Travel/Memoir/Poetry

Temi by Day, Kanchanjungha by Night — Pelling Revisited

Reciprocal Nature Prompt-Mountains

Few furlongs away two sisters who quiet Would walk to the rock face, dip their palms At a eunuch fountain dying by the hour, And slowly beneath a pavement slick Would curl and enter the slide stuck near. Yet men past their sixtieth year were there, Who clogged with woolen clothes right to the toe, With shrunken eyelids,worsened kins stood clear Of foreign men — as if proud of the tribe. That pride of its aging pattern showed man thus The pride of an ancient making of God. — — -Peeling Fragments, Shouvik Narayan Hore

When you stand beneath the loft of these huge rocks, you know it’s nature’s way of writing poetry. You know someone carrying these visuals in his eyes created the concept of “Omnipresent”, as rightly expressed by the above poem. Mountains have always been my favourite break-aways, till life stole that pleasure from me. A travel taken long back seems like a time from another life, but what remains are undeniable visuals of the Himalayas, home to the highest peak in the world, Mount Everest (8,848.86 m) and never-to-forget kinda memories of that visitation, which I thought of sharing today.

Destination Pelling:

Shoe-string budget,Vijay Mallya in mind and heart beating for adventure — Our stop was ,Pelling. A sleepy town and tourist hot-spot in the lap of Himalayas, is located in the western part of Sikkim, a prominent state on the North- Eastern border of India. The single pointer that catapulted Pelling (7200 ft) to its coveted status is the unadulterated view of Kanchanjungha, on the foothills of which the town is located.

It is said even on a misty day, Pelling doesn’t disappoint.

Ye Ice-falls! ye that from the mountain’s brow A down enormous ravines slope amain – Torrents, methinks, that heard a mighty voice, And stopped at once amid their maddest plunge! — — Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Armed with suggestions from our travel agent we took a train (over night) to NewJalpaiguri (NJP) and carried forward in a car, as that’s the easiest and fastest.

Today, this travel will entail touching down Bagdogra Airport ( from where ever you are travelling) followed by the SUV journey up hill. The one I suggest for you.

It was early evening when we reached Pelling.The sky still lighted with the retreating sun,and roads with dim street lights. The sudden change in temperature, looking down to see the town in its evening form( a characteristic of altitudes that I enjoy, coming from plains, where we always look up) gave the perfect feel of a mountain get-away.

Though I do not remember which Hotel we stayed, I remember it was near the Pelling Helipad ( which has no regular service, but Helicopters can connect Pelling with Gangtok in case of emergency) with a good view of the coveted range, serving some exotic Momos (Dumplings) and Thukpa (Tibetan Noodle Soup).

This comes with a rider that, this was our first trip with our own money and everything tasted sweet!

Waking up early was on the cards, and I woke up to the thundering claps from the fellow guests lined up in the viewing pad, only to find a clear blue sky with no ‘K’ at site.

I realised I was late. But knew there were days in hand and got ready to tour the place.

Places of Visit:

Our first stop was the famed Pemayangtse Monastery.

A small trekking trail, named after the place it’s located, was founded in 1705 by Buddhist Lama Lhatsun Chempo.The oldest and a must visit, this monastery was built as a three storey structure, has wall frescos and statues depicting Saints and Rinpoches.

Sangachoeling Monastery, Tashiding Monastery,ruins of the earstwhile capital of Sikkim, Rabdentse,restored by the ASI are there to visit, for history enthusiasts.

Falls in Pelling:

For lo! this gentle mountain stream, While blessing ferns and flowers; Had slaked the little maiden’s thirst Through the long summer hours. And when, each day, unconsciously, Its strength grew greater still; In grace and beauty flowing on, It moved the distant mill. — — -The Mountain Stream by Ellwood Haines Stokes

It was early monsoon,and small springs and colourful flora dressed the mountain roads.

A beautiful view of Kanchanjungha completed in the wee hours of the morning, we were on our way to visit the largest of the falls, the kanchanjungha falls.

Fed by the streams coming from the melted glacier, it roared down the verdant heights, splattering through the rich greens, cutting through the surround- quiet ,so much, that we could not hear each other, standing beside.

But then you don’t need to, as the imagery spread before your eyes, render you speechless.

Other falls of mention would include Rimbi and Phamrong falls.

A very interesting point to visit, when in Pelling, is the hanging bridge of Shingshore. Over 100 mts high and 240 mts in length, it is the highest bridge in Sikkim and second highest in Asia.

A man-made marvel giving a spectacular view of the bucolic surround, gives you the feel of standing in air if you can manage to reach the centre of the bridge( vertigo managed!). A wanderlust’s delight.

Lakes in Pelling:

What is this life if, full of care, We have no time to stand and stare?- No time to see, in broad daylight, Streams full of stars, like skies at night: No time to turn at Beauty’s glance, And watch her feet, how they can dance: No time to wait till her mouth can Enrich that smile her eyes began? A poor life this if, full of care. —-Leisure,W.H. Davies

You find true meaning to these words when you stand infront of Khecheopalri Lake— another group of attraction when in Pelling. Though there are a good few, but the one which draws maximum tourists is this Lake, considered to be sacred to the practising Buddhists.

Once inside, the stillness shakes you up. Tall olive surround and the sky-shadow giving the water a definitive hue rarely seen. Even a leaf on the water lay motionless.

I have never been to a place thronging with people and yet so silent, as if a pin drop would create wave.

Standing in the queue with my candle, waiting to go inside the monastery situated by the lake and light it, I felt ‘spiritualism’. Probably for the first time.

There are trekking trails, gardens and amusement centres for interested tourists too.

Ravangla,The Tea Zone:

As per suggestions from locals we decided to take a tour of Ravangla, a very small village, about 7000 ft above ground level.

It derives its name from ‘Ra’ which means sheep,‘Vong’ a rearing place and ‘La’ which translates into pass.

This is the starting point of the trek to Maenam wildlife sanctuary, which is a favourite among regular trekkers.

Orchids,rhododendron,babblers,cuckoos,hill partridges and lush green tea gardens greeted us in Ravangla, on the penultimate day of our tour.

A day spent enjoying local food, mingling with locals and discovering Temi Tea , a Sikkim specialty.

Kunchenjungha by Night:

Ye mountains, that far off lift up your heads, Seen dimly through their canopies of blue, The shade of my unrestful spirit sheds Distance-created beauty over you; Perchance even now some eye, that would be bright To meet my own, looks on your mist-robed forms; Perchance your grandeur a deep joy imparts To souls that have encircled mine with light, — O brother-heart, with thee my spirit warms! — -Green Mountains, By James Russell Lowell

It was the last evening, a full moon sky, and we decided to buy some local handmade gifts(which we had shortlisted earlier) and started towards the Mall, where the shops were located.The road was wet from an afternoon shower and the mountain air, soggy. The Mall was dimly lit but buzzing with good number of locals and tourists loitering lazily.

And then some loud discussions caught our attention and we turned to envisage an one-of-a-kind scene what I still hold in my memory bright and clear —

From the dark of the sky was emerging the shining silver peaks of Kanchanjungha — boisterous, scary and beautiful. The Mall fell quite.

I was not carrying my camera that evening and when I look back I think it was for the better. No hand held camera could have captured the moment the way the mind-lens did.

The majestic Kanchenjungha by full moon night — Clicked and restored in my hard disk forever.

Note: The travel happened before we had camera in our phones. The camera I carried has got lost, hence the image borrow. Thanks to Mudit, my friend from Sikkim, who readily agreed to share his clicks. And of course to Google,the saviour.

I enjoyed reading writers-why-quiet-quitting-may-be-good-for-your-mental-health by Connie Song , where she deals with a pertinent point of writer’s burn-out.

This piece by Sahil Patel made the right noise as far as the recent happenings of the writer’s world in the platform.

Want-to-find-yourself-again by Leonard Tillerman spoke to me in more ways than one. You will enjoy it too.

Thank you Dr. Preeti Singh for your intriguing Nature prompt, that brought back some wonderful memories.

Thank you Yana Bostongirl and Sahil Patel for helming such a vibrant space for writers here.

Thank you for engaging and encouraging as always!

Leaving you with a Mountain tune from the movie Kanchenjungha, by none other than Satyajit Ray, where he skillfully deals with the impact of nature on human mind, considered one of his best.