Day 3: Darjeeling to Gurdum

Day 3: 17/10/2011

Darjeeling to Gurdum

This was a long day & the Log is equally long. We started the day with a long drive which was an event by itself & by the end of the day we had a day's worth of the Himalayan Trek experience.

Pratap arrived punctually & we reached the Taxi stand. We were to drive to Rimbik which is a 3-4 hour journey from Darjeeling & one of the staging points for the Singalila Trek. The other, more popular staging point, is Manney Bhanjang. The fare to Rimbik is around Rs. 150/-.

As I had mentioned earlier, the Shared Taxi is the life-line of the Darjeeling district. There is a Taxi Association which manages the logistics & so it is not a free-for-all that you would expect. There is a system to the whole thing which includes reserving a spot on the journey a day or two in advance.The taxi is usually a hulking 4-WD, a large Mahindra or Tata vehicle, with at least 3 rows of seats plus the benches at the back in some vehicles. Our vehicle carried 16 people at some point in the journey with 4 in each row. That includes the Drivers seat. Sometimes a young man hitches a ride on the ladder at the back or on the luggage rack. The driver has to lean on his door & the Gear Stick is between the legs of a passenger.

Once off the main road, the drive is along a path motorable only by a 4-WD. The path runs along mountain ridge looking down on the Ramban River Valley. At several spots the path is just boulders & there are spots with mountain streams crossing the road. Fog, mist & rain could add to the experience. Both the vehicle & the driver have to be rugged & fit. Ours were. The driver was also very skillful.

The people who got in at different points were like commuters in an urban car-pool. They seemed to know one another as they said their morning greetings. Being a Monday, it looks as if they are setting out for the weekday stay at their work places before returning to Darjeeling for the weekend. Besides passengers, the Taxi picked up letters, newspapers & parcels along the way.

Our jouney started at 7:00 a.m & took us down the Ramban River valley to Phulbazar. Along the way were several small settlements with terrace farming. The valley is wide & you get large vistas. The houses face the valley & are built from the street level down. People spend a lot of time at the street level & you see their life-style.

We could see the Ramban Hydro-electric project down below. Phulbazaar is a small market town & the residents waved to the Driver & its occupants. There seemed to be a couple of schools in the town & neatly dressed kids were walking to school in their uniforms.

At Pulbazaar, the road approached the river & road took a sharp turn into a suspension bridge with a narrow entrance & wooden planks. The driver took the turn & went through the entrance without missing a beat of the engine. There was just a few of inches to spare between the jeep & the columns holding the cables. I would never have thought that heavy vehicles use the bridge. On the day we were making the return journey a week later a similar bridge nearby in Bhajanbari collapsed killing 30 people. Of course that bridge was over-crowded because of a Mela being held nearby.

From Pulbazar, we started climbing again along the river & reached Rimbik around 11:00. Rimbik Bazar (Elev: 2500 M) is the market area & the biggest town for all the surrounding villages many walking hours away. We went into the Green Hill Hotel, a Trekking Lodge & restaurant ruin by a friendly Tibetan Family. One clue in identifying Tibetans is the poster of Lhasa on the walls. I never found pictures of the Dalai Lama anywhere, although several cars had pictures of the Panchen Lama who is based in Sikkim. I had Veg. Chow Mein made from home-made noodles. The landlady said that it would be better than any 5-star variety & I found no exaggeration in that.

Our plan was to set out from Rimbik to a Forest Camp in the Singalila Forest for the first night. The second day was to take us to Bhikey Bhanjang on the Singalila Ridge. The third day was for the small trek from Bhikey Bhanjang to Sandakphu which is the highest point of the trek. On the fourth day we were to take the long trek from Sandakphu along the Singalila ridge to Phalut at the same elevation with views of the high mountains all along. From Phalut we were to descend to Rambam in the Singalila Forest on the fifth day & finish at Rimbik on the Sixth day. The plan was based on the Bible of Trekkers, the Lonely Planet Guide. Pratap, our guide, had agreed to this plan in Darjeeling & we had set out from Darjeeling with this itinerary in mind.

But now that we were in Rimbik, Pratap put a new spin on the plan. He said that based on his 20 years of trekking these mountains he knew of no Forest Camp on the route to Bhikey Bhanjang. We had an argument, but the locals agreed with Pratap. In that case, could we skip the Forest Camp & go directly to Bhikey Bhanjang today, we asked. Did we have enough time? Could I, a 52 year old, do it? It was a 16km climb to Bhikey Bhanjang. Pratap said we could & we set out on the more ambitious target on the very first day.

No respite for me. We started climbing right away up the hill above Rimbik. The steps were steep & relentless. Rimbik is a Buddhist Village. We walked past houses & farms with Chortems (Stupas) & Buddhist Prayer Flags. The Prayer Flags are either vertical ones on poles or small rectangular one strung on a rope. The rope is usually strung across two of the tallest trees in the neighbourhood. This public display adds colour to the entire area. The houses all have gardens in their front yard with the largest, brightest flowers I have ever seen.

Was Pratap setting too fast a pace because of our ambitious target? Was it the steep climb? The backpack? The altitude? Or simply my age? I was feeling tired after every fifty steps. There were several paths & Pratap seemed to be choosing the steepest. I had to stop ever so often to admire the view & catch my breath. Pratap was encouraging. Daddy, there is no hurry! Nice walk no?

Ever since we had arrived at Rimbik there was loud music blaring. As we climbed above the village the music got nearer. Now we saw the reason behind it. There was a football tournament in progress for the surrounding villages. The music was audible for the next few hours. Even though we walked several KMs, the crow flies shorter & sound travels farther. We also several boys coming in for their matches all along the way. Football is popular in Bengal, but it seemed to be a passion in Gorkhaland. Baichung Bhutia is from neighbouring Sikkim & Sunil Chetri plays for Mohan Bagan & India. Several cars in Darjeeling had banners of EPL teams. People here are certainly hardy & should make good football players.

The Rimbick Governement Primary School. What a lovely sight. Neat playground in front. Classes 1 to 4 with about 7-8 neat kids in each class. There was a teacher & a Principal.

Just outside the settled area was the Santem Monastery. It was locked & perhaps the caretakers were at the football match. I peeped in through the windows to gaze at Buddha & his Companions, then walked upstairs to turn all the Prayer Wheels.

Just about now Pratap started a new tune. He said we were going too slow (he pointed at me!) to reach Bhikey Bhanjang before dark & we should go to Gurdum instead. We demurred. We had torches & we were not afraid of the dark. Pratap said there is nothing much in Bhikey & Gurdum was much nicer. Fortunately, before the discussion got heated, we came to a Forest Office. We put the whole story of the Forest Camp & Bhikey to them. Yes, they said, there was once a Forest Camp on the way to Bhikey, but it had been burnt a few years ago by the Gorkhaland agitators. That settled that. What about the walk to Bhikey? The advise was that it was too far & we should go to Gurdum. That settled that also. Pratap' route change happened. I could not make out where the route was changed from Bhikey to Gurdum as we entered the Singalila Forest.

Hmm. The agricultural clearings were gone. This was forest. We were in the midst of thick vegetation. Tall Oak trees with heavy undergrowth. There was the occasional sound of birds chirping. Through some gaps in the vegetation we could see the hill on the other side of the valley.

We came across our first mountain stream, a small one. Soon there was a larger one fortified by walls & a small bridge to cross it. Lovely. Wasn't this what we came to see & feel. I had to fill my bottle with the cool water. For us city folk there is nothing more exhilarating than clean free flowing water.

In the forest too there was an occasional house. They piped water from the waterfall into the house. There was a contraption to produce enough electricity for a single bulb. The local Self Help Group had put some litter bins & benches along the route. Though the trek is a getaway for us, it is Main Street for the folk here. People use this path to go to Siri Khola & beyond. We came across a woman coming back from a funeral. School kids walk through the forest everyday. Some litter was apparently unavoidable.

After a while we started descending to the river below: the Siri Khola. Across the river, on the hill we could see a few houses with a Church at one end. Khola is river in Nepali. Th Siri Khola flows down towards Rimbik to meet the Rambam river. Siri Khola is also the name of the small village where there is a bridge across the river. From Rimbik we could have reached Siri Khola by walking along the river or taken the route high above through the forest as we did. The path down was steep & slippery at a few places, but as I stepped into firm ground & then onto the Suspension Bridge across the river, I felt the happiness brought about by the tiredness & the lovely surroundings. I plonked my back-pack & sat down on wooden planks with the Tibetan Prayer Flags waving above me. The bridge swayed as a bunch of Kachras (small local horses) crossed followed by a bunch of school girls.

There are a few Trekkers Huts at Siri Khola which is at a kind of junction for various paths. Down the river lay Rimbik & up the river Gurdum. Looking against the flow of the river, up the hill to the right lay Rambam & to the left from where we had come was Bhikey Bhanjang.

There were a bunch of youngsters at one of the Trekkers' Hut who seemed to be from the Youth Hostel Association. We had tea at another Hut where we were to stay on our return trip. It was a welcome break for me.

We now started climbing again, but now along the Siri river. The ridge ran high above the river & we saw a few Buddhist houses below close to the river. We met a few Trekkers coming down from Gurdum & one or two were limping. We crossed the river again & after a climb up we rested on a meadow. Gazing at the high mountains above us, we marveled at the rows of ridges & peaks with the the thick green cover & the clouds sliding through them. We could still hear snatches of the football commentary. After a further walk we came across a family with a few kids. I shared a few pieces of the Orange Candy I was carrying & they ran with me giggling as they showed me the path. I was tiring as Pratap pointed a Blue hut in the distance above us & said that was our destination. Distances have a different meaning here. With no reference to compare sizes, and with the height added to the equation, I have found it difficult to judge distances. But I eventually trudged up the last steps to the Hut. It was around 4:30 in the evening, the light was already dying & it became cold.

It was a long day & I was tired, but the Hut & the welcome we got was lovely. The muscles relaxed as I examined the surroundings. This was the first Hut we stepped into & it was a pleasant surprise. The Hut was made of wood as are most structures here. There was a small garden & the edge had bright flowers. The rooms were cozy & had a couple of comfortable beds with clean linen & 2 large razaais. The toilets were basic but clean. There was no electricity in the rooms, but we there was a bulb in the kitchen & we could charge our phones & Camera. The kitchen & dining area were a different structure. The kitchen fire kept the dining area warm. It was stocked with all the things a traveller would need: Toilet Paper, Mineral Water & plenty of extras like potato chips. There was a bench on a look-out towards the valley & we relaxed with Chai. As night fell, the stars came out & I saw the Milky Way after many years. I dont know what Bhikey would have been like but Gurdum was great.

We met Banerjee, a Technician with the IAF. He had started out from Rimbik as we got there. He had taken the shorter route to Siri Khola & was here much before us. He was travelling alone & he had embarked on the trek on a whim. He was going to Sandakphu as well. There was also a couple from UK who had come down from Sandakphu. The lady was limping; the steep descent had aggravated a knee injury. They were on a 3-month vacation after resigning their jobs! So we had good company to go along with the Soup & Fried Rice in the warm kitchen.