TENDONG HILL TREK

TENDONG HILL TREK

It feels Mysterious even in the Daytime

How to reach:

We were travelling from Kolkata, so we boarded Darjeeling Mail from Sealdah station and reached New Jalpaiguri Station in the morning. From there we hired a Car (Mahindra Max)

which charged us Rs. 4000/-. We reached Damthang just in time for a late lunch at Hotel Dew Point. Mr. Kiran Kumar Pradhan (mob: 08116170660, 9635034035), the proprietor of the hotel was extremely hospitable. 

Overview:
In December of 2014, we went to West Sikkim to soak in all the beauty that nature has to offer. This time our destinations were Damthang, Chemchey, Ravangla and Pelling.
Damthang is a small, serene and remote village in West Sikkim, about 112-115kms from NJP, or an hour long drive from Ravangla. Situated at an altitude of 6,076ft, Damthang gets extremely chilly during the winters.
During our trip we stayed for two nights at Damthang, one night at Chemchey (another remote location - 2kms from Damthang), two nights at Ravangla and finally two nights at Pelling.
We will separately give another post, with the detailed descriptions of our entire trip.

Trek Details:
Destination - Tendong Hill.
Distance – 6kms approximately, from Damthang bazaar till Tendong Hill top
Time span - 5 to 7 hours, including both up and down
Trek difficulty – Easy to moderate

The Trek and our experience:

We ventured out on our trek on the 22nd of December, 2014, from Damthang, after having quite a filling breakfast of Sikkimese sweet bread and butter, spicy omelet and cups of steaming hot coffee at our hotel. The 6km uphill trek route passes through the lush green forests rich in flora and fauna. Thanks to Google we got the information that more than 90 species of birds, Himalayan bears, leopards and illusive Red Pandas inhabit this forest! The hill top is at an altitude of 8,600ft and offers a spectacular panoramic view of the entire Eastern Himalayas.

The word "Tendong" means upraised. According to the legends, long time back a huge flood had struck the place and the land upraised itself to give refuge to the flood struck people. The Tendong Hill is also known to be a dormant volcano.

We started at 10 a.m. by taking a wrong turn from Damthang bazaar, and ended up going on the wrong trail for the first 40mins. Realizing our mistake, we had to double back to the same spot at Damthang bazaar. There we asked a few locals, who showed us the more recently paved way to the Tendong Hill, along with attempts to scare us with stories of wild bears and leopards! They insisted that we hire a guide as we may get lost in the woods!
My companions for this trek were Gourab Sen (Gary) and Mr. Sanjoy Kumar Basak. And must I add, that it was for them that I immensely enjoyed the first ever trek of my life! Kudos and thanks! 

In spite of their attempts to incept fear in our minds, we decided to carry on along the fairly straightforward trail, without any guide. The initial part of the trek started with the surroundings being lightly covered with trees and The Kanchendzonga glowing in the distance. Following the trail further, the forest became quite dense and lush. Alongside the conifers, there were several other vegetations that grew together in the thick forest. The trunks of the trees were mostly covered in mosses and several other fungi. The trees formed a cathedral of branches over our head, making the trail shady and chilly at the same time! After walking for some time the artificial and man-made noises died out only to be filled in by the slow song of nature. We went into a trance as we moved deeper into the forest.  

We avoided any shortcuts and kept to the more recently paved dirt road. (Though, quite a few times Gary tried to take the steep shortcuts and almost got lost in the woods!) Soon after we took the trail through the forest, we did not encounter any human beings throughout our entire trek! (Apart from a few workers on the top of the Tendong Hill)

After walking for an hour in the woods, we suddenly heard a loud grunt along with movements in the rolling, thick forest to our right. We immediately stopped in our tracks, holding our ground and trekking sticks as spears, without making a single sound! We soon realized that it must be a wild boar! After sometime the movements and the grunts faded into the distance. We heaved a sigh of relief and continued with our journey.

The pathway was slightly steep, paved though, with steps going both uphill and downhill. At certain points the trail was so narrow that it was feasible for only one person to pass at a time. On our left, the forest ran high up along the slopes of the mountain. On our right there was rolling green forest, going down hundreds of feet below.

 About midway, we came across a tree, whose trunk was naturally bifurcated vertically down the middle, making enough space for one person to pass through. 

As we neared the hill top, we saw sign boards, requesting trekkers to keep the pathway clean as it was a holy site. Soon we saw steps going up adorned with prayer flags on the both sides. We immediately knew that we have neared our destination and it was only a matter of few minutes! Hearts beating with excitement and eyes longing to see the panoramic view, we walked as fast as our legs and lungs allowed!

And soon enough we saw the famous watch tower of Tendong Hill, right in front of us!  

And boy were we surprised! It was an experience of a lifetime! The entire Eastern Himalayan range was surrounding us from 360 degree angle!
The wind was cold and fresh and smelled of the pure mountains. 

As we went on to explore the surroundings it was already 2:15p.m.
There were two small monasteries. One was old and nearly in ruins and the other one was relatively new. And then there was the famous three storey Tendong observation tower!

There we came across a few workers and a caretaker. They were busy with the renovation and construction. The caretaker showed us in the tower, and we came to the top following the spiral staircase.

From the top the view was completely surreal! All around you, only mountain ranges, to quench the thirst of your eyes and soul. After the initial awe-inspiring moments, we pulled ourselves together and took out our lunch that we had brought along. After a delicious lunch (with cakes, cheese cubes, peanuts, cashews and chocolates), on the top of the tower, amongst the mountains, it was our time to return. 

Eyes soaked in with the beauty of the place, where we spent about 45mins, we started our return journey, once again through the forest. During our mostly downhill descent, we saw the mountains changing colour in the golden glow of the afternoon sun. The cold wind was sending shivers down my spine! The serenity of the forest left us in peace and calmed our heart and soul. As we neared Damthang bazaar, we had to bring out our torches, as it was quickly getting dark. By the time we reached our hotel it was past 5:30p.m. Heart filled with content and mind filled with memories, we promised to return to the beauty of Sikkim for years to come! 

Booking details:

1. Damthang:
Hotel Dew Point.
Proprietor: Kiran Kumar Pradhan
Phone: 8116170660

2. Chemchey:
Mt. Kabru Guest House
Proprietor: Kazi Sherpa
Phone: 9434117158

3. Ravangla
        and
4. Pelling: Hotel bookings done from the Kolkata office of Holidayhomeindia.
Address: 3A, Dalhousi, Pollock Street, B.B.D Bagh, Kolkata-700001.

Information courtesy:
Google and Holidayhomeindia.com

Picture courtesy: Gourab Sen (Gary), Mr. Sanjoy Kumar Basak, Mr. Abhishek Bagchi and Ananya Kundu. 

Thanks and much love, Bangali Backpacker team
...Happy Hiking...