RABU'S BOMBASTICAL HIMALAYAN ADVENTURES!!

Writing this in retrospect a couple of weeks after returning from my Himalayan adventure I have to pinch myself to make sure it wasn’t all a sublime dream! It’s hard to believe that I was blessed enough to see 4 of the 5 world’s highest mountains in all their glory!

From the very beginning it was one amazing experience after another. Here is the briefest of summaries!
DAY 1 -

Starting with the crazy, bone jangling jeep ride up ridiculously steep hairpin bends, bouncing away in a way that made me thank God for stematol (an anti-sickness pill) we went into Nepal to start the trek. We only walked about 10km to reach our first night’s stop, a fantastic little village with very friendly locals. The evening finished with Pa, Ma and myself in fits of giggles as we all donned are nepali woolly hats to go to bed. They really are this years must have accessory darling!

HIMALAYAN ADVENTURE - DAY 2

We woke up to beautiful views but the cloud soon rolled in. We undertook a short but energy sapping 8km STEEPER THAN STEEP climb up to our highest point of the trek, Sandakphu at 3636m (12,000ft). We arrived hoping to see amazing views but only saw banks of cloud! It even started snowing! Our lodge doubled up unexpectedly as the local discotheque which was good fun – Elaine, of course, was in her element getting her boogie on with a host of nepali geezas! Shaka de booty, de booty one time!

HIMALAYAN ADVENTURE - DAY 3

The altitude as well as a dodgey pot of coffee the day before (or was it perhaps the delights of the previous nights “rice pizza!”) was really starting to tell and by the morning Helen had been throwing up all night, and Dave and Steff had diarrhoea joining Michelle who by now was managing her altitude sickness with medication. A good day for us to be walking 22km!! My problem was quite the opposite, I’d been bunged as if someone had shoved a cork up me batty since I left Kolkata. An overdose of laxatives soon shifted the problem though!! Thankfully everyone managed it and as we arrived in the cloudy dusk that evening we wondered whether we were going to see any mountains at all!

The night at Phalut was an experience in itself. The combination of the FREEZING cold (so cold that the diesel in the Jeep froze solid), mother going to the loo about every 5 minutes and also her bed falling apart noisily (very amusing – especially dad’s sleepy response thinking it was someone knocking at the door – “hello…hello…??”) meant that little sleep was had.

HIMALAYAN ADVENTURE - DAY 4

I woke at 5:00 and immediately looked out the window to see of it was clear. Fishlips! It seemed to be cloudy. Then I realised it was simply that the windows were misted up! Hoorah it was clear indeed, we all jumped out of bed and frog-marched up the steep hill to be met by the sunrise and the most spectacular views I have ever seen and may well ever see. Words cannot describe what our eyes beheld, a panoramic view, clear as crystal of Kachendzonga all the way round to Everest, Lhotse and Makalu. Breathtaking!






It was a difficult thing to turn our backs and walk back down, but after a while we did. The rest of the day we walked down, 23km, and left the mountains behind to start walking through the lower bamboo forests and jungle.

Our stop for the night was a fabulous lodge, almost luxurious after the night in Phalut, as we had electricity for a few hours and RUNNING WATER! I enjoyed my first proper wash in 3 days!

After our usual fabulous meal, we were offered what our cooks described as “custard.” My hopes were soon dashed when they served a rubbery orange mass the taste of which can only be described as “propa mankey!” Not wanting to be rude and leave it I waited until the serving staff weren’t looking and spooned it into a sick bag. This caused much hilarity within our party and it was passed round for the others to do likewise. I knew that sick bag would come in useful sooner or later!

HIMALAYAN ADVENTURES - DAYS 5,6 & 7

We had a more leisurely finish to the trek and ambled along enjoying the lush green terraced hills, rivers and more beautiful views. At our stop that night we enjoyed the comfort of a hot shower and then the following morning drove back to Darjeeling.

In Darjeeling the next morning I opened the window to my hotel room to the most spectacular view of Kachendzonga! It was the icing on the cake to finish our Himalayan adventure! Brap brap BRAPPPPPP!!!!!!