Day out with Nature in Sikkim.... Part II

After spending a few hours near the river and grabbing lunch at Tenzing's farm, we were off to a beach of sorts. Along the way, we drove near a raging waterfall, that seemed to put even the Niagara falls to shame... The bends and curves on the raw roads had us holding on to our seats, and finally we reached a point where there was no road ahead... It was all water..

On the right was a mountain range and ahead was what the locals call "The beach". Came to know that there was a enormous landslide in 2016 which led to the formation of the beach. The Mantam landslide in 2016 has created an artificial lake in the river Rongyoung by almost blocking the river. A massive silt-sand bar has been formed which the local people call the ‘beach’ is what Tenzing told us when I probed. There was a also a bridge that helped people get to the other side which was washed away and now in its place sits a make shift metal bridge. So, people looking to go to the village beyond the river, come by car, get off where we had parked, on this side of Dzongu, walk through waist deep water, with coolies [ local boys who carry their luggage] , get into another car waiting on the other side in the sand and make their way beyond... 

Tenzing told us this is the beach, and we would be doing some fly fishing here. I was tad sceptical, considering the water was flowing albeit in a peaceful pace. But then, throwing caution to wind, decided to join the others, with the bamboo fishing pole acting as my third leg. The water was till my mid thighs [ am 6ft tall], so for Tenzing who is under 5ft, it was nearly chest high. The sand was white, with pebbles strewn all across [ from what must have been once been the river bed]. It was fun walking on the sand, enjoying the flowing river on one side and nothing but emptiness on the other side. We paused for a while along the water, when a cute pup came over to say hello.

Btw, on the other side of the river is the remaining part of the beach, and one can access it via the makeshift wooden bridge, and doing a bit of trek along the water.. I passed up on the opportunity and chilled by myself for a while near the water. Soon after, one of the girls came back and suggested we head back to the van, which is when we noticed the water levels had gone up quite a bit. It was now till my waist... We did see lorries/heavy duty trucks drive through the water to the road, dripping oil into the water, making it dirty... 

After an hour or so, the others returned and we made our way back to the property [with thoughts of the steps lingering in my mind all through the journey, but this time it was lot easier than the 1st two..yayy] Phew, what a fun day it had been~!! Talk about pushing boundaries and doing things I would never have gotten to do... 

And onto another story.... stay tuned...

Day out with Nature in Sikkim.... Part I

A day out at River Rungkyung and beyond...

It had been about 4 days in Sikkim, and we were just done exploring Yumthang Valley and Zero Point.. From there, we were headed to another destination where we would be spending not one but two days, yes, probably the 1st time we were spending more than a day at a location/property. We were driving towards Dzongu, which was supposed to be quite untouched and inside a forest area. It was around 6 by the time we got there, and there was nothing but darkness surrounding us. On either side was thick forests, with a few mountains along with bumpy non existent roads. 

After about an hour inside the Dzongu region, we finally came to a halt. I saw on the right side a flight of stairs that went into the dark, beyond which lay the property we were staying at. Armed with our rucksacks and backpacks we made our way up the flight of steps. This was probably the one time when I had a bit of difficulty but the guys in my group, our driver and one of the guys from the property stuck with me, gave me immense support to reach the top. Infact, they were my pillars the next two days. 

This property belonged to Tenzing and his wife, the rooms we stayed was perched on top of stilts, almost like a tree house, looking over endless forest around. It was cool, green and felt like we were high up in the hills. The 2nd day, our host announced he had a full day planned for us. He was going to take us fishing to the river, cook us a meal right there, and then serve us lunch at his farm, before taking us beyond to see all that the region had to offer. 

We were fascinated, curious and well, I was tad anxious [ the thought of dealing with the steps, not once but twice was daunting].. Next morning, after breakfast, dressed in casual shirt and 3/4th with nothing but my wallet and camera, I joined the others down the stairs. The River Rungkyung was a few kms away, and a short walk from the main road [near the bridge], down some rugged path.  

Was I glad I made the trip.. The river was beautiful, crystal clear water flowed down the boulders, surrounded by hills and greenery. The water was cold, and I managed to walk to the middle where others were standing.. Soon after our host came armed with couple of beers and some meat, which he proceeded to cook in a makeshift barbeque of sorts right there on the banks of the river.  Being vegetarian, two of us stood by as the guys dug into the meat.. The beer was good~! 

We spent have been by the river for a good 5-6hours when Tenzing announced it was time to head to his farm for lunch. What he dint mention was that involved quite a bit of trek downhill, on steps paved out of the mountain.. lolz.. With the help of the guys, and a long bamboo stick, I made it alive to his little house near the farm. The property had been carved out of the mountain, and one room had a natural bathtub in it. 

Soon hot cases arrived, then came plates and cutlery and voila, our lunch was served. Many of the dishes were made using greens that had been foraged from the area around the property. From the property a few yards down slippery slope was the river, we could hear it raging away.. We happily lounged for a while, before we were told it was time to leave and explore more of the region and maybe do some fishing as well. 

Phew, we did so much that day, I am still reeling from it. stay tuned, shall share more in the next post... 

Flags across Sikkim

Since the trip to Leh, Ladakh I have been in love with the prayer flags dancing to the wind... In Sikkim too, I saw them everywhere.. Some parts of the mountain,  have a row of single coloured flags, most of them are white and then in other places there are multi coloured flags.. Near the lake and mountains, saw plenty of smaller flags [like in Leh]... 

Some interesting facts about these flags that I learnt during both the trips,

~The Flags are of 8 different colours, each with a specific significance~The flags should never touch the ground~There are vertical and horizontal flags

~The flags should also be dancing in the wind, they shouldnt be still.~If the colour on the flag fades it is actually a good omen~These flags are best received as a gift..

Here are some flags from the trip 

[some might be blurred, cos I tried clicking them from moving car]... 

Drama in the skies... headed to Bagdogra

That was that, I had decided I was doing the trip to Sikkim. Next came the dilemma of travel, whether I wanted to fly direct to Bagdogra [a town in the Darjeeling district of West Bengal] or maybe to Kolkatta and then take an overnight bus/train.. Ultimately settled on direct flight to Bagdogra [ with stop over of 2.5hrs in Kolkata]. 

Upon landing in Bagdogra, we had to walk across the short distance to the airport.. I then managed to grab my rucksack, got out, found the driver/vehicle and headed out to pick up others. This is when I discovered this airport is located right next to Tea plantations.. :-) It was a pleasant surprise seeing the plantation!!

Sikkim Itinerary  

    The flight I took... 

For those who know me, window seat on a flight is my thing. And so here too I managed to snag window seat on both legs of the onward journey... here are some shots taken during the time I managed to stay awake...