Because every end has a beginning
Onwards into the mountains. Our yaks hucking our baggage like the beasts of burden that they are. Actually, they technically aren't Yaks, but rather cross breeds of bulls and donkeys called Djhou by the Nepalis.
How a typical bridge looks like. It sways when you walk over it. I was left wondering how it could possibly support the weight of yaks and what happens if and when it breaks.
After some chionging, we reached the town of Tshoka, where i promptly got altitude sickness. It manifested itself as a pounding headache which feels like someone stuffed a bunch of ice cold needles up your skull. Altitude sickness is best remedied with a good cup of hot garlic soup, a traditional Nepali home remedy. Indeed, the guides themselves have no access to altitude sickness medication like Diamox and they must rely on garlic soup to carry on their duties. Unlike paying travellers like us, they have no option to go back down the mountain and leave their group. Luckily, garlic soup is a great remedy and one constant in our diet from that point onward.
Elgin squatting besides a fire trying to keep his ass warm.
Dusk falls on Tshoka.
Our dinner at Tshoka. I look like shit because of my headache.
The view in the morning.
The next day, i felt better after garlic soup and we proceeded on to Phethang for lunch.
It started to drizzle and so Bikash, our friendly guide, ensured we had a good hot dry lunch.
Our meals were entirely vegetarian in nature. Vegetarian meals are the stuff of champions. They regenerate your body like no other meal can.
Many Nepali stupas dot the countryside, like checkpoints in Sonic the Hedgehog.
How a typical mountain pass looks like. This is on the way to Dzongri.
The cooking staff and porters. The cook is the guy in green with an umbrella.
Us being swakoo and amused at seeing ice on the ground.
The path up to Tzongri. You can see the steep incline that burned our legs off.
One of the porters, Sukdas, a 50 year young man. We were to race each other back down the mountain on the way back from Goche La. He is incredibly fit and jolly all the time.
The hut that we stayed in at Tzongri with its eternal mist outside. The mist miraculously cleared on the second day though and we were able to enjoy spectacular views of the Kanchenjunga range.
The path up to Tzongri viewpoint, as seen from the hut that we lived in. The incline is steep and we climbed it twice at 4 am in the morning before being rewarded with a great view. The second day i was so happy with the weather that i flew up the climb. my lungs were burning and i thought i was going to die but it was worth it. we caught the sun rise.
The inside of the hut with its stellar 5 star sleeping arrangements. Tula is lounging in the corner.
Another view of Tzongri's trekking hut.
A sacred lake that we went to on our acclimitization day on Tzongri. The waters were calm and glasslike, there was a slight drizzle and further up the mountain you could see ice and snow formations, truly surreal, especially since there were tadpoles in the river as well.
Our guides Bikash and Tula enjoying a quiet moment before the lake.
One of the best dinners we ever had. Pasta with chicken sausages, mixed vegetables, Naan, cucumber salad and the ever present garlic soup. top class.
Elgin pretending to be Gandalf and roger pretending to be roger at the sacred lake.
Somebody left his shoe behind on the trek to the lake.
This is apparently a structure that is designed to keep a bunch of yaks in at night. They huddle in the middle for warmth. here is roger being a yak.
View from the top of Tzongri viewpoint. The mountain ranges that we would get closer to as the days go by.
The plains below stretch as far as the eye can see. the mountains tower above it.
This isn't too bad a shot, taken as the sun began its ascent.
A gentle silhouette of the mountain dawn.
This is the path to Tzongri view point, it comes after a steep, wicked incline at the start of the climb that links this path to our little hut down below.
Prayer flags at the top of Tzongri viewpoint.
We were there with a bunch of about 20 noisy americans who arrived on the second day and were lucky to also catch the clear skies and beautiful sunrise.
A cluster of frost dusted mountain flowers.
Black rock spire. No, it has a Nepali name that i forgot and stands in great contrast to the slow clad peak behind it.
Sunlight falls on a mass of mountain flowers that cascade down into the valley below. Truly breathtaking. This photo totally does not do it justice at all.
Another view of black rock spire.
One of the many mountain rivers we crossed, their waters flowing from glacial melt up high.
How a typical bridge looks like. It sways when you walk over it. I was left wondering how it could possibly support the weight of yaks and what happens if and when it breaks.
Glorious views in the morning. The forest here is still semi tropical like Brunei because the altitude isn't high enough yet. (around 2000 m above sea level)
After some chionging, we reached the town of Tshoka, where i promptly got altitude sickness. It manifested itself as a pounding headache which feels like someone stuffed a bunch of ice cold needles up your skull. Altitude sickness is best remedied with a good cup of hot garlic soup, a traditional Nepali home remedy. Indeed, the guides themselves have no access to altitude sickness medication like Diamox and they must rely on garlic soup to carry on their duties. Unlike paying travellers like us, they have no option to go back down the mountain and leave their group. Luckily, garlic soup is a great remedy and one constant in our diet from that point onward.
Elgin squatting besides a fire trying to keep his ass warm.
Dusk falls on Tshoka.
Our dinner at Tshoka. I look like shit because of my headache.
The view in the morning.
The next day, i felt better after garlic soup and we proceeded on to Phethang for lunch.
It started to drizzle and so Bikash, our friendly guide, ensured we had a good hot dry lunch.
Our meals were entirely vegetarian in nature. Vegetarian meals are the stuff of champions. They regenerate your body like no other meal can.
Many Nepali stupas dot the countryside, like checkpoints in Sonic the Hedgehog.
How a typical mountain pass looks like. This is on the way to Dzongri.
The cooking staff and porters. The cook is the guy in green with an umbrella.
Us being swakoo and amused at seeing ice on the ground.
The path up to Tzongri. You can see the steep incline that burned our legs off.
One of the porters, Sukdas, a 50 year young man. We were to race each other back down the mountain on the way back from Goche La. He is incredibly fit and jolly all the time.
The hut that we stayed in at Tzongri with its eternal mist outside. The mist miraculously cleared on the second day though and we were able to enjoy spectacular views of the Kanchenjunga range.
The path up to Tzongri viewpoint, as seen from the hut that we lived in. The incline is steep and we climbed it twice at 4 am in the morning before being rewarded with a great view. The second day i was so happy with the weather that i flew up the climb. my lungs were burning and i thought i was going to die but it was worth it. we caught the sun rise.
The inside of the hut with its stellar 5 star sleeping arrangements. Tula is lounging in the corner.
Another view of Tzongri's trekking hut.
A sacred lake that we went to on our acclimitization day on Tzongri. The waters were calm and glasslike, there was a slight drizzle and further up the mountain you could see ice and snow formations, truly surreal, especially since there were tadpoles in the river as well.
Our guides Bikash and Tula enjoying a quiet moment before the lake.
One of the best dinners we ever had. Pasta with chicken sausages, mixed vegetables, Naan, cucumber salad and the ever present garlic soup. top class.
Elgin pretending to be Gandalf and roger pretending to be roger at the sacred lake.
Somebody left his shoe behind on the trek to the lake.
This is apparently a structure that is designed to keep a bunch of yaks in at night. They huddle in the middle for warmth. here is roger being a yak.
View from the top of Tzongri viewpoint. The mountain ranges that we would get closer to as the days go by.
The plains below stretch as far as the eye can see. the mountains tower above it.
This isn't too bad a shot, taken as the sun began its ascent.
A gentle silhouette of the mountain dawn.
This is the path to Tzongri view point, it comes after a steep, wicked incline at the start of the climb that links this path to our little hut down below.
Prayer flags at the top of Tzongri viewpoint.
We were there with a bunch of about 20 noisy americans who arrived on the second day and were lucky to also catch the clear skies and beautiful sunrise.
A cluster of frost dusted mountain flowers.
Black rock spire. No, it has a Nepali name that i forgot and stands in great contrast to the slow clad peak behind it.
Sunlight falls on a mass of mountain flowers that cascade down into the valley below. Truly breathtaking. This photo totally does not do it justice at all.
Another view of black rock spire.
The Day before the mountains began
We have kinda managed to sort out the virus issues and so here are the photos of the day we spent in Sikkim visiting monasteries with Keyren (actually spelled Kiran).
This is how traditional medicine men look like in their gear.
The sacred waterfall in all its glory.
According to local myth, this is the husband and wife tag team of yore. The crone on the right makes people sick (cos she likes to do stuff like that) and the guy on the left heals them and makes them well. Kinda like America, although America does both. Still, its a remarkably effective business plan; they did end up as folk legends after all.
This is a friendly Nepali lady who was serving me tea after we finished sightseeing and I asked to take a photo with her cos she looked really stunning. At first she smiled and then walked off behind a curtain and i thought that meant "no", but after a few minutes she came out and we took this photo. She looks a lot more stunning when she is smiling but i guess she decided we meant serious business here. Actually, one thing that i've noticed about the women here is that there is a certain hardness behind their friendly smiles. You can see it in their eyes because they lead such hard lives upon hard rock.
Finally we get to the monasteries. This is one of the oldest and most distinguished monasteries in the area. The courtyard view.
How a typical prayer room, with Elgin in it, looks like.
Monks undergoing what looks like a hair cut. One monk is consoling the other on the loss of his hair. Much like how we felt when we went to Tekong on the first day.
A line of prayer wheels, which is a marvelous invention. Turning the wheel one revolution means you have prayed once. Turning a line of about a hundred means you have prayed a hundred times in the matter of a minute. Remarkably efficient.
Suicide rock, so named because the local population comes here to do their suicides.
Monks holding books.
One of the newer and grander looking monasteries.
In the middle of the courtyard of one of the monasteries is a tablet with the names of the monks who died in that monastery.
The doors to the remains of the Panchen Lama, one of the holiest Tibetan lamas. He lies in a stupa made of pure gold. Cameras were not allowed so you can't see the room, but it was filled with incense, smoky and had one monk in the room sitting guard.
This is my favourite monastery photo, mainly because i took it myself. Seriously, one of the monasteries, Lingdam, has armed guards deployed on its temple grounds because of a prior incident where there was conflict between a Tibetan monastery and another monastery.
The living quarters, not of the monks, but of people who stay within the monastery grounds.
Our simple but absolutely delicious lunch. Vegetable servings, pure pork fat, dal, and 4 mountainous bowls of rice washed down with Coke.
A young monk challenging us to a prayer wheel race, which never happened.
The so called national stadium of Gangtok. This is where the youth team plays their matches. To get into the youth team, you must either be a relative of the coach or be favoured by him. It is otherwise simply impossible, according to Kiran, who used to be a candidate for the youth team.
A drunk Nepali trying to be Roger's friend.
Because i suffer from a bad memory, I cannot remember some of the names of the places that we visited (which also goes to show the extent of their impact on me).
Anyway, we started off our day with a visit to some sacred waterfalls. The locals believe that the waters here are holy and life giving. This area is also populated by various tribes who practise shamanism.
This is how traditional medicine men look like in their gear.
The sacred waterfall in all its glory.
According to local myth, this is the husband and wife tag team of yore. The crone on the right makes people sick (cos she likes to do stuff like that) and the guy on the left heals them and makes them well. Kinda like America, although America does both. Still, its a remarkably effective business plan; they did end up as folk legends after all.
This is a friendly Nepali lady who was serving me tea after we finished sightseeing and I asked to take a photo with her cos she looked really stunning. At first she smiled and then walked off behind a curtain and i thought that meant "no", but after a few minutes she came out and we took this photo. She looks a lot more stunning when she is smiling but i guess she decided we meant serious business here. Actually, one thing that i've noticed about the women here is that there is a certain hardness behind their friendly smiles. You can see it in their eyes because they lead such hard lives upon hard rock.
Finally we get to the monasteries. This is one of the oldest and most distinguished monasteries in the area. The courtyard view.
How a typical prayer room, with Elgin in it, looks like.
Monks undergoing what looks like a hair cut. One monk is consoling the other on the loss of his hair. Much like how we felt when we went to Tekong on the first day.
A line of prayer wheels, which is a marvelous invention. Turning the wheel one revolution means you have prayed once. Turning a line of about a hundred means you have prayed a hundred times in the matter of a minute. Remarkably efficient.
Suicide rock, so named because the local population comes here to do their suicides.
The view that someone sees before he bites the dust. Not too shabby eh?
Monks holding books.One of the newer and grander looking monasteries.In the middle of the courtyard of one of the monasteries is a tablet with the names of the monks who died in that monastery.
The doors to the remains of the Panchen Lama, one of the holiest Tibetan lamas. He lies in a stupa made of pure gold. Cameras were not allowed so you can't see the room, but it was filled with incense, smoky and had one monk in the room sitting guard.
This is my favourite monastery photo, mainly because i took it myself. Seriously, one of the monasteries, Lingdam, has armed guards deployed on its temple grounds because of a prior incident where there was conflict between a Tibetan monastery and another monastery.
The living quarters, not of the monks, but of people who stay within the monastery grounds.
Our simple but absolutely delicious lunch. Vegetable servings, pure pork fat, dal, and 4 mountainous bowls of rice washed down with Coke.A young monk challenging us to a prayer wheel race, which never happened.The so called national stadium of Gangtok. This is where the youth team plays their matches. To get into the youth team, you must either be a relative of the coach or be favoured by him. It is otherwise simply impossible, according to Kiran, who used to be a candidate for the youth team.
A drunk Nepali trying to be Roger's friend.A group shot of us and Kiran, our friendly, helpful Nepali driver and guide for the day.
Our trekking permit, which was approved within the day. I was incredibly surprised at the speed.
Our last good meal before we were to spend the night in Tamang Gompa (a monastery).
And lets not forget: Our Dog of the Day
Our trekking permit, which was approved within the day. I was incredibly surprised at the speed.
Our last good meal before we were to spend the night in Tamang Gompa (a monastery).
And lets not forget: Our Dog of the Day