Goechala; wilderness of the Himalayas - My 1st Himalayan Trek ever - Day 5/10

Day 5 of our trek can be called - "Stunned"

We headed to Dzongri Top at about 4 AM to behold sunrise view of the mesmerizing mountain range of the Himalayas. In Tibetan, 'rii' means mountain and 'dzong' is collection. In Nepali, 'dzong' is termed for a 'place where people meet'. And Dzongri lives up to both these meanings.

A click of 'Dzongri Top' from our base. you see those tiny colorful prayer flags on the top of the mountain. That's where we are headed

It's a steep climb of 2 Kms from 'Dzongri' to 'Dzongri top', but if you ever happen to do Goechala, do not miss Dzongri Top. Period!

5 minutes on Dzongri top, mesmerized with the great views of the mountain ranges, whichever way you look.. And dang! the weather started playing misty suddenly, so not a morning to get great pictures for sure.. But I am sure you would get an idea of what a place it was, from the one below

We were back to the camp, rushed our breakfast and headed to our next stop, 'Thangsing (12894 Feet)'.

The bad news was, it was going to be a 10 km trek to Thangsing. After Dzongri top's 4 km (to and fro), it meant we were going to do 14 kms in total..
The good news was, the altitude drops by about 600 feet from Dzongri to Thangsing. It was going to be a moderate climb, steep descent, some straight walk and then again a moderate climb.

And the bonus good news is the views!

No filters, no edits. I don't think the image even comes close to the real view

We walked in snow for about 3 hours..

I love walking; and this has been by far, one of the best walks of my life...

I am going mad looking around!

After a moderate hike, came relatively plain terrain like this..

Goechala is an ecosystem in itself. It is a different world. You could feel life in every element of it, be it trees, the air, the land, the streams..

I will be giving you an incomplete experience of my journey, if I don't talk about at least few of the wonderful people we met on the way. We met this old uncle; 65 years old. For the love of travel, he never married. And he has been trekking since the days, when the hiking gears and resources were not even close to what we have today. He was climbing like a rockstar, in his regular old running shoes. He was wearing these regular polythene bags under his shoes to make them waterproof!

The gentleman behind is the uncle I just mentioned; on the way to Thangsing. He crossed us and disappeared ahead in no time :/

A moderate hike; after the relatively straight walk; and we were there in 'Thangsing'. A beautiful tableland on the top of the mountain; surrounded by even higher peaks on all sides. It is times like these, when you feel small; very small. When the realization of being a spec of dust in the universe hits you.

The tiny purple dot is our tent. The tiny tin structure was the toilet

Our friends decided to play football with people from our fellow trekking groups. We decided to take a stroll and soak in the views; and spent the evening; meeting and chatting with those who were lazying around like us...

Meet Somnad Chetri. He is an awesome folk singer. Professionally, he is a horseman of Goechala

It was a tiring but an eventful day. Now, I am telling you something that you should not be doing in Thangsing; well, technically :D

Okay! I agree, drinking while on a Himalayan trek is not a good idea, but we just could not resist the local beer, 'Chaang'. So, there is a Man in his late 40s who lives in Thangsing (yes, it is crazy to live here!) with his daughter. And he makes Chaang for the porters, horsemen and guides (because they can drink it and still be sane; they are pro :P). So we were sitting in the kitchen tent, and our team; who by now were our friends; thought that we are just going to stare at them drinking chaang, and not drink it... LOL!!

Made of millets soaked for 6 to 8 months, boiled in a large container over a large chimney, right inside his Bar hut (it keeps the place warm too); served fresh, in large handmade Bamboo mugs, with a bamboo straw :D Add hot water in the bamboo mug, keep it for a minute, take a few sips; repeat :D

Now tell me, could you resist it? It is the best beer I have ever had in my life; and I am not even a beer drinker. Hahaha

The eventful day ended with a party. Friends from our team as well as from other trekking groups, Chaang and authentic folk Nepali songs; sung by the locals, on one of the tiny mountain-tops of the mighty Himalayas.. What more could have we asked for? I can only thank God for these moments.

The next day is going to be a short trek to Lamuney and staying there for the day to acclimatize for the final deadly climb that starts at 2 AM.. I will tell you all about it in my next post on Goechala..