Rakchham - A small hamlet of Kinnaur District

As I unzipped the canvas, soft morning rays approached my window. Peeping outside the vent I saw a family of four marching to their hut along with fodder that should be enough for a week carried by women on their back. The burbling streams of Baspa which was visible from the window kept my mind occupied and wondered at night that how far it would be from my tent? 

Glimpse of Baspa from my canvas window. 

The gushing sky blue water on a shallow river bed surrounded by fruit orchards (dominantly apple), 

meadows and evergreen coniferous of oak and pine trees on both sides of the stream outline the village of Rakchham.  Rak-sh-yam as natives from the village pronounce, is a place with around 800 people on the valley formed by Baspa River which is sandwiched in between touristy destinations of Sangla and Chitkul. 

A villager walking towards the government school of Rakchham.

River Baspa originates from Chung Sakhago Pass (Indo-Tibetan Border) which meets Satluj on its left bank at Karcham after flowing for a cultivable stretch of 95 kilometers. There are a handful of private accommodations and a PWD Rest House in the village. Rakchham is situated at an altitude of 3050 metres and remains snow cladded during months of winter (December – March /April). Like other places in Himachal Pradesh, Baspa valley (also known as Sangla valley) can also be visited throughout the year.  It has four distinct seasons according to which shades of the landscape change.

First snow of autumn as seen from Rakchaam.

Note: This winter the valley has received heavy snowfall. Due to which flowering season of apple will arrive late. It is expected anytime between 10- 15 May 2015.

Flock of sheep on their way to home near Sangla. 

The Journey:

Around 7:00 in the evening we reached Sangla Market.  Due to a sudden change in our itinerary we had to detour to Sangla – Chitkul highway (SH) and had an opportunity to visit Baspa valley once again. Since the plan was impromptu, we had no prior bookings in the valley. Also it was difficult for any hotel to accommodate a group of 13 people instantly during a peak season like October’s autumn break.As we crossed Karcham and turned left to the state highway in the direction of Baspa River, I tried my luck and called Mr. Ashok of a homestay near Kupa. His first advice to me was to stick to Hindustan-Tibet Road and find a place for that night on NH itself. Because hotels in both Sangla and Chitkul were packed with tourists from Bengal. Secondly, the day was “Asthami” and being celebrated by the local households. With that my preferred option of staying in a homestay was also closed.

Natives of Rakchham village. 

At Sangla, finding a hotel for thirteen heads was a challenging task. Thankfully my internet had full strength till then with which I managed to find a camp for all at Rakchham which was another 14 kilometres ahead of Sangla. As the night dropped like heavy theatre drapes hiding everything on the stage, it became risky to move ahead on the meandering road. On our way we also found a couple of campsites, Banjara Camps and Kinner camps at Sangla and Seringche respectively. It took an hour and twenty minutes to reach our campsite at Rakchham.  To reach Kailash View camp we had to divert left from the SH and had crossed a rickety suspension bridge over Baspa river.

Mr. Naresh Nege offered us three tents on our arrival. The tents were compact and clean and soon the gurgling sound of the river absorbed my tiredness and anxiety as I released my body on bed.

Tents of Kailash View Camp. 

The Information:

Getting There: 

 Rakchham falls on the Sangla –Chitkul State Highway. It is 14 Kilometres from Sangla towards Chitkul and 10 Kilometres away from Chitkul. Chitkul bound HRTC buses ply on regular interval from Sangla during daylight. To reach Sangla one has to take direct buses from Shimla or can take Reckon Peo/Kalpa bound buses and can get down at Karcham. From there can board Sangla/Chitkul bound buses. Karcham is 18 Kilometres ahead of Sangla towards Hindustan – Tibet road. One can also hire direct private taxies from Shimla (240 Kilometres).

Burbling streams of Baspa.

What to do:

Rakchham has a post office, a health centre and a co-ed secondary school. The valley at Rakchham is silent and picturesque. One can sit beside the river and can listen to the sound of water rolling through the stones. Or can hike towards Chitkul following the river path. Trout fishing is a popular activity during May.  In the months of autumn (Mid-September to October) the valley produces the famous crisp and juicy Kinnauri apples.

River Baspa at Chitkul.

Where to Stay:      1. Rupin River View Hotel. Website: http://www.hotelinsangla.com/

                                   91-9816686789, 91-9418092894 – Mr. Naresh Jisthu.
                                   Tariff: INR 1500-2000 per room.

                                2. Apple Pie Hotel. Website: http://www.hotelapplepie.com/

                                    91-8860688496, 91-8894579727 – Mr. Mukesh Sharma .
                                    Tariff: INR 2500 – 4000 per room.

                                3. Kailash View Camp.  (This is where we stayed)

                                    91- 98305380746, 91-9816342746 – Mr. Naresh Nege .
                                    Tariff: INR 1500 per tent.

                                4. Aditya Niwas Homestay.

                                    098160-99668 – Mrs. Ganga Charni.
                                    Tariff: INR 800-1000 per room.

                                5. Rakchham Homestay.

                                     094185-27669 -  Mr. Tikkam Singh Negi.
                                     Tariff: INR 800-1000 per room.

                                6. PWD Guest house. http://hpkinnaur.nic.in/contactus.htm

                                    Prior confirmation from District Magistrate’s office is required for booking.

A boy in traditional Kinnauri cap "Thepang".

                                  ***

Romantically Darjeeling

"The one land that all men desire to see, and having seen once by even a glimpse would not give that glimpse for the shows of rest of the world combined."

Mark Twain said this for Darjeeling as there is no other foothill from where one can see series of summit (including the highest one in the world) from such a close proximity .

Here are three of my most favorite places (in random order) in Darjeeling (district) where I can relax and enjoy peacefully .

Gumbadara View Point  :

" Sitting here once is in my daily routine"  chirps this young lady.

Gumbadara view point falls in Tinchuley and is surrounded by vast stretches of tea gardens on both sides of a narrow metaled road. The view point gives a clear view of Kanchenjunga range. On a bright cloudless day one can even see  river Teesta flowing into Sikkim . From under this concrete shade, one can admire Kanchenjunga on the right and green valley covering the rest against a background of cobalt blue sky. 

 Adda point.

Here is a list of things that I would do to spend my day in Gumbadara:

- Read a few travelogues and plan for my next visit back here.
- Take a small walk in the tea garden and soak myself in pin drop silence.
- Watch vehicles from the view point taking hair-pin turns.
- Listen to music while gazing the magical white of Kachenjunga.

Lamahatta :

Sun rays passing through the Dhupi forest. 

A small  hamlet, recently introduced to tourists by West Bengal government . It has a park well maintained and decorated by locals. But that is not the end, a steep trek from the park for a kilometer and half  leads to Jorephokri  (In Nepali "Jore" means two and "Phokri" means lake) . The trail is covered with high pine trees (locally Dhupi) and one can trek upto Takdah .The way to lake is so densely populated with dhupi trees that only lucky few beams can touch the ground. A serpentine gravel road will take you to the pokhri after climbing around 700 ft. Locals take the shortcut instead. They climb vertically gripping roots of the trees. I tried their method, it is easy (not that easy) while you climb up but difficult (very difficult) while coming down.The lakes are natural and considered to be sacred by locals. Out of the two, one has dried up recently , taking away the prefix 'jore' from its name.

Sacred lake of Jorephokri reflecting shadows. 

Here is a list of things that I would do to spend my day in Lamahatta:
- Trek upto Takdah from here .
- Carry a hot-case of Maggi and bottle of guava juice to have in between the walk.
- Sit on a bench for sometime to watch changing shades of the pokhri as the Sun changes its position.
- Would also spend time on the watch tower (Machan), looking west towards Kanchenjunga and letting cool breeze brush my skin.

Tonglu :

Kanchenjunga after sunrise from my hut.

That's true, if you are in Tonglu, you are that close to Kanchenjunga. From here the valley unbolts itself. The sea of cloud flakes fill the hollow. The cloud here are lighter than cotton and whiter than milk. The Kanchenjunga range is visible along with Kumbhakarna (Jano), Simvo and Pandim giving it a shape of "Sleeping Buddha". As the Sun rises it nibbles on Buddha's belly ( Kanchenjunga peak) with his first ray. And then it swaddles his entire body (Kumbhakarna (Jano), Simvo and Pandim ) with golden beams.  Other than a few trekkers the place is home to only two families. One can also trek to an adjacent slope that falls in Nepal for a bird's eye view of this place.  Neither pollution nor electricity have reached here.

District Magistrate Bungalow in Tonglu.

Here is a list of things that I would do to spend my day in Tonglu :

-  Small walk to Tumling.

-  Watch Kanchenjunga till zero visibility.  

-  Have ginger tea while keeping my favorite songs in loop.

***

Dzongu – a Lepcha Ecotourism Village in Sikkim

 I read about a village dominated by Lepcha community an year and half back in a travel forum. An offbeaten himalayan track in northern parts of Sikkim, left untouched by sticky travel agents by grace of its unmetalled roads and no hotels enroute. Lush green valleys populated with water streams gushing down the mountains abruptly .These cues were enough to visit Dzongu and meet Dupden.

Hanging bridge over river Teesta .

Dupden lives in Tingvong village in Upper Dzongu.  He is an active member of local eco-tourism team, an initiative taken by the Sikkim government and runs a homestay along with his wife Chuday on those guidelines. At present there are about a dozen of homestays that are in operation, combining both Upper and Lower areas of  Dzongu .

It was nine at night when we reached Tingvong. From Dikchu Bazar(13 kms before Mangan) it took one and half hours to cover about ten kilometers of kutcha road. This stretch of road reminded me of the bumpy caterpillar ride that I used to enjoy as a toddler. As we parked our car we found Dupden, eagerly waiting for us with couple of torches and a big smile.  He greeted us folding his hands, wrapping warmth around in that cold.Since Amavasya (no moon night) was nearby it made the night rich, complementing zillion of stars to sparkle in the sky. It looked like the sky draped her in a black muslin shawl with the brightest of white polka dots on it!

Due to powercut, Dupden had arranged a candlelit dinner for us. He first offered us 'Chee' in a bamboo mug with a straw (also made out of bamboo) followed by local foods in his kitchen cum dining area .

Chee is an alcoholic beverage, made from fermenting millet locally at home. Usually, accompanied with snacks or meals, and part of local food habit.

 Chee and local sweet biscuits Khabze.

We were not the only guest at Tingvong , we met another young couple from Kolkata who had arrived a couple of days back and were planning to leave next morning.  They told us that the homestay has got a spectacular view of Mount Pandim from its backyard. And it is worth waking up early to see the sunrise. As always, a disclaimer was attached ‘If the weather is clear’!

I was motivated enough to put on the alarm, but, the day’s tiredness had put fetters on my eyes and I missed the rise.

View of Mount Pandim  from the backyard of  homestay.

We saw the Bengali family whom we met previous night was leaving for Mangan. They were waiting for the jeep that regularly leaves the village at 7:30 in the morning. We bid them good-bye and hiked uphill. Our destination was Kusong village and our guide was Passang , Dupden's nephew. Passang is a high school student, studying at a local school near Mangan. He is friendly and an inquisitive teenager. He had also helped us reaching Tingvong from Pheedang check post , while we were on our way to Dzongu . 

A girl from the village carrying her brother on her back.

As we were heading towards the village monastery, the walk was getting tougher due to steep road.  The technique was to breathe deep and look up. My partner being an acrophobic was getting nervous with every step he was climbing up. Finally we reached Tarling Monastery, from here Kusong village starts. We were already exhausted and hungry by then and therefore decided to head Dupden's house for a sumptuous breakfast.

A chorten in Tarling Monastery.

Other than dark green landscapes and mighty streams of  Rongyoung Chu, Dzongu is famous for its Cardamom plantation. Almost every house has a farm for its cultivation . Avocado and Lapsi (a hill fruit) trees are also grown in this part of the state. Our next destination for the day was Lingthem Monastery.

The road to Lingthem was worse than that of Tingvong. Our car Tavera got stuck twice in mid of the road due to viscous mud . As Dupden claims the stretch to be an adventurous ride, indeed it was.  The slope of the valley had been converted to terrace farms for growing rice and other paddy crops. 

On the way to Lingthem Monastery.

We reached Lingthem by 12:30 in the afternoon and the monastery was closed by then, so we spent some time sitting on its courtyard. Passang took us to a house next to it where locals were celebrating monkhood of a nun. She meditated for three months inside a cave in lower Dzongu. We were welcomed with chee , Hit beer and khabze. Hit beer is owned by Indian actor Danny Denzongpa and is manufactured in Sikkim. The beer is very popular throughout the state and is cheap too. Khabze is a fried honeycomb shaped snack item which is sweet to taste. We resisted sipping the beer, but had crunchy khabze along with luke warm chee. Another highlight of the tour was cherry blossoms.  As expected the trees were in full bloom during first week of November and was treat for which my eyes were starving. 

Cherry blossom near the monastery.

 We then went to a hot spring nearby , since it was a Sunday the spring was preoccupied by women and kids from the village. The tempting hot water made me sit there soaking my feet.The water had some magical minerals which instantly relaxed every muscle of my tired feet. It was already half past four in the evening and we were yet to see  Lingzya waterfall. The surrounding was getting quieter and cold, so we stopped at Rukshyout (Tingvong) waterfall instead and called it a day. The water was freezing , I felt icicles were piercing my left foot as it touched the boulder beneath. We couldn't stand there for more than five minutes. Meanwhile, Passang gathered some dry leaves and wrappers to lit fire that saved us from hypothermia. 

Tingvong waterfall.

With the fading light of dusk we decided to return at Dupden’s nest. The evening then was spent in adda  and followed by dinner. Next morning I woke up early to see the sunrise and its rays touching Mount Pandim. By nine we were ready to move to our next destination Dzuluk in East Sikkim. Finally, Dupden and Chuday bid us adieu by wrapping a Khada (white scarf ) around our neck . 

Hanging bridge over Rongyoung Kyoung river .

Notes:

1. We booked the car that picked us from NJP Railway station for 3000 per day.
2. Tingvong Homestay had charged INR 1200 per person per day for an API plan.
3. Entry to Dzongu requires a permit which homestay owners can take care if required.
4. There is no ATM in the area. Nearest one is at Mangan . So carry enough cash.
5. Mr. Dupden Lapcha – +91 9593783043 (Tingvong Homestay)
6. Mr. Banabash - +91 9832368745 (Driver)  
7. There are a few homestays in other eco-villages too. A detailed information is here .        

.

Colors of Bolpur-Shantiniketan

Holi the festival of color is celebrated as Dol Jatra in West Bengal. Most of the time Dol Purnima (full moon day)falls a day before Holi. The festival is dedicated to lord Krishna and Radha. At Shantiniketan in Bolpur, Dol is celebrated as Basanta Utsav. It heralds the approach of spring season.

Students from Visva Bharti performing dance.

Basanta Utsav means celebration of spring which was started by Rabindranath Tagore at Shantiniketan. At its ground (Amra Kunja), students from Patha Bhavana, Visva Bharati and other schools participate in various cultural programs in the morning. Every year it attracts a large number of visitors from Bengal and other parts of the country. 

A student with Khol (a terracotta two sided drum ).

The girls attire in yellow (basanti) sari and wear ornaments made of palash flowers and buds. Whereas, boys keep it simple in white or yellow kurta teamed up with jeans or pajama . 

A visitor wearing palash  ornaments.

Once the cultural event of Visva Bharati is over , 'abir khela' takes place for the rest of the day. 

Abir (also abeer) is natural colour made out of  dry flowers and leaves. One can also find bauls (folk singers) singing and playing their instruments like ektara, dotara, duggi, khamak, kartal etc under mango trees. 

A baul singer with his dotara (String instrument with usually four metal strings)

This annual event of spring has a unique spirit like 'Lath mar Holi' in Barsana . Both of them bear traditions and can be celebrated by everyone.

***

Reaching Bolpur :

Bolpur is situated at Birbhum district of West Bengal. By road it is 212 kms away from Kolkata (capital city of West Bengal) and takes about four hours to reach. By train it can be reached within three hours from Kolkata. About five to six trains ply in this route regularly from Kolkata. Buses also ply regularly but one has to change from Panagarh 45 kms from Bolpur (Asansol bound) or from Ilam Bazar 20 kms from Bolpur (Suri bound) to reach Santiniketan. 

Courtesy : Google maps. 

Palash flower complementing spring festival .

~~ Bihar - Recently captured ~~

 

On the way to Baisi, bordering once united states of  Bihar and Jharkhand.

~~ In and Around ~~

~~ Interior Bihar ~~

~~ Rustic Bihar ~~

~~ Ardh-Kumbh Mela ~~