A Short Trek to a Gateway of Heaven

We were planning for a short trek in West Bengal, may be some remote village in the lap of Himalaya. Somehow Simpita and myself managed 4days off (including weekend) from office. So, we decided to pay a visit to Tumling and Tonglu, two small hamlets in West Bengal along the border of Nepal. We got this reference from MasterJi(Jiwan Kr. Chetri) of Manebhanjan, West Bengal. I knew him from my previous expedition to Sandakphu. He suggested that we should stay at Tumling rather than Tonglu as the facility over there is much better and 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.

Darjeeling Station

We left Kolkata on a Friday night, and reached NJP(New Jalpaiguri) by 9:30AM. After having some breakfast, we booked an 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. 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. After returning to hotel 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. 

Manebhanjan

Next day, Sunday 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 initially Simpita was having some breathing problem and couldn't make few steps also. But the strong desire to complete this journey gave her immense energy from within and she was able to complete the path till Chitrey without having anymore problem. In Chitrey we had French toast with hot steamy coffee in a small cottage. All of our tiredness felt nothing after seeing the surrounding beauty. From Chirtey we trekked for Lamaydhura(3Km) and from there to 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.

Tonglu GT Lodge

From Meghma you can take either 2.5km towards Tumling or 2km towards Tonglu. We decided to go to Tonglu first, then to Tumling. 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 it there was a natural water body, color of which was total blue due to the reflection of the cloudless sky. The view of Kachenjunga from there was totally majestic that None could take their eyes from that serenity. 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 basic thing that in trekking we shouldn't take any shortcut unless and until we have any guide or porter, we should always follow the trekking route. So because 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.

We reached Tumling at around 4:30PM. We stayed one day in Shikhar Lodge, Tumling. Their facilities were really good, and food was awesome. During dinner time we met a group of 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 Sandakphu the very next morning.

Tumling

Monday we woke up early to get a view of Sun rise over Kachenjungha. We experienced the Sun rise like a frame 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. 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, camping 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 and return back.

View from Tumling

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 little 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 9AM. 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 offbeat as if they could read our minds.

While returning from Tonglu

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. These made the surroundings 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. Dhotrey is a picture-perfect village with scenic beauty of Kanchenjunga. The Sleeping Buddha was clearly visible from here also. For Tourism business, government has painted all the house in the village in Eco-friendly Green and white. We took lunch over there and we left for NJP to catch train. On the way we left Manebhanjan with a heavy heart and teary eyes. We reached Kolkata Wednesday early morning. It’s time to put down rucksack and ping laptop backpack and join office again.

View from Dhotrey