It’s been more than a year since my last meeting with mighty Himalaya. I was randomly watching some photographs of North East in my laptop on a lazy Monday morning (Yes, you saw it right; it was one of those lucky Mondays). One of my colleague just came back from his trip to Gantok and he was pretty much excited to narrate his travel story to me.
“Dude, you need to visit Gantok once” - he said to me.
It is almost a necessity for any kid born in West Bengal, to visit Sikkim in his childhood to enjoy the summer vacation and I was no exception. Though I already visited Sikkim, my colleague just activated the travel bug inside me by describing his travel story.
There is no better way to experience Sikkim than to do one of the high altitude treks to be closer to the mountains and this plan was long due. I planned for the well-known trekking route in Sikkim in 2015, but couldn’t execute the plan due to some reasons. Now it’s time to experience the most beautiful trek route of Sikkim – Goecha La. The biggest reason to do this trek is the grand view of big mountains that you see throughout the journey. You don’t just see one summit — the Kanchenjunga, but 14 other big summits. Though people said that one might get more clear view in October/November, I chose May because the rhododendron forests in the trail to Goechala burst to live with pink and red flowers in spring. I boarded Darjeeling Mail on 4th May at 10 PM from Sealdah and reached NJP at 8:15 AM on the next morning.
Day 1 – NJP to Yuksom (5th May, 2018)
We assembled in front of Kalpana Hotel near NJP station taxi stand around 9 AM and our travel coordinator Mukesh arranged cabs for us. Our group consisted of twenty two people and there were four Cars (five people each car), since two people planned to join directly at Yuksom. We started our journey to Yuksom around 9:30 AM which is 150 km from NJP. Me, Mehul, Shivani, Sarth and Shivangi were in the same car and we stopped to have some snacks after an hour and saw that Perth, Priyanka, Ravi, Mili, Girish and Arvind were also there who were in another car. That was quite a good ice breaker among us. The journey was amazing. We had our lunch at Jorethang. Do not sleep after having the delicious lunch as the drive from Jorethang to Yuksom will make you smile instantly when you experience the beauty around you. We again stopped in a small hilly town at 4 PM to have some wiwi and momos. The view of the mountains in front and wiwi on the plate was truly an awesome experience.
We reached our destination at 6:30 PM. Yuksom is a historical town in Geyzing subdivision of West Sikkim district in the Northeast Indian state of Sikkim. It was the first capital of Sikkim established in 1642 AD by Phuntsog Namgyal who was the first Chogyal (religious king) of Sikkim.
After submitting the documents (medical certificates and official documents), we assembled at 7:30 PM for a briefing. There was an introductory speech by our trek leader Varun and then we had a small ice breaking session where one was given another person’s name as him or her partner and then he or she has to introduce her partner. We actually came to know about all our trek mates with whom we were going to share this journey and we met the great mountaineer Major Sipra Mazumdar who was the part of first ever successful women expedition held by Indian Army to Mount Everest and she along with her team scaled Mount Everest from the comparatively tougher route, North Col from Tibet side.
I am very glad that IH gave all of us one eco bag to maintain the green trail. As they said that they try to inculcate the spirit of trekking in all their trekkers, we are also privileged to be a part of the green trail initiative where we collect garbage from the trail and dump it in a sack in every campsite during the trek and try to make the mountain clean. It was not mandatory for all, but being a trekker and mountain lover, I think we all should join our hands to keep the mountain clean.
Our schedule was 6-7-8 for next day. This is the equation you have to follow while you are on trek. 6-7-8 means wake up call at 6 AM, Breakfast at 7 AM and we would start our journey at 8 AM.
Day 2 – Yuksom to Sachen (6th May, 2018)
We collected our packed lunch after having breakfast and we started our journey to Sachen at 8 AM. It was a sunny day and we all were ready to roll with our three layers clothing which eventually reduced to one layer only. We met our commanding officers – ‘The pathfinder’ Arpan da, who leads the batch, Varun (our trek leader) who takes care of everyone and the ‘sweeper’ Loki bhai who is the last person on the trail and makes sure no one is left behind.
As we started to trek, we met few people who were coming back. They said they got rains in most of the days and couldn’t get any clear view. They thought we were lucky on that matter that we started our journey on a sunny day. We were reasonably happy by their statement and suddenly it started raining. It was a gradual climb for quite a few times. The trail, though passing through the fringes of the forest was exposed for about half hour. After an hour, we reached the first bridge over the Pha Khola. By the time the trail gets to Pha Khola, we were well into the thick forest.
We walked another one an half hour through the moist jungle until we reached Tshushay Khola falls, which is a series of mini waterfalls joining the Prekchu river below. After few minutes, we reached the large iron bridge spans the Tshushay Khola. There is a steep ascend after the bridge for quite a long time, and after an hour we reached the third bridge which is a small cement bridge over the Mentogang Khola. Wearing a poncho and walking through the moist jungle in heavy rain was a bit challenging for me. After walking for another half an hour, we finally reached our campsite at Sachen. This place at 7,200 feet, is a small clearing where a single log hut and a shelter on the trail exist. Our campsite was just above the trail opposite the shelter amidst the forest.
We were greeted with pakodas and tea once we reached our campsite. After that we had a stretching session to keep our muscles happy. Varun organized some activities where we had to remember everyone’s name with an adjective given by that person and it goes in a circle. There was no sufficient place for the kitchen tent in our campsite, so we went to the log hut a few meters below the trail and had our dinner there. We couldn’t have much activities after dinner since it was raining cats and dogs, so we didn't waste time and jumped inside our sleeping bags.
Day 3 – Sachen to Tshoka (7th May, 2018)
We woke up pretty early for the usual early morning saga while being close to the nature, to avoid the queue near toilet tent. Once we returned, we had our routine oximeter reading and breakfast at the log hut. We left for Tshoka at 9 AM. After walking through the forest for some time, we reached our first rest point which was the Prekchu suspension bridge. We rested there for fifteen minutes and had photo session on the bridge.
We took the trail that begins to climb to the left of the bridge. The trail climbs sharp through a mixed oak forest until the wide switchbacks level somewhat half hour later at the sight of the first rhododendrons. The altitude gain was rapid in this stretch. Our lunch point was Bhakim and the distance to Bhakim from here was not much but it felt a lot longer. The trail climbs to the ridge and stays there until we reached Bhakim another half hour later.
Bhakim is a place which has a lot to offer to any nature lover. The view of Yuksom valley from here was amazing. It had a forest rest house which were usually used by HMI cadets but that house was destroyed due to massive earth quake two years ago. There is a lovely tea stall at Bhakim where we had our packed lunch and the hot coffee cheered us up in that cloudy weather.
With a well-deserved rest, we started climbing to Tshoka. We followed the trail just behind the Forest Rest House. Since it was cloudy all the day, we couldn’t have much view of the mountains, but walking through the moist jungle in the mist created the perfect creepy situation as a horror movie and that was really exciting. The trail again climbs in a series of long switchbacks, overlooking Bhakim until forty minutes, later it dives around a ridge to move to the other side of the hill. At over 9,000 feet high, rhododendron trees were everywhere. The trail got dark from the overhanging trees and meanders for another half an hour and suddenly popped out to a plateau and the trekkers hut of Tshoka.
We reached our campsite around 2:30 PM and there was a plan to visit the monastery. We just kept our backpacks in the tent and left for the monastery but the main attraction was the café near the monastery where one can try the local beer and momos, though it is not advised to try beer while you are on trek. We followed the trail as it leads out of Tshoka, crossed the small wooden bridge over the pond and headed to the monastery. It is a quiet place worthy of a quick visit. There are just a handful of Tibetan families living here.
We always heard about the view of the mountains from the Tshoka campsite but we weren’t that lucky to see anything since the clouds were everywhere. We had a great session in the evening where Varun shared some of his stories about his journey and stories of famous mountaineers. We parked ourselves in the sleeping bag just after dinner since the next day was going to be pretty hectic.
Day 4 – Tshoka to Dzongri (8th May, 2018)
It was a beautiful sunny day with a clear sky. Mountains will never disappoint you if your love for the mountains is true. What took our breath away is the view of the snow-clad peaks of the Kangchenjunga range stretching right behind – with Mt Pandim dominating the skyline. It was a long day ahead and I started my Diamox course from here since we had to gain pretty high altitude today, from Tshoka (9701 ft) to Dzongri (13024 ft). I personally feel that there is very minimal side effects of this drug and we can take Diamox as we should minimize the risk of AMS in a high altitude trek. There might be many people who went for high altitude trek without Diamox and completed it successfully but you never know, so I suggest to minimalize the risk when possible.
We left around 8:30 AM. It was a steep climb almost 80% of the trail. We climbed up to the little pond leading to the monastery, and then followed the trail that runs to its right. The trail begins to climb sharply and within minutes Tshoka is a tiny hamlet below us. Red rhododendron trees spring up everywhere. Since we were trekking in May, the perfect season for Rhododendrons, the entire slope lighted up with a fiery red colour. The trail changed to one paved over wooden logs after a steep ascend for an hour.
Our group had divided into three smaller groups – the opener (who were ultra-fit and almost running), the middle order (who couldn’t keep pace with the openers) and the bowlers (who were coming with Loki bhai). While we middle orders were struggling, Arvind invented an amazing way of trekking – short term goals. Since it was a steep ascend all the way, we agreed to take small steps, trek for two minutes and then stop for 30 seconds. It was a delight with rhododendrons fanning the path but it was tiring too. Even in this magical setting the trail climbs, we felt the altitude while climbing throughout the way and we reached Phedang after climbing for another half an hour on the regular stony trail.
We had our lunch at Phedang. At 13,000 feet, this place is a large clearing with superb views of the snow-clad mountains. A log hut and a few wooden benches dot the landscape. We took the trail to Dzongri that starts across the clearing. It was another two and half hours journey to our next campsite. The trail starts to climb immediately and after some time the view starts getting better. It was a ridge climb, so the trail switches between the alternating sides of the hill. We couldn’t experience the view change between the Pandim ranges and the Kabru due to clouds.
An hour later, the climb tops at a shrine with multitude of prayer flags. We were very much tired by the steep ascend, but were too happy when Varun said that this was the highest point for the day (13080 ft) and no more ascend after this point. We stopped here for few minutes at the shrine and then followed the trail that gently descends towards Dzongri. It was another 20 minutes walk when the Dzongri trekkers hut appeared suddenly at the bend in the trail and we reached our campsite.
Dzongri is a welcoming sight for trekkers after the hard climb from Tshoka. This place is a large meadow surrounded in all directions by the mighty peaks of the Kanchenjunga range. In every direction is a snow peak to be looked at and admired. Our campsite was such a beauty that it was truly a reward for us after that hard climb. It was a long day and our plan was to start our climb to Dzongri top at 4 am next day so we went for a good night sleep at 9 PM.
Day 5 – Rest Day – Dzongri to Dzongri Top and then Dzongri to Dzongri La (9th May, 2018)
Our plan was to visit Dzonri top (13778 ft) and experience the spectacular sunrise from the top. We started our climb to Dzongri top at 4 AM. Dzongri top was a two hill climb from our camp site. The trek from Dzongri to Dzongri top takes about an hour and we reached at the top around 5:10 AM.
The dawn was breaking around 5 AM when we were walking on the ridge and hoping to see the first rays of Sun hitting Kangchenjunga and the amazing view of the mighty peaks of the Singalila and Kanchenjunga ranges, suddenly the snow storm started. We could just see a glimpse of the sunlight on the mountains and suddenly everything around us became white, there was no visibility at all. We didn’t stay at top for long since the weather were pretty bad and it started lighting. Though we immediately started descending, some of us who were behind, experienced the kiss of static electricity quite a few times. We reached our campsite around 7 AM.
Varun said that he had a surprise for us which he thought that the weather already spoiled, but mountains are mysterious and you never know how uncertain can weather be in the mountains. The weather was clearing up after 8:30 AM and we were quite disheartened that we couldn’t see the view we expected at Dzongri top, then Varun told us about his surprise that we can go to Dzongri La (Dzongri Pass) if we wish to, which is around 2 hours trek from the campsite. Usually it is not allowed to visit Dzongri La for trekkers since that is a training ground for HMI cadets but Varun managed to get the permission somehow. Most of us were pretty excited about this surprise since this experience was going to be exclusively ours.
At 9 AM, we came out from the dining tent and saw a sunny day with clear view and a white carpet all over the mountains, which immediately triggered us to take our cameras out. We started at 11 AM after having breakfast. It was a gradual climb for some time and then we walked on the beautiful meadows surrounded by snow clad mountains and then again it was a climb and we reached Dzongri La after two hours. The view from this place was spectacular. We were literally rejoicing to see the snow clad peaks all around us and the pass itself, the view we missed at Dzongri top. We realized that mountains will never let you down no matter what and the journey in the mountains are full of surprises. It took us one and half hour to come back to the camp.
It was chilling cold outside and we were chitchatting inside the dining tent in the evening when Varun told us few horror stories related to the trekking trails in Himalaya. We had our dinner around 8:30 PM and decided to go to sleep immediately since one of those horror stories were about Goechala trek.
Day 6 – Dzongri to Thansing (10th May, 2018)
Our day started at 6 AM. We were quite happy to know that there is only descend till Kockchurang. We started descending around 9 Am after having delicious breakfast. After descending for some time, we reached the meadows where we got an amazing view of the mountains. The green grass, the horses and the big mountains around made us overwhelmed at the serenity of the nature. We stopped there for 10 minutes on the ridge just after the meadows.
After the water break, we started descending again and after half an hour rhododendron shrubs occupied the slopes again. The gentle to medium descent continued over 2 hours. The rhododendron shrubs suddenly gave way to rhododendron forest. When the descent became steep, we understood that Kockchurang is not very far. The forest is a good place to spot birds and martins. We walked through silently and spot few birds camouflaged in the browns and greens of the forest. We reached Kockchurang around 12:30 PM. We had our lunch at the trekker’s hut and again it started raining.
It was continuous ascend to Thansing from Kockchurang. We walked down to the bridge across Prekchu. The view was fascinating from the bridge with the icy blue water below and rhododendron forest again on the other bank, but we couldn’t spend much time since it was raining. After ascending for half an hour when the moss lined trees with their branches spreading out in all directions made it like a fairy tale walk, suddenly we experienced snow pouring down on us. There was a trekking trail but not a lined path. The gradient increased and it was an ascent throughout. The distance between the bridge and Thansing is 2kms.
We reached Thansing at the end of the climb. We were told that Thansing is a big meadow and greenery all around, but when we reached there, it was all white. We directly parked ourselves in the dinning tent since we didn’t have anything to do as the weather was pretty bad outside. We were chitchatting inside the tent and waiting for the snow storm to be settled. The storm stopped around 4 PM and the view outside was mind blowing. The blue sky, the white carpet and the big mountains created a mesmerizing ambiance which can be a lifetime memory for any trekker.
We had plan for star gazing and clicked few photographs of star trail after the evening snacks but there was not much luck as the clouds ruined our plan again. Sipra told us her summit stories. We were quite relaxed since the next day was not going to be that challenging. It was too cold outside and we decided to jump inside our cozy sleeping bags.
Day 7 – Thansing to Lamuney (11th May, 2018)
It was a sunny day and the view at Thansing was spectacular. The horses giving pose for us on the white carpet and big mountains in the backdrop was a delight for any photographer.
It was quite a leisure day for us since we only had to walk for two hours to reach Lamuney (13743 ft). We started walking on the beautiful meadow towards Lamuney around 9:30 AM. There was a big rocky patch on our left side and it was quite a debate among us if anybody can do a solo climbing on it or not. There was not much ascend today and it felt like we were walking in a park and we reached our campsite.
This was a first time we reached our campsite so early. Varun taught us how to pitch the tent and then we executed the lesson and pitched our own tent with help of Varun, Arpan da, Sanjeet and Budha ji. There was a stream flowing beside our campsite and that was quite like a picnic spot. We, the lazy trekkers formed Goechala Cricket Association and we had a nail biting match between the trekkers 7 and the porters 7 at Lamuney International Stadium. After lunch, Varun said that we were going to pray for a successful summit and Arpan da created a stupa with stones. We prayed there at 5 PM for a good weather and our safe return from the summit.
We were having fun in the dining tent and the most mysterious thing happened. Shivani was sleeping inside her tent and an old Tibetan lady came to her to give her blessings. When we asked the porters they said not a single local woman was there in the campsite. We were told that few mysterious incidents happens in this campsite but there is nothing to be worried about since it is a good omen.
One thing we could understand that day, that the strongest bond created among the group of people when they are scared. The concept of pee buddy was introduced at the very first day of the trek and it states that no one should go alone to pee in the night and take one of his tent mate with him, but who could sacrifice sleep for his tent mate’s nature call. Once we heard about the old lady, we asked every guy in the group if he wants to join and we went to pee together with our head torch on.
We were standing under sky full of stars though the view was not much clear and Varun taught us the proper way of star gazing. We had to wake up at 1 AM to start our summit at 2 AM, so we didn’t hang around much and went to sleep.
Day 8 – Lamuney to View Point One via Samiti Lake, back to Kockchurang (12th May, 2018)
We woke up around 1 AM and the sky was hypnotic. I could never see so many stars and we could actually spot the Milky Way with our naked eyes. We didn’t waste a minute and took our tripods out. We started around 2:30 AM. The trail ascends from Lamuney and the terrain was rocky all through the ascend. We reached Samiti Lake after ascending for an hour and we rested there for few minutes. It was again ascend till view point one (16100 ft) and there was no sign of a tree or shrubs in this high altitude region. It was a rock-strewn terrain all through the journey. The air was quite rare and it was biting cold. We had to breathe deep and fast. We slowed to a step a second with one breath per step, climbing slowly but steadily up to the last point.
We reached View point 1 around 5 AM, 15 minutes before the sunrise. We had climbed from 5600 feet at Yuksom to 16100 feet in 6 days and this was the final destination. Our plan was to leave campsite early so that we could stay a little longer in the view point and experience the serenity. It was an amazing feeling to experience the spectacular view after the strenuous journey. With mount Pandim behind us, we could see a glimpse of the mighty Kanchejanga up ahead of us. The sight of sun rays on the snow clad peaks was unreal and a treat for the eyes.
We slowly made our way down, it was pretty easy after having successfully climbed up to our destination. We spent some time at Samiti Lake on our way back to admire the last few moments at this heaven. Samiti lake has crystal clear turquoise colored water with a small path that goes all around. We laid around on the big rock along the lake shore, resting till the other trekkers made their way down. We couldn’t spot any mountain goat near the Lake but we spotted few kind of exotic birds there, one kind of migratory birds flew all the way from Siberia to let us capture their photos. Having the parathas brought by Priyanka at the shore of pristine blue lake was feeling like a dream, it was a treat for accomplishment and her birthday treat too.
We reached Lamuney around 8:30 AM and we had plenty of time in our hand since Varun said that we would leave for Kockchurang around 12:30 PM. What else do you want from life when you can have a friendly cricket match in a beautiful meadow at the height of 13743 ft and yes, we had a great time. There was another surprise for us, they prepared Luchi (poori) and dum aloo in lunch. Being a Bengali lad, Luchi – aloordom after the summit followed by a cricket match, oh dear!! I was already in heaven.
We started descending to Kockchurang around 12:30 PM. Once we reached Thansing, we could see a totally different view which was no way related to the view we had seen two days back. The beautiful green meadow surrounded by big mountains was indeed a treat for eyes and we had seen two different beauty of that same place now – the white carpet and the green carpet.
It was a straight descend till Kockchurang from Thansing. We couldn’t see much while coming to Thansing due to the snow storm, but the journey through the forest and watching the peaks from a distance created a beautiful memory while going back. Burbling sound of Prekchu river was so soothing and appropriate with the view around us that one can instantly falling in love with this place.
In the evening, we celebrated Priyanka’s birthday and then played Mafia in the hut which was a hell of a time we spent together. I can never forget the emotional dialogue from Perth – “Gaonwalon!! Mafia nahi hu main. Agar mujhe maroge to sorry zarur bolna” and the justification from Sarth when he was accused of being a Mafia reminds me of the bollywood hero - Sunny Deol.
There are many mysterious stories about the Kockchurang trekker’s hut. We were asked not to step outside alone after 7 PM. It is said that many trekkers who were hit by AMS or fallen sick at the high altitude died in this hut during their night stay while rescuing back to Yuksom and there are many mysterious thing happens around the hut at night. Jose heard some creepy sound near our hut at midnight.
Day 9 – Kockchurang to Tshoka (13th May, 2018)
We started around 8 AM and we took the diversion to the left inside the forest. The trail remains mostly flat with small descend and ascend only to switch between mountains. Rhododendron trees lined our way all along and the Prekchu flows below. We got lovely views on our left of Mt. Pandim and its neighbours. Few of us went ahead of the group and were walking silently so that we could watch martins and red pandas but we couldn’t spot one.
The trail went on the flank on the mountain all along and we moved from one mountain to another to another maintaining a constant altitude of 12,000 ft all along. Phedang was 10 km away from Kockchurang and this was one of the longest trails between two points, it took us four hours to reach. We stopped at Phedang for lunch and waited for others to join us. It was a steep descent to Tshoka through the mossy forest and took around two hours for us to reach our campsite at Tshoka.
We kept our backpacks at the tent and directly went to the café where we had delicious wiwi and momos to make our taste buds happy. We were very much interested to try the local beer but controlled ourselves since we were on trek. Girish, Varun, Mehul and me had a very serious discussion over a cup of coffee with the café owner uncle, about the political scenario of the country and how it affects Sikkim. It started raining in the afternoon and we had nothing much to do, so we decided to have dinner early and leave early next morning around 6 AM as our plan was to visit the Yuksom monastery once we reach Yuksom.
Day 10 –Tshoka to Yuksom (14th May, 2018)
Our plan was to start early but it was raining heavily since last evening and there was no visibility at all. We waited for some time for the rain to be stopped but no luck and we started descending to Yuksom around 9 AM. It was quite long walk but not much tiring since it was only descend. We reached Bhakim after an hour and half and had some tea there. The weather became clear and we could see sunshine after we reach Bhakim and the view of Yuksom valley from Bhakim was spectacular.
Me, Amit and Jose were dreaming to have chicken at the Gorkha Restaurant in Yuksom and were literally running on the trail. It was an easy descend through the jungle till we reached Sachen and it started raining again. We rested there for some time. We started our walk again once the rain minimized after some time. It was one of the creepiest yet beautiful walk through the dense forest in the foggy weather. The only steep ascend of the day was when we crossed the suspension bridge over the Prekchu river. I was coming with Arpan da and he told me a lot of stories about the history of Sikkim which are quite informative. It took almost two hours from Sachen and we reached Yuksom around 2 PM.
We had a debriefing session at 5 PM where we all shared our experiences and Varun handed over the certificates to us for successfully completing Goechala trek. We had a great celebration at Gorkha Restaurant in Yuksom where we tried Chang - the local wine and had delicious sikkimese cuisine.
Day 11 – Leaving Yuksom. (15th May, 2018)
It was the time to say goodbye to this lovely place and these amazing people. Almost every one left by 6:30 AM and promised to meet again at some other slopes of mighty Himalaya. I thought to visit Pelling since I had one more day to be with the mountains and Abhay joined me.
If you want to know about Pelling, here is the link -
Thanks for the kind words Sushmita.....it is indeed a magical place....stay connected and keep supporting.
A very nicely written blog with mind blowing pictures! Looking forward to more such exciting travel stories.
Thank you skboralcal8. I am glad that you like the blogs. Stay connected.
Thanks a lot All About Healthy People. It means a lot when it comes from you. Stay connected and keep supporting. More blogs are on the way !!
Beautiful journey and Mesmerising beauty of the place, aptly captured through words. I love your travelogs. Fantastic wanderlust and equally fantastic photography! Thanks for the post Sourav.