatization - I can neither say it nor spell it without a seconds pause or else I'm apt to leave out a syllable, and not always the same one.) The trek started from Yuksam, which was about a 6-7 hour jeep ride from Gagntok. The ride was great, passing through wonderful scenery largely in Western Sikkim and full of more fun road signs. As I mentioned in the last post, the scenery here is very green and open. Within Sikkim, there are not many overt signs of poverty, i.e., no roadside tents/cardboard shacks for housing and the area is pretty clean.
Although Sikkim has been a part of India since 1975, (India acquired it given its important place as a border buffer between Tibet/China), there is still some significant differences between this area and the rest of the country, beyond the type of geography. For one thing, folks told me that the Sikkim region has some special tax/financial treatment from the Indian government. For another, the primary common language in Sikkim is Nepalese, as opposed to Hindi, and the population is made up primarily of people of Nepalese, Tibetan or Ledak origin. (This last, which I probably have not have spelled correctly, refers to the original Sikkim populace, which have their own language. Thus, some people in the area speak five languages, Hindi, Nepali, Tibetan, Ledak and English.) Not surprisingly, therefore, the food reflects Tibetan and Nepali traditions as much, if not more than, traditional Indian food. In addition, the area is primarily Buddhist and there are prayer flags in abundance, from homes to lining roads to decorating various important spots on hills or around lakes, etc. The people from Sikkim that I met refer to two types of visitors - "tourists," who are Indians from outside of Sikkim and people from neighboring countries, and "foreigners," people such as myself. When leaving Sikkim, the residents warned me to be very careful in other parts of India, as, according to them, the people in India are not as friendly, helpful, trustworthy, etc. as those in Sikkim. So for many reasons, being in Sikkim did not feel like being in India, or at least what I had formerly associated with India.
I began the trek from Yuksam with my "entourage," which actually ended up including 4 people - the guide, cook, cook's assistant and yak herder, plus 3 yaks. The animals are actually a cross-breed of yaks and cows, so are smaller and more manageable than yaks. Horses were also used by some groups on the trek, but the yak-cow hybrid are better for the higher altitudes. At first, I felt a bit ridiculous travelling with such a large group, but it is actually the minimum that any group can bring. Other than the first and last nights of the trek, where we stayed in trekking lodges (i.e., rooms with beds), we camped, so had to carry a sleeping tent (for me) plus a large tent that the rest of the group used as a kitchen/dining room/sleeping area. In addition to that, we brought enough food for 7 days for 5 people and 3 animals. Add in the kerosene cooker, pots and pans, etc. and its enough stuff for 3 animals. (There was also a bathroom tent, which I have to say was a great luxury as the provided bathroom facilities, if any, were usually a trench in the ground with stalls built over it and quite disgusting, not to mention farther from the tents.) Technically, we could have skipped camping on two or three other nights and used existing structures - wooden/stone buildings that provide a covered floor on which you could sleep. However, these were usually quite full, with groups without camping gear, and in poor condition, often with large holes in the roofs, etc. as they are not maintained. People who slept in both told me that the tents were actually warmer at night.
The first day was a long 12 km, ascending from 1,850 meters at Yuksam to just over 3,000 meters at Tsokha. Despite the significant ascent, which was enhanced by several drops down to the river whose distance then had to be regained, the day was not particularly difficult and took about 6-7 hours of walking. Whether it was not carrying the large bag, or finally walking while not 100% out of shape, the whole trek seemed pretty tolerable, without much pain. In fact, it was strange to have no aches on which to focus the first day😊 I let the guide set the pace, which, when going uphill was fine, as it was slow enough that I finally managed to go up continuously without stopping. However, on flat areas or lower inclines, the pace was sometimes frustratingly slow, but I realized there was no need to hurry, (unless being chased by a storm), as most of the days ended up being on the shorter side, so eventually adjusted to the pace.
The first day of walking was all below the tree line through some wonderful forests that included lots of old trees covered in moss and small orchids. The fairy-tale like atmosphere created by some of the woods reminded me a bit of the Milford track in New Zealand. We also walked by lots of rhododendron bushes today, but at this level, the flowers were already gone. There was also lots of bamboo, both small and large, along the path and in the woods. However, the smaller bamboo was mainly brown, instead of green, because of some cyclical disease/event that appears to kill the bamboo every twelve years, and this was a twelfth year. The path was in most places almost a cobblestone path that had been built, very easy to walk on, although there were also some section that involved walking up rocky areas. Because today's walk was longer, and I think the guide originally thought I might be a bit slower, we stopped for lunch along the way. As was to turn out to be the case for the whole trip, they spoil you with the amount of food you are given! No meal is less than 3 courses - the first lunch was a noodle soup, potato dish and t-momos (a type of bread). Plus, there is one to two kinds of tea with every meal, plus a tea and biscuit break each day at four! For the first lunch, I ate on a plastic tarp set up by the group while they ate instead a structure at the stopping place. Other than one or two breakfasts on my own, I generally ate in the main tent - albeit my meals were always before the others ate, although sometimes the guide ate part of my meals as well as they quickly learned that I could never finish what was prepared. (At times, I had to stop them from serving me as they would always give me portions that I couldn't finish - it was better when I could pick the amount myself!) I preferred eating in the tent, both for the company and, because after the first day, it was warmer to be near the kerosene stove than outside. In the tent, I ate at a small table, seated on a camp chair, which were brought with us. For some of the larger groups, they actually carried tables able to seat 6-8 people with full plastic lawn chairs for everyone to use as well. It was really a luxurious trip, probably the only long hike on which I have likely gained weight. The only difficulty with the amount of food, other than being uncomfortably full at many times, was that every breakfast included a juice box, which I never drank. So each day, they told me to take the juice box with me for a snack, but I rarely drank it. By day 4, I had to return some of the juice boxes because I was running out of room in my bag.
On the second day of the trek, we went from Tsokha to Dzongri, which is close to 4,000 meters. The walk took between 4-5 hours, so we were able to have lunch upon arrival. Today we went through a large rhododendron forest area, including areas above tree level where the bushes/trees still had a lot of flowers on them. There are many types of rhododendrons here and they are quite beautiful. Two of my favorite sections included a beautiful clearing, surrounded on 3 sides by tall rhododendron trees and fir/pine trees and open on the fourth side to great mountain views. The second spot was a section of the trail covered by arching rhododendron bushes - a bit like the section of Memorial Drive near Harvard where trees lining the street bend inward to cover the road. My guide was great about pointing out wildlife, plants and historical/mythical areas. Bird watchers would have really appreciated this part of the walk; generally, I just noted "blue" or "rose" colored birds, as opposed to their actual names, but was really lucky to see the type of pheasant that is the Nepalese national bird, it looks like a male peacock but brighter and without the tail. I also saw a few white monkeys on the trail. The only animal that I didn't see, and would have liked to, was the red panda, but they are apparently very hard to see from the trail. This was our first night of camping. I had a great tent, with lots of space since the company actually only has 2-person tents and I had it to myself. Often when the guide and I arrived at the end of the day, our campsite was already set up and hot tea was ready as the rest of the group usually got there before us (despite leaving after us in the morning). If they hadn't had time to finish setting up the site, they would set up the big tent first, make tea and let me sit in there, where it was usually warmer than outside, while they set up the rest of the camp. It was amazing how little I did other than simply walk from destination to destination.
On this second day, it started snowing mid-afternoon, and we had a couple of inches by nightfall. We were camped in a valley, enclosed on two sides by low hills covered in small bushes/trees with a small stream running through the area. It was actually beautiful covered in the snow, which was rather wet/heavy, so stayed on the branches in a thick coating. (For those who have asked about pictures, yes, I have them, but I haven't found an internet connection yet that allows me to upload more than 6 pictures an hour.)
On the third day, we set out at first sunlight (okay, a little after 'cause I wasn't really ready to go at 4:30 in the morning) for a viewpoint about a half hour walk away, which was definitely worth it. We reached the area just as the sun was rising, which burned off the mist and gave a great view of the mountain ranges. There is one, whose name I have of course forgotten, that has five peaks, on one of which a god is supposed to live. In front of the five peaks is a darker mountain (i.e., it is lower so doesn't have snow on it) that is the guardian of the god. At the viewpoint, monks come every year to pray, set up prayer flags, etc. in honor of the god of these mountains. (It used to be the king that came, but the monarchy ended in 1975 - speaking of which, I didn't realize that the king's second wife was American and one of his children I think now works in the states.) This ritual began because myth/history states that Sikkim used to be a closed area, a hidden valley, but a magical/mystical llama wanted to open the area to Buddhism. When trying to cross the mountains into Sikkim he was forced to negotiate with the god of the mountains, who allowed his entrance upon the condition of the annual respect being paid to him.
We came down from the view point, had breakfast, and set off for Thangsing, where we camped in an open valley just under 4,000 meters (and I realized first hand that the wind is much stronger in an open than partially closed valley!) On the walk today, we dipped back down below tree line for a while as we came down to a river and then walked up along the river for a while until we were again above treeline. Today's section really had three phases, the first, above the treeline with the rhododendrons, second back below treeline with more of the large, moss-covered trees and the third section along the river. The river was surrounded by perhaps a 100 yard wide boulder field, through which we walked, and was surrounded on both sides by forests and rhododendrons. Other than the flowers, this area reminded me a bit of N.H. It snowed again this afternoon/evening for another couple of inches.
The fourth day's walk was quite short, less than 3 hours, with only about 300 metres of ascent and it went so gradually, that you barely noticed going uphill. The walk was not particularly interesting because the clouds obscured what I think would otherwise be great views of the mountain ranges on both sides of the path and the vegetation was largely uniform scrub. At the campsite, at Lamunie, however, we were able to see blue sheep on the mountains. We were done walking by 11, which was actually a bit tough because it was very cold and hard to stay warm. So I went for a brief excursion up the start of tomorrow's walk to a lake, which actually used to be a camp site until the government closed it to prevent pollution to the water.
The fifth day was the long one and really was like two days in one. We started for Goechala (the pass at over 5,000 meters) at 3;30 in the morning! (I know, I couldn't believe the time either.) We reached the first viewpoint around 5 in the morning and did have some good views down the valley. The next approximately 2 hours of walking was tough - it was cold and steep and, by the time we reached the pass, was beginning to snow. From the pass, we had a nice view of a glacier lake but, because of the weather, the view farther along the valley was mainly obscured. It was still worth the walk up however. The way down, on the other hand, was extremely difficult because of the still falling snow. Not only was the snow itself slippery, it was now a wet couple of inches, but it also obscured the rocks beneath, which were essentially coated in black ice. both the guide and myself took at least half a dozen tumbles on the way down, which was scary given that we were often walking along the edge of the mountain. At one point, after I had fallen twice on the same section, I finally gave up any last shred of dignity I had left and slid down the rest of that part on my rear (thank goodness again for good rain pants😊 Because of the snow, we couldn't actually see the path at all, but fortunately the guide knows the area very well and was able to navigate us down the mountain using landmarks of various stone outcroppings, etc. We got back to the camp just before 11 for some much welcome tea and lunch. In the afternoon, we walked back along the way we had come the day before and back down to the river we had come to on the third day. We spent the night camping close to this river. The actual campsite was full so we pitched our tents (rather, I watched the group pitch our tents) on both sides of a small stream on the side of the path. Because my boots were soaking wet, I wore my flip flops that night, with wool socks, but of course managed to step into the stream when crossing back to my tent after dinner, so now had wet socks to go with the wet boots. Life is good.
On the 6th day, we walked from the river back to Tsokha, but the first few hours was by a different route than we had come up. It, of course, snowed in the morning, turning to rain in the afternoon, so the path through the woods was incredibly muddy and slippery (turns out, red mud is more slippery than brown mud, good to know), but there were some good last views of the high mountain ranges. On the last day, we retraced the first day's path, but with some shortcuts through more thickly forested areas as opposed to using the cobblestone/rocky path. This part actually seemed much steeper going down than coming up.
The day after the trek I had an 8 hour jeep ride through Sikkim and West Bengal to the border of India and Bhutan. In Western Bengal, the scenery included lots of large tea farms/fields and several tea processing factories as well, which was interesting to see, particularly those fields where the plants were being harvested - seeing the green fields dotted with women in bright saris and holding multi-colored umbrellas to shield themselves from the hot sun. (Yes, finally, I escaped the snow and almost immediately was wishing for it again😊 I spent a night on the Indian side of the border (didn't actually sleep much, not because of the loud dogs or street noise, which included several heated arguments right below my window, but because of the lizard in my room - only a six inch one, but big enough that I refused to go to sleep while it was still moving. It finally went out the window I had opened and I got about 3 hours sleep - events like this make me realize I'm not completely infatuated with nature😊
The next day I quite happily crossed into Bhutan where I've been for the last 3 days. Bhutan so far has been wonderful, a beautiful and friendly, and at times quirky, country that I am greatly enjoying. I set off for another trek tomorrow. This time I will be walking with a group that includes two other tourists, so the number of support staff won't completely outnumber me. The only negative thing about Bhutan so far is that I've determined that the reason there are so few overweight people is that there is no good chocolate here!
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Bob Cammett
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Winter wonderland
"Sleigh Bells ring..." I reckon the last few months have ruined any thought of: Hiking The Appalchian Trail. After al you have seen,it would pale in comaprison. We are forecast to reach 80+ and perhaps 90 Degrees on Thursday and Friday. Stay well. Your Friend, Bob