Journeys are meant to be like a canvas of beautiful memories of places we travel to, air that we soak in, people we meet, food we eat, songs we hear there...
This is my first pictory of a journey that shook me and changed the course of my life. It made me push myself beyond what I thought were my limits and made me aware of the possibilities that I could work towards. Goechala - A beautiful Himalayan trek, that nurtured and pushed me at the same time..
My husband (Avinash) and I used to go for weekend hikes in Western Ghats in the Maharashtra state of India and were very keen on doing a Himalayan trek.. We zeroed down on Goechala.
View of Mount Kanchenjunga from Goechala base camp
Mount Kanchenjunga is the 3rd highest Mountain of the world; it is a Himalayan Mountain. Goechala(16000 feet/ 4940 meters) is the base camp for Mount Kanchenjunga, a high mountain pass in Sikkim, India. Kanchenjunga peak is clearly visible from this pass.
Trek to the basecamp is through Kanchenjunga National Park, one of the greenest places on Earth. And the Himalayan forests are a view to behold, I promise! We did this trek in the month of April, 2015. Without further spilling the beans, let me begin the tale of the place, the inhabitants and the nature of Goechala
Day # 1 and 2
We reached Bagdogra Airport from Mumbai at about 11 in the morning and took a taxi to Yuksum. It was ridiculously hot in Bagdogra and the breeze and greenery that welcomed us the moment we entered Sikkim, was Universe's way of telling us, that we are going to have an experience of the lifetime in the next 9 days
On the way to Yuksum
We reached Yuksum at 7 in the evening and next day early morning; we were all set to start the trek of our lifetime.
Yuksum (5800 ft), the beautiful little hill town, right outside the Kanchenjunga National Park
We met Bheem, our guide for 9 days, an enthusiastic young school boy and a professional guide.
We reach the trekking site, and started the trek from the gate of Kanchenjunga National Park. We were all excited, but scared at the same time. Used to sitting in front of computers, we were amateur trekkers. Somewhere inside, we know it is going to take all the strength we could muster to reach 16000 ft, with oxygen levels, half of what they are, at normal levels.
The way will change its course several times, but it begins like this. The fauna of the Himalayan terrain is something that I am glad I wont die without seeing. Our trekking path was surrounded by ancient trees, dense shrubs, bright green grass & moss and the most melodious chirp chorus of beautiful, colorful birds..
The forest was getting denser and dangerously beautiful on every step. The silence was only interrupted by the bells of horses and a breed of yalks, that the locals called Dzo.. First four hours of trekking on this already beautiful terrain that was blowing our mind away; and we were suddenly in the mid of clouds, quite literally!!
The cloudy mist lasted another fifteen minutes, then it rained for sometime and clouds were gone like a dream.. Another one and a half hours of trekking and we reached our first stop of our 9 day trek, at Sachen (7200 ft). It was almost evening, it had rained, we were drenched despite our raincoats and a hot cup of tea by Dhava greeted us at Sachen.
Our tent pitched, we decided to go to kitchen, where all the action was. We got to spend some great time with our team, getting to know each other.. I will never ever forget these amazing people I met during this trek. One day, when I have the resources, I will tell you a video story of the locals of Goechala.. These are the people who help idiots like us accomplish our treks. They climb these snowy Himalayan mountains, wearing torn sweaters and rubber boots and sometimes even canvas shoes, but they are heroes and sheroes who climb like beasts!
Our Team: L-R Bheem (the guide), Dhava (the shy cook), Lupzom (the horse guy), Dinesh (the porter), me (the idiot :) ), Susheel (the Trainee cook)
Pl pardon the quality of these images as they were taken in the light of head torches :)
And I have to introduce you to Daju!
Daju has stopped counting his age after 65, he carries 25 kgs uphill and climbs like a rockstar and puts us to shame :P
And, I have to show you the toilet
That tin shade, that you could spot behind the horses and dzos was the so called toilet at Sachen. And, I had to cross this army with horns to reach there.. Hahaha
We came out to discover, that our tent has suffered a minor torn that everyone claimed as caused by one of the mules.. But we didn't mind the little torn. We were already humbled with the efforts that our team was taking to make us comfortable. We were all dead tired and slept like babies in our sleeping bags and this pretty much sums up our first and second day of Goechala.
I will soon follow it up with the 3rd day..
Hope you enjoyed reading this post and look forward to our remaining journey in the wilderness of Himalayas...
Cheers!