I love travelling and trekking. I love to visit new places. I have been on 7 or 8 treks in Maharashtra and usually I go alone or join some random group and be myself. I love to sit on the top of the mountain and admire the view. I started trekking in 2018. At that time I didn’t know that it would become a part of my life. you know just go to mountains or in deep forest, forget everything else and feel the calmness of nature, It’s a feeling that can’t be expressed in words. It helped me in moving on in my life and now It has become kind of an addiction.
So now, I am gonna tell you about my first Himalayan trek. and that is “Sandakphu”. It’s in Darjeeling, Highest point in Darjeeling. I have never been to Darjeeling before. and I must tell you that now I am in love with the beauty of Darjeeling.
So Trip started from Pune. My guitar teacher and I started the plan and now we needed to find few more people, you know to share the expenses. we found two, his students. So now we were four. So the best part of the trip was we didn’t know each other much and we all four were from the different part of the country and had never spent time together. So basically we four were strangers.
We started from Pune, took flight to Bagdogra. I was sitting at window seat and the view was AWESOME. Sun was about to wake up, the clouds, smooth dense clouds were looking like gorgeous mountains. Right now it's a hologram sticker of the insane sky right here in front of me.
Our next destination was Darjeeling. We stayed there for one day. It was so cold, clean and relaxing. Beautiful smiles and so much love everywhere and still simple and these smiles makes the whole differences. Although I am not at all foodie, But I loved momos there. Guys, you can't find that taste anywhere. They were so yummy and we had actually survived for 2 days eating momos.
We visited tiger hill there, one awesome place with awesome view and chilling and freezing weather. At that time, our excitement was on next level and we could had only imagined how it would be at Sandakphu.
Now next we left for Manhebanjan. Darjeeling on the other hand was an unforgettable experience. We, complain about roads, about employment, about so many things, I think Darjeeling has a lesson for everyone. Manhebanjan is half in Nepal and half in India with no physical border line or extreme security. We had momos in breakfast and now the trek began.
We witnessed snowfall and rains on very first day of the trek. and It was an AMAZING and FREEZING experience. It was a sudden weather change and we were not prepared for the rain and snowfall at that moment. Suddenly rain started and immediately we stopped and started taking out our raincoats. It took few minutes but those few minutes were killing and so freezing. I can still feel those two minutes, when hails were continuously dropping on us and it was getting so difficult to wear our raincoats because body was freezing. But some how we managed and we got a shelter in a near by village. So that was the very first experience on the very first day of the trek.
Because of snowfall, We had to stop in a village, Lamadurai. Night was chilling and dark but it was a wonderful night I had ever seen my life. I could see the entire milky way and I can't express how intense it was.
Next we headed towards Meghma, then Tumbling and then Jaubari. We stayed there for that night. There, for the first time in my life, I saw the mighty Mt. Everest. It was the breathtaking view as right next to it The Great Kanchanjungha and its all with a golden tip of sunshine. Next target was Kalipokhri. Gotta go down 2.5 km to Gari bans and then up straight to Kalipokhri. Total trek was 9kms. We stayed there for a night. Guys, if you ever get chance to go there, just try Bamboo wine. They call it Thungpa. It was awesome.
Finally the day came and we started for Sandakphu. There is saying that if you don’t have any target, then your return journey will be boring. Sandakphu was the main target of course, but what after reaching the top??? So those who don’t know, I tell you that you can see the whole “Sleeping Buddha” from the top and you must not miss the sunrise. you know that’s an emotion. I can still feel that moment, the Sun slowly came and how it made the Sleeping Buddha shine. An amazing view and an amazing feeling. So that was the our first target that took 4 days to achieve. Our journey was full of awesome views of Mt. Kanchenjunga, nights full of stars ( that we can’t see in cities) and body freezing weather.
That’s how our journey to Sandakphu ended and we took 4 days to reach the top with loads of memories, views, and many more amazing experiences that I actually cannot express in words. Unfortunately we couldn’t make upto Phalut, but as I don’t like to regret, I have decided to go again and will complete the trek upto Phalut:). So our first target was to feel the sunrise from the top of the Sandakphu.
Our next target of the trip was to witness the Red Panda. I had never seen any Panda before and Red Panda is one of the attraction of Darjeeling. At the end of the journey, We stayed in Darjeeling for two days. We hired the bikes, enjoyed the beauty of Darjeeling on bikes. That was an another beautiful experience. And guys, one point to be noted, This city sleeps at 8.30 and you won't find anything after 9pm. Next day we visited Darjeeling Zoo, and there finally we got our next target, Red Panda. It was so so so cute. and As I am an animal lover, I enjoyed the whole Zoo journey. First time I saw a Bengal Tiger “Samrat”. I felt like yeah it is a Bengal Tiger, his royal walk really gave me goosebumps. I was frozen you know for few minutes, I was just standing there and admiring him. Amazing and lovely experience.
Okay so we finished our journey in 10 days with loads of memories and amazing experiences. And as all say, “Pause the Moment”, I will say that “Sleeping Buddha before the Sunrise” was the moment that I wanted to pause.