Summer in Sikkim- Part V - Yuksom and away
Table of contents for Summer in Sikkim
- Summer in Sikkim-way to Pelling
- Summer in Sikkim-part ll- Pelling
- Summer in Sikkim III - Pelling to Yuksom
- Summer in Sikkim IV - Yuksom
- Summer in Sikkim- Part V - Yuksom and away
This is my yet another post on Sikkim. This one is about second day of trekking in Yuksom which is our fifth day in Sikkim.
As earlier told in my previous post there is only one thing to be done in Yuksom – Trekking. Between Yuksom and Dzongri, there is a well-beaten trek, which passes in the shadow of Kanchendjonga range through dense forest. Dzongri itself is a junction of several trails. Yuksom serves as a base for all these treks. Guides, porters, pack yaks, tents, sleeping bags and other trekking equipments are readily available. However, we saw a group of six boys trying hard to get all these on rent (They had no arrangements with hotels) from market, which on that day were all booked.
We decided to trek for the first half (or less) stretch of day one of Yuksom-Dzongri trail. Day one of this trail covers a climb of 16 Km from Yuksom (1780 Mts) to Tsokha (3480 Mts). One can also stay at Bakhim that is some 2 Kms before Tsokha, at a height of 2684 Mts. It takes four days to reach Dzongri from Yuksom.
We decided to climb upon this path up to 12:30 pm and then return as we had to reach Bliss resort in Biksthang (last destination of our itinerary) by that evening. We started early morning and just at a distance of 10 Minutes walk we saw how disastrous and horrible a landslide could be. In 2004 there was a huge landslide right there.
Very big rocks were lying everywhere blocking the route of a previously existing stream. Suman told us that on that day he was at hotel Tashigang and suddenly they heard loud sound of explosion. Initially they could not comprehend what was happening – A war with China or what. But in no time they realized what it was. They were all trembling with fear and could not dare to come out as rocks were flying towards the hotel. Luckily they were spared by less than ½ Km of distance between death and them. Not many people were there on that day and casualties were restricted to four persons - an angry face of otherwise loving and beautiful Mother Nature.







