Gomukh Tapovan Trek

Bhagirathi Sisters' view from Tapovan. From front II, III and I

9th October 2025

 I did my third trek of the year 2025 recently. Over a 12-month calendar this is my fourth trek (ABC, Goechala, Rumtse to Tso Moriri and now this). This was a five-day trek from Gangotri to Tapovan via Gomukh and Bhojbasa. I went with Sumanta Jana's Wings of Mind group. My fellow trekkers were Aditi, a middle-aged couple Atindra and Madhumita (they are Aditi's friends), a young couple called Wasim and Monalisa - while Wasim is a Bengali living in Bangalore, his wife Monalisa is Oriya and works as a doctor in Cuttack. There was another Bengali guy named Shuvro. He lives in Barasat. 

While Sumanta walked with us all along as the trek leader (in fact he went with us right from Howrah in the same train. Aditi's son was to go too but cancelled in the last moment), the main arrangements were done by a few guys based in Gangotri. Manish was the main guy who organised our porters, stay, cooking, tents and sleeping bags etc, Obviously I carried my own sleeping bag and tent. 

We took the Rajdhani from Calcutta to Delhi and took the connecting train to Dehradun where we reached in the night. We checked into a cheap hotel nearby for the night and next morning set out for Gangotri in a Tempo Traveller. There were four other trekkers in the bus who were Manish's direct customer. Three of them were middle aged Bengalis from Bhadreswar. They would go as far as Basuki Taal. Subhasish Banerjee, Sumit Das and Tanmoy (can't remember his surname). There was another guy from Bangalore - Parth Jain. This was his first trek. He would do exactly the same trek that we would do. In Gangotri another Bengali guy joined us Madhu Bhakta from Kalyani. 

So from Gangotri to Tapovan these 12 of us walked. The Bhadreswar trio had their own guide named Ganesh, who is from Nepal and they walked much faster than us. On day one Gangotri to Bhojbasa our local trek leader was one Chaavi Lal. After that one Ravi took charge for the rest of the journey. Sumanta was there all along with us.

I will briefly write down here our day by day schedule

26th September Day 1 - Howrah to Delhi in Rajdhani

27th September Day 2 - Dehradun hotel near station

28th September Day 3 - Dehradun to Gangotri by bus and night in Bharat Sevasram Dharamsala

29th September Day 4 - Gangotri to Bhojbasa on foot (overnight in tent)

30th September Day 5 - Bhojbasa to Tapovan (overnight in tent)

1st October Day 6 - Rest day in Tapovan (overnight in tent)

2nd October Day 7 - Tapovan to Bhojbasa via Gomukh (overnight in tent)

3rd October Day 8 - Bhojbasa to Gangotri (overnight in Bharat Sevasram)

4th October Day 9 - Gangotri to Dehradun and onwards to Delhi (overnight in Dadu's Noida house)

5th October Day 10 - Train to Sealdah

6th October Day 11 - Arrival in Calcutta

The tempo journey from Dehradun to Gangotri took the entire day. The road follows the river Bhagirathi on its almost entire journey. Frankly, I could not understand the route but we went via Musoorie where I had come with my parents in 1976. The bus journey took us something like 10 hours. On the way came Harshil which was in the center of news recently as an infamous cloud burst happened here a few weeks ago. We saw the devastation caused by the stream flowing through Harshil. The road here was closed for several weeks after the disaster in August. But now it is motorable, though restoration and repair work was still going on in places. This also caused some hold ups and delays. 

Amid all the devastation there were many apple sellers selling garden fresh apples to the tuurist buses and cars. This region produces good quality apple and there were many orchards by the roadside with plants fully loaded with red juicy apples.

From Gangotri bus stand to the temple it is a straight walk of less than five minutes - there is only this one road in Gangotri which has shops on either side selling various puja materials and lots of eateries. We were put up in a Dharamsala (pilgrim's inn) right next to the temple. Kali Kamli Yatri Niwas. I was asked to share a room with the other seniors like Aditi, Madhumita and Atindra. There were two double bedded cots in a room which would mean me sharing the bed with Atindra perhaps. I politely declined and took a room of my own at my own cost. This room was in another Dharamsala run by Bharat Sevasram Sangha. But it is managed by a guy called Dipinder who runs a tea stall in front. It had a nice bathroom with a geyser. I felt very comfortable there and made endless cups of coffee for myself. Even on the return leg I took the same room. They charged Rs 1000 per night. 

Later on the trail I realised that Atindra snores so loudly that I had to put ear plugs even when sleeping in a seperate tent at least 30/40 feet away from his. Aditi shared the tent with the two of them. I wonder how she or Madhumita could sleep amid that roar. Aditi's son is their daughter's class friend and that is how they know one another.

Gangotri temple does not look very ancient, though it actually is. Some businessman must have "restored" or modernised it, robbing it of its authenticity as a traditional temple. According to Google it was built sometime in the 18th Century by a Gurkha. It had very few pilgrims that night and I had a comfortable darshan of the goddess. This lack of pilgrims is possibly due to all the publicity to the cloud bursts of Harshil and the latest one in Dehradun a few days before our travel.

The river Bhagirathi flows right next to the temple complex and the roar of the river can be heard very loud and clear. It indeed flows very fiercely here. But in the evening the sound of devotional songs over the mike was terrible and completely drowned the river sound. The nuisance stopped when the temple gate closed at 8 pm. 

The first snow capped peak from Gangotri. Possibly Mt Sudarshan

From Gangotri you can see a beautiful snow peak very prominently in front. Opinion was divided about its name. But I guess it's Sudarshan peak. This peak is visible for a long distance as you walk towards Bhojbasa.

From Gomukh the river is named Bhagirathi upto Devaprayag where it meets Alokananda and becomes Ganga. The very large Tehri dam is on Bhagirathi actually. 

Next morning we started a little late out of Gangotri. We were told we would start at 8.30 am but by the time we started from the Forest Check Post where one has to take the permits etc it was 10.30. After this checkpost one enters the Gangotri National Park.

We walked with the river flowing to our right. Our destination is Bhojbasa. I have heard this name so many times in the past from other trekkers and mountaineers. Many expeditions start from here and is the last stop before the real Himalayan wilderness starts. First came Chirbasa which used to be a camp site earlier. It is a wooded area with a small tea stall run by the forest guard posted there. Before Chirbasa there was a section where the trail just hangs by the mountainside. It is wide enough not to scare you off but the river flows right below this ledge of a trail. There is a railing here but it is broken and of no use.

The main trail was blocked in places where we had to cross such bridges

We were told Chirbasa campsite has been destroyed by floods and landslides. I think it is a patent lie by the local tour leaders to keep the journey short. Our original plan was to spend the first night in Chirbasa and then at Bhojbasa. Since we skipped Chirbasa we decided to spend the extra day at Tapovan which was a great thing to do actually. 

Porters and trekkers on the way to Bhojbasa

The walk from Chirbasa to Bhojbasa is also featureless except a longish section that is declared a "rock falling zone". There are official boards on either side of this zone and it is there for a very long time. I was walking more or less alone and tried to cross the section as quickly as possible. Soon after crossing it (I think it took us 10 minutes), it started getting cloudy and a light drizzle started. I pulled out the poncho and walked with it. Otherwise the day was quite sunny and bright till then. After this section I realised we were beyond the tree line and the surroundings only had some short shrubs.

The three peaks of Bhagirathi were already visible on this side of the river. On the other side of the river there were other snowcapped peaks whose names I do not know.

Bhagirathi Sisters II and III as seen from trail to Bhojbasa

The Bhojbasa campsite came in sight at around 5 pm. It was quite below the trail at a distance and visible from far. There is a small police station and a GMVN tourist bungalow here. It is not a traditional village with its own population. 

Our tents were pitched next to the GMVN building. I realised my off loaded bag had still not come, which meant I would have to wait to pitch my tent. It was being carried by porters and not by mules. On this route mules are not used. I realised the next day why.

The Bhadreswar trio asked me to sit it out in their tent. Their bags had also not come in. It was getting dark and I was not happy that I would need to pitch the tent in the dark. The place was cramped with five six tents pitched in close proximity. 

Soon I saw few men carrying a sick person on a stretcher and putting him down in front of our tent. A very fat young man sat up slowly. I was happy to see he was alive. They had brought him down from Tapovan - the stretcher belonged to India Hikes which has a permanent tent base at Bhojbasa. This guy is Bengali and is down with AMS. His body was shaking from time to time like he was having a seizure or convulsion. Apparently on the way up he did not feel well and was advised by his friends to go back from Bhojbasa but he insisted on going up. This was his first trek in life. He also had breathing problem.

An army doctor arrived from somewhere (they have a camp in the neighbourhood) and administered Diamox and some other medicines. Later he was given oxygen and by evening he was feeling better. Next morning he was taken down to Gangotri in the same stretcher and I am sure he survived. Very lucky. He could easily have died without his friends' and Indian Army's support. Funnily enough, on the return leg I learnt the Army doctor himself later got sick with AMS as they went exploring the surroundings :-)

The porters arrived pretty late with our bags (they started an hour after us) and I set out to pitch the tent in right earnest. It got dark pretty soon which was not the main problem as I had the very powerful Nitecore torch to help me. The main problem was dealing with various fellow trekkers, trek leaders and porters offering to help me. I had to be almost rude to refuse them explaining that this tent is totally different and one cannot pitch it unless one knows exactly how to do it. So the best help would be to keep off. 

The Nepali porters have this helping attitude written in their genes. I have seen them offering to help with various camping chores quite voluntarily even after carrying very heavy loads for the whole day. But my tent is such that unless you know how to do it you cannot help pitch it.

My tent at Tapovan Campsite. Mt Meru behind

The surface on which I had to pitch it was totally rocky. I could sleep more or less comfortably mainly because of the Sea to Summit air mattress that I had. It is very light and packs really small but offers a comfortable floor to sleep on unless the ground is very cold. But driving the pegs in on such a rocky surface was a real challenge. I managed somehow. The Bhadreswar trio's trek leader - one Ganesh from Nepal - helped me with driving some of the pegs in.

Bhojbasa was quite chilly but I had a good night's sleep despite the rocky surface and the chilly night. My tent is as good as weather proof if you close all the zips. I keep a few vents open though to avoid condenstion. Our team mate Monalisa was a little under the weather. She should have taken Diamox from Dehradun but many Indians have a reluctance to take Diamox as if it is some dangerous and banned medicine. It is just a regular preventive medicine. 

Our day two trek was Bhojbasa to Tapovan. We would not go to Gomukh on the way up but cover it on the way back. Right outside the camping area of Bhojbasa one has to cross the river Bhagirathi and how? There is a trolley service that one has to use. It is one of the crudest means of transport I have ever seen. Let me explain it.

There is an iron rope across the river from which hangs a small iron trolley. It's like an open cage. After loading the people and goods, the trolley is released. Gravity takes it up to the midpoint over the river. The journey from here to the other side is possible only if a few men pull the trolley by the other rope. It is an extremely hard manual work if the trolley is fully loaded. Usually about eight men board a trolley per trip. Large sacks are hung from a carabiner below the trolley. Smaller sacks are kept on the floor.

There is no agency that operates this service. The entire operation survives on the various porters belonging to the different trekking groups. They help each other out. In the absence of a controlling agency there is utter confusion about queue or any order in boarding. But I noticed each trip had at least one porter who would climb down a knotted rope in case the rope's slack got caught in a boulder on the river bed. He would untangle that and pull etc. Almost every trip needed this maneuver and intervention. I have no idea how the first batch crosses the river, because you don't have any porter on the other side to pull you. No one could quite explain it to me.

I cannot imagine that on one of the most sacred piligrimage routes of India such a crude and disorganised manual system is operational. Apparently this trolley had to be installed after landslides washed out the old trail on this side of the river. Even in 2010 when my friend Dadu and Shraboni went to Gomukh there was no such trolley crossing. And pilgrims did not need to cross the river to go to Gomukh. Those going to Tapovan went to the other side over the glacier after Gomukh. 

The trolley crossing is also the obvious reason why mules are not used on this route. Bhagirathi below is absolutely fierce. 

It took us about an hour, if not more to cross the river and we started on the trail to Tapovan in right earnest. One has to follow the river very close till almost Gomukh, often walking on the river bed. The trail is almost entirely over boulders and not very well defined. Till Bhojbasa it is very well defined. Here you can see the three Bhagirathi peaks on the left and Mt Shivling on the right hand side.

Legend has it that when Ganga decided to come to earth she did not know where to land for wherever she landed it would be destroyed by her force. So lord Shiva told her to land on his dreadlock. That is where Shivling is. From Gomukh Bhagirath the king was tasked with showing her the way to the mainland. He led her blowing a conchshell upto Devaprayag where she meets Alokananda and from here the river is called Ganga.

From one point on the trail it gradually starts going up towards Tapovan and the trail often goes completely missing amid large boulders. I was quite alone on this stretch except for the odd porter or two. They were often asking me to share my water with them, which I happily did. These porters, easily carrying at least 20/25 kg, are almost all Nepali migrant workers and were happy to find I spoke their language. In fact one of them got very emotional when he found me on the way back, he was going in the opposite direction. He stopped with his heavy load and shook hand with me on the trail with a very broad smile and spoke for some time. I cannot remember who got so genuinely happy to see me after only three days - knowing fully well that we would perhaps never meet again.

The trail either had large boulders or smaller rocks or even dust on the slopes. My new boot did very well over dusty slopes and did not slip at all. Soon I came to a small stream coming down from the right. It is a narrow stream but one had to climb down to it over the boulders, cross it and then climb up again. For crossing the stream there was one large rock in the middle of the flowing water. You stepped on it and jumped to the other side. I have become quite bad at jumping, of late - possibly lack of strength in the legs. A porter who came down to drink some water held me by the hand and helped me cross. 

I climbed up from the stream quite fine and after about 500 feet came to a level landing sort of place. Here for whatever reason I stumbled against a rock. I had the walking sticks held firmly in the hands and tried several times to balance myself but could not control the fall. I fell headlong like a drunken man. Only the three peaks of Bhagirathi were witness to this fall. I cried out a big "Maa" as the right corner of my forehead hit the ground. I was immensely lucky that my head did not hit any sharp rock. 

The first thing I checked were my glasses. For the first time I had no back up with me in my sack and if this pair broke I would need to just sit by the side of the trail and wait for someone to rescue me. I cannot even see my face on the mirror without my glasses. Walking alone on this trail without glasses is an impossibility for me. But the glasses were intact. Only the right handle had a small crack near its hinge. This was a pair of Ray Ban. An ordinary frame would have broken easily.

I discovered there were a few bruises on the fingers. I had fallen on my fists. So the bruises were on the other side of the fingers. Nothing significant and they have almost healed now except one. I must mention that I had my cycling half gloves on. So all the bruises were above the middle knuckle. The corner of my eye was hurting a bit and I realised it was bleeding. Some blood soon collected on the glass which I wiped off. I gathered myself and got up (which was not easy) and resumed walking. Not even for a moment did I panic. 

I am not a very courageous person but in such situations survival instincts kick in. I knew I had to keep walking and move out of this place. I could not afford to sit and cry. The thought did not even come to my mind. People thank God in such situations for all the bad things that did not happen. But my point, despite being God fearing, is that God himself brought me down. Might as well spare me, if he was so benevolent. Did he want to send me a message? May be. No idea.

I realised my most favourite green Endura jacket was totally in tatters around the belly. The GoPro in the pocket also had a big scratch on the screen, which I discovered later. The screen is not usable any more but it is recording videos fine.

A porter came along and asked for water from me. I asked him if I was injured on the face or if it was badly bloody. He almost ignored it saying "yeah a bit". After some time I met three more porters resting. They seemed to notice the injury and were very concerned. Their first question was who is your trek leader and where on earth is he. I said the main team is behind me. But the local leader has probably gone ahead. They seemed annoyed with the situation.

I knew the Bhadreswar trio was ahead of me. So was Parth. Madhu was relatively less ahead of me. I soon caught up with him who was also quite concerned to see my injury. He and I carefully negotiated the boulders to reach the Tapovan camp site. 

I must clarify once again that I did not fall on any difficult section of the trail. I fell on a very flat surface. Either my toe got stuck or my heel hit a rock and I got disbalanced. I have noticed that of late I don't raise my leg too much while walking and almost drag them. This could be the reason for the disbalance. I have to walk more in Calcutta with a load. It is a very good upper body exercise, in any case.

A herd of Blue Sheep came calling at the Tapovan camp site

At the Tapovan campsite I was greeted by the Bhadreswar Trio who were quite concerened about the injury. They offered T Bact ointment. But before that I set out to pitch my tent on the beautifully flat campsite below Mt Shiv Ling. I think it was around 3 pm when Madhu and I reached the site. 

After pitching the tent Madhu helped me apply the T-bact and I went inside the tent to rest. After an hour or so Sumanta and party came along. Sumanta started jumping around, trying to be of help and being apologetic etc. I realised he was hopelessly inadequate in terms of first aid kit. Earlier I used to carry all my own first aid like cotton wool, bandage, ointment etc. Then I tought since I walk with agencies they all have these things. I am smarter now after the fall. I will not only carry these always in future but keep them in my personal rucksack. 

In the evening as I lay in the tent I turned on my side and something slimy fell in my eye making my vision blurry. I rubbed it out with my fingers. But soon I realised I was bleeding profusely. It collected on my sleeping bag and the air mat. I guess I had rubbed over the injured spot and made it bleed. Sumanta came with some cotton wool and bandaged the corner of my eye with Borline. Luckily I had the tape for the bandage. The bandage was so thick that I could not even wear my glasses over it any more. He said he would send the dinner to my tent. 

Wuthering heights of Mt Shivling

Next day was supposed to be a rest day. I realised the bandage was no good as I needed to wear my glasses. So I removed it in the morning. But now I realised the eye lid and the surroundings were so swollen that I could only half open the eye. If the eye did not improve by tomorrow I will have to hold someone to climb down from Tapovan to Gomukh.

The others in the team went for a short walk away from the camp towards Nandanvan. There is a Mouni Baba Ashram nearby. I could see its flag but did not venture out. I was very happy in my tent. 

The Bhadreswar trio left for their onward journey to Basuki Taal. Madhu went back to Bhojbasa alone as he had a train to catch after three days. He was not aware of this rest day plan and had his train ticket made without any buffer. I was later told that he made it to Dehradun on time to catch his train. T

The Tapovan campsite is a beautiful wide open and flat brown field. You have Mt Shivling right in front of you and Meru on the side. There is a very narrow stream that flows here marking the boundary of the campsite. They call it Akash Ganga. There are two Ashrams here - one is Mouni Baba's Ashram which is more famous than the other. Sadhus live here round the year. I have no idea how they get their supplies in winter. In fact right after our return the area experienced very heavy snowfall and trekkers are not being permitted to go beyond Bhojbasa.

The blue sheep herd didn't care about trekkers close by

In the afternoon we saw some Bharals (blue sheep) come very close to the campsite. They are obviously used to trekkers and some of our trek mates went pretty close. I sat inside my tent and photographed them with my 70-200 lens. Sometime in the afternoon I realised that a very light snowfall was happening but it did not materialise into anything significant.

Next morning we saw a glorious sun rise on the peaks of Meru and Shivling. Meru I believe is a very difficult peak to climb and has been summitted for the first time only very recently. Apparently many famous mountaineers have failed to scale it, though it is not so high. 

Sunrise at Tapovan

The Bhagirathi peaks are at such an angle to the sun that they are not very photography friendly till well past mid day. 

After the rest day we came down from Tapovan to Bhojbasa via Gomukh. There were many other trekkers from the more famous agencies like India Hikes and Trek the Himalaya. I found all of them were wearing mountaineering helmets because this zone from Tapovan down to Gomukh is a rock fall zone. Particularly if you have some Bharals moving above you they can dislodge loose rocks that start rock falls. When we were close to Gomukh we saw a rock fall with a lot of noise and dust. It is like a dry avalanche.

Gomukh looks like a metro rail tunnel from where the fierce Bhagirathi comes out. This mouth of the glacier is famously retreating every year. The snow here looks greyish and you will not know it is snow unless you are told. They look like grey rock. There were a few chunks of snow lying in the middle of the river that have fallen off the main glacier and are melting.

When I first saw the confluence of Bhagirathi and Alokananda at Devaprayag I wondered why Bhagirathi's source is seen as the source of Ganga and not Alokananda's source, which is more fierce of the two. I later realised two things - A. Bhagirathi is narrow at Devaprayag because of the huge Tehri Dam which tames it into a relative trickle a few kilometers before the confluence. Before the dam was built the river was probably much bigger. B. The Gomukh glacier is still the largest glacier in all of Himalayas and Asia too. Ancient Hindus probably knew this and have been revering it for a long time.

I also believe that such massive high altitude dams will soon have to be removed and the original force of the natural rivers will have to be restored sometime in future. This has started happening in the West. I hope good sense will prevail upon our governments soon. 

From Gomukh I filled a small bottle with the purest possible Ganga water for taking back to my mother in law. I remembered that in Haridwar in 1976 my mother bought a milk container to collect Ganga water. She took a lot of pain to save this over the next leg of our journey through Delhi, Agra etc and brought it home. She used it for her pujas. If my mother was alive I would bring a big bottle of Gomukh water for her. In her absence I brought one small container for my mother in law. Subsequently I gave it away to Shrabani when she said how she had brought a bottle from Gomukh and it was used by her MIL in no time without regard to her sentiment. I had no idea that she was fond of Ganga water, otherwise I would bring more for her. 

Gomukh Glacier

The return journey from Gomukh to Bhojbasa and Gangotri was featureless. One notable thing about this trek is that we did not face any inclement weather during the trek. We boarded a Bolero from Gangotri to go to Dehradun where we reached almost at 7 pm. There were massive jams just before entering the city. Even the city itself was terribly polluted. From Dehradun station (where Wasim and Monalisa had a train to catch) we took a taxi to go to Delhi. I was dropped at Sarai Kale Khan at around quater to one in the middle of the night. I took an Uber from there to Dadu's house and reached in ten minutes. 

Shraboni was awake and greeted me with a cup of coffee even at that wee hour of the morning. The next afternoon, after a hearty breakfast and lunch and a lot of long chats she dropped me off at the railway station from where we took the Rajdhani to Sealdah and reached home on Monday at around 11 pm.

Today is Sunday. I have in these seven days unpacked, got my clothes etc washed, boots cleaned, sleeping bags sun-bathed, sleeping bag and mat's blood stains cleaned. I am more or less sorted for the next trek :-) But I am not sure where. 

My wish list for 2026 is Ladakh, Bari Nanda Yat, Annapurna Circuit and Kuwari Pass. Let me see what is in store for me. The Ladakh Hemis Festival can clash with the Bari Nanda Yat. Bari Nanda Yat happens only once in 12 years. So we shall see. In Ladakh my wish is to see the Hemis Festival, cycle from Leh to Tso Moriri and back and also hike in Markha Valley. If possible I want to rent a motorcycle and go to Phuktal too. Let me see how much of these I can do.

Now I will download the camera pictures and upload them. 

He knew I was there albeit in the tent. Being the alpha male he kept guard

Goechala '25

January 20, 2005

I just booked a trek to Goechala with Jyotisko Biswas's Trekking Buddha group. I made a payment of Rs 5000 (by Gpay from HDFC Bank account on 18th January) to book my place. This trek starts on 18th April 2025 from Siliguri. Total cost is Rs 18000. Plus train and jeep fare.

We have to reach Siliguri on 18th from where we will take a jeep to Jorthang and then in another jeep onward to Yuksom. The actual walk will start from Yuksom the next day. The total trek involves eight days of walking. Although I am using the word "we", I am going alone from my side. The total team size will be around 15 people, I guess.

One of the problems of such commercial treks is that the fellow trekkers are usually youngsters. Although they are not as fit as me when it comes to hiking in the mountains and I am never in competition with anyone while walking, their outlook and priorities in life are often very different from those of mine. I don't mind the difference. Problem is when the priorities are in conflict with mine. 

I have spoken to Jyotisko about one thing. I want an exclusive room/tent for me. I am ready to pay for it. I just cannot sleep with anyone snoring next to me. Of course I have German earplugs now but they cannot make it noiseless. On this trek I plan to do another thing a little differently. I want to carry the porter's things in a duffel bag. I normally carry them in my large North Face sack. I have noticed that the porters don't take it on their shoulder and pack it on a mule. The duffel will be easier to pack and also easier for me to carry from home.

I will take my camera and other things in my own backpack. I am still not sure if I want to carry the LowePro camera bag or my Deuter backpack. I will take only the 70/200 lens and a bit of dry food and a jacket for the road. The camera bag, due to its thick protective walls is a little heavy. And it has less space too. Let me see what I do ultimately.

(What I ultimately did is I took my birding lens 100-500 which was totally unnecessary. You cannot go birding while trekking in a group with an agency. I did not take my bigger Deuter backpack. I bought a Sea to Summit Sprint backpack, which is simply fantastic. It will be my go to day pack from now. It weighs almost zero and is waterproof with a roll top closure. Very stylish too.)

29th April 2025

I came home yesterday from a successful trek of Goechala. I am happy beyond words with my performance. I did not expect it to be so painless. All my exercises and fitness strategies paid off. In fact every day I felt stronger than the previous day. I hope to find a way to hold on to this fitness if not improve upon it. 

I will come back to my fitness regime later. But first the basics of the trip.

I was supposed to reach Yuksom on 18th April. Boarded a train on the previous afternoon and reached Siliguri late in the night. By the time I checked into Siliguri's TSA hotel (Bappa - owner - 9434467236 and Prasenjit Mallik - manager - 9832494039) it was past 12 mid night. I avoided taking either the overnight Darjeeling Mail or the bus because I cannot sleep too well in a train or bus and would feel very tired the next morning when I have to take a jeep ride for several hours to reach Yuksom.

A Toto (battery operated three wheelers) from the NJP station to Siliguri's "Junction" area cost me Rs 200 which can be easily classified as robbery. Add to that Rs 800 for the non-AC room that I had booked in advance at TSA. I wanted to upgrade it to an AC room but they said the hotel was absolutely full. The room was small but not too bad for a night. It wasn't hot or humid at all. I took a shower and made myself two cups of coffee on either side of it with my butane stove. It felt nice to be travelling again. 

Before the journey I bought two bags. One is a Forclaz 80/120 lit from Decathlon. This would be off loaded for mules to carry on the trail. It is massive. The other is my day pack from Sea To Summit (they call it Sprint) - an almost weightless wonder that is also water proof with a roll top closure. Its only disadvantage is that it does not have any external pocket for carrying water bottle. But I managed to overcome that with a small cloth bag attached outside in which I carried a one litre bottle. I will later get a fishing net kind of thing woven by Nishikanta for this purpose. He weaves nets in his free time.

18th April 2025 - Siliguri to Yuksom

Woke up early in the morning like 5ish. Made myself a coffee and walked to SNT (Sikkim Nationalised Transport) taxi/bus stand from where all the buses and taxis for Sikkim start in Siliguri. It's close by from TSA and opposite to the Tenzin Norgay bus stand. Here two other girls from our group joined me. Purba and Soumita. They came by bus from Calcutta. We took the middle row seat in a jeep with a fourth lady. Our destination is Jorethang. The fare was Rs 400. The jeep would start when ten passengers are found. We had two more from our group who were coming by train but we couldn't wait for them as the seats got filled in before they could arrive and the jeep left with us. 

On the way to Jorethang there was a small landslide just before Melli where we had to stop for about half an hour. Two JCBs quickly cleared the road by shovelling the debris on to the Teesta flowing below. The sight of Teesta in these parts of Sikkim is a very sad one. It has been damed and the once fierce Teesta now flows very slowly here. In certain places it looks like a still water lake.

Jorethang is around three hours from Siliguri. Here the taxi stand is an impressive multi-storeyed building. I have never seen such a taxi stand anywhere in India. The taxis to Yuksom leave from the third floor. We had to haul our luggage and walk up the ramp (there is a stair-case too) because the Jorethang jeeps end and start from the ground floor. There is a small momo shop here on the third floor where I had my fill. The taxi driver is one Dipu-da of Yuksom (9593783148). The front two seats were taken by another Bengali trekker going with a different group. (This guy works for Thakurpukur Cancer Hospital but later turned out to be most obnoxious and stupid) As soon as ten passengers (actually nine but one was paying for two) were collected Dipuda left for Yuksom. 

The road after Jorethang started getting narrower and more rough with very little traffic. Soon we were told, after a brief inspection of the rear wheel, one of the leaves in the rear spring (shock absorber) is broken. Dipuda bought a new leaf from a shop and drove with the broken one for another 4/5 kilometers to a workshop in Tashiding. I was told that this is possible only in a Bolero. If it was a Sumo you couldn't drive the vehicle with a broken spring leaf.

At the workshop in Tashiding they discovered another inner leaf was broken too. It took us more than an hour to replace the two leaves. The second leaf had to be brought from the same shop once again. The workshop obviously does not store any spares. 

I had run out of water and wanted to buy a bottle at Tashiding but I was told bottled water is not available as smaller PET bottles are not allowed and no one buys the bigger bottles so they don't stock them. There were a few restaurants and they were very nice to provide me with ample drinking water for free. This is how we always drank water but now we look for bottled water. 

There were three other trekkers in the vehicle. Two girls from Bangalore and another Bengali guy. They were all sitting in the last row. We were all going to the same place Goechala but with different agencies. This meant the vehicle had only two locals. Except this other Bengali guy who looked very amiable we met everyone else later on the trail several times.

We reached Yuksom at around 3 pm. Jyotishko put us up in hotel Kangchendzonga (8768826578 and 7557042888) which is quite outside the town of Yuksom. I got my single room for which I had paid extra. Made myself a few cups of coffee (being extra careful with the stove I made it on the bathroom floor) and went to sleep. The hotel had a nice large geyser in the bathroom but I didn't use it. I just made myself a few cups of coffee and after supper went to sleep. 

I must mention here that Jyotishko personally went with us on this trek which gave me a unique opportunity to know him more closely. I had known him on social media for several years and would witness the adventures he carried out starting with a trans-Himalaya cycling trip. He is a nice enterprising adventurer who is trying to set up this trekking agency. He has a long way to go but I am sure he will get there. His immediate priority should be to expand his client base out of Calcutta (and target Pune, Bangalore, Hyderabad) and also include more professionals than students or barely ex-students as it is now.

Later during the trek realised that he was probably doing a recce for the trail run that he would participate in after a week or so on the same route upto Dzongri. Incidentally he came first in that in his age group of 21 to 30 years and possibly overall 4th. What we walked in five days he did in less than 11 hours.

Before dinner we had a briefing session with Jyotishko where the basics of trekking ettiquette and the do's and don'ts of the trail were explained. We were 13 trekkers. Most of the others in the group had trekked with TTB before and generally knew each other. I was the only outsider but they accepted me in a friendly way and were in fact quite respectful of my age and effort or desire to take up such arduous activities as a hobby at my age. The others were mostly in their twenties or thirties. The youngest was a girl 23 (Purba) and the oldest was a guy 37 (Indranil). I think a few of them are going to be friends forever for me. Unfortunately no one lives in South Calcutta.  The closest is from Behala but lives in Bangalore. The most friendly one - Malyaban - lives in Ranaghat but has a flat in Bagha Jatin. I will possibly keep meeting him in future.

During the briefing session I realised his aversion towards Diamox, which is a preventive medicine. 

19th April, 2025 - Yuksom to Tsachen

Early in the morning, before seven o' clock but after my own coffee, I went walking to the Yuksom market to buy a plastic sheet to wrap the duffel bag. It's quite a distance but the town of Yuksom seemed very nicely laid out with clean wide roads - a rarity in the mountains these days. Yuksom incidentally is the first historical capital of Sikkim. After this we had breakfast and then went to the tourist office for our permits. Before this I did some bird photography around the hotel. On the way back from the market I got a splendid view of Kabru South from the road. 

At the permit office those carrying SLR cameras had to pay Rs 200 as permit fee. Jyotishko had to pay a hefty amount for all of us as permit fee. Incidentally, you cannot go to Goechala on your own as an independent trekker any more. You have got to hire a local guide at Rs 1500 per day. Jyotishko's guide was one local nicknamed Lucky (I think his name was Lokendra Bahadur). All the locals who I met are Limboos and it was nice to note that they all speak their own language among themselves. Limboo language and culture is currently being swamped by Nepali culture. Same is the case with the Lepchas. On the trail I learnt just one common Limboo word that our guide (Arpan Limboo) was using to greet every other passing local - sewaro. It means hello.  

If I lived in Yuksom I would most definitely learn the local language or at least make an effort. It is totally different from Nepali though. Not even remotely connected. Arpan tried to teach me some words but you learn a language by speaking it. Not by learning a few words.

Meanwhile our luggage and ration for the trail were loaded on a few yaks. Some three full sized L{G cylinders were taken. There are hundreds of mules and yaks that ply on this trail every day. The yaks look more noble and are slower than the mules. Many had colourful adornments on their head, ear or nose etc. And all of the animals have the ding dong bell around their neck announcing their arrival on the trails when you have to give them the right of passage.

Outside Yuksom tourist office some 15 minutes were spent taking selfies and group photographs in various poses and angles. It was very boring and frustrating for me and seemed like a waste of time. But I seem to be a complete misfit in this selfie-obsessed society of ours.

We were given packed lunch to be eaten on the way in a large plastic tiffin box. It had some bread sandwiches and a Frooti soft drink. There was a boiled egg and banana too. I managed to hang it off my small backpack.

And off we went. It was well past 10 am.

The trail climbed through a dense but mixed forest with lovely streams and old hanging steel rope bridges. In Nepal the bridges we crossed last year looked more new and recent. I think we crossed some three such bridges. There was an elaborate entry gate into the Kangchendzonga National Park - a Unesco World Heritage Site. There were many other trekkers too that we met on the trail. I was asking everyone if they found good weather and had good views. The trail is full of dung from the hundreds of mules and yaks. And obviously lots of flies and other insects feeding on them.

I had forgotten to wear my knee cap and as a rsult I started struggling a bit with knee pain. The trail was continuously climbing up. Well defined but reasonably steep. There was a boy Debarghya - way junior to me - who kept company with me on this trail as I was trailing behind from the main group. He was carrying his own load. Of course, at his age I did that too. But despite the pain I managed to reach Tsachen by afternoon.

In mid-80s Chenka and his friends went on day one from Yuksom to Tsokha which we covered over two days. Trekking agencies tend to keep things easy for its clients. There was another solo trekker (with a guide of course) from Karimpur who went as far as Bakhim from Yuksom on day one. So relatively speaking, we took it easy - which, at 60, is fine with me.

Tsachen is just a camping spot in the middle of a dense forest. In fact on this entire trail there is no inhabited village. It is completely in the wild with no electricity or mobile connectivity. Our tents were pitched on the slope to the right of the trail. The water source (essentially a pipe without any tap through which water flows continuosuly), dining area (just a hut with all four sides open) and toilets were down on the other side of the trail. After checking into our tents - I had an exclusive one for which I had paid extra - we had to go a little farther up for an acclimatisation hike. This is a good practice to follow where you force yourself out of your comfort zone. However, at such low altitude it is perhaps not necessary from an AMS avoidance point of view. Tsachen I think is lower than Darjeeling where we don't do such hikes for acclimatisations and no one is known to have been affected by AMS in Darjeeling town (though therotically it is possible).  

We had dinner at the designated hut and then retired for the night. There were other groups here too and all the groups took their dinner at the same place but at different time slots. I cannot remember what exactly we had for dinner because I tend to attach very little importance to what I am given to eat. Having been brought up in a financially humble family we always learnt to eat whatever is offered without a fuss. On such trails I don't have any strong dislike for any food. 

Over the few days of our hike we were given everything from khichdi to daal bhaat and sabzi, rajma, chicken, eggs, suji, poha, oats, milk, honey, jam, cornflakes and even a cake on the last night. I have no complaints about the food. In fact on balance it is better than India Hikes or Trek the Himalaya. 

We were even served tea on the trail - particularly at Dzongri top, Goechala View Point or Samiti Lake etc. This is unthinkable with any other agency. But obviously some of the pampered youngsters had problems with various types of food on offer and they expressed their displeasure quite openly. 

It rained rather heavily at night in Tsachen. I was wondering if rain water might seep in through the floor of the tent (these are extremely basic tents from Decathlon). But soon I realised the agenciy's helping hand boys were digging small trenches above the tents for the water to drain out. Nothing serious happened and I had a nice night's sleep. 

I was in a two-man tent. I slept on one half of it on a thin foam mattress and kept my luggage in the other half. There is no vestibule area. I wonder how two men or women were sharing such a small tent with all their luggage. I used my own down sleeping bag and liner to sleep in. For pillow I used one of the S2S dry sacs that had my jackets and other soft items of clothing inside. I was very comofortable and promptly went to sleep reading Dervla Murphy's Tibetan Foothold. I used the Petzl headlamp for reading. 

20th April - Tsachen to Tsokha

On the first day of the trek I made the cardinal mistake of not using the kneecap. This caused some pain in the knee and I had to struggle. Next morning I made sure the kneecap was the first thing I put on in the morning. However, despite that the damage had already been done and I struggled on day two too. 

The first part of the trek involved a climb down to a small bridge where the pain really took over. Obviously I became the last trekker, falling quite a bit behind the group. And Jyotishka gave me a walkie talkie handset that his team of cooks and guides each carry. He said keep it with yourself and let me know if there is any problem. He explained how to use it, which I promptly forgot. But he kept on enquiring after me through the communication system every now and then. 

This kind of attention and empathy for the struggler in the group is unthinkable and quite touching. India Hikes, with who I went to Roopkund was very unhappy with me for being very fast on the uphill sections and even more unhappy in the downward sections where I was slow and late. Naturally, I don't trek with them any more (they have other problems too). They have certain good practices that they follow but for me they are eminently avoidable. 

After this small bridge the trail started climbing up towards Bakhim and then onwards to Tsokha. This is where I started finding my feet once again and the pain gradually started vanishing. As the day progressed I started improving upon my walking speed. Not that there was any competition, but I was happy with my performance, given my age. 

I had heard the name of Bakhim from my friend Chenka. We had tea prepared by Jyotishko on his butane stove, at the very inviting gazebo kind of structure in Bakhim and then proceeded forward towards Tsokha. The entire trail was an uphill hike through rhododendron forest, which sadly had very little flower.  

At Tsokha there was a small shop where to my delight I discovered they had pencil batteries in stock. I had brought my tent lamp from home but by mistake brought the wrong sized batteries for it. Though I had one set as a back up for my Petzl headlamp, I had to use it sparingly as there was no back up left now. Now I got myself two sets of back up. The price was reasonable too. I think Rs 50 for three. These were Panasonic batteries which I later discovered were not good enough for the Black Diamond hanging lamp. However, I managed to swap them with my other Petzl head torch where they fitted and worked fine. In any case, the batteries all lasted during the trek and I did not need any spare battery. Neither in the Black Diamond tent lamp, nor in the Petzl head torch for reading books nor in my Nitecore for night walks (I walked for one hour for Dzongri top and five hours for Goechala View Point 1 plus some in tent use). 

In Tsokha there is a small rolling meadow where our tents were pitched. This was quite at a distance from the kitchen and dining area. Here we met Trekking Buddha's other group that was on the way back from Goechala. They had started on 14th April. Their trek leader - Babai - joined us and regaled us with some ghost stories in the low light dining hut. He claimed them to be all true. And to explain why he always managed to meet ghosts in his life he showed a tattoo on his leg which is supposed to be of the Greek God of death and evil. I cannot remember its name but apparently it has brought him a bit of ill luck with ghosts. 

In the evening it rained once again in Tsokha. But we managed to have dinner, wash our hands and reach back to the tent despite the rain. My high-powered Nitecore came in handy when it was used for lighting up the entire dining area. Since there is no electricity on this trail I was silently a bit worried about the five plus one hour of walking in the dark that I would have to do with it over the next three days. The charge status indicator lost one bar but that was fine. Ultimately it didn't matter.  

21st April - Tshokha to Dzongri

The trail from Tshokha to Dzongri is once again a continuous uphill climb through a dense forest till about Phedang. Here the trail is in terrible shape with wooden steps and a lot of slush. It would be quite difficult to negotiate if it rained. But it did not. In fact this is the first time that I trekked without a single drop of rain falling during our walks on all the days. 

At Phedang once again there is a small tea stall and one can camp here too. After a short break we started once again in right earnest. It was continuously going uphill but soon enough the forest became thinner and gave way to small bushes only. We are gradually going to go above the tree line. I saw some snow by the roadside. The hill side with these wild bushes looked almost like a tea garden. By mid afternoon we reached Dzongri. Today, to my utter surprise I was more or less pain free for the entire day.

Dzongri also has a small shop. In fact they have two. I saw good quality plastic sheet available here. The one I bought from Yuksom was in tatters already. So I bought one more. We were told there is a dormitory here with beds available for a small payment. Some of our friends took this. There was one girl who was feeling claustrophobic and couldn't sleep in the tents. She took it and had a good night's sleep. 

During our acclimatization trek above Dzongri we saw two wild yaks. This is not very common. The yaks we normally come across are all domesticated. These were wild. They were at a distance and looked quite peaceful. The fellow trekkers were very upset to be made to walk more after the back-breaking day long trek. They forced our leader Arpan to cut it short and come back to the camp. No one was in the mood to walk any more, particularly given that we would have to wake up at 3 am the next morning to see sunrise from Dzongri top.

From Tshokha we have a new guide cum cook called Arpan Limboo. We became fast friends. The young help Sena was also very friendly and served us with an ever smiling face - including bed tea at 3 am. They all loved me for being able to speak Nepali fluently. And wanted to know where I learnt it. No knowledge in life goes a waste. And being able to speak someone's language is the best way to flatter them.

We retired early and were woken up once again in the wee hours of the morning with warm tea. We set off by 4 am. Target is to reach Dzongri top by 5 am to see the sunrise. I am glad to say that I was the second one to reach the top. First was the youngest member of the team followed closely by the oldest.

The view from Dzongri top is indeed fabulous. You have all the associated peaks of Kangchendzonga open in front of you in a line one after the other. The sun rose a few minutes after 5 am, turning the peaks a golden. It is such a surreal sight to see them lighting up one after the other. From pink to golden to yellow and finally white. Thousands if not millions of selfies were taken. Group photos with the Indian tricolor were also taken. 

Uphill once again. But soon we reached a lovely spot by a broad river side called Kokchurang. Some trekkers camp here on the way back from Lamuney but Jyotishko said this area is not safe for camping as the forests nearby have lots of bears. 

After Phedang the trail gradually 

A Night In The Forest

When we left Bamboo it was five o' clock in the evening. The sky was overcast and grey but there was no threat of any imminent rain. It was just getting dark. Our destination was Lower Sinuwa. They said Sinuwa was at least two hours from there. I knew two hours for a Nepali would mean three for me. This means I would have to walk for at least two hours in the dark, assuming it would get dark by six. I checked for the torch in my pocket. It was there. A rechargeable cycling torch. I did not know exactly for how long its battery would last. I thought, hopefully, that it was perhaps four hours. I have cycled Calcutta's streets with it but never walked a forest in a remote part of the Himalayas. 

We were coming down from ABC. Annapurna Base Camp. This part of the trail is through a dense forest. The trail is clear and very well defined with steps almost all along the way. But walking on such a trail is not easy in the dark. Trekkers avoid it unless compelled by circumstances. 

The torch was USB chargeable and I had a fully charged power bank and cable in my rucksack. I had half a mind to take out the power bank and keep it in my pocket, just in case. But with more hope than knowledge about the battery life I avoided opening my bag and started off on the journey. 

I have very high powered glasses. As it is I cannot see too well even in full day light. My peripheral vision particularly is rather poor. The prospect of walking for two hours in the dark of the thick forest with a torch in hand was not very encouraging. But I banished the thought and in my usual style told myself - we will cross the bridge when we come to it. My only solace is that this part of the walk is over well defined stone paved trail. There are hundreds of steps. Going up and down. But it is not a dangerous trail where you have to be cautious about every step you take. I have already walked on this trail while going to ABC.

I feel just a bit nervous when I come to a bifurcation on such trails. So far I have always followed the other trekkers to decide which of the two trails to take at such junctions. But I also know that in such trails usually both the trails lead to the same main trail. One might be a tad longer but easier, the other shorter but perhaps a little more steep. So no matter which one I chose I wouldn't get lost. But I also knew that in the night there wouldn't be too many hikers to follow. Despite knowing all this one still feels a little anxious when one is alone in a dark forest.

Most of the trekkers had stayed back in Bamboo. We could not as we had no booking there. Ours was in Lower Sinuwa. Plus our porter had gone ahead without bothering to wait for us.

I concentrated on the walk ahead. Aditi and her son Aditya, my fellow trek mates, started with me too. Aditi had taken out her head-torch and wore it. It didn't occur to me what Aditya might use. I later found that he used his mother's head torch and Aditi used her mobile phone. Incidentally, my mobile phone had just two percent charge. Because the previous night at ABC I charged only my power bank as they allow only one gadget to be charged for free. The mobile is useless in such places except when you retire for the night and they share their wi-fi password with you. It didn't occur to me that I might need to use it as a torch some time in evening.

We had been walking for 9 hours when we started off from Bamboo. We were coming down from the Annapurna Base Camp. A friendly guide Ramachandra Adhikari, who was accompanying a Korean trekker, booked us very kindly in a tea house called Preeti Lodge in Lower Sinuwa. So we have got to reach there. 

It was not so desolate when we started. I kept walking at a slow but steady pace. Around 5.30 it got quite dark. I was wondering whether to bring out the torch when a group of Nepali trekkers behind me switched on their torch. I could see the trail quite clearly helped by their light through my legs. They were obviously quite fast. I tried to keep pace with them and walked ahead of them till about 6 pm when one of them said - "uncle, do you have your own torch?" I said yes and they said, "then can we go ahead?" It was so nice of them to be so polite. I said yes of course. But mentally I wanted to say, please stay with me. 

I let them go ahead. I could see their light for some time and then it got totally dark. I couldn't even see my hand. Now I brought my torch out from the left pocket. I had two walking sticks in my two hands. I held the torch in my left hand and kept the stick on that hand parallel to the ground. So essentially I was walking with one stick only. 

Initially the light was bouncing back off the thick fog that had engulfed the forest. But that soon cleared and the path was quite easily visible. I must say that my 400 lumen torch has a beautiful strong wide beam. If it lasts long it is a great torch to cycle or walk with. It is just that it is not made for walking in the Himalayas.

I have a Pretzel head torch. But I did not bring it on this trek because I don't like its faint beam. I never thought I would need to do night walk here. I took the cycling torch along, as I do for most of my trips nowadays, for using in the night at the hotel in case I needed to go to the loo or to find something in the bag or bed etc. I love it actually and keep it with me all the time. I have a Black Diamond head torch too but it is damaged due to battery leak (Duracell's most expensive battery). It had a fantastic beam but it's ruined.

At certain places on this walk I had to change hands for the torch to be able to use the left stick. This was because the stones were arranged in such a way that you needed support on the left hand side. But I kept a steady pace. I never stopped anywhere. I hardly ever stop while walking, or cycling or driving or riding a motorcycle. That's the way I am.

I crossed quite a few streams over planks. I walked very slowly looking very carefully at each step. I did not want any misstep. And I did not want to take a wrong step outside the main trail. The thought of wild animals didn't cross my mind, to be honest. I am sure such jungles would have a lot of leopards and black bears. But it didn't occur to me that they might attack me. They could have. Yes. 

Was I at any point of time afraid or scared etc? I was concerned but I was never really afraid. Did I pray? Yes. I always do when in trouble. And I was most definitely in trouble. Walking alone in a dark forest with a torch that you don't know how long it might last is not an easy thing to do. 

But I knew this trail is well defined and frequented by hundreds of tourists and porters every day. So there was no such danger that I might get lost and die of hunger and thirst etc. 

I was telling Mother Annapurna "help me get to my mother". Preeti is the name of the lodge where we were going. That is also my mother's name. And somehow it gave me peace to think I was walking towards my mother's safe lap from Mother Annapurna's lap (Annapurna Base Camp) where I was in the morning.

I also remembered the famous Tagore song that my mother taught me to sing in such difficult situations. বিপদে মোরে রক্ষা করো এ নহে মোর প্রার্থনা / বিপদে আমি না যেন করি ভয় . A rough literal translation is like this - it is not my prayer that you please guard/save me from danger. I pray that may I not be scared off by danger. 

This is such a fantastic thought. In a dangerous situation if you get scared then you have lost the battle against yourself. You will not have the courage to do even ordinary things. Just ensure that your courage is intact. Fear is in our mind. If you think about all that can happen then you cannot take a single step. I just kept walking with a torch in hand. I thouhgt about nothing. If I came face to face with a bear or a leopard I do not know what I would have done. But I did not think about them. If I thought about them I could not take any step forward.

I never allowed myself to become a prisoner of my fears or anxiety. I did not do anything extraordinarily courageous. I have never actually done such a thing. I just walked alone on a well defined forest trail in the night with a torch in hand. I could've been very timid and refused to walk in the night. What I mean is there are courageous people like soldiers running through a hail of enemy bullets and then there are timid people who are scared by unknown enemies or dangers that do not even exist. But there is a middle point where I belong. I am neither very courageous. Nor very timid. I weigh the risks and always take a calculated risk where the odds of success are very high. I would never run through a hail of bullets. 

I made another prayer on the trail - let my legs not lose their strength. That was very important. Climbing millions of steps throughout the day is not easy. And towards the end of the day at my age and fitness levels my strength comes down. I did not wish to reach the end of my endurance before reaching the hotel. 

At around 7ish I could see some lights in the distance. That must be Sinuwa. The last stretch towards Sinuwa was actually level and a pleasant walk. I had made a video of this stretch during day time while going towards ABC. I shall see if it can be shared here. 

Before long I reached Sinuwa and met a Bengali trekker who I had met two days ago at MBC. He was sitting on a bench by the road side and asked me if I had met one of their friends on the way. Apparently he has a bad knee and had fallen behind. I said I did not meet anyone on this stretch from Bamboo in the last two hours. I didn't see anyone sitting by the side of the road or anything. 

He seemed concerned. I said my friends were behind me and should be arriving soon. I did not really know how far behind me they were or when they might arrive. (We were told that later that night a couple of them went back, found him somewhere on the trail struggling alone and escorted him back. They reached in the middle of the night.)

I rested for some time in the well lit Sinuwa (it felt like an oasis in a desert) and regained some strength before starting my walk again. I asked how far lower Sinuwa was and someone said - about half an hour. All of it downhill. It had taken us one hour while climbing up. Going back should be quicker.

Charged by the sight of some light at last and some human company I started once again in right earnest. 

My torch has a rough indicator about its battery strength. The white switch first turns amber and then red and then it would be dead. But before that the beam itself would get shorter. Soon after leaving Sinuwa the switch turned amber. I ignored it and kept walking. It turned red quite quickly. Actually on the well lit roads of Calcutta when I ride my cycle I don't really care to look how long it takes for amber to turn red. But here it happened pretty soon. And soon after quarter past seven my torch went dead. 

It was pitch dark all around. I could see no light. Neither of Upper nor of Lower Sinuwa. I was somewhere in between. I immediately sat down in the middle of the trail. I knew exactly what to do. I took the sack off my back. Opened it and pulled out my rain coat, my rain pants and the small towel which were on top. I kept them on the stones of the trail. Then I found the small Deuter waist bag. Pulled it out. Opened its chain and fished out the power bank. I also brought out the cable. I had to make sure it was the cable for the torch and not of the watch. The heads were different. 

I had to struggle a bit to engage the USB ports and get the cable connected at both ends. One to the torch and the other to the battery. These are not so easy to do in that Himalayan darkness. Try doing it with your eyes closed and you would know. And it's a type B cable. 

The problem with my torch is that when it is getting charged, it cannot be used. Not like a phone that you can use for surfing or talking when it gets charged. I sat there in the middle of the road looking at the red button. This was an indicator that it was getting charged. When it was fully charged it would turn blue. The red light was the only source of light for me. I looked at it intently because I had nothing else to do. My other source of light was in my watch. I checked it. It was 7.25. I decided that I would charge it for exactly five minutes and then walk again. I must keep moving. I cannot be sitting in this darkness forever charging my torch. 

I don't know how many times I checked my watch in those five minutes. At home I leave it overnight to charge and don't have any precise idea how long it takes to fully charge it. Here I thought I would see how far I can get with five minutes' charge.

Mentally I was laughing really, that Lord you are taking all sorts of tests of me. All that is left for me to battle is a rain now. Luckily that did not happen. I don't remember how many times I looked at the watch during those five minutes but when it turned 7.30 I got up. Switched it on to find the light adequately strong. I picked up all that I had taken out and kept on the stones, put them back in the sack, closed its mouth, slung it on my back and started walking again.

I was unusually calm about the whole thing. There was no panic. No fear. No nothing. I knew exactly what needed to be done and kept doing them one by one. Presently I needed to walk again which I did. Suddenly I stopped with a start. There was a grey something a few meters away from me. I realised it was a grey mule, standing across on the road, guarding my way. There was hardly any space left for a walker like me. I chose to cross it from the tail side because it was facing the slope of the mountain. 

I told it in Bengli "sor sor" - move away. It didn't bother but at least didn't kick me back. Soon after crossing it I found yet another mule standing. This was a brown one. And as I was calculating how to cross it the torch went dead again. 

I checked that it had lasted me exactly seven minutes. But now I could see a light in the distance. I realised the presence of these mules meant there were humans close by. I sat down on the road once again and connected the power bank. This time it was in my pocket. Now it occured to me that I had seen a milipede on the trail in the morning and they might be present here due to the dung that these mules produce. But no matter how hideous they look they are generally not poisonous.

I got a little impatient and reasoned that if five minutes of charging gave me light for seven, three should be enough for me to reach that source of light. Meanwhile, the mules, being aware of a human's presence between them were shaking their head and making a sound from  their bells. I wanted to get out of here as soon as possible. So I stopped charging after three minutes and started off again. In such situations these three minutes seem like an eternity.

I realised there were a number of mules standing on the trail. I crossed them one by one and reached the house (whose light I could see for some time) before the torch could die again. I kept the rucksack on a stone bench. Charged the torch. Ate a couple of biscuits that I keep for extreme emergencies. Poured a new packet of Electral in a bottle of water and drank it.

I realised this was perhaps the local transporter's house. His portico was full of gas cylinders. He probably transports them by mule from Ghandruk and those mules on the trail are obviously his. A girl arrived on the scene and I asked her how far Lower Sinuwa was. 

She sounded like an angel when she said, "actually this is Lower Sinuwa, where exactly do you want to go?" I said to Preeti Lodge. She said, "oh it's close by. Less than five minutes".

Sure enough I reached in five minutes. On this side of the house there was a locked iron gate before which a couple of huge cows were sitting and chewing the cud. You have to climb a small stone wall beside the gate and cross it. 

I guess it was just a little past eight o' clock when I saw our porter Sanjay standing outside the hotel. I wanted to get angry with him for ditching us and flying off on his own. But he is so honest with his confessions that you can't really stay angry with him for too long. So I quietly and happily took the room that was offered and started waiting for Aditi and her son. 

I got very anxious about them now. Honestly I didn't have the legs to go back in search of them. I thought of sending Sanjay with a torch because I suspected that they might have run out of battery and were probably sitting by the road side in the dark. But I took pity on him. After all he also walked the same distance and with a considerable load. So I chose to wait it out for a bit more.

After about nine Sanjay gave me the happy news that he could see two lights in the distance. Sure enough it was the mother and son duo. They arrived at around half past nine. Aditya had five blisters on his foot and could barely walk any more. Next morning he discarded his shoes and walked from Lower Sinuwa to Samran - the final leg of the trek - in his flip-flops. 

So that is the end of the story. By the way, the lodge in Lower Sinuwa was not Preeti. That was full and they arranged for us in Sherpa Lodge which was very nice. So I didn't get to sleep in my mother's lap really :)

Here the evening ended in one of the most surrealistic ways imaginable. I sat in the dining hall with a German guy and his Nepali friend (who also lives and works in Germany) and watched on their phone a Manchester United match followed by one of Arsenal's. This is what globalisation and communication has done to this world.   

 

Bastar Dussera - '23

The four of us outside Roma Resort - Sunabeda

Whenever I visit a new place, mentally I tell myself - this is just a short recce, I will come back again and explore this place in better detail with more time. I promised this to myself during our Bastar trip of 2017 when we chanced to see the unique festival called Bastar Dussera. Before that I had no clue about it. We had gone to Chitrakoot falls near Jagdalpur town where we were thoroughly bored by the lone water fall. I mean for how long can you stare at a waterfall? On our way back we decided to spend a day in Jagdalpur town - the ex-capital of Bastar. It was the day of Nabami and we realised that Dussera is celebrated very differently here with a huge tribal participation. 

We were fascinated by the tribal mela (fair) that was on outside the royal palace. Tribals were selling their own hand made things to other tribals. Mostly hand made iron tools for daily use in an agrarian society - sickles and knives of various kinds for use in the field or kitchen, axes of various sizes, spades of different types etc. There were many sellers selling tribal drums of various sizes and shapes - they were attracting the maximum crowd of other tribals. The buyers were checking out the drums by playing them and the combined sound of all the drums was something quite unique. 

There was hardly any decorative handicraft type items for sale because the fair was not meant for urban outsiders like us. In fact we were perhaps the only urban outsiders in that fair that year. And evidently tribals don't use handicraft as decorative pieces. Everything that was available had some utility value to them. 

I bought a small tribal drum as a memento and Monisha bought some unique handmade cotton durries/sataranchies from sellers who came from neighbouring Koraput. We still use them on our divans or on the sofa etc. I have never seen anything similar anywhere else. 

In short - we loved the fair. We also went inside the palace complex and saw some tribals sitting around with doli type things - wooden structures to carry their idols. We were told there will be a big event in the evening related to the Dussera. There was a huge chariot waiting outside the palace and we were told that this moves around the villages of Bastar over 75 days and its journey ends in the town around Dussera. Apparently it starts from the famous Danteswari Temple in Dantewada. 

We were very tired and didn't go out to see the evening programme. Also we would be starting the next morning for the long journey back to Calcutta so we didn't want to tire ourselves out and went to bed early. But I loved the tribal fair and told myself I would come back another time after educating myself better about the Dussera.

I am quite fascinated by the tribals of India. Perhaps becuase of the mysteries associated with their unique societies. We know nothing about them. And there is so much to know. Apart from their various religious beliefs and practices or languages there are so many other socio cultural aspects of their life that is totally unknown to us. Their identity of each sub-tribe is often expressed through the way the women make the bun in their hair, their ornaments like nose rings, the way they wear the saree or the different tattoos they wear on their bodies. I am very curious about these things but have no idea how to learn about them. 

Bastar, in case you don't know, is a very tribal area in what is now known as Chattisgarh (36 forts) state. It shares the border with another very tribal district of Koraput in Orissa The name Bastar sends a chill down the spine of many Indians because it is grappling with a very violent ultra Left terrorist movement for a long time now and many people have died in this movement, particularly policemen and politicians whose convoys have been mercilessly ambushed several times in the past. Tourists are generally not specifically targetted but you could always get caught in a cross fire or your vehicle might get blown up by accident due to mistaken identity. 

This is the reason why not too many tourists come to this region and very rarely by car from Calcutta. I have done this two times now. In fact that slight tension at the back of the mind keeps me motivated :) I remember crossing the jungle between Bongaigaon and Gaylegphug in an army vehicle. This was during the peak of Bodo movement and the remains of an ambushed army truck used to lie on the way side that had killed more than 20 soldiers. We always knew that a similar fate was a possibility for us too. 

Except for seeing a lot of commandos with automatic rifles marching up and down the jungle roads of Koraput and Bastar I have never felt threatened here.

This year we made up our mind to revisit Bastar and see the Dussera in better detail with more time at our disposal. But we ended up experiencing a lot more than just the Dussera. Let me jot down the day by day experiences. 

First the route. 

Our Route Through Four States (Bengal, Orissa, Andhra, Chhattisgarh)

We stuck to the route that we had taken earlier. Go down the highway that goes to Chennai up to a point in Andhra called Chilikapalem (this is a little before Vizag) - on the way you will be crossing Kharagpur, Bhubaneswar, Balugaon, Berhampore etc. Turn right from Chilikapalem and go straight to Jagdalpur via Razam, Salur, Sunabeda, Koraput and Jeypore - the last two being old tribal towns of Orissa. One can also reach Koraput via a diagonal road from Berhampore and via Rayagada, I have never taken it because it's a state highway. In comparison my route goes along the four-lane national highway for a longer distance and is perhaps faster. But the diagonal route might be more interesting through tribal villages. I might explore it some other time. The state highways of Orissa are often much better than the national highways.

The route we took is an approximate journey of 1000 km from Calcutta one way. We broke it up into two stops. Day one's drive would be from Calcutta to Barkul on the bank of Chilika lake where we would spend an extra day. Next is the drive from Barkul to Sunabeda in Koraput district where again we would spend a day. Next we would go to Jagdalpur (via the towns of Koraput and Jeypore) where we would spend three nights. It is possible to drive straight from Barkul to Jagdalpur, as we did last time, but we wanted to break it at Koraput and explore the surroundings. So we took 3 days to drive to Jagdalpur. 

Incidentally we came back in two days driving from Jagdalpur to Barkul on day one and Barkul to Calcutta on the next day.

On the way up we planned our exit from Calcutta in such a way that we would reach Jagdalpur on the day of Ashtami, so that we get to see the spectacle on Navami (or Navratri as the North Indians call it).

Day One - Calcutta to Barkul - 18th October, 2023

Our friends and travel partners Chandra and Shoma came to our house in the early morning of Chaturthi in their car. They were travelling pretty light. We had loaded most of our luggage in the vehicle the previous night. So we took off almost as soon as they arrived. I am mortally scared of Pujo jams of Calcutta even early in the morning. Because I have suffered several times for hours in the wee hours of the morning, while trying to get out of the city during the Pujas. But this being just Chaturthi, the frenzy had yet to reach that level. We got stuck for about 20 minutes or so before the Satragachhi bridge and the rest of the way had no surprises for us.

Shoma had brought some delicious home made cake. Monisha had home made ruti and chicken etc. We reached Barkul pretty comfortably around late after noon. We were booked in the OTDC hotel there and had a fantastic time in the evening among the four of us just chatting and exchaning ideas. This was Chandra and Shoma's first multi-day car trip. So they were pretty excited about it.

Incidentally, we found several small hotels have now come up on either side of the lane that leads to OTDC Barkul. So now there is quite a choice for stay there. However, the OTDC property is the only one that offers a view of the lake from most of its rooms.

Day Two - Rest Day in Barkul 

We spent the next day in Barkul literally doing nothing. I had kept this day as a rest day for my friends because I wasn't sure how they might react after a day-long car ride. They were pretty cool and had no fatigue or body aches etc whatsoever. So we just spent the day listening to the fascinating stories from Chandra's life as a poor young man in Calcutta, trying to eke out a living against all odds while studying art at a government college. Life takes a different meaning altogether when you hear such stories and this blog is perhaps not the right place for me to recount those stories. Those who may not know, he is now one of the leading painters of India.

Day Three - Barkul to Sunabeda 

In the night we got a few eggs and potatoes boiled by the kitchen staff for the next day's journey to Sunabeda. This was converted into a delicious breakfast in the backseat with pepper, salt, chillies and a dash of lime by the Bhattacharyyas on the backseat. We crossed Ichhapuram to enter Andhra. Chilikapalem is a dot on the highway from where we took a right turn towards Razam/Salur. By the way, there is a new flyover here. You have to take the exit from under the flyover. There is no road sign telling you all this. If you want to ask anyone ask them to show the way to Razam. I still don't use Google maps for navigation on the road. I use these good old methods of asking people around.

I must say that the amount of urbanisation that has happened along this route, particularly around Berhampore is simply mind boggling. What used to be vast open fields up to the horizon is now a township with modern buildings all around. The Tatas have set up a new steel plant here.

Crossing Razam was a breeze compared to our previous experience when we had faced a massive, unruly jam at a crossroad within the town. Thankfully that seemed like a thing of the past. The next significant town is Salur where we had lunch in 2017 from a tuckers' Dhaba. Now I found Salur has a bypass which we took. The Eastern Ghat starts after Salur. It's a beautiful landscape here. The roads are just as winding as any in the Himalayas. But the hilly portion (ghat section in Indian terminology) is not very long. 

Apparently Salur used to be a beautiful sleepy little town with a small Leprosy Mission hospital. When we crossed it six years ago it had already become a dirty, congested town. Now, you don't have to go through it any more which means it has got even more congested for the townspeople. 

We crossed small hamlets like Pottangi and Sunki on the way. They have quite grown up in these six years, it seemed. The next big town on the way was Semiliguda which has grown into a massive highway town complete with a huge Trendz store. We had our lunch here at a very downmarket eatery where all the other customers were local tribals. But the food was fairly decent and extremely cheap.

Later we found there were more upmarketish restaurants on the roadside but we had no regrets. The food was good. 

Sunabeda came almost immediately after this. It's a very small place with a Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) factory where they make fighter jets for Indian Air Force. 

Hotel Roma is our destination here. It's right on the highway. It used to be an OTDC property in the Panthashala category (lower than a Pantha Nivas) and was in a dilapidated condition when we crossed it in 2017. Now it has been taken over by a private entrepreneur called Prabhakar Rao who is trying to revive it and run it properly. He is a middle aged gentleman from Koraput with a flowing long beard and crisp English. He is an ex-finance professional, he said. He has worked in Bombay and England all his life and is now persuing a completely different profession of running a hotel - more as a hobby than with any motive to make big money out of it. When we were there his teenaged daughter was holidaying and helping her father to run the place. She is a college student studying in King's College, England, no less. 

The property is by the side of the highway but in a  very quiet place. The highway being not too busy with trucks etc it is hardly a highway in that sense. There is a small hill just behind the property. The rooms, the balconies and verandahs are huge. We quite enjoyed the place. Of course there were small problems like the bolt or the shower not working etc. But we sort of pardoned Rao, given that it must be difficult to get mechanics for sundry jobs in this type of remote places in India. The lone maid at Roma - Santoshi - was a very sweet and ever smiling lady who helped us carry our luggage up the stairs etc. Incidentally, I always make it a point to carry my own luggage.  

Dinner at Sunabeda was a very simple affair, cooked by Rao himself because his cook had ditched him that day. We asked Rao for his advice on how to spend the next day around Sunabeda. He suggested a trip to the Deomali hills. We accepted it. It's supposed to be the highest point in Orissa. There is another village there called Kotiya, which we could also explore perhaps.

Day Four - Day Trip to Deomali Hills

Next morning, after breakfast we went out in search of Deomali. We had to go back to Semiliguda and onwards to the Kundili haat. It's a large vegetable market on either side of the highway. It is a two-day haat that starts on Thursday and continues till Friday. We had crossed it around Friday after noon while going towards Sunabeda. But even on Saturday when we were going to Deomali there were lots of sellers still hanging around. I have a feeling this might soon become a permenant bazaar. 

From the haat we took a left turn towards the Deomali hills. I must say, the tourism department of Orissa has done a commendable job towards putting up road signages in appropriate places to help drivers. All the major and minor tourist attractions are prominently shown in English and Oriya, making it easy for an outsider self-drive tourist like me to find his way around. One doesn't need to ask anyone for direction to the popular tourist destinations.

We soon started climbing the hilly terrain. The valley was quite wide with beautifully terraced fields with paddy cultivation. Some of the fields had various vegetables planted on them. We stopped at a place in the valley that was looking particularly pretty. The different fields of various shapes in the distance had different shades of green and even yellow. A cool breeze was blowing over the paddy cultivation sending waves that were looking quite enchanting from the top. The sky was a clear and bright azure blue.

To make the scene more picturesque there was a small river ambling through the middle of the valley and we saw two women with baskets on their heads walking in the distance there. It was a picture perfect scene of tranquility. The autumn sky was blue with a few white clouds floating around. We are told the hills of Deomali are rich in Bauxite deposits and mining might start any day. It's a sad thought that we didn't want to think about. Rather, we continued on our journy up the hill. A Niyamgiri like future is perhaps awaiting these pristine hills.

We missed the exit to the Deomali hill top and reached Kotiyar village. It looked more like a tight urban slum than a traditional tribal village with its own architectural heritage. It was a very underwhelming sight. I didn't want to stop or explore the village. The sight just didn't inspire me. We went back in search of the hill top. On the way we saw a road sign pointing towards some water fall. We went in for about five kilometers off the main road and down an even narrower mountain road. The place had an elaborate parking lot complete with a Rs 50 parking fee. Just  as we were entering the area, the vehicle in front of us - a small Maruit Alto from Calcutta (you can make it out from the registration number) - suddenly banged into a parked Creta. The Alto was badly damaged. The driver had a more than six-inch gash on his head and the Creta had a bashed up rear bumper. The man was profusely bleeding and there was blood all over his T-shirt.

All those involved were Bengalis. The driver, the victim and us the onlookers. He claimed his brake had failed. I think he was looking at his mobile phone. Both he and his wife looked totally perplexed. The lady said they were staying in Semiliguda. 

The water fall was quite underwhelming. We left the scene quickly because the situation was about to get tense with the Creta owner getting increasingly angry with the Alto driver. It was a less than one-month old vehicle. Poor guy. 

We soon found out the exit for Deomali hill top and went right in. We had somehow missed it while going up. Entry cost here is Rs 100 per vehicle. We stopped near what looked like an abandoned coffee shop on top of the hill. The hill top is pretty barren with minimal vegetation. Other tourist vehicles were going farther ahead towards the actual top but we didn't go there because it looked pretty croweded there. The hill top is apparently Orissa's highest peak. Having hiked to above 5000 meters in Stok Kangri, I had no intention to climb this particular peak.

There were tourist cottages being made by the government here. And a pleasantly chilly breeze was blowing non-stop. You could see far off into the distance across the valley below. It's green all around with a prominent teraccota coloured road going through the middle of the hills in front. We thought these cottages would make for a fine place for a short stay when finished. Later we learnt environmentalists have stopped the construction over various ecological and cultural grounds. Perhaps rightly so. The cottages certainly looked very cheap and had no connection to the aesthetics of the area. A typical thoughtless government project. We have something similar in Gajaldoba called Bhorer Alo. That's on a grander scale though.

On our way back, as I turned a bend in the snaking hilly road I saw a man sitting by the road side with a heap of fresh white raddishes taken off the fields. His wife and daughter were busy washing a sac full of sweet potatoes. We stopped the vehicle to do some impromptu shopping. I had no clue what dish could be made out of sweet potatoes and raddish. 

We had our lunch at Desia Eco Resorts which was on the way. It was an excellent lunch for us and the restaurant was pretty busy with mostly Bengali tourists despite the area being quite desolate. Some of the parked vehicles had Orissa and some Andhra registration plates. Before settling for Sunabeda we had tried to book Desia but rooms were not available. 

Upon arrival back to Roma we set out to try our own cooking in Chandra's room. The large size of the room helped. From Calcutta we had brought our own portable stove, gas cylinder and basic cooking utensils. They were tried here. My friend Raja had brought the burner for me from England, the gas cylinder was purchased off Amazon. Shoma in her enthusiasm had bought a back up cylinder too. I even brought am aluminium contraption to baffle the wind. All these were put to use in right earnest. Shoma cooked a dish of roasted sweet potatoes which tasted quite delicious. We even boiled a few eggs and potatoes for the next day's journey. 

After our self cooked evening snacks, we had dinner and went to sleep.

Day 5 - Sunabeda to Jagdalpur

Today's journey being a relatively short one, we started a little late after breakfast. On the way came the town of Koraput where we stopped for the ladies to do some shopping at the Orissa handloom store called Bayanika. Here we were told that the small town of Kotpad has some weavers who weave a saree that is known by the name of the town. We had planned to visit Kotpad on Tuesday for the village haat that it is famous for. The sarees would be an added bonus. On the way we stopped at Kotpad to enquire about the location of the haat. The locals showed it to us. We knew we would come back here in two days. 

But before Kotpad we had to cross Jeypore, another ancient town of Koraput, where we stopped again to check out the state owned emporium. When we reached Jagdalpur it was late afternoon. We checked into hotel HAM Residency.