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A 0730 hrs departure turned into a 0800 one due to 3 of the team having a lie in, mentioning no names. Loaded up the jeeps and headed off to the start of the trek. An early stop for someone to be sick was quickly followed by a stop for him to...... An hour and a half later we arrived at Maneybhanjyang after a bumpy ride through pine and bamboo forests. Here there was a checkpoint were we showed passports. An official, who reeled off the names of American movie stars he had seen in films, meticulously recorded our details in a ledger before allowing us to depart. After filling water bottles we set-off on the trek.
It was a steep start from 2134m up a rough tarmac road (only just suitable for a landrover). The track took us through forests of pine, bamboo and rhododendron, zigzagging our way through mist and cloud. The tarmac turned to rock, albeit well made and we had the occasional view down the hillside when the mist cleared. One or two people were feeling poorly and regular stops were made on route.
We reached a small farm as we cleared the forest. This was our lunch stop and we were invited into a local house. This was a small wooden building with an open clay oven and we sat drinking tea and watched the family cook and prepare butter. Our cook team were outside preparing our lunch and they served it inside. The family were very friendly and spoke good English. They were happy for us to take pictures and attempt to help with the butter making. The adventurous members of the team tried out the Tibetan hard cheese. About an hour of chewing later the cheese was still hard. The farm was near a Mani wall and Gompa that was surrounded by an amazing number of prayer flags.
We continued en-route, passing huge rhododendron tress and orchids, until we reached a teashop at another border crossing point. Two cups of Tibetan or Indian tea, a shot of rhododendron schnapps and a chat with the owner and we were off again. A little steeper this time but as the slope leveled the rain and hail arrived. A mad dash for the trekking hut was required but we still got wet. A big storm ensued and worryingly some of the team was not with us. They had taken refuge in a local house and warmed themselves in front of an open fire. High Tea was taken at the trekking hut and we chatted to some other trekkers from France and some from the UK who had been teaching English in Southern India for the last 8 months. The storm relented and we were teased with a glimpse of the Kangchenjunga Massif. We ended the day with good food prepared by our cook team and served at a long table in the corridor of the trekkers hut before sampling some of the local brew, Tongba, and retiring to bed.
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