Beauty lies in the eyes of the traveller

Hello Everyone! Hope you are all doing good.. It's been a long time since i decided to pen down some thoughts/experience.

Today i will share my first Trekking experience. I was trying to write about this since last year but hardly able to make any time out of my busy schedule. Anyway finally I have made my mind and started to give my blog a fresh start.😃😃😃

While planning our first adventurous trip together, me and my husband(Biman)decided to travel through places far cry from usual ones.we already had few places in our mind. Our wish was to visit any remote place where we can spend some quality times in the lap of Himalaya. So we decided to pay a visit to Tonglu and Tumling, two small hamlets in West Bengal along the border of Nepal. We got this reference from Master Ji(Jiwan Kr. Chetri) of Manebhanjan,West Bengal. Biman knew him from his previous expedition to Sandakphu. He suggested us that we should stay at Tumling rather than Tonglu as the facility over there is much better and also to trek to Dhotrey which is around 5km descending from Tonglu.So we planned accordingly as the suggestion was coming straight from the horse's mouth.


18th November,2016: Manebhanjan,Jiwan Master Ji

We reached NJP(New Jalpaiguri) by 9:30AM. After having some breakfast we booked a auto till Darjeeling More. From Darjeeling More we booked a shared cab to Sukhiapokhri(Local Name : Sukhia) which took us 3 hours to reach there. One exhilarationg incident of this 3 hours journey was to get a sudden glimpse of Mount Kanchenjuga. Need to describe this more preciously. After the night-long train journey and all that hurried movements I was a bit tired and fell asleep in the cab. When we were near Mirick, suddenly I was woke up by bright Sunlight and found Kachenjunga is playing peek-a-boo with me. I was so overwhelmed by that sight that it took me some moments to get my sense back. I was confused about my whereabouts for couple of minutes. That feelings kept me enchanted for all through the course. Atlast we reached Sukhiapokhri and from there we took a Maruti Van to Manebhanjan. Around 2 PM we reached Manebhanjan and cordially treated by Masterji. We had lunch with warmth of Masterji's hospitality there. In the afternoon we took a stroll towards the trekking track from where we were supposed to start on the very next day.Masterji was a very good cook. After returing to Msterji's place we took our dinner early.Whatever he served seemed so much delicious to us. Little did we know what was waiting for us in the next day. 😩😩

Jiwan Masterji

Trekking route from Manebhanjan

19th November,2016: Towards Tumling

Next day we bid goodbye to Jiwan Sir and hit the road for our next destination - Chitrey,2.5 km upward to Manebhanjan. The path to chitrey is very steep and intially i was having breathing problem and couldn't make few steps also. I halted so frequently that my partner also got worried. But i was very adamant and didn't took any sympathy. The strong desire to complete this journey gave me immese energy from within and I was able to complete the path till Chitrey without having anymore problem. In chitrey we had French toast with hot streamy coffee in a small cottage. All of our tiredness felt nothing after seeing the surrounding beauty. Kanchenjenga followed us all through the journey. He never left us from his sight. From Chirtey we trekked for Lamaydhura(3Km) and from there Meghma(3Km from Lamadhura). The path from Chitrey to Meghma was sometimes surrounded by bamboo glades, sometimes with clear view of Kanchenjunga and other ranges. The entire trail was full of small and medium sized rocks. We had to make our way through that. After sometimes our feet got used to its friction.

From Meghma you can take either 2.5km towards Tumling or 2km towards Tonglu. You can also take left from the check post to reach Tumling directly which is around 2.5 km.We decided to go to Tonglu first,then to Tumling.

Shadow of us embraced the world in grey

The Check Post near Meghma

We reached Tonglu by 2:30PM. There, in a small trekkers hut, we had our lunch with Bowl full of hot soupy noodles. It felt like the most luscious dish to us. We visited Tonglu GTA Lodge. In front of the lodge there was a natural water body ,color of which was total blue due to the reflection of the clear sky. The view of Kachenjunga from there was totally majestic that Noone could take their eyes from that serenity.

View from Tonglu Top : Gigantic "Sleeping Buddha"

Tonglu GT Lodge and natural water body near it

After taking some rest we marched for Tumling. Now in between we met one porter and he suggested some shortcut from Tonglu to Tumling. Without being sure about any peril we took his suggestion and descended through the so-called shortcut. But we forgot one thing that in trekking we shouldn't take any shortcut unless and until we have any guide or porter [As mentioned earlier this was a solo trek of us],we should always follow the trekking route. So as a result of this, we lost our track after 15-20 minutes and we were totally befuddled about our current location. Then after some random search we found our old trekking route and we were so much relieved.

Tumling, here we come!

We reached Tumling at around 4:30PM. We stayed one and half days in Shekhar Lodge,Tumling. Their facilities were really good and food was awesome. During dinner time we met a group three ladies from Ireland who might be old in age but were young in heart. It felt very good to see their excitement all through. We suggested them to see the Sun rise next day as they were heading to Sandkphu the very next morning.

20th November,2016: Reminiscing Tumling Days

We woke up early next day to get a view of Sun rise over Kachenjungha. We experienced the Sun rise like a farme shot for a time lapse video where every bit of detailing is there. The golden aura reflected though Mighty Kanchenjunga cannot be compared with anything in this mortal world.

Sun Kissed "Sleeping Buddha"

A silent spectator

After that we returned to our homestay and had Tibetan bread as breakfast. They served it hot with Fruit Jam and Potato Curry. We got ready for the day in search for some more thrills. We decided to go on a short trek towards Phatak Checkpost(1-1.5 Km from Tumling) which was the entrance of Singalila National Park. As we didn't have any guide, we weren't allowed to visit the National park. We had some talk with the military personnel there and he showed us Mt.Everest which was visible from that top. We came back to Tumling and spend some time outside in the chilled weather. When we  reached dinner table we met a group of boys who were IT professionals from Bangalore. We had some chitchat about trekking,mountain,IT industry etc. In between the sherpa aunty served us some really good dinner. After finishing our dinner we bid adieu to them and went to sleep. Next day our plan was to Trek to Dhotrey.

21st November,2016: Trek to Dhotrey

Next day around 7:30AM to left Tumling after having some breakfast, we set our feet forward to Tonglu (From Tonglu, Dhotrey is around 5km Downwards). The journey till Tonglu was very steep. Again we were alone in the route and got bit scared after hearing the rustling sound of leaves. For a moment we thought maybe it's leopard(We heard some rumors about Leopard in that area). Anyway we reached Tonglu around 10AM. This time we had coffee in Tonglu GTA lodge. We took some rest there. Previously I forgot to mention about these special host of ours - A dog and his son. Both were very peaceful and they only wanted some biscuits. They also guided us to the path to Dhotrey which was really offbeat as if they could read our minds.

Feeding our humble guide

From Tonglu to Dhotrey, the whole trail was through Dense and secluded forest. Chirping sound of birds, slow dripping sound of water could be heard from very far away. All of these made the surroudings a bit mystic. I was very happy to trek through the narrow paths amidst the unknown trees. It was my kind of adventure. Though sometimes it was a bit scary beacause of the thought of something might attack us. After trekked for almost 3Km we got glance of some wood cutters who were walking very fast. Suddenly we lost them. All through during this course one noticeable fact was the different patterns of trees. It took another 45 minutes to reach our Destination, Dhotrey. We stayed at the sherpa lodge which was kind of a trekkers' hut. So of course it wasn't that much comfortable but we were definitely okay with it.

Wood cutters

Dhotrey Village

22nd November,2016: End of a beautiful journey

Dhotrey is a picture perfect village with scenic beauty of Kanchenjunga. The Sleeping Buddha was clearly visible from here also. For Tourism business, goverment has painted all the house in the village in Eco-friendly Green and white. Our Sherpa aunty was very good human being with humble nature. They had a giant dog who came from some other village. In the afternoon we left for Darjeeling- with a heavy heart and teary eyes.

Darjeeling - Treat for Eyes

Friends hope you all liked this. Please leave your feedback in the comments box below. If you like it then please subscribe to by blog. Thanks.

Till the next time, Stay blessed & Keep showering love. 💗💗💗

-Simpita 💗💗💗