Next morning at around 8:30, we started out for our next stop, Kalipokhri, roughly 15-16 km walk from Tonglu.
In Nepali as well as Hindi, the term Kalipokhri means 'the black pond'. Legend says that the pond in Kalipokhri is the left foot print of Gautam Buddha himself. Once upon a time in ancient history, this place used to be a bustling one with pilgrims flocking all around the year. But as the legend grew old, its charm grew weary and the place was left for only a handful people who made it their home. Now it is a small hamlet with a few families serving the occasional tourists and people from Seema Suraksha Bal who are posted there. Almost all the homes there serve as restaurant cum hotel cum bar cum grocery shop while the family members serve as the hotel service, stewards and bar tenders, all in one.
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| Kalipokhri |
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| Locals on the way |
After a day long walk through beautiful meadows and a road besieged by rhododendron and magnolia, we reached Kalipokhri at around 4pm. As usual, me and Saikat da reached first and Shrijit followed half an hour later. In between, we took stop at Joubari for a cup of warm coffee with Anne, talked to her a bit, and got to know that she is Christian, but her husband, known as master ji locally, is Buddhist, and they have absolutely no problem with their difference in faith. Later we had lunch at Kehakata and moved forward towards our destination.
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| Anne |
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| Joubari |
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| Some slaughtered Yak |
Once we reached there and lay our eyes upon the mythical pond, we knew instantly why all the hoopla surrounded it once. It had a certain sense of mysticism around it that took out all our excitement for a while and filled us with a serene and calm feeling, and for a while, I thought Buddha must have been here because I feel him inside me.
The afternoon in Kalipokhri was cold, and the wind was chilly. But the magical interplay between the bright light and small clouds made the sky a spectacle to watch. It was the brightest and most beautiful afternoon that I have ever seen.
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| A local family |
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| The magical afternoon at Kalipokhri |
In the valley, the night sets in quite early and as soon as it was dark, it was time for the dinner. We were etching for some good food, and the hotel owner provided us with some excellent ones, in fact it was the last stop where we had chicken before end of the journey. We were joined by two robust Germans for an evening 'adda'. To our pleasant surprise, we found out that we were not the only people busted by the cold, but the mighty Germans too were as sick of that freezing wind as we were.
The next morning at around 9am we started out for Sandakphu. The small hilltop and some hotels there were visible from Kalipokhri itself. It was a fairly easy walk through the valley, though we had to climb up and down some hills. Upon reaching there, we lodged our self in the Trekkers Hut B, in a room all to our self.
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| Sandakphu |
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| Guides resting at Hut 2 |
From our guide, we got to know that the meaning of the term 'Sandakphu' is 'The Land of the poisonous Flowers', for some wild flower that grew in that part. It is said that if someone smells that flower, he can not leave this place, no matter how hard he tries. Then I thought to myself, may be this myth grew from the smell of this place itself, which may have compelled some ancient wanderer to come back to this place again and again. The hypnotism was in the air.
The night was peaceful and shiveringly cold night was warmed up by rum and the candidness of the guides. The Germans joined in with us to share some laugh. The whirling wind outside and the dim light of the candle made the evening mystic.
Next morning, we were again ready to get out on the path for Phalut, and it would be the longest journey for a day for this tour. Apprehensive of the exhaustiveness of the journey, we set out nonetheless. But the effort paid off as we went across the valley of yaks and ponies. The nature was oblivious to our presence. We felt like really being just a part of the creation, and the feeling was divine. It took us more than seven hours to cross the path and we reached Phalut at around 4pm. We were lucky in a way to reach in time as the weather turned sour afterwards.
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| It felt great to see the Indian Flag flying high in the valley |
The place Phalut lives up to its name, which means 'Very windy place'. It was by far the windiest part of our journey. Apart from the trekkers hut and a Seema Suraksha Bal outpost, there was nothing around that place, I could feel the loneliness in the continuous, tiring sound of the whirling wind.
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| The mighty Kanchenjunga |
