Day 4: Gurdum to Sandakphu

Day 4: 18/10/2011

Gurdum to Sandakphu

We woke up at dawn to another clear lovely day. I went for a small walk to breath in the freshness. I checked out the nearby Chortem & the mountain stream. Naturally most of these Huts are near water sources. I then marveled at the Prayer flags which were strung from the tallest trees. Who climbed to the top of those trees? I sat down to listen to the birds hoping to catch sight of a few. The music was good, but no luck with the sightings.

The Hut provided a half-bucket of hot water for a refreshing bath. Talking of water, the taps in the bathroom in most of these huts are always open. They cannot be closed. They run a pipe from the stream into the hut for its kitchen & bathroom. Essentially, a small part of the stream is diverted into the hut where some human ingredients are added before the water is united with the main stream further down. So, the Mountain streams are great up here, but they add a little something for the villages downstream. Remember this when you feel like filling you water bottle at a pleasant stream! We used Vasu's water purifier on a bucket of stream water to fill up our water bottles.

Breakfast was a warm Tibetan Bread with Jam, Boiled Eggs & Darjeeling Tea. Tibetan bread is like a large fluffy Doughnut. We reluctantly said farewell to the friendly hosts. I liked Gurdum. One can spend a few days here just breathing.

Banerjee joined us on this day’s trek & so we set off up the hill. Gurdum is at an elevation of 2300 M & Sandakphu at 3650 M. It was a warm morning at 8:30 & we had a tough trek ahead. Most trekkers use the Sandakphu, Gurdum, Sirikhola route to descend rather than to climb because of the steepness of the path. We were going against the traffic.

We started climbing & I did not find it as tough as yesterday. Maybe I was getting used to the altitude. The waning moon hung in the sky for us until 10:00. As we climbed up we came to an area which was bare of trees. A forest fire had cleared the area some years ago. The Forest department had planted saplings. However the clear patch gave us great view of 360 deg. of the mountains & valleys. Wonderful!

A big black rock. It is revered as the Siva Rock. There was park bench nearby & we watched a bunch of Kacchras going up hill. They were going to Manney Bhanjang to be used as rides for some tourists. We met a bunch of Bengali Trekkers going down, as well as an Italian Couple. They told us it was steep further up.

Indeed the path was steep. The vegetation was mostly Bamboo. I picked up a bamboo to use as a walking stick. It was long & I used it like a barge pole. It helped. We came across another bunch of youngsters coming down & we exchanged pleasantries with them while the Guides chatted.

Gradually the vegetation changed from Bamboo to more woodier trees & it was getting cooler. Nowhere in the forest did we see a single animal. The only sounds were from an occasional bird.

Lunch was at noon at a meadow. Apparently it was a designated lunch spot because there was some litter & remains of a plum cake. This route is not used by villagers & so the litter is from trekkers. It is good to see all these youngsters doing the trek, but somebody needs to crack the whip on littering. Our lunch was Theplas, Almonds, Cashew & Kismis which we had brought from Hyderabad. It was washed down with Fresh Himalayan Water & Gatorade. I lay down for a few minutes. Too good.

Up here clouds start coming in by noon & accordingly it got cooler. The vegetation also changed. There were trees with fall couloring. Shades of red & yellow areas were added to the green. There was also a few bright flowers which stood out against the green undergrowth. I saw the beginning of rhododendron trees. We had the whole place to ourselves. We did not meet anyone going down & the only the Kachhras & their keepers had passed us & that was ages ago.

For the next hour or so the climb was steep & we were also at higher altitudes. The going got tough. We had to pause more frequently. Around 2:30, Pratap pointed a structure high on the peak. Sandakphu. Do we have to climb that high! I was aghast, but laboured on.

I thought I heard some cries. Was it wild dogs, I wondered aloud. Vasu corrected me. There was the Himalayn Run & Trek underway in the Singalila area. It is a 100 Mile, 5 day Stage race & today's destination was Sandakphu. The cries we heard was the cheering for incoming runners. We must be getting closer. 15 minutes later we crested the hill & the first thing we saw was the finish line for the day's stage. It was 38.6 Km from Manney Bhanjang to Sandakphu via Bhikey. We forgot our tiredness to cheer in a few finishers. They were breathing hard. I could empathise. I had found it tough walking up the 16 odd KMs.

Wow! We were at Sandakphu, the highest point of our trek. Sandakphu is not a village. It is a point on the Indo-Nepal border with a collection of Trekker's Huts on either side of the border. The Sherpa Chalet, a Trekerrs Hut, has a branch on both sides. There is also a camp of the Sashastra Seema Dal.

We dumped our things in our comfortable room & ventured out to try & make phone call home. Signal here is patchy & everyone was looking for points where the signal could be reached. We found a spot from where we could send an SMS home. Sandakphu has no water source nearby. It has to be fetched on a Sherpa back from a Spring a KM away. Firewood has to be smuggled because it was in the middle of a designated forest. Electricity is from a generator for two hours & phone charging is payable as an extra.

I climbed a rock which serves as the observation point hoping to glimpse the mountains between the clouds. I have to be careful with sudden exertion here. I felt breathless & the heart raced. Brrr. It is cold here. There is nothing between Sandakphu & Kanchenjunga & the wind is biting. I had to wear all my warm clothes from top to toe. There were many westerners here as part of the HRT & they were also shivering as well. No luck with sighting the mountains. The clouds refused to part & I had to wait for the morning.

Dinner was basic. Maida Rotis & Aloo. Darjeeling tea to close the meal. But it was hot. It was more than we could expect at this lonely place. Dawn was at 5.00. We had to catch the sunrise for the best view of the mountains. When I tried to sleep, the 2 razaais were not enough to keep me from shivering. I had to snuggle into the sleeping bag with the razaais on top. Sleep took over.