On the fifth day of my trek, I began hiking with a local man through the deep forest at 3 am on January 19th to catch the sunrise view of Kanchenjunga and the surrounding mountain range, including Mount Everest. I had only met him twelve hours prior and didn't know his name, but he had been hosting me in his home.
This is what real adventure looks like to me. I'm not sure what it looks like to you. I'm hiking through the jungle with a local man who doesn't even understand me – what am I getting myself into?
On the night before the hike, my guide fell ill and couldn't accompany me, so he assigned my host and his wife to be responsible for my homestay, breakfast, and dinner. They were really good people and whatever they brought me to eat in the middle of nowhere in Nepal was really great.
On the fifth day of my trip, I stayed in a remote village in Nepal called Gorowale Vanjhan. It is a small village with five houses, and the main source of living is raising pigs or cows and cultivating rice in the mountains. Sometimes visitors come here and they offer hospitality in return for some money.
You may be wondering how I got there. Here's the story:
Since 2020, I had always wanted to see the mountains, but never had the chance to visit due to the pandemic. In 2022, I visited Kedarnath Temple. I had seen the mountains then, but it didn't satisfy me because I had visited during monsoon in the middle of August. All the clouds and rain didn't give me the view I wanted. I wanted to go on an adventure, but Kedarnath was only 10% of what I wanted.
In December I planed for Sandakphu Tek with my travel buddy, The plan was that we will go on January 2023. because it was a good time to whitness snow fall. When january appered I started to loose hope that my friend will ever joined me and the plan will going to be canceled as every plan goes. but I wanted to visit sandakhphu badly so i decide that I will go solo,
On January 13 I am waiting on the railway station from my train to NJP, My train was late by 6 hours and I had the worst railway exprince in my life. They gave me general compertment but I had reservation ticket, With a lot of worse exprince in the train on 14 january I arrived at NJP in 6:30 in the morning , after having a tea I straith look for a shere Taxi for Mane Bhanjan But unfortunetly I there was no direct taxi avalable to mane bhanjan , Either you have to go mirik or Ghoom from there you need to take another car to mane Bhanjan. The best optation is just go Mirik and then took another Taxi but as I don’t know it yet I took the messy route via Ghoom, From Ghoom it’s kind of difficult to find another car , But fortunetly I got a shere taxi and the Driver is from Mane Bhanjan so I can go directly to there if not then I have to raech Shukiya Pokhri and from There I have take another Taxi, Interms of my exprince Just go Mirik and tehre will be a lot of Taxi avalable it’s less hassel free.
At 12 pm in the noon I arrived at Mane bhanjan found a guide and stayed at his home for that night , Homestay system is very common in nepal and the northen part of west bengal where people will allow you to stay in there home and offer you food in return of money. I stayed there and discus the guide charge and the itienary of the trek with my guide and Interms of pricing Sandakphu is really a little expensive then other treaks in india. On avarage it will cost around 15000 rupees per person on a very basic level ofcoure if you are in group it will cost less but in my case I was alone it’s cost me more than above. At that poin i have to decide either i will return from there and go to darjelling or I will go for Sandakphu trek , I choose the second one .
January 15 at 8:30 in the morning after having breakfast I started my trek but there is a little problem before that I did’t plan for the trek so I did’t bring cash with me at Mane Bhanjan UPI is avalable but during the trek it will be only cash zone , the last ATM was at Shukiya Pokhri and I was little worried about the cash there was an ATM at mane Bhanjan but It was out of servise so My guide mannage it from a local grocery shop where I send them 10,000 via Upi and they gave me 9800 after taking a little transction fee for them.
One the frist day of my trek it was very difficult for me the road was very step and i was unexprianced , and the weather was really cloudy did’t get to see anything, After 5 to 6 hours of hiking I finally reached Tumling which is 12 Km from Manebhanjang, We stayed there overnight in a hotel, from this moment I was very disapointed for not seeing anything good but when I woke up after a quick nap and go outside for I was mesmarize!! the sky is clear I can clearly see The Kanchanjanja mountain range, I quickly grab my camera from my room and reach straight to the view point I am just a fiew minuits earlyer from the sunset, The sun rayes hiting the mountain range a red light hit on the sleeping buddha and it was the most beautifull expriance I ever had , I took a lot of images I didn’t wear my gloves and the wind is like spanted knife , at that moment I felt that the whole day is just worth it .
On the second day at tumling I repeated the same thing in the morning go out for the sunrise got a lot of images at very early in the morning after that we had our breakfast and paid the hotel and start our next day hiking which was to Kali Pokhri which is 13 Km from Tumling.
Before you reach Kala Pokhri from Tumling there was a Singalila national park entry point wher you have to pay an entry fee which is 120 rupees for one person and you have to show them UIDAI card for proof of Identi , after that it just walking and walking though it was a clear day beacause we are on the other side of the mountain I didn’t get to see anything, At 2:30 I reached at Kala Pokhri, Kala pokari is just a small aria which is situated inbetween Nepal and India and Both side of Army has camp, The name Kala Pokhri was named beacuse there is a small holy pond on the front of the aria which water is Black In Hindi Black means Kala and pond means Pokhri , Kala Pokhari has no view point of the Himaliyan peaks and is very windy place , I stayed at homestay for that night meet some amazing guy who are from kolkata and run a Tour agancy. We eat dinner toghter that night ,
one thing I need to informe you that after you left Mane Bhanjan you will be in no network zone , and all of you sim card is out of servise but fortunetly I got Wifi form both hotels,
The next day We start walking away from Kala Pokhari to sandakphu it was a quite beautiful but very hard on the end part which is very steap but after that hard part it worth is , Sandakphu will offer you the most beautiful view of the kanchanjangha ,
for some hikers this is the last destination tafter that they will return from Sandakphu via dorthi and the trek will going to End there and others will visit Phalut which will offer a greater view of The sleeping Buddha ,
This where my journey has started which I have told you before
We stayed that night near ale view point which is 1.5 Km from Sandakhpu, we stayed at a homes stay the hospitality was great but because there was no elicticity I was little worried How do I charged my camera ,I had some great expriance there after that my guide told me about a night trek in nepal and a waterfall in the Illam distric, I can’t reaist my temptation so I decide go along this plan ,
Next day we started from alle and now it’s hiking through the forest on the down hill,
It’s just two people and nobody there , moving through the rodwoden froest I was immagineing that what it will look like during Spring when all the trees will filled with red flowers it’s makes me feel that I wanted to camoe here next time in the month of march or April,
after a long hike we eached a place call Goro wale Bhanjan which in situtated in the Sandakpur rural Minuisipality from there where I started the night trek
But all the fun and adaventure is not over yet after the trek we start walking our next destination is Torke Jharna which is 15 km from Gorowle Bhajan and the whole hike is now gownhill throught some rough train of bamboo forest
It was an amezig expriance for me, Throughout the whole trek I saw a world which is different in every manner then the world I used to see, the rural villages of nepal felt like a movie set from the hobbits , people minding their own buiseness working on the field from morninh to evening. they had there own world which prosperd with life they didn’t have to worry about anything rather than food and stay, they very socialished and close to their famaly and friends , and Their home are a kind of wonder nothing less than a 5 star hotel kitchin filled with bronz and china plates and bowl , every house gardenn filled with colourfull flowers it,s like an ornaments of indian goddes , they hervest everything they needed to eat and their water supply is just one of a kind , the pipe network works like the most advance cities , meny famaly grows their own Tea , on some days they make different objects out of bamboo in many wayes they already replase plastic with bamboo , plastic is really hard to find in this areas, i felt that maybe one day I wiill come here and shattel forever the place where sorrow and pain will nevber touch me a place where only love prosper , a place where times run slow .
after visiting the torke waterfalls we started walking out from there suddenly the road ended there , we scence that something was wrong and we lost in the forest didn’t found any road , it’s already getting late and we are atleast 5 km from Deurali bazar , I started to get afraid what if we didn’t make it tonight , it’s started to getting cold , after wondering around the river for sometimes finaly an old lady appered from somewher I didn;t understand her language but my guide do we ask for the road to deurali Bazar he gave us the dirrection , a small trek path which leads to the top of the hill where we will find a main rode , now it’s just walk and walk to the uphill, but it’s not that straight whenever we reached on a road and weaighting for someone to ask about dirrection we found out that this is not the road we need go more , in confusion we stoped at a house ask an old leady ask her for some water and started to walk again, after an hour of hiking we finaly reached that road and started walking toweards Deurali bazar But bad news didnt stop hear .
after walking for a while , It’s a dead end this road is now under constraction tow heavy meachin is blasting stone from the mountain rocks for making the road more wide , in this situtation we can’t go back, we climed a huage pile of rock there we asked the meachin operator that can they stop for a while so we can pass and agreed upon us , we had to do this again after taht we started walking noramly again, a tractor driver gave us lift for the last 3 km to deurali bazar and helped us to get hotel in that area we stayed there for that night, next day after breakfast we visited a scrated lake and from there straight to ILLAM town from there we took another shere car to Pashupatinath border. At this point my trip offically ended.
after entering to India I return through Mirik to NJP on that same day and the next morning I reached my Home
