Singarilla Ridge Trek

After a couple of days of running up and down the mountain roads of Darjeeling I felt ready to tackle the 5 day Singrallia Ridge trek along the Nepal/India border. The distance is over 70ks and highest altitude is 3800m. Just a little walk!

It's quite common to take a guide but not really necessary if you have some outdoor experience. I was able to find a fanatastic map at a local restaurant of the trek which proved to be the equivalent of the secret treasure map plus i also managed to hook up with some fellow outdoor freaks!

Day 1 Darjeeling to Manybahjang.
A super early start and to catch the first jeep out of Darjeeling to Manybahjang. There turned out to be 7 of us doing the same trek that day! Simone and Andreas from Germany, Tobias and Monica from Spain, Christine from France, Shay from Israel and of course me. One of the things i love about travelling is the guys u meet from other places.

So after a short but bumpy jeep ride we arrived in Manybajang and tucked into plates of momos (tibetan dumplings either steamed or fried) before setting off. The weather was sunny as we started going up and up and up following a road. First rest stop was Megma Ghompa which was a goregous serene place on top of a hill.

After the rest stop big black clouds started appearing and it wasn't long before it started to rain and later hail...Eeeck! Then after a couple of hours of trudging along we came to our first Indian check post - the army on the indian side of the road and the Tea house on the nepalese side. A couple of us were in front so we ordered some food while we waited for the others - except they kept on going which caused some minor confusion...

Anyway we eventually all ended up meeting in this great guest house in Tumling run by a larger than life and generous Momma. NB I managed to hitch a ride in a back of jeep on lying on sacks of wheat for part of the last stage as the weather was really miserable and i was over walking! Anyway mumma treated us to a 5 course meal which was heaven after a day of trudging in the mountains.

Day 2 Tummling to Kala Pokhari
We woke up to a gorgeous day - such a welcome after the fog and rain from the previous. The pic is of the guest house. Nice hey? Would have been very easy to spend a couple of days at Tumling eating big mumas gorgeous food.

Morning was great but by lunch time it was foggy and raining again. So half of us holed in at Kala Pokhari and hung out with the family running our guest house.

Day 3 Kala Pokhari to Phallut.
Half our group had to pull out as they had to go back early. I headed off solo to catch up with Simone, Andreas and Tobias. The place at the top of the mountain in the background of the pick is Sandkaphu where the others spent the night.. Anyway i was on a 'rol'l and reached the top in 30 mins...pretty buggered when i get there so have a nice cuppa of chai..Then i continue on to Phallut and enventually catch up with the others having cheese, olive oil and bread for lunch...yum!

It's really nice walking and is a gorgeous day in the mountains. Flowering roddendrohns, herds of yaks and vultures keep us company.

We keept climbing up to phallut and as usual after lunch the weather takes a dive so by the time we reach phallut it pretty miserable and cold and everyone is feeling a bit over it!

There is only one guest house at Phallut and its a huge dorm room that is cold and damp. Mist rolls in through the broken windows and door that won't close. Tom and Leo from Begium who are travelling around India via Vespas, were also staying at Phallut and we shared a rum or two with them around the kitchen fire.

After dinner we were treated to a unexpected cultural night of singing, tabla playing and dancing with the indian army! These guys were so nice, they made us cups of tea, shared their meal with us and gave us more rum. They showed us photos of their wives/girlfriends and described how tough life was so isolated but due to their wonderful major Tombo they felt like they belonged to a second family. It was hard to believe at times they were army guys. See pic. An unexpected highlight.

Day 4 Phallut to Gorkhey

We hoping for a another sunny morning and views of Kanchechunga (India's highest mountain) but woke up to more mist and rain. So we trudged off and headed 1000m down hill to Gorhkey! A awesome day. After 300m the we came out of the clouds and had a fine day walking on a small track through a stunning forrest.

Arrived in Gorhkey about lunch time and wow what a place. It's a tiny village along the banks of the Ramma river and is stunning. We stayed at the family run shanti lodge for a few days and loved it. The first night Andreas pulled out a bottle of red wine that he'd been carrying with him all the way! Legend. It tasted so good!

Days 6-8 Gorhkey to Dry lake

Hiked up the river to a 'dry lake' kind of like a peat swamp with tents and food. We spent a couple of days camping and cooking food over a fire. Magic! Finally got our great views of the snow covered peaks of Kanchechunga

Day 8 Gorhkey to Dragan
Hiked back to civilisation with a swim stop on the way. Water was freezing! We ended up 'camping' in school that night as ran out of light before we could find somewhere to camp. The people looking after the school were super nice and brought us cups of chai in the morn and gave us breakky. We made a little donation.


Day 9 Dragan to Rimmick.
Really easy walk back into civilisation. Treated ourselves with a big meal and lots of fresh fruit that we had been missing.. Followed by a 4 hour jeep ride listening to the driver's Van Halen tapes. Even the old guy sitting next to us was bopping away! Funny.

A brilliant trek and we all felt was really lucky to do it with such top people .