Goecha La - Dzongri La Trek

 Get set to take one of the most picturesque drive in the Himalayas following the Teesta and Rangeet river to the beautiful village of Yuksom in West Sikkim. Soon after you leave Bagdogra or the New Jalpaiguri railway station, in some time you start climbing the swirls with great views all around. While the deep gorge of the Teesta keeps you excited, the monkeys on the other side of the road are fun to watch. The road passes by Jorethang, the last big town where you can buy the last missed stuffs. The monasteries and furling prayer flags doesn't let you feel bored and soon you find yourself in Yuksom.

Checkin to your Hotel

Evening Snacks with team introduction, brief the trek plan.

Today we start our trek. An exciting morning after a good night sleep in our comfortable cosy bed. A cup of hot tea feels just perfect to start off the day.

We start our day at ease and hit the trail within a comfortable time as the day is short and easy. We resolve few last moment formalities and get set for the day. As soon as we leave Yuksom and enter the forest, our hearts are taken right away by the beauty of the typical Sikkimese lush green deep forest. We cross 3 river bridges before reaching our campsite.

Sachen is a very small campsite right in the middle of the thick, dense forests. After sunset, it gets pitch dark here.

A short but good warm up trek today. The trail goes up and down through the deep forest, crossing another river bridge. From here, the trail continuously climbs steeply to reach Bakhim marked by a tea /maggi shop, an abandoned lodge and a trekkers hut. We just cant move forward without having maggi here. Its a reward which we can give ourself for having covered the distance till now.

After a course of maggi and tea, we head towards Tshoka, which is 2 kms of steep climb from here. Tshoka is the biggest settlement on this trek with a monastery, Lake and few tea houses. The peaks of Tenchenkhang, Pandim and Jupono hovers over and makes them visible for the first time in the trek.

After lunch, we head out to explore the place with our cameras. There are lot to capture the memories for the future, although the feeling which you feel right at that time is just to be lived which remains sharp in your memories.

We wake up to a scenic morning at Tshokha with the views of Pandim, Tenchenkhang. Jupono. With a hot cup off tea, we get ready for the day. Today is slightly difficult as compared to the last 2 days. The distance is more and the climb up to Phedang and Deorali top is continuously steep from Tshoka.

As soon as we start, the trail starts to climb up steeply. During spring season, this trail blooms with Lali Guras, (Rhododendron). Phedang is marked by a flat meadow with a trekkers hut. View of the mountain peaks are towards your right from here. A quite rest for some time and then its another hour of steep climb from here till Deorali Top after which the trail eases out.

We have our packed lunch at Deorali Top. It is marked by Buddhist prayer flags furling over a small meadow, with tall trees surrounding all round. Views of Kanchenjunga and other peaks from here makes this place very picturesque. Its the highest point on today's trail. From here, the trail goes up and down on the humps with huge juniper bushes on both the sides. After gradually descending for some 20 odd minutes, we reach Dzongiri - A beautiful place with river flowing right through it, 2 small shops and a trekkers hut. We ease out for the day and relax. 

Dzongri translates into 'a meeting point' as per the local language. Rightly so ! Here the trek branches into 3 routes. the one straight goes to Chowrikhang, HMI base camp and Rathong glacier. The one on the left goes towards Singalila and the one on the right goes towards Goechala. 

We wake up before the dawn to climb up to Dzongri top. From here we witness a natural magic of morning rays of sun light up the snow covered peaks of the region. Its an hours climb from our campsite. When we reach the top, we are mesmerized by what we see. Kanchenjunga gets the first light as its the highest peak and slowly starts turning into a golden beauty. Other peaks of Pandim, Tenchenkhang, Jupono, Kabru, etc slowly join it making it an unbelievable display of Nature's show.

Its about those few moments of glory, after which all the peaks are lighted bright and they loose the golden shine. After a satisfying views of the surrounding panorama, we head back to our campsite, where hot breakfast is waiting for us. Today we relax to acclimatize well for our upcoming days. After breakfast, we trek to Dzongri La, the entrance to the Oklathang Valley. Get set to be mesmerized by the panoramic beauties around Dzongri La surrounded by numerous peaks which are considered Holy and are worshipped by the locals. ;

We return to DZONGRI by evening and rest our for the day

We start early today and walk towards our right to take a peek into the Prek Chu valley. A small and gentle ascend gets us atop a small unnamed pass from where the Prek Church valley is visible. Pandim appears to be much closer from here. Sharp descend from here gets us to the campsite of Kokchurong - a beautiful campsite with a tourist lodge with the serene Prek Chu river flowing by its side.

Today, we can watch beautiful sunset on the white peaks right from our tents if we wish to. However, the play of the mountains cant just let be inside your tents. Camera and the mountains are your best buddies today. We have early dinner and sleep early tonight as we have to wake up before morning tomorrow to reach Goecha La on a good time for sunrise. 

We start at around 3 AM today with packed breakfast. There is no view point for us as we head for the pass.The walk through the silence of the night feels amazing. As we keep walking up, down and flattish, it slowly dawns giving us a sight to die for, cry for and go crazy for. Around 4 hours of walk gives us of the ultimate view of Goecha La and the mighty and divine Kanchenjunga. From here, you stand on the ridge of Pandim, touching it. Kanchenjunga stands right in front of you, almost touchable on the other side of the pass. We see the Goecha Peak, Kabru Forked and Kabru Dome on our left. Tenchenkhang and Jupono behind us. 

We offer prayers and turn back after spending good amount of time there. On return, we spend some more time around Samity Lake and head back for lunch. 

After a rest, we will push down to camp at Lamuney.

We walk back on our route till Kokchurong. From there, we trek on the curly flattish trail with small humps thorough the forest to reach Phedang. The walk is almost flat. We have our lunch at Phedang and the head steep downhill to Tshoka. 

As we leave the mountains behind, we feel sad for it. However, returning to our loved ones motivates us and keeps us going. We trek back on the same trail and cross 4 bridges to reach Yuksom.

After we reach Yuksom, we celebrate our successful trek. Have our last dinner together.  

Today we bid good bye and drive back to Yuksom to head towards Home, sweet home.