Hello everyone! It’s Nancy (@escapades_of_syrah) again with another travel blog. In my previous blog I shared “Things to do and See in Mechuka”. In this blog, I will share my trekking experience to the beautiful mountains of Rinjinling which is just outside the town and it is one of the best and easy trek one can do while in Mechuka.
The trek to Rinjinling Mountain is a one night camping trip. The destination sit atops a mountain surrounded by beautiful sceneries from all sides.
You will need a guide and a minimum of 6 people to go on this trek. Our camping trip was organised by Mr. Gebu Sona, owner of GTL Homestay and Lodge. Everything was taken care by Mr. Gebu, a guide, porter, tents and food.
Before starting our trek we made a pit stop at a house in Dorjeeling, owned by a close friend of Mr. Gebu Sona, where we got ready for the trek.
The trek starts by walking past the beautiful village of Dorjeeling. In summer it is filled with millet fields and a wonderland in fall with beautiful golden grasses, dried wooden fences with little green vegetation.
We started our trek by walking along the plains of Dorjeeling village, beautiful morning, pleasantly warm. The mountains in front of us, golden grasses on both sides of the road. A good pleasant walk through the countryside and little streams on our way, we finally reached the foothills of the mountains.
As we were ascending, we could see the entire Dorjeeling Village. We climbed the mountains for two hours. We stopped in between to take in the views, the gorgeous mountains, the green forest hiding in between. You can see mountains till your eyes meets the horizon. Not another soul, it was completely isolated and pristine. I really loved it.
As afternoon came by, the winds grew stronger, I was about get to blown away by the winds. After climbing for 2 hours we finally reach the last stretch of our trek, and as we looked back, we could see the Town of Mechuka from the top.
We reached our trek in the afternoon, and it was exhausting but refreshing to be surrounded by such gorgeous views. My eyes couldn’t believe what I was seeing. The Mechuka town far away glittering in the sunlight, the Dorjeeling village to the right felt so little compared to Mechuka Town. To the left snow peaked mountains can be seen, and on the back undulating mountains can be seen with only two houses.
After setting everything up, we went downhill to one of the Shed House, where our lunch and dinner will be prepared. It is a shed house owned by the old gentleman back in the Dorjeeling village. During summer, he and his family comes to stay here to make local dairy products from the cows and returns home in the winter.
The shed house was all to us, and I felt grateful to be near the fire and inside, as the afternoon winds are dry and very chilly. We opted Maggie and chips for lunch.
The night came by and it was one of the most beautiful night I have ever seen. A night full of stars. We star gazed for hours before having our dinner near the bonfire. After dinner we chatted for another half an hour and retired to our tents.
Next morning, I woke up around 5.30 AM. As soon as I unzipped the tent, the sun rays came bursting in, the very first sun rays touching me. And I looked back and time stopped for me. I was looking in awe what was in front of my eyes. A sea of fog floating above the Town of Mechuka. It was such a beautiful sight.
We were the first to see the sun light while the town of Mechuka was still covered in fog. We took many pictures, we saw the fog slowly disappearing while sipping tea on top of the mountain. It felt like a theater, so grand and so beautiful.
After tea, it was time for us to head back. We were to have our breakfast in the old gentleman’s house.
We reached Dorjeeling after an hour of descending. I came across a field of golden grasses and laid there for a good few minutes taking all the warmth. It would be so peaceful to sleep there for a few hours while the sun is still bright and warm.
We had Ghee Chai and breakfast when we reached back to the house.
We went to one of the green house and brought back small peaches, they are different from the ones we eat in the plains, sour and quite delicious with a pinch of salt.
We had wine and conversation with the old gentleman. We were served Chaang (traditional millet wine). The gentleman who is originally from Tibet, told us about the trades between India and Tibet before the roads happened. After the war of Indo-Sino in 1962, the trades stopped. The old gentleman in his early 90s reminisces his childhood days with us.
With pocket full of sweet peaches, and a little tipsy after drinking the wine, we bid the old gentleman good bye and headed back to Mechuka Town.
If you have been this far with me, thank you so much for reading this blog. Please do share with your friends and your loves one too.
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