I said to the mountains - "Pause the moment."

Day 2 started at 5 am. A trek to the view point again to see the sunrise... but again the clouds didn't allow us to see the snow capped mountains. Now we were getting upset, but our tour guide was boosting us by saying that we have yet 3 more days. With the positivity, we left towards Tumling - SPOT 2. For Sandakphu and Tumling, you need permission as it is in Nepal, and the area from which you travel is SINGALILA NATIONAL PARK. After Manaybhanjyang, only landrovers are allowed. Brought to the country by British planters to navigate the inclines of the tea gardens, these vehicles have been in this region since the 1930s. Once the colonisers left, locals souped them up to use them as local transport to and from Sandakphu (Manaybhanjyang is the gateway to the ridge).As our permit was already ready by our travel agents but still we had to sign some documents and show the identity proof in Manaybhanjyang office. After the formalities, we started our journey in the landrover. The roads were zig zag and bumpy. it was like a roller coaster ride. Once you are going down and then steep up.And the landrover was adding more points to the bumpiness. The roads are made through the national park. Check points are at various points. The forest is native of red panda and many more beautiful wildlife. If you go through the forest for trekking, you can definitely see them. In between, we stopped at a place called - CHITRAY. it is mainly a stop for the trekkers. The place has nothing except the mesmerizing view. Next we stopped at Tonglu, for having tea. The interesting thing of these places are that the road is through the border line, and the shops are in Nepal. I was having my sip of tea , with one foot in Nepal and one foot in India... So, I had been to another country for 2 days without a passport and VISA.. Then our final stoppage was the homestay in Tumling. Tumling is a very small village with very less population. And most of the locals have opened their home for the tourists. It was 4 degrees on that day and very foggy. These places run on solar lights. And as it was foggy when we reached there, there was no power supply. We had our lunch after the electricity came.. and the food was again so tasty and unique. They gave us a pickle - "CHIMPINK", it is beneficial for high altitude sickness. I couldn't eat much of it.. it was very sour at the same time spicy.. a unique combination must say. We also had ghee prepared from Yak's milk. In evening we had coffee and pyaz k pakode. There was no signal in our phones, no internet, no wifi. We spent our evening by playing -BAGHCHAL- a nepali game . The cook taught us the game. Next in the dinner we had cheese chicken, the cheese was prepared at home. In few words, if I had to describe the day it would be - bumpy roads, chilling weather and delicious food.

Day 3 started at 5:30 am. We went for a morning walk up the hills, where all you can see till the far is hills .. We encountered a beautiful sunrise also. We were provided with only 1 bucket of hot water for being fresh. All we could do is brush and leave. For those days we forgot what bathing was. After that we had a great breakfast - pancakes, aloo paratha, chilla (made of gram flour and white flour), boiled eggs and pyaz tamatar ki sabzi. At around 9 am we set off for Sandakphu. We were ready for the drive that would probably be the most adventurous ride till date. And yes it was. The roads were so steep that a point came when we could not see the part other side.. it felt like reaching the cliff and then jumping off it. In between we stopped at Kali pokhri, it has a sacred lake which has some holy beliefs among the locals. Moving forward, we finally reached our destination - SANDAKPHU. Temperature was 2 degrees Celsius. As we were not lucky enough to see Kanchenjunga there also, all we could see was clouds. The hotel Sunrise in Sandakphu was the only hotel present there. As obvious it was quite crowdy. And no meaures for covid were taken. Infact people were not even wearing masks. The hotel was still under construction. As this place has water scarcity, water is supplied in containers which come from Manaybhanjyang. Because of this, water supply is limited. There was no water supply in the toilet flush, forget about geyser. The food was also not that satisfying. The only good thing was the view from the room. It felt - "I was on the clouds". In the evening we witnessed beginning of snowfall.

Next day early morning, we went to the terrace of the hotel hoping for getting the view of Kanchenjunga... but unfortunately again clouds showed their game. The temperature was -7 degree Celsius. It was so tough to stand in the cold and hold the cameras. The finger tips were paining so bad. We couldn't stay out for a long time. Ultimately till the afternoon we returned to Lepchajagat. Stayed there one night and came back to Kolkata with lots and lots of stories of Nepal, pictures... mainly of clouds.. But before I end the story I must say it was a great experience. People we met were so warm hearted. We learned so many new things which one can never find in the books. And yes, as always our trip of 4 girls was just outstanding.