“Hamlog bas abhi abhi to puri se laute hain, fir turant nikal payenge?” (We have just arrived from Puri, will we be able to leave that soon?)
“Haan haan kyun nahi, bas dekhte hain kahan ja sakte hain.” (Yes yes why not, just let me see where we can go.)
I said and started looking for places where we could travel for our second adventure. We had sorted out some places, not very far from Jamshedpur (where I was studying, if you remember from my previous blogs), before leaving for Puri.
For the readers who are reading this blog for the first time, this is an adventure blog in which I share adventure stories and my experiences from the adventures I have done. I have done several adventures in different parts of the country (India) and it's still going on. This is my second story, you can find the previous one here.
Yes, this was going to be our second adventure. Me and Subodh were yet again ready for our expedition. The Puri (Puri, Bhubaneswar and Konark) trip was basically a holiday with eight friends. It was 2017, the month of September and Durga Puja vacation was on. After a three-day trip from Puri, most were tired, but on the contrary, for Subodh and me, now the real journey was going to begin.
We had shortlisted two places to visit, Sundarban and Darjeeling. From the very start, we were more inclined towards Sundarban, as it was nearer and less risky. Also, Darjeeling was a big name, because when searching ‘top hill stations in India’, Darjeeling was one of the top places. Therefore, we were a little doubtful about Darjeeling, as we had never prevailed to any hill stations. But after so many ifs and buts, we agreed on Darjeeling.
Our main concern was never just to travel to famous tourist places in Darjeeling. Obviously, we were going to visit them, but what we were focused on was the Sandankphu trek in Manebhanjan. Manebhanjan is 30 km away from Darjeeling. We looked at the map, downloaded it and took all the things we needed (as I had written in my previous blog ‘Want to go on an Adventure? Let’s Start it!’). This was the trip where I took raisins for the first time.
There is no direct route for Darjeeling from Jamshedpur. We had to go to Howrah, and from Sealdah, there are multiple trains for Siliguri or New Jalpaiguri, from where one can easily find either bus or Jeep for Darjeeling. We did the same.
We left for Howrah early in the evening. It took us four hours to reach there. The train was in the night around 11 pm, which delivered us in the morning around 10. We ate in a hotel. When we asked about the bus for Darjeeling, I found out something which generated suspense on our further trip. We found out that a 104-day long protest ended just the day before we reached there. After talking to a few guys, we further discovered that the transportation had begun, but most of the spots and events were probably to be closed. We took a jeep for Darjeeling and in around 3 hrs, we were in Darjeeling.
Darjeeling
It would be cheating to the reader not to acquaint about the first experience of entering the great Himalayas. All of you, who have been there, must have felt it, but I would like to tell it my way. The first thing that amazed me was the way it looked from the road, a few kilometers before the Himalayas. What I had seen in Chota Nagpur Plateau was seemingly nothing but a baby. The mountain in front of me was a giant. Our mouths remained open for a few seconds. Stunning. I personally was never so excited while going somewhere. Indeed, it is a beauty. While going up, we looked from the window, and the whole city was visible from there. We were frightened a bit the way they were driving. There were sharp u-turns and the driver was so confident like he was going on a 6-lane highway. Anyhow, we were in Darjeeling by noon.
If you have not been to Darjeeling then you should know that you can go there by toy train also (but because of the strike it was still not running), which is one of the main attractions of Darjeeling.
A time table of toy train
The jeep dropped us near the final station of the toy train. The weather was clear until now. The temperature in Siliguri was around 30, but here it was cold. We decided to roam around the streets and discover the beauty of Darjeeling on foot. We passed through the markets, which were so attractive, maybe because they were constantly ascended and descended. We also went to the clock tower shown in the movie ‘Barfi’. It is so old now and is surrounded by shops. We walked for hours, watching different tourist destinations except for the rock garden and tiger hill viewpoint.
The clock tower
In a few hours, we were wandering ahead of the city. On the way, we found two big pieces of rocks on the side of the road which were built for mountaineering training. There were several hooks for the rope. Subodh said - “Humlog is par chadhte hain na!” (Let’s climb on this rock.)
I replied - “Par hamare pas rassi kahan hai?” (But we don’t have any rope)
“So what!”
“Then let’s do it!!”
And in the next minute, we were climbing the rock. After a few minutes, Subodh was on the top of the rock and I was still struggling (Yes, It was tough for me 😑😑!!). Anyway, I did it.
The mountaineering rock we climbed
We could see the whole city very clearly. We saw that half the city was under a shadow. Gradually, the city was clouded. The scene was astonishing.
The only thing I regret every time I write is not having a good camera with me at those times. What’s more scrumptious is that I had lost my phone a month before this trip. (Actually, it was taken from my hand while I was talking 😢😢.)We stayed there for a while and then climbed down. From there we proceeded and climbed on another rock to see the clouds. We sat there. On the other side, there was a trench. We were watching how the cloud was spreading everywhere. After a while, we were surrounded by clouds and the visibility range reduced to 4-5 meters. Suddenly, it started to rain too. We ran from there and went under a tree. After 15-20 minutes, the rain subsided and we went ahead. We were looking for the tea gardens.
Tea Garden
After walking a few kilometers, we reached there. There was a long belt of the garden there. We went to the garden. There we met some farmers and asked about tea cultivation. It requires hard work with a set of skills. In addition, the farmers, or say the agricultural laborers are paid very less in comparison to the work they do. Picking tea seeds is very granular work. World-class tea seeds are produced there but all the profits are made by the corporate companies. They are basically the exploited class.
The tea garden
There Subodh and I met a person who was a native of Bihar. He told us a lot of things about farming. I also bought some tea leaves and he helped me buy them. He arranged for us to stay the night. We stayed in his small house for the night.
The next day was planned to go to Manebhanjan for Sandakphu Trek. He told us how to reach Manebhanjan. We thanked him and left for our expedition.
About Darjeeling Culture
It was around 10-11 when we again arrived in the main city. We had to go back to the same station where we were earlier. We took the jeep and left for Manebhanjan. In the jeep, we met a local person. I asked him about Manebhanjan and the conversation began. We talked about the people in Darjeeling. He was also very excited to know about our culture i.e. Bihar. What he had in mind about Biharis was that we are kind of violent and criminal-minded, but very intelligent. He gave me examples of crimes in Bihar but simultaneously said how Biharis are exceptional in every field, especially in academics. He was quite impressed (or say fascinated) with the personality of Lalu Yadav (not the type of person he is, but the way he speaks confidently and what a politician he is!!).
Further, he told me about their culture. He told me about the traditional folk dance and dress of that place. The one famous statement which is often said about them is - "They are BUddhists and dress like American Boys". He said that most of them are in local works or business. Most of them get married around 21-22. They live a simple life and do not explore outside so much. Nepali is the dominant language there. This was the reason that the protest was going for a long time. They were demanding a separate state, Gorkhaland. According to them, they don’t even feel like Bengali, it’s like they are pushed to be Bengali.
I personally liked the dressing sense of the people there. They know how to dress. And yes a funny thing, everything in Darjeeling seems manufactured by Adidas, as Adidas stickers were sticking on bicycles and jeeps 😅.Manebhanjan
Anyway, we reached our destinations. The person Subodh and I were talking to, got out in a village before Manebhanjan. As soon as we got off the jeep, some people surrounded us asking for the guide to take for the trek. We were on an adventure, so where was the place for a guide!! We refused. Asking some people, we found that we can not go on the trek without a guide and the last time for entering the trek, where a few army men were seated, was 12. We thought maybe they were saying that for their income, so we went straight to the entry point.
Upon arriving there, we found that they were right. The reason they were not allowing us without a guide was because of a recent incident. A group of boys were lost and entered the Nepal border. We had two options now, either wait in a hotel for tomorrow or return. But nothing was seeming good to us.
I said - “Map kholo Subodh, dekhte hain ye jungle kaha tak faila hai.” (Subodh, open the map, let us see how far this forest extends.)
“Kahin tum wapas jungle ke raste jane ka nahi soch rhe na!” (Aren’t you thinking of returning through the jungle!)
Before entering into the jungle
I smiled. He opened the map and we went on our way back. We had food in the morning, now we only had raisins. We planned to spend the night in the forest and then return to Darjeeling.
Into the Wild
We left the road and entered the jungle. The weather had been cloudy since yesterday. The atmosphere was colder inside the forest. There were steep slopes and tall trees, which were causing us trouble walking. Water drops were falling from the trees. It was quite dark inside. Overall, it was very difficult. We were moving ahead by holding the trees. The path was very slippery, but holding trees was the only thing that kept us from slipping. Somehow, we were going consistently.
Different scenery from the forest
On the way, we witnessed some waterfalls, all were so beautiful. We saw mountain dogs, a few monkeys and some new birds (probably I and Subodh don't know them). We heard so many voices which were constantly reminding us where we were!!
We knew that the sun would set early inside the forest, so we had to find a place to stay. We were also looking for food, but it is never easy to find the food in the wilderness. But thanks to the sharp eyes of Subodh, he found a cherry tree there. We ate and kept some for the night, it was so sweet! It was almost dark when we found a big tree and dry flat land, without soils. The weather was getting colder. We didn’t have many clothes with us but had a thick shawl each. But it was clear that they were insufficient for the night. We had to light a fire to endure the ensuing cold. We cleaned the place, made our bed and started collecting dry woods. But it was impossible to find completely dry wood. Therefore, we picked some semi-wet woods. We had two boxes of matchsticks. We knew that burning these woods would be like cooking Birbal’s Khichdi. That is why we needed something to ignite, that would kindle the fire.
After searching for a while, we found a large plastic bag. It gave us hope but was completely drenched. We didn’t have any choice but to give that a chance. We kept trying to light the fire using the match sticks, but one after the other, they were useless. The first matchbox emptied but the fire didn’t lit. We were getting disappointed. We didn’t have too many sticks, but what choice did we have. Now we started drying a portion of the bag using fire. We used all the used sticks as well to maintain the fire. But it also seemed useless. We both gave up when only 4-5 sticks were left. After a minute or two, we decided to try one last time. And hurray, finally it worked!! The second stick this time was able to light the fire. After all, the earlier work was not completely useless!!
The plastic bag we used and the fire
What a comfort it was!! I am telling you, fire is the best companion and weapon of an adventurer. I can not write about the relief the fire brought us. We combined both the shawls and sat down together. We ate cherries. Subodh slept earlier when it was around 8-9 pm and I maintained the fire. After midnight, we exchanged our roles. While I was awake, I could easily hear the sounds of various animals. It was terrifying as well as pleasant. The fear of wild animals is always the main concern while staying in the forest.
It was around 2:30-3:00 am when Subodh woke me up. He told me that we were out of fuel and there was nothing to burn. We were freezing. Extinguishing the fire again but not an option.
I said - “Ab hamare pas sirf ek option hai, apne raste par wapas chalte hain.” (We have only one choice left, pack our bags and be back on our way.)
Subodh agreed. We did the same. We used our phone’s flashlight to walk. Our goal was to get back on the road as soon as possible. So we headed straight to the road (following the map). It was even more difficult to walk in the dark. We had to climb up continuously. In about an hour, we were on the road.
A glimpse from the forest in the morning
After walking for half an hour, we could see the movements of vehicles. We were asking for the lift but no one was stopping. After trying for some time, we were able to get the lift. The man in the vehicle told us to sit down immediately. When we asked why he said there are a lot of cheetahs(leopards) in the jungle so no one stops their vehicle here. He further added that he usually watches Cheetah in this way. We were shocked, we didn't know about this. We were not fully prepared here. so it was a big risk.
The person who gave us a lift
He asked us where we were coming from. Now we were in a dilemma, what should we say to him? Should we tell him that we stayed in the jungle? Well, I said that we got out early from the hotel in order to watch the sunrise from the Tiger Hills, we were looking for any transport but no one was there. He further asked if the hotel staff did not stop us. I said that he stopped us, but we left. He inquired about the hotel we stayed at. I said about the hotel in the corner (It was a guess obviously). He exclaimed - “Oh, I get it! You stayed at (he said some name that I don’t remember)”. I said I didn’t remember the name. For a while, I was really frightened, but all went well.
Back to Darjeeling
Our next destination was Tiger Hills. We had planned to go to Tiger Hills in the morning because if the sky is clear, Kanchenjunga is visible from the top. The sky was not clear but still, we wanted to go there. The vehicle was going to Siliguri to sell vegetables. they left us on the way to Tiger Hills. It was a climb of about 4 kilometers to reach the Tiger Hills. We thought of taking a lift from there too, but we could not find it. We walked. On the way, there was an army camp. We met an army person there who was from Meerut, UP. He asked about us and told us about his camp and earlier places he had been. After chatting, we said goodbye and went to the top of the hill. Of course, Kanchenjunga was not visible from there but the scene was captivating. We could see a part of the town and part of forest areas, all covered under clouds.
A view from Tiger Hills
Tiger Hill is the peak point of Darjeeling. At the top is a temple. An observatory was under construction ( it has probably been prepared).
It started raining while we were there. We waited there for an hour. During this period, we saw a bunch of people coming and going there. A group of boys came cycling. Another group came on the bikes.
We returned as soon as the rain stopped. One last place was left to visit, Rock Garden. We took public transport from the market and reached near the Rock Garden. From there, the path was again 4 kilometers long, but this time it was slanted down. We thought it would be easy to go with gravity, but we were wrong. We were tired as our thigh muscles had two tough days. Going down, we had to apply pressure on our thighs to stop ourselves. We were stopping at every turn. At last, we reached there. The temperature there was quite hot. But more disappointing than that was the Rock Garden. It was a small waterfall and a garden was built around it.
Rock Garden
We seriously laughed at ourselves. We lost so much energy to see that small waterfall. We had seen several waterfalls on our way. Many were much larger than that. And here we were. Anyway, we were there so we had to use that place. We slept on the bench there, after washing ourselves 😴😴. There were very few people, so there was no problem with sleeping. After 3 hours, we woke up, talked to a person who came there to visit with a jeep and returned to the main city with him. From there we took the bus to return. By evening, I and Subodh were back in Siliguri.
FINALLY
Overall, this was a great experience. We learned a lot during this trip. We met new people and shared some stories. On this trip, I realized that one should also know about the culture of the place he/she is visiting. Apart from this, I also learned that if you are an adventurer then places like Darjeeling are not for you. Yes, it can be great for couples going on honeymoon trips, but if you are an explorer, look for the places that are not so famous or which are not so densely populated. You can visit the outskirts or any village. The people are more supportive there and will welcome you from their heart. It is difficult to find such people in famous cities like Darjeeling, where everything is commercialized. They will show you places like Rock Garden and that is the best they can do.
Thank you Shivam and Nupur.
Loved your experience!!
Nicely written. Really appreciate the concluding suggestions.