So, here is the deal. Red and Rhododendrons - both are my favourite. The colour red has such an amazing appeal to it! You put one bright red rhododendron amidst thick dark green forest and the entire forest perks up! That’s the power of these flowers.
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| Ooh the Red ! |
So, when my cousin called to check if I would be up for a short trip to the world of Rhododendrons, I confirmed right away. I booked a Vande Bharat ticket to NJP for my onward journey and an overnight sleeper seat in Padatik Express for my return trip. And whilst all of this was in discussion, my friend from Chennai mentioned, she had never been to the Himalayas and never to the North East part of the country either. Now, the thing is - anyone who expresses their tiniest wish of seeing the Himalayas, my heart goes out to all of them. So, I took it upon myself and got my friend booked for this short Rhododendron hiking trip to Barsey from Oakhrey in Sikkim.
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| Crazy bloom! |
So, thus started the journey. It was my first trip in the new and flashy and much (overtly) advertised Vande Bharat Express. It was clean and the seats were nice but a whole day of sitting on my bum is never a pleasant experience! My bum and back were most glad when we got off at New Jalpaiguri station right on time and found ourselves a taxi that would take us to Darjeeling.
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| On the way to NJP |
Now, getting excited is good but needless to say, we got a bit too excited and overestimated our limited human potential. We planned to experience Darjeeling in just one evening and one morning and then head to Okhrey for the hike the next day. A bit too over ambitious but that’s exactly what we did.
Darjeeling in April has that dreamy, drizzly atmosphere. It welcomed us with an expected light drizzle and a sudden chill. Mind you, it was expected for me but it was all new for my friend. She, however, declared, she had a very high threshold. Even after my warning about how sneaky the Himalayan cold might be, she said she felt just right whilst I put on two layers already!
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| The iconic Clock Tower, Darjeeling |
We waited near the Grand Clock in Darjeeling for my cousin to arrive. He lives in Sikkim, so he was immune to the chill that I was experiencing having travelled from Kolkata. We enquired for rooms in a few hotels and finally settled for a place at the top of a steep uphill road, just a few mins from the mall road. Finding a hotel and settling in took a while and our ambitious plan of seeing Darjeeling was already at risk. The Sun already set and darkness took over.
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| Unique flower in our homestay at Oakhrey |
We freshened up and hit the mall road. The entire population of the world seemed to have gathered here. Quite expected really. It is like that every evening every month every year on this extremely famous mall road of Darjeeling! The only time I have found this road pleasant was during Covid when tourists were far and few and the old charm of Darjeeling mall road was back in existence. Today, however, was extremely busy like usual. Even though this was expected, we still expressed our annoyance at all the tourists except for our own selves. We walked through the crowd - me trying to escape this madness as soon as possible, my friend trying to take a peek at the roadside food stalls and vendors, my cousin with his un-dampened spirit, trying to explain the history of all the shops and restaurants on either side.
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| 7 - 17 ! The Chinese restaurant name :D |
We went to Glenerys. Because everybody has to go there. And with a first timer in our group i.e. my friend, we had to show her the pride of the mall road. However, it was jam packed, so we decided to postpone Glenerys until the next morning and strolled into a quieter lane. My cousin knew a very old Chinese restaurant cum hotel called Seven Seventeen and we went in there for some much needed food.
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| Tea gardens, Darjeeling |
The next morning, my cousin was very keen on visiting quite a few places in Darjeeling like the Botanical Garden, Tibetan settlement, Batasia loop etc. but the practicality of the matter was gently settling in. We were yet to travel all the way to Okhrey (another 3-4 hours) and I wanted to spend some time in that village and not rush around anymore.
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| Darjeeling's green railing and orange blue bird! |
So we decided to have a culinary experience of Darjeeling and shelve the scenic experience for the next time. What followed was a couple of hours of gluttony at the Glenerys (Ah! I can still feel the melting pork sausage in my mouth) followed by an authentic Tibetan restaurant - Kunga. This was also highly recommended by my cousin. I had a plate of momo which was, no doubt, superb but what blew my mind was the big bowl of pork curry that my cousin had. It was a big bowl of soupy pork and vegetables. I was hardly keen on the pork but the soup was out of the world. It was a perfect match against the rainy, chilly weather too!
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| At Kunga...yum yum! |
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| Oakhrey Homestay |
The next morning, we headed to Barsey. It was an easy trek of about 9 KM going up to Barsey and back to Oakhrey and would usually take about 4-5 hours depending on how long you want to spend at the top.
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| At the top, Barsey |
The start of the walk was marked by a big gate and a couple of shops selling tea, coffee and rhododendron juices and wines. The initial part of the walk saw a lot of big and tall rhododendron trees with a complete riot of pink and white flowers. The trees perched from the side of the slopes. The lovely, bright flowers clustered much like a ball of dense petals and flat, shiny leaves towered over us as we walked through the canopy.
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| Rhododendron Forest |
We went a bit further and here, the red rhododendrons became more visible. It was a relaxing walk with gentle slopes through a semi-dense forest. The path was nicely laid out and there was absolutely no way to get lost. As we approached the top, the trees were more stocky and short. All the flowers were now at our reach which made them look even bigger and brighter, if that’s possible! It felt more like a dense garden than a forest.
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| Going flower mad! |
There was a one roofed building which appeared to be a kitchen cum dining area. We got black tea there. Some people were staying the night at the top and they had their tents scattered around the flat open area.
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| Exploring the nooks... |
We explored the place, just walking in random directions and climbing up random slopes, wherever we fancied. This went on for sometime and then it was time to head back. We traced back the same route and in no time, were back at the entrance gate.
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| Shall we go up or down or stay? |
My friend at this point was super tired. It was her first trip to the Himalaya and also the first hike. I probably got a bit overboard and exhausted her completely. We rested a little whilst people had tea and coffee. My cousin got us some rhododendron wine which was super sweet but refreshing too!
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| Our Rhododendron wine partner |
It was past lunch time by now. We went back to our homestay and had lunch. It was not the best meal I have had in the mountains but it tasted okay. However, the rice was very undercooked, the impact of which was only realised later. My friend was feeling a bit feverish now, so she decided to stay in after lunch and get some sleep. I felt really bad as I wanted to give her a top notch experience in the mountains which had backfired somehow!
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| Valley view from our room |
To cheer me up, my cousin took me out on a village walk around Oakhrey. This was amazing. Even though it was a tad cloudy and we did get rained on a little bit, it was still worth it. We saw the helipad, a monastery (it is the new one, there is also an old monastery which we would visit later), a playground, lots of little agricultural plots and the neighbourhood in general. As the sky started to look more and more grey, we rushed back towards our homestay.
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| The homestay we stayed in |
My cousin has visited Oakhrey so many times that now he has made good friendships with the locals. We visited the owner of the homestay opposite to where we were staying. They were very happy to see him and offered us tea. They wouldn’t take no for an answer and insisted us to stay for a bit. So we sat down and had a chitchat. My cousin did most of the talking as he always does. And the rest of us were happy, smiling and nodding. The tea was made with real milk from their home grown cows. The milk was so pure and smelt so strong that my rubbish-eating taste buds and corrupt nose couldn’t take it! So, the next day when we visited them again, I asked them to give me black tea in advance!
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| Evening Village Walk |
In the evening, we headed back to our homestay and checked on my friend. She was still feeling very ill. More than fever, it was her stomach that was upset now. Things got even worse at midnight when both of us puked and threw up the entire dinner! This was when we realised the culprit was the undercooked rice we were having at the homestay for about four consecutive meals now. Though, the mystery remains how no one else was sick! Anyway, the next morning, we were fine but just to be cautious, we restricted our diet just to puffed rice and water. The people in the group were extremely helpful; they not only helped us with medicines but the entire bag of puffed rice and two big packs of biscuits were given by one of the couples. This was a saviour. Super grateful to her always for this help.
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| Morning Village Walk |
My cousin and I again went out in the morning. My friend was okay now but I think she was just too scared at all these unexpected turns of health. So she decided to stay in again. The walk around the village was even more beautiful today. The Sun was up, the sky was clear and the cool breeze had a crisp freshness. Everything looked very green and peaceful. We went up a few steps to get to a higher slope and then continued along a winding road up to visit the old monastery. This monastery was very minimalistic with a perfect touch of peace and serenity.
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| On the way to the old monastery |
After an hour and a half or so, we came back to the homestay again for some breakfast (only puffed rice for me! But people enjoyed local cuisine there). The short trip was over and now it was time for a long drive through the mountain roads along the river Teesta. We hopped into the car for our journey back to NJP and bid adieu to this sweet, sleepy village of Oakhrey.
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| In love with these ^_^ |
