🏔 Sandakphu Trek
My travel account. Things that I saw, felt and learnt.
When I spend money on something, I try to like it. The likeliness does not last long though. Then I move on to the next thing. When I first heard about Sandakphu, I was pumped up. I was excited to do it. After all this was going to be my first trek.
I am lazy. I did not prepare enough. But, I bought all the medicines, winter clothing ready to embark my journey into the woods and mountains.
I live in the plains. Living at high altitudes looks cool to me. I envy people who live there. So quiet, up there. I was about to spend a week there. I was excited.
We reached the basecamp at night. They call that place as Kopidana. It was cold. Sky was clear enough that you could have seen the strip of our galaxy. All the star pattern that are taught in school could be easily spotted. I spotted a shooting star too. We slept in a tea house there. It was warm.
In the morning, the hike into the forest started. The trees were high, much taller than my house here. I think birds live there. It was a steep climb. The trees were on the both of our sides. It felt good walking, there. I started panting as after many days of rest, I was walking. Sorry, I was climbing. It felt like an exam there, underprepared but still have to pass.
I walked and walked. Up, down and flat. Many groups overtook us. I was slow, but it did not matter. After walking for around 2 or 3 hours, I saw the first glimpse of The Sleeping Buddha. The Sleeping Buddha looks like Buddha sleeping. You can spot his head, his big fat stomach, which is the third tallest mountain peak in the world, and his leg.
After catching him sleeping, we soon reached our tea-spot. There are tea houses run by Nepali folks, many of which one can find while hiking. We kept getting in and out of Nepal and India during the hike. It was my first international trip this year.
We resumed our hike and reached at our lunch spot. We had hot lunch. I was starving. Drinking water is necessary. One must drink at least 5 litres of water. Or chances are there that you will be hit by Acute Mountain Sickness(AMS) or weakness or anything. Water is good at fighting all these.
After lunch we resumed our hike, through the forests. It was picturesque. I have photos, which I can share, if you want.
On reaching our final destination — tea house at around 4pm, I lay on the bed there like a lazy cat. I did not want to move. I was not thinking anything. I was laying down, doing nothing. The Art of doing nothing. I had only heard of people walking all day long. This time it was me. And it did not feel good, physically.
In the evening I got out for a walk to see, the best cloud cover I had seen in my entire life. I was on the road standing, below me was a valley, deep and widespread, and clouds ended up at my feet. They were coming from somewhere, and ended their journey here, beneath my foot. I think the heaven looks like this. I don’t think any place can get better than this.
Next day was the most demanding day. We had to walk 16 kms. I think I gave up at around 3–4kms. I did not think I will be able to do it. But I had to pass this exam. Nature can be harsh at times too. Reluctantly, I picked myself up, pushed myself. I had a fat, tall bamboo with me. It sure helped me walk. I had outperformed myself that day. It felt so good emotionally. When I was lying in the bed, after arriving at the rest camp, trying to rewind the scenes that I tried to capture along the way, it gave me the confidence that I was stronger than I thought.
Third day was the summit day. It was 7kms. Most of the distance was ascend. Pumped up, I walked slowly, resting along the way, capturing the views in my mind, I reached there at around, 12 pm. 3hrs of ascend. One can see The sleeping buddha, Mount Everest and Three sister peaks from there. No other hike summit offers this view in the world. It lets you see three mountain ranges at the same time. Buddha was still sleeping. This time he used clouds as his blanket.
On our fourth and final day, It was 16 kms downhill. I had developed a minor knee pain during the ascend. I thought, it was not going to be a major issue, and I was good to go. But man, this little, tiny pain turned into a monster. It started with one leg, then propagated to both of them. Then the my thighs started hurting and then my calves. Holy mother of god. I was unable to take a single step without moaning. When you descend, your body weight falls on your knees. Thus, it hurt. And there lied 14kms of picturesque downhill trek into forest, with rohendendrons tree, on the both sides, for me to enjoy.
I did it. I reached our final destination, 2hrs later than the fastest member of the group. After walking for 8 hrs. But it did not matter. The big deal is that I made it. Pain looked normal. It felt normal. I was now used to the pain. I think I now knew a lot about my body. I did not know, this fragile body of mine, which likes to sleep and lay most of the time, can withstand this much pain and still descend 16kms with all sorts of tremendous pain in the leg.
Sure, I spent money into this trek and It gave me all sorts of pain. Almost made me collapse, many times. I was tired, weak. I liked it though. It was a hell of an experience.
I have heard a sentence in a movie — What are you seeking? This question has stayed for long with me. I think I have a workable answer now. I think I am seeking experiences. Experiences are there. To have almost all sort of experiences, I think is the purpose of life. Good or bad, doesn’t matter. In pain or in relief doesn’t matter. With money or without it, it doesn’t matter. Experiences matter. The effort to earn experiences matters.
Thank you Kamal Nayan.
