UNWINDING IN SIKKIM

Shedding our inhibitions and leaving urban Singapore behind we set out to explore Sikkim's narrow serpentime roads, sheer cliffs, serrated mountains and turbulent rivers.

Our 2 week tour cum trek was organised by a Sikkimese tour company, Foothills Adventure with whom we had corresponded for over a year. The company based in the capital Gangtok conducted business with the simple faith of innocent folks such is life like in Sikkim. Though small and obscure they were no fly-by-night operators and we found to our delight that we were not expected to pay a single cent until the last day of our trip.

Our holiday started with a trek at the hamlet of Yuksam,which is the base of all treks in West Sikkim. Yuksam meaning three lamas derives its name from the historical meeting of the three Learned Lamas who came togeter for the coronation of Sikkim's first king in 1641. A stupa and monastery has beern erected to mark this consecrated spot and the stone throne from the first coronation is still intact.

THE TREK

Yuksam-Dzongri

Most treks from Yuksam are bound for Dzongri, a two-day march away. The trail winds steeply though pure wilderness of pine, rhododendron, fir and oak forests,of waterfalls and streams. Not surprisingly, rare creatures like the red panda, blue sheep and snow pigeon make their home here.

Unlike Nepalese treks this was no Kleenex trail! According to the park warden,the routes are kept in pristine condition by constant cleaning and maintenance, not forgetting the relatively smaller number of trekkers.

Sunlight hours are short in late Autumn and each day we had to reach our destination before 5pm or face the ordeal of groping round cliffs and ravines in total darkness.

At 4030m Dzongri is the place for closeup views of Mt. Kanchenjunga, the third highest Himalayan mountain, where we were headed. But we never arrived there, as at various points of time, members of our group of six fractious individuals, ages 12-50 succumbed to illness, fatigue as well as a broken toe.

The Tibetan Villlage of Tshoka

However we made a refreshing two-day stop at the tiny Tibetan village of Tshoka,the last inhabited settlement on the route. There our accommodation was a simple trekkers' lodge, a short distance from the village.It was spartan lodging, but we weren't complaining because behind the lodge were the snowy peaks of Kanchenjungaand Pandim Whenever the clouds parted - unfortunately not often it was like the God's smiling down on us. In fact in Sikkim, Kanchenhunga is worshipped as a God and considered the Abode of Gods. That's why foreign expeditions attempting to scale this mountain are obliged to stop short of the summit in deference to local beliefs.Tshoka village stands at 3200m and consists of ten tibetan homesteads and one monastery, clustered on a slope.Wooden hedges fence in a rural scene of vegetable and potato plots, grazing horses and women hoeing the land.

Over all this ascetic Buddhist prayer flags flutter in the wind, mutely beseeching the heavens.There's no electricity and running water and the temperature is a numbing -2 degree.Life is surely not easy so it must be our urban minds that paint utopic pictures of rustic living. But for our group who did not have to get up early to tend to animals or the land, the mornings were quite sublime - with frost on the ground and the whole world locked in a quietness so deep, one could break one's heart just listening to the sounds of silence.

Walking with Devotees to Kechoepalri Lake

After the Holy Mountain, our next stop was the sacred Kechoepalri Lake also known as the 'Wish-Fulfilling Lake. Although its set in the middle of a wood and surrounded by dense foliage, not a single leaf disturbs its clear, blue-green waters. The birds inhabiting the nearby forests are said to act as 'guardians' by removing any waste which falls into the lake.

Kechoepalri the Wish Fulfilling Lake

Prayer flags strung from trees formed a hallowed canopy overhead, while below holy stupas lined the path leading to the lakeside. Together they created a spiritual mood.This caused devout pilgrims to tread quietly, as they came bearing unworldly gifts - fistful of wild blossoms,incense sticks,butter lamps and prayer flags. The pervasive religious mood was enchanting and we soon found ourselves shedding our cynicism and citylife complexities, and joined in with the devotees to cast our wishes - actually believing all our dreams would come true.

The Wheels and Road Journey:

Pemayangtse

A two hour drive led us to Pemayangtse,the old Sikkimese capital, another ideal spot for mountain reflection and where on a clear day you can see the mountains forever.

Perched just above the town the Pemayangtse Monastery is Sikkim's second oldest monastery. It features beautiful wall frescoes and shelves lined with holy sutras. Especially beautiful is the Santhokpelri, a huge wooden structure depicting a vision of Paradise, which occupies one room on the topmost storey. The holy man, Dunzin Ringpoche,was the inspiration behind this feat of art which was entirely handcarved and took five years to complete.

Gangtok

Our last stop was Gangtok, the Sikkimese capital. With a population of 45,000, this is the only place in Sikkim that actually bustles and looks crowded. Standing 1,520m high, the town is built on a slope, with modern houses tumbling down in haphazard fashion. In contrast, are the bazaars teeming with local color - and they are the nucleus of life in Gangtok. Our group picked up some good bargains - woollen goods, Sikkimese tea, Tibetan handicrafts and religious objects.

Gangtok Street Scene

Sikkim's largest and most active monastery - Rumtek Monastery is 24km away from Gangtok. The buildings are modelled on its original headquarters in Tibet and are a good example of Tibetan architecture shimmering in resplendent colours of red, gold and turquoise.

Rumtek Monastery

Such is the religious lure of Rumtek that it has drawn a Singaporean within its monastic walls. This lama whom we had the affinity to meet has overcome the cultural differences and language problems and adapted to the meditative life in Rumtek

TREKKING IN NEPAL

Why I chose to trek in Langtang with my 5 year old.

Wayfarers on the high road to Langtang

"....... the rain was coming down in sleets making the treacherous steps cut into the cliffside look like a nightmare of loose rubble, soggy mud and shifting sand on which we had to test the agility and tenacity of our feet and muscles.My guaranteed non-slip Clarks soles were certainly taking a beating as I stumbled and slithered on the tricky slope. The sound of waterfall crashing off the 800 foot cliff which we were ascending, would under normal circumstances been beautiful but was in this instance more of a threat and did nothing to soothe my jagged nerves. I was fighting a head cold, a bad throat and a raging fever equivalent to the raging heavens and torrents. Some fool traveler had described this part of the trek as 'a walk through a pleasant gully' The brochure's description of 'an almost vertical cliff, 800 feet in height' was more accurate but still wide off the mark in this foul weather. Guilty pangs mulled with fearful ones as I thought of my 5 year old somewhere ahead perched perilously on the shoulders of Klipa our cook......."

from an excerpt in my diary describing the misadventures on the fourth day of our trek to Langtang in the northern corner of Nepal.

Why I wanted to trek in Nepal, especially with a five year old in tow was one of those difficult to answer questions.Nepal can sometimes be viewed as an unsafe destination full of dreaded diseases, perils and unknown dangers to which you certainly didn't drag your 5 year old. But if the truth be told I was really inspired by this gusty Irish woman D. Murphy who had taken her 6 year old on a three month winter odyssey in the mountains of remote Baltistan. Her book Where the Indus is young was what really started me off.

In trying to emulate this adventurous stalwart, though on a very small scale (my trek was only of 12 days) I had gravely overrated myself. A citified Singaporean like me cannot quite measure up to the likes of Ms Murphy. I also did not bargain for falling ill, the incredibly punishing terrain, or the vast and daunting distances to be covered. My little boy however had less problems. He was certainly well entertained chasing all the chickens, goats and kittens that we came across in the villages. He had a fun time too, playing peek a-boo with the Nepalese crew though usually by mid afternoon black moods and tantrums were not uncommon.

Intrepid Hans, age 5

Our family of three and crew of nine included a guide, a sherpa, a chief cook, a sub cook a kitchen boy and 4 porters to carry our loads. Compared to Ms Murphy team of 2 we were indeed a pampered lot !

We had opted for the Langtang route because of it's nearness to Kathmandu, the acceptable number of days and because the Upper Langtang Valley had been billed as offering one of Nepal's most spectacular scenery. Langtang is a narrow valley which lies south of the Tibetan border sandwiched between the main Himalayan range to the North and slightly lower range of snowy peaks to the south. Langtang Village at 11,500 feet is just below the foot of the Langtang Himal at 23,776 feet. This high and isolated valley is inhabited by people of Tibetan origin.

Our Langtang trek was of 12 days duration. We took 6 days to walk to Langtang, including 4 hours of jeep ride to the trail head at Betrawati (this was before the days of the motorised road which now connects Kathmandu with Syabru) had a free day in Langtang and took 5 days to do the return journey.

TREKKING IN NEPAL DAY 1-3

Day 1: Betrawati - Manigoan

A 4hr jeep ride from Kathmandu took us to our trailhead, Betrawati at 2,200ft. We stopped briefly at this hamlet for lunch. Here, my little boy is surveying his vast, new playground

Betrawati Lunch Stop

From Betrawati we set off on our trek, overburdened with our baggages, tents, food and members. Here, our motley crew on one of our numerous Stop-Breaks.

The key ditty on a Nepali trek is, Break, Break, Break, otherwise your limbs would Ache, Ache, Ache !

Trailing the Trisili Khola, we finally made it to the alpine valley of Manigoan, our first overnight campsite at 4,000ft

Manigoan Day 2: Thare - Ramche

Our journey was not without thrills which presented itself just after morning tea break of Day2 when we were faced with a dizzy terrain of loose rock and scree with barely a foothold in some places and featuring sheer drops of hundreds of feet in others. This was the place we dubbed, the Danger Cliff where the track had been wiped out by landslide. The sherpa bore my little one on his shoulders and incredibly seemed to sail across while I had to go down almost on all fours and crawled over to where the good track meets the rubble.

Danger Cliff

After clearing the Danger Cliff we passed the village of Ramache at 5,500ft. Pressing on to Thare at 6,600ft our second overnight stop we encountered more lost remote villages

Sweet slumbering valleys on route to Ramche

Remote villages on the trek to Thare 6,600ft

Day 3: Dunche

...the hills are alive with the sound of laughter, and of songs and of faith ......Buddhist shrines and stupas dot the hillsides enroute to Dhunche. The Nepalese love singing and despite their heavy loads they would still sing their hearts out making the countryside reverbrate with the sound of music. Our group also carried a small hand drum and marching to the sound of drumbeats certainly made our loads lighter.

the hills are alive ...

The zinc and wooden rooftops in this village are weighted down with rocks.
The villagers are drying chillis, pounding corn, cutting wood.

TREKKING IN NEPAL DAY 4-5

Day4: Syabru

Setting off from Dhunche, we had to descend to river level before climbing up a vertical cliff some 800ft. high to reach the Syabru track on the opposite mountain. It would be a tough haul and the inclement weather did nothing to help.Though I was the last one up, with great effort, I finally crested the top of the cliff. After a brief respite and the rains abated, we trekked on to Syabru village at 7500ft.

Syabru Valley
Syabru Campsite at 7500ft. Its a rather busy spot with trekkers converging from different nationalities - Canadian, French, Polish, American, German and Iceland. We camped in front of the Langtang Himal Hotel


The Langtang Himal Hotel is a stone and wooden hut. It offers sleeping accommodation on wooden floor boards where trekkers could unroll their sleeping bags. Nonetheless it is a sweet little cottage with carved latticed windows sporting flower boxes. Inside this humble little abode are handsome wooden cabinets, chest and cupboards, all elaborately carved. The lookout from the windows on to the mountains more than made up for the discomfort, if any.

Langtang Himal Hotel

Day5: Chongong

Chongong Campsite at 9,000ft. We pitched our tents among the rocks and low drifting clouds, in front of the Lama hotel. Nearby there is a sort of pond which we treated as some kind of swimming pool and had our first full cleansing after 5 days on the trek.

Chongong Campsite

TREKKING IN NEPAL DAY 6-12

Day 6-7 Langtang

Walking beside the Langtang Khola, in the company of firs and conifers, we slowly made our way until we were past the tree-line and the mountains were barren, rocky and cloud-swept.

A water-driven prayer wheel spanning a stream at the entrance of Langtang village.
"...spiritual purposes are served by many natural phenomena - not only wind, but also water and earth. A prayer wheel can, for example be driven by the current of a stream, where it will spin endlessly, imparting to the waters the aura of its prayers. Its spiritual influence will thus extend from stream to river, and thence to the sea, and may even return to the earth once more in the form of rain...." wrote Olivier Follmi in his wonderful book Where heaven and mountains meet.

A mani wall, composed of dry stone slates inlaid with Buddhist prayers near the village of
Langtang. The inscribed prayer is simply "Om Mani Padme Hum" or "Hail the Jewel in the Lotus" repeated over and over again, a most powerful mantra.

Langtang Village, 12,00 0 ft

Arriving at Langtang village, 12,000ft, we spent a quiet day relaxing, walking to the village monastery, lolling on the boulders and simply exulting with the mountains, rocks, stones and sky. In the evening our campfire dinner attracted the villagers,especially when someone struck the drums, many came running out for an impromptu dancing session.

Day 8-12 Return Journey

The return journey was no less of a penance. Going downhill doesn't hurt your lungs or put so much strain on your muscles but what it does to your knees is another story. Going downhill is also far more tricky than ascent as the not too infrequent bumps to my bottom will testify. We took 5 days to backtrek all the way to Betrawati. The alternative route involved going over high mountain passes which was not feasible for us. At trek's end we were several pounds lighter, blistered and bruised but still we counted ourselves lucky for having undertaken one of the most memorable trips of our lives.

Route Map