This is the extension of Goche la Trek, after the excursion of Goche la proceed to south eastern direction towards an interesting small village of Lapdang through a strenuous trail of Kasturi Odar. In the trail you have a chance to see the fauna of Himalayas like blood Pheasant, wild bore & barking deer and sometimes the Himalayan black bear. The short stop at Tashiding monastery gives the Buddhist cultural heritage of Sikkim.
Pick up at Bagdogra Airport and drive to Darjeeling which is about 4hrs by vehicle.
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Pick up at Bhadrapur airport, Nepal and transfer to Kakharvitta which is approximately 35 minutes by vehicle, a small town which shares international border with India.
After immigration formalities, drive to Darjeeling which is about 5hrs.
After breakfast, visit the Happy Valley tea garden, the second oldest tea estate established by the British in the mid-19th century followed by the Tibetan Refugee Self Help Centre, Himalayan Mountaineering Institute (HMI), Himalayan Zoological Park & Natural History Museum.
Early morning drive to Tiger Hill (2,590m; 45 min) to enjoy a spectacular sunrise along with views of Kanchenjunga (8,586 m), the 3rd highest mountain in the world, and other snow clad mountains of eastern Himalaya. After breakfast at hotel visit Yiga Choeling, also known as Ghoom Monastery, which was established by the Gyaluk sect in the 1850s. Bidding farewell to Darjeeling after a joy ride from Ghoom to main town, we then drive to Gangtok through the narrow hilly roads, passing the Teesta river numerous times along the way. In between we stop at Rangpo, the border between the state of West Bengal and Sikkim, to obtain the inner line permit.
After breakfast, we drive for an hour to Rumtek monastery which was founded in mid-1700s by the 12th Karmapa of the Kagyu sect and rebuilt again in the 1960s by his 16th reincarnation. It is the main seat-in-exile of the Kagyu sect outside Tibet. Drive back to Gangtok and visit Dro-Dul chorten, a stupa built in 1945 by the head of the Ningma order. Afternoon, visit the Handloom & Handicraft centre followed by local market exploration.
After breakfast, we drive on the highway for about 45 minutes to Singtam and then take a narrow winding road for about 2 hours to Temi. The landscape gradually changes throughout the drive passing through mountain sides lush with ferns and paddy fields. In the afternoon we visit the famous Temi tea garden established in 1969 which produces organic tea certified by Institute of Marketology (IMO) of Switzerland. One can enjoy beautiful panoramic views of Kanchenjunga along with lush tea estate and blossomed Cherry Trees from the hotel.
After breakfast, drive towards Yuksom taking short stops at Ravangla and Tashiding. In Ravangla, visit the famous Buddha Park which features a 40m tall statue of Buddha, and then a short stop at Tashiding to visit the sacred Tashiding Monastery of the Nyingma sect. After about one and a half hours drive from Tashiding we will reach Yuksom, the ancient capital of Sikkim and the gateway of most treks in West Sikkim. If time permits, one can also visit the Dubdi Monastery (2,100m) which is about an hour walk from Yuksom. Built in 1601, it is the first Monastery of Sikkim and the place for the first consecration of the first King of Sikkim by three sacred lamas which was prophesized by the Guru Rinpoche hundreds of years back.
Our trek will start from Yuksom. The trail undulates through forests laden with trees like oak, chestnut, pine, fir, magnolias and rhododendrons. It is really a botanist’s paradise. One can find hundreds of varieties of wild orchids, different species of birds and butterflies. Some animals which can be found at this altitude along the this trail are the Himalayan brown bear, black bear, musk deer, sambar, Tibetan antelope, wild goats and red pandas. The trail crosses two bridges of side streams and then finally the campsite at Sachen.
After breakfast the trial descends slowly through the dense forest and after crossing the Prek Chu River, the trail ascends steeply for about an hour or two. As throughout the trek, the trails have lots of switchbacks up till Bakhim. Tshoka is about an hour or two climb from Bakhim.
After breakfast, the trail climbs a picturesque place, Phedang. Meadows through a dense forest of rhododendrons and the trail continues to ascend till Deorali (4000m) where one can see the prayer flags floating. One can also get a spectacular view of the mountains as Kangchendzonga, Sinolchu, Kabru, Pandim, Jopuno , Kokthang, Talung and Narsing if the whether is clear. The trail now climbs onto the covered ridge of rhododendron bushes before falling slightly to Dzongri.
A day at Dzongri to explore around and acclimatization. Wake up early and about one hour climb to Dzongri Peak for an unforgettable & close up views of the mighty Kanchenjunga and other Himalayan Peaks.
After breakfast the trail descends approx.. 350m steep down to Kokchurung at the bank of river Preckchu. After that the trail continues to descend and we walk mostly through the rhododendron bushes. As we cross the river the trail gradually climbs up to Thangsing passing through the silver fir and rhododendron forest.
We start our day with a gradual climb, our trail passes along the left banks of the Prekchu river passing through the herds of Yaks. Only way to see the herds of yaks grazing on the meadows. On arrival at campsite, walk up to Samiti Lake and back to lamini.
Wake up early in the morning, after tea walk up to Gochala. There will be packed breakfast only for this day. The trail goes steep up passing through moraines of Mt. Pandim. From the view point we descend down slowly and walk through the flat and sandy area of Zemathang and then slowly climb up to Gochala pass which takes about 4hrs. From the pass and our ultimate point we will get the close up view of the massive Mt. Kanchenjunga. After the breath taking views we trek back to Samiti for about 2hrs. Rest for a while near the lake and then to Lamini where we will stop for our lunch and finally to Thangsing.
The trail is not too hard but it remains mostly at an average of 4000m and if the weather permits one could be rewarded with panoramic views and then later in the afternoon trek back to Thangsing.
After breakfast the trail ascends steeply for an hour to reach the top of the ridge, later on the day we will pass by Lam Pokhari Lake and the the trail descends slowly towards the campsite. Today the landscape from and around the campsite is little wild with rocky mountains.
After breakfast the trail starts by descending steep down till we reach a small stream and then a steep climb up till the top of the ridge (one of the toughest part of this trek), but our efforts are rewarded with the clear and spectacular views of Koktang, Rathong, Kabru South, Kabru North & Kabru Dome peaks if the weather is clear. We should be careful today as the trail is little technical and wild throughout the day.
PS: Water source is one Km away from the campsite and due to insufficient camping space we might have to share the rooms in Wildlife Bungalow which belongs to the government. No options to camp nearby due to scarcity of water.
After breakfast the trail starts with the descends and on this day we walk mostly downhill, otherwise the trail is as usual with little ups and downs. After about 4/5 hours walk we reach our campsite. We will be passing the Lapdang village the next day as our camp will be little ahead of this village. The village is mostly inhabited by the Gurungs.