Day 1
Bangalore - fly - Bagdogra - drive - Manebhanjyang - Chitrey
We left home at 5am and reached the airport at 6am. We checked-in our bags and went in, the boarding started soon and we took off on our 8am flight to Bagdogra. After a pleasant flight we reached Bagdogra at 11am. We had 4 rucksacks that we had checked-in along with our handbags. My friend from Sikkim, Rinchen and our guide Bijoy Gurung picked us up from the airport and we drove to Manebhanjyang. We stopped for lunch midway where we had hot thupka. We stopped at Manebhanjyang to get our permits and met our local guide Santa, short for Santashil ji here.
We continued our drive to Chitrey and by the time we reached Chitrey it was full misty. We reached the teahouse around 3.30 - 4pm in the evening. We kept our bags inside the room and had hot masala chai with Tibetan cookies. The teahouse named 'Chitrey Viewpoint' was gorgeous. It looked like a Tibetan place run by a family. We went for a walk outside the teahouse, along the Nepal-India border. It was a lovely walk. We chatted along the way. It had started becoming crazy cold and misty. We sat in the kitchen and played cards with everyone. The room was cute and beautiful, and was a luxury compared to the tents we always stayed in during every trek. We had hot yummy dinner at 7.30pm - rice, potato beans curry, paneer matter and dhal - was 5 star quality. By the time we finished dinner, it started to rain and the weather got very very cold. We went to the room to sleep. It rained the whole night and the wind was howling making loud noises all night. This came as a surprise as we did not expect the base camp to be so cold.
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| Tea estates |
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| Hot Thupka |
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| Welcome to Nepal border |
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| Manebhanjyang |
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| Chitrey |
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| Evening walk |
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| Dinner |
Day 2
Chitrey - trek - Jaubari - 10km ~ 8000ft to 9200ft - check
I got out of bed at 5am when it was fully bright. I went out and saw that the sky had started clearing up. We walked a little and saw the sunrise for 1 hour. Came back and woke kids up to see the sun come inside the room as well. We had hot authentic Darjeeling tea at 6.15am. I re-packed everything, between the big bags and the day bags to get ready for our first day of trek! We had breakfast at 7.30am - bread and omelette, filled our water bags and left the place around 8am.
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| Sun already started playing hide and seek |
Started the beautiful trek. It was an amazing experience. The whole day was misty foggy throughout and was very cold. I couldn't wear my sunglasses at all. Had ginger black tea at our first stop, where we saw our first rhododendron flower. We also saw 2 beautiful big yellow-billed blue magpies dancing from a close distance.
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| Rhododendron flowers |
We stopped for lunch around noon at a small teahouse where they made awesome hot vegetable soupy maggi. All of us enjoyed eating this so much along with the yummiest spicy ginger chatni that the owner lady had made.
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| Lake |
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| Lunch |
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| Tumling |
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Throughout the day we walked along the India - Nepal border. 15 min before reaching Jaubari, we entered Nepal, took the permits and continued.
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| Welcome to Nepal |
We reached the place at 4pm. We stayed at a small, cute teahouse called 'Tenzin Homestay' which was run by a couple. Jaubari is a small place in Ilam district. We had ginger black tea before changing to thermals as it was super cold. The lady who owned the teahouse was taking care of everything, from managing the rooms to cooking to cleaning. She made yummy hot momos for us to eat. We settled down in the kitchen with a coal stove near our legs to keep ourselves warm. We played cards till 8 pm and had yummy hot dinner - rice with egg/potato curry with little different sabjis and pickles (bamboo, radish) that were homemade.
We slept as the room was a bit warm, though the water was freezing to the touch.
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| Hot momos |
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| Dinner |
Day 3
Jaubari - trek - Kalipokhri - 10km ~ 9200ft to 10400ft - check
We woke up at 5am and stepped out to look for any signs of the sun. It was full misty. I had hot water and coffee, sitting outside the room, thanks to me getting a flask. I stepped outside and went for a walk on the secluded street. It was an experience to walk here. It was so amazing, the road was deserted, full foggy, quiet and I was walking alone. I had left my phone in the room. This was Ilam street in Nepal. It was a walk I will remember forever.
I returned to the room and got ready, woke up the kids, repacked everything and went to a monastery nearby. Though the monastery was closed, we could peek inside through the window and got darshan. We had breakfast at 7.30am - roti, curry and masala chai - which were very tasty. The teahouse and restaurant were run by a lady whose kids are studying in Darjeeling and she and her husband live here with her in-laws. She was managing everything alone that day with a beautiful smile on her face all the time.
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| The Monastery |
We left Jaubari at 8.30am. We went down, down the mountain and started climbing up again. Today was a day of steep uphill climbing. We kept going up and down a lot. The whole day was foggy and very cold, I couldn't take off my jacket even once. We stopped around 12 for maggi soup and continued the climb. We finally reached Kalipokhri at 4pm.
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| Ilam street |
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| Kalipokhri |
As soon as we reached the teahouse, it started raining heavily. We stayed inside. The teahouse had many small rooms with only beds. They were like log rooms. The toilets were outside which were common for everyone. We were super hungry by then. We had hot hot soup and popcorn. We were told that popcorn helps in not getting altitude sick. We changed into warm clothes and started playing cards in the common area. I had tea and kept sipping hot water. To get kids to drink water was a task. Kids had more popcorn and soup. We played till dinner which was at 7.30pm - rice, dhal and vegetables.
We went back to our room and slept.
Day 4
Kalipokhri - trek - Sandakphu - 11 km ~ 10400ft to 12000ft
Woke up at 4.45am, used the washroom, brushed and had hot water and coffee. It was fully clear and bright. R and I headed out, climbed a small hilltop and saw the sunrise, the sun falling beautifully on the various mountains. We went down and touched the Kalipokhri lake. Kalipokhri - a Nepali word - Kali = black or dark, pokhri - lake. It was a lovely morning. We came back to the teahouse, had black tea and got the kids ready, packed bags, had a heavy breakfast of fried rice and egg as there was no place we could stop in between till we reached the next place which was Sandakphu.
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| Our Teahouse |
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| Sunrise |
We left Kalipokhri at 8am. Today was a continuous steep uphill climb. One of the highlights of the day was SNOW! We saw and touched our first snow and played with snow while climbing.
On the way, another guide mentioned that there was a Shiva temple about 0.5km away from our route. So, we changed directions and went there. It was again a continuous steep uphill but worth the effort as we got to see naturally made Ganesha, Shiva and Kali temple on top. We got snow here as well.
All our days of treks were amazing, we didn't see a single person on the trek till this day. Even today, there was barely anyone. The weather kept changing every few seconds from sunny to foggy to cold. I wore my thick jacket while trekking today (which I don't remember wearing on other treks other than the summit days).
We finally reached Sandakphu teahouse around 3pm which was called 'The Himalaya Homestay'.
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| Our teahouse |
We were super exhausted by the time we reached the teahouse as we were very very hungry. We had hot lunch - rice, dhal and curry. The temperature here was soo low, kids still remember this place as the coldest place. We were shivering throughout the evening and night.
We played cards for a while and read a book till it was dinner time, all the while shivering and trying to use minimum water as there was a major water shortage. All of us struggled to be awake till dinner. Finally had dinner around 8.30pm and slept. It was a tough day.
Day 5
Sandakphu - trek - Phalut - 20km ~ 12000ft
I woke up at 4.30am, freshened up, had coffee and I went out for a walk alone. It was a beautiful morning, nice and misty, clearing up every few seconds and giving me a peek of the mountains. I came back, had black tea, woke the kids up, packed bags, ate fried rice for breakfast and left around 7.30am.
It was a long trek, the longest distance covered by us in a day ever. It was very tough. Initial first few hours were sunny and clear, and we could see the mountains. We saw the 'Sleeping Buddha' mountain all along. It was the new year time in Nepal, and as a result there was a mela celebration going on in between Sandakphu and Sabargram. Lots of people from various places had gathered along with their yaks, bikes, cars etc. We stopped here and spent some time looking at the yak festival, one of the ways people were celebrating Nepal new year. Right after we started from here, the weather started changing and it became very very misty, cold and windy. It was a bit scary as we could not see a few feet away from us. I was holding my little one's hand throughout.
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| The mighty Kanchenjunga |
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| Sleeping Buddha |
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| Can you see the sleeping Buddha? |
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| Mela/Yak festival/new year celebrations |
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We were hungry and cold. We finally reached Sabargram where we had a quick lunch. The weather worsened and the winds were howling. We started wondering if we should stay at Sabargram for the day or continue trekking to Phalut. We still had 7 km left. We decided to go ahead to Phalut. When we started from Sabargram, the wind and fog increased, and it got a bit scary. We couldn't see anything. But slowly we managed to trek, and the wind settled down a bit. We motivated each other and reached Phalut at 5.30pm!!!!
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| Phalut |
We stayed at a small teahouse called 'The Forest View Homestay'. We had black ginger tea and popcorn. We changed to our thermals and went to the kitchen where it was a bit warm. There was another person staying here who was from the Netherlands and we played cards with him till dinner. We had rice, dhal and aloo curry for dinner and retired to our room. It was a small room with a small bed where 4 of us had to sleep. I couldn't sleep at all, as it was too cold and there was no space. It was a crazy day! But we did it 😍
Day 6
Phalut - trek - Ghorkay - 15km ~ 12000ft - 7000ft - steep downhill
I got out of bed at 4am, freshened up, did meditation and had my coffee. I thought I would explore outside even though it was crazy foggy, windy and cold. I went for a short walk. Ooooo, the foggg and the winddd! It felt like the wind would push me off the mountains. But at the same time I also felt that the wind was blessing us. I walked from 5.20 to 6am. Then went to the kitchen and chatted with the lady who runs the teahouse, while she was boiling tea. I had fresh yak milk tea, it was so good!
Woke kids up and packed bags, after changing. Breakfast was super good with sukha roti and aloo sabji. We had not been able to eat much the last 2 days. This felt very good and energized us a lot.
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| Fresh yak milk tea |
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We left the teahouse around 7.30am. We trekked up to Phalut summit peak as the sun was coming out and the sky was clearing up. It was a 1km trek uphill, it was very beautiful at the top. We took a lot of pictures here even though our sun again started playing hide and seek. The huge peaks didn't want us to see them this time. This has been a very different trek! But we still enjoyed it a lot. We prayed to the Buddha stone memorial they have on top of the mountains. We felt great and were happy!
We started our descent from here. We entered the India border again, to West Bengal. The terrain changed drastically here. I was reminded of our Geochala trek in Sikkim. The whole area was filled with all shades of greenery, Rhododendron trees and flowers. With very few stops, we kept walking and walking with steep downs.
We finally reached Ghorkay around 3.30pm. We could hear the Ghorkay river from a kilometer away before we reached. It was a steep down and up to reach one of the most beautiful teahouses called 'Om Shanti Homestay'. The house was right next to the river. Our room window opened to the whole village.
Ghorkay is a quaint little village that does not have any roads or electricity and the nearest road being 8km away. It was like a dream place for me!!!
The first thing we did after reaching the room was take off our shoes and socks. To be without socks for the first time felt so soothing :))
We had hot lunch - super yummy aloo parathas with soft cheese chutney and fried rice with pickle.
We came back to the room and kids started playing cards. I sat near the window looking out for almost 2.5hours, sipping hot water :) and watching the village routine and listening to the river. We had black tea and hot yummy pakodas around 6pm.
We had dinner around 8.15pm - sukha roti, aloo curry, greens curry and dhal. We were so full after eating. Came back and crashed on the bed.
Day 7
Ghorkay - trek - Bhareng ~ 5km - 7000ft - 7500ft uphill
I woke up at 4.30am, freshened up and opened the windows to the world :) Sipped coffee listening to birds and the river flowing. The sky started changing colors. R and I went down to the river, crossed the river, and sat near the river for some time.
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| Our walk companion, he was with us the whole morning |
We came back to the room around 6.15am, woke the kids up, got ready and left for the village walk with everyone around 7am. It was a beautiful, gorgeous walk as we climbed uphill inside a forest and reached the village top where it was filled with greenery and a few houses. The area looked no less than any foreign country. We took a lot of funny pictures and sat here for some time, soaking in the beauty! We continued walking, and the kids collected pinecones. We had chai from a small place, then started walking back to the teahouse. We had breakfast around 9.30am - aloo paratha with cheese tomato chatni.
We left Ghorkay around 10.30am.
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| Rammam and Ghorkay rivers |
We passed 2 rivers - Rammam and Ghorkay rivers, the river seen from our room was Ghorkay. Rammam and Ghorkay rivers become one in the Ghorkay village. We saw both rivers becoming one as we started our trek. We crossed the bridge and trekked up, up and uphill along the West Bengal and Sikkim border. After around 1.5hours, we entered Sikkim. We sat here for a while looking at the mountains. We continued trekking and reached our teahouse around 1.15pm.
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| Welcome to Sikkim |
It was a beautiful teahouse, with mountains view from the room and everywhere. We had a hot very yummy lunch - rice, dhal, egg curry, potato greens curry.
I sat outside the room after lunch talking to the mountains and birds till evening 5pm. Kids sat writing in their books. They played cards after writing. We started feeling sleepy, so went to the dining area and continued playing there till dinner. There was no one else staying at the teahouse. Dinner was at 8.30pm - rice, dhal, broccoli, mushroom and potato beans curry. After dinner we said goodnight and retired to our room. The room was big and spacious with windows opening to the mountains. Kids were thrilled and loved the room.
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| Dinner |
Day 8
Bhareng - Ribdi - trek - Hilley - 10km ~ 7500ft - 10000ft
I woke up around 4.50am, had coffee and went for a walk with R. Heard lots of birds chirping here. We went looking for a monastery but couldn't find one. Came back around 6, got ready, woke kids up, packed and kept the bags out.
Breakfast of sukha roti and potato curry was very good. Had black tea and left Bhareng around 8am.
We started trekking from Ribdi at 8.30am. We had thought that we were done going up, but we realized that Hilley was a lot higher up than Bhareng. So, it was fully an uphill climb today till Hilley. It was a beautiful trek, walking along various charming, picturesque, quaint little villages and their fields.
We reached Hilley around noon. We stayed at 'Hilley-Barsey Nature Centre for Rhododendron'. The room here was an open room with beds and a common toilet outside. We had lunch - rice, egg curry and dhal with red chillies chatni. We changed into warm clothes and went out for a walk. We found a cute little cosy restaurant where we had Rhododendron juice and hot momos. Came back to the room and played cards and read for a while.
My older one and I again went out for a walk on the foggy road. It was a lovely walk. We got back and played cards while having masala chai with pakodas. Dinner was at 8.30pm where we had thupka and thenthuk - Tibetan noodle soup :) There was no power here at night.
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| Thupka |
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| Thenthuk |
Day 9
Hilley - trek - Bharsey Rhododendron Forest - 10km - 10000ft
I woke up around 4.45am freshened up and went out for a walk nearby for almost 1hour. It was fully foggy with tons of birds chirping and flying.
We started from Hilley around 8.30am. Barsey is on the mountain top, so we had to climb up 5 km to reach Bharsey. It was sunny for a while and again became fully foggy. We walked in the mist in the thick forest, which was fully uphill. We reached Barsey around 11.30am. We spent some time at the top for about an hour, enjoying the Rhododendrons and listening to the birds. We had masala black tea before starting to get down. We got back to Hilley around 1.30pm. It was a beautiful trek in the forest with a lot of birds and animal sounds throughout the trek.
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| That's mist on my hair and eyelashes |
It was our last day of trek, and I am not making this up, I took the last step down from the Barsey mountain, back to Hilley, and my right foot shoe tore completely, the whole sole of the shoe split up and came out 😁
We had lunch - aloo paratha - around 2pm. All of us settled down and played cards till 4.30pm. We had masala chai at 5pm and then stepped out for a walk. We ate fresh hot momos, and bought red chillies and rhododendron juice bottles. There was no power, so we waited around in the dark, till dinner time. It was still very cold. We had dinner around 8.15pm - aloo paratha and called it a night.
Day 10
Hilley - drive - Jorethang - Siliguri
I woke up at 4.30am, freshened up and started packing. We had aloo paratha for breakfast and were ready to leave by 8am. But there was a problem with the vehicle and hence the vehicle came only at 10. We were roaming outside for 2 hours till the vehicle came.
We left Hilley at 10am. It was a windy road, and we passed through several small villages in Sikkim. We reached Jorethang around noon. By then the weather had changed, it had become hot.
All of us were smitten by the cute teacups that we had been seeing in West Bengal and Sikkim. So, we wanted to do a bit of shopping. Our friend R suggested that Jorethang would be the best place to shop.
We stopped at the Jorethang cab-stand (it was exactly like a bus-stand, but instead of buses, 100s of cabs were parked with different place names written on them). This is where we had to say good-bye to our guides and friend. Before they left, we went on a super quick shopping spree. We walked around in Jorethang to a market with a lot of roadside shopping and cute little shops. R helped us buy a few things. We bought the teacups, and a few other things.
And it was time, we said bye to R and our guide, who got into other shared cabs to get to their homes in different places.
We continued our drive to Siliguri, to our hotel. We decided not to stop for lunch so we could reach the hotel sooner. I had booked a room for the 4 of us at 'The Loft Hotel'. We reached the place around 3.50pm.
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| Drove along the Teesta river |
As soon as we checked in, we went to their restaurant and had lunch - thali and sandwiches.
We finally came into our rooms and had the best baths ever :))) - the joy of a simple bath after trekking 😂😁💖.
The room and restaurant were lovely and just like that, we were back in this world. Spoke to family, relaxed and I was smiling for no reason! I had coffee sitting near the window with a view of the Siliguri streets. After a while we went down to Domino's pizza to eat. It wasn't enough and so again ordered roti, sabji, dhal and rice :))
We just chilled in the room, listening to music, drinking rhododendron juice and reading a book till we fell asleep one by one. The room was cozy and comfortable and we slept well.
Day 11
Bagdogra - fly - Bangalore
I woke up without an alarm at 4.30am. It started getting bright even before 5am. I had coffee watching the sunrise right through the room window. I packed 3 bags for the flight check-in + 3 handbags.
We had a breakfast buffet, a heavy breakfast at 8am and checked out. I had booked a hotel cab to the airport. We left the hotel at 9.15am and reached the airport by 9.50am.
After checking in we shopped a bit at the airport. Soon it was time to board the flight.
We landed in Bangalore around 3pm. And we were back home.
What an adventure it was. There was so much we experienced on this trek, it felt so mystical! Starting from the company we had -
- my friend and our guides - they made this whole trek so special and smooth
- the simplicity and the genuine care showered on us by them and by everyone else we met during these 11 days
- the hard work of the families who owned/ran the tea houses
- the hot water and hot food provided to us
- the grit of the 3 kids who trekked with me
- the pure NATURE, from the smallest stone to the huge mountains
- all of us who made this possible :)
THANK YOU!
It will sound like a cliche if I say words can't describe the experience, so I will just stop :D
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