Few years back when I decided to tick "Trekking"
from my ever growing bucket list, little I knew how hard I am going fall for
the mountains.
I am mesmerized by the beauty of our country. Huge rivers,
green landscapes, breathtaking mountains, those tiny houses on hills with bright flowers around.
Picturesque route ,beautiful and huge rivers along and cold breeze. Nature
in abundance .
I have witnessed some of the most beautiful
sunrises, breathtaking sunsets, and deep blue-green jungles, steep climbs, deep
valleys, spectacular waterfalls, frozen rivers, handsome animals, rare Yaks, colorful
birds and raw beauty of mother earth. Trekking has taken me so close to these
wonders and hidden treasures of the earth and in the process making me feel so completely
one with the universe .
Goechala was one such experience. It is a gorgeous trek,
comprised of dense purple, green forests, Uphill climbs, beautiful bridges , waterfalls , streams ,
berries and colorful Rhododendrons where most of the days we had to keep
climbing up and up and could only look down the steep mountain side to hear and view the river throughout the trek. 
We had Sun burns, cold bites, we drenched in rain, rushed
through hailstorm, climbed our pass day in Snowfall and danced at Summit .
We
bonded, laughed, sang and shared our life with others just so easily.
Wooden trails with the canopy of rhododendrons were beautiful at the same time they were slippery, muddy, risky and exhaustive because of rain.
We found breathtakingly beautiful flowers and colorful birds
in abundance along the way though feel of insects/Leeches on body still sends
shivers down the spine.
Turns and twists in the mountains made the trail groovy and
romantic and also at the same time unpredictable, lonely and spooky.
Running down the trail in drizzle was fun & inspiring but
after a while same rainy trail and landslides along made it overpowering
and suffocating.
I am still wondering whether it should be called romantic
trail or endurance challenge as walk during initial days was mostly uphill and
never ending. Not sure whether route ever felt romantic while actually walking
on it. It was a strenuous walk with one step at a time. But now when I think back and
rewind my walks, I can only remember beautifully laid wooden path with
rhododendrons canopy, sound of Prek chu river, yellow river stones, mesmerizing
sunrise from Dzungaria top, Mt. Kangdchenjunga and Mt. Pandim peaks playing
hide and seek throughout the trek, Eastern Himalayan Ranges covered with clouds
and serene Samiti lake.
Goechala trek was overwhelming, unpredictable and
contradicted our own beliefs and judgments. It confused us at the same time
cleared our minds. It surely started growing on us from day one.
These ten days, though we were away from our dear ones,
families, responsibilities; we survived and felt at home and surprisingly felt content. We smelled flowers, tasted berries from
trees, walked through mud and sand, drank water from natural
sources .Life came down to bare necessities. We ate, slept and walked and
thanked God for every day. 15000 Ft above we realized it does not take much to survive.
You just need to breathe.
I am back again in my world of comforts with a grateful
heart and many beautiful moments which are locked in my heart safe.
Thanks to super fit team of buddy trekkers ,charming local
kitchen and porter staff and must mention a story teller - informative
,articulate trek lead, Ashish who ensured safety, fun ,food and successful trek
all along and managed the huge team of trekkers with much ease and confidence
and beautiful Sikkim !
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| Take me home ...Country Roads ... |
At View Point 1
