The wonderland of nature, beauty and Mt Kanchenjunga

Our initial plan was to stay at Kaluk at Kanchen Valley. If you are coming from Uttarey , Bermiok comes before Kaluk , and when we had checked the hotel , the rooms of the Hotel Silent Valley was very impressive. So instead of Kaluk we have decided to stay at Bermiok.

Whether one should stay at Kaluk or Bermiok or Rinchenpong

If you have two days in your hand , I would suggest you to stay one night both at Kaluk and Bermiok.

1) Kaluk provides an better view of the whole Kanchenjunga range , where as from Silent Valley Bermiok one would able to watch only Mt K, not not any other mountains.

2) If you are in honeymoon , I would definitely recommend Ghonday Village resort.

3) The night view of Bermiok is better than Kaluk.

4 ) The viewing angle and the tangent of the Pelling peak by which Mt K is visible in Bermiok is better than that of Kaluk, so Mt K looks much closer from Bermiok.

5) Bermiok and Kaluk both are less crowded than Rinchenpong.

A teaser .

This is a stunning shot, very well composed Mithun, whose idea was this?

It was a time pass shot , before that time we had already clicked a few photos of golden Mt K, Suddenly this idea clicked Soumya's head and it had really worked. It could had been better with slightly greater aperture , isn't it ?

I knew Sikkim is his first home- he is one of the prime lover of Mt Kanchenjunga and the people of Sikkim. He never knew me , but helped me a lot during my planning phases . So many time , even at late night , I have disturbed him to ask some details of Sikkim, he had politely tolerated all the disturbance and helped me as much as possible for him. There couldn’t be better ending than meeting Kanchenjunga and her greatest lover together. Finally the day arrived , when I was supposed to meet our Maha Guru Sagarneel.
After meeting Subroto Da , my first question was “ Where is Sagarneel?”
He got scared upto an extent and replied “ I hope you are not supposed to kill him. Right?”
When I had knocked at his door , this greatest lover of Kanchenjugha (Lets call him GLK for the time being) was sleeping after a heavy lunch. Disturbed him once again- but it was really nice meeting him in Bermiok- and I don’t think there could be any better place than a sunny Bermiok to meet GLK.
It is a comfortable evening , sitting at the rooftop restaurant of Sillent Valley it was one of the most amazing evening we have spent in our whole life- the sky was clear and innumerable number of stars was glittering on the sky, the lights of Pelling and Gayzing and Ravangla was illuminating like diamonds , one table with 4 chairs has set up the perfect ambience for playing cards, Rabindrasangeet (Songs by Rabindranath Tagore ) was playing at the background , and a cup of coffee with Pakoda has set up the mood.
The biggest advantage of Bermiok is the hills of Pelling is perfectly in 90 degree angle from the Sillent Valley lodge , that will give you a evening of your lifetime.
After a delicious dinner we went on to sleep. I had heard so many good stories of sunrise the previous morning from GLK- I couldn’t resist myself from putting my alarm at 4:30. If the weather God is with me – I could able to watch the beautiful sun-kissing of Kanchenjungha.
The morning alarm sounded me as good as the chirping bird. I uncover my blanket and stood in my feet and rushed on toward the window. The curtain of the window was off, I have partially opened them with my lazy hands , it was completely dark all around , the stars are still glittering like the diamonds in the sky, few of the lights of Gayzing were still illuminating as if somebody has told them to awaked for the whole night , the hills at the far are inky blue in color, but the mighty lady is still not visible. I went back to my bed – but couldn’t sleep , today is the first day in our whole trip with a very clear sky and I don’t want to miss the opportunity to watch her.
I sat in the chair nearby, started counting the number of stars in the sky. By then the sky has turned a shade lighter , and I could able to understand the mighty Kanchenjugha , but still not very clear, a lonely bird was flying across the hill. I had a view room , but thought of better going to the roof. In the darkness of the room it was difficult for me to find out the pair of my sleepers. I have got one but the other one was lying below my bed. I put on my jacket and went out of my room .
Standing at the edge of the roof , which is roped in by a railing , I looked down into the valley and it was clearly visible, the Pine and Oak trees had wished me Good morning. By that time the whole sky shaded in the orange colour , I set on my camera . And I could able to see my dearest Kanchen standing tall , covered by the pristine white colour.
Soumya and Utpal both had waked up by the time , and joined me in the roof. Sagarneel has also waked up, and ready with his gun(camera) to shoot her lover. The first ray of sun kissed her – her silvery hear became red , then the colour begin to transform into the rest of the part of her body, then the whole body became red and for a few moments it turned into pure golden colour.
There was no sign of cloud anywhere , and in this spotless day . The sunrise was so inspiring that we had started walking toward Kaluk. The mighty Kanchenjunga has accompanied us almost through out the road , and we were on so much involved in photography that we could never understand we had already walked for 4 kms and reached Kaluk. After a few photo shoot of of the white snow capped peak from Kaluk , we finally understood that we badly need a cup of tea . So we decided to head on to Kanchen Valley to have tea.
While coming back , we had initially planned to hire a vehicle , but I found no vehicle at all , so again we started walking toward Bermiok . We had found out a homestay in Tadong, which is located in an excellent position( 9434356475/ 9733270189), the owner of the homestay was not there , so could not check out the rooms .
Finally we came back to Bermiok at 9:30. Everyone including us were surprised to see , that we have walked more than 8 KMs in this early morning.
Its time to bid audieu to Sagarneel. After having a delicious luch , we had started for our sightseen toward Rinchenpong. First we have visited Rinchenpong Monastery, then Poison lake and the Dak Banglow and Finally we have visited Rabindra Smriti Ban. While coming back we have met an army personal in Kaluk, he was part of the rescue team for the North Sikkim. He was also telling us his experience as part of the rescue team. We have booked two Xylo for our next day journey from Bermiok to NJP from Binod Bhai near Kaluk Bazar.
It was almost same amenities in the evening as we had yesterday, All of us spend the evening playing cards and I was busy in reading the excellent trip report by Ruchira.
The next day again we had again got a clear sky , and clicked a few photos. After our breakfast we have started toward NJP.

If you mean to say you would like to increase the Depth of Field to make real Mt.K sharp as well, I believe that would taken away the charm, this snap exactly portrays how mad sometimes we can be for a good photo opportunity, most of times see the real beauties through camera lens instead of a view through our eyes. Crisp Mt.K in the Camera LCD with the backdrop of a blurred actual Mt.K exactly echoes that sentiment, ofcourse my way of interpreting the snap.

Sagarneel and Soumya clicking busy in taking the portrait of their love.






Mt K from Silent Valley Hotel

Mt K from Kaluk.







Pelling as seen from Bermiok

On the way to Kaluk from Bermiok









Kachan Valley lodge , Kaluk


Near Tadong

Kshil sir, hats off to you. I always knew(From the photos in your Orkut album) you, after your Ladakh trip report , I had already mentioned you are probably the best photographer I know(You have got some super-natural talent in photography) , but after your last comment I came to know that you are a great interpreter of the photography.

Soumya had got that idea , but I am sure , he also didn't thought it that way!!! He must be reading the thread probably tomorrow , and I am sure he would be surprised with the way you have interpreted the photo - if not , I will definitely ask him to meet you as soon as possible. Have you ever been to 'Kumbh Ka Mela' and have lost any brother - might be Soumya.

Kidding apart , great interpretation - even a simple photo became such a treasure with this kind of interpretation. I will add your interpretation as the caption of that photo.

Mithun, I must say that the report has got an entirely new dimension with your posts on Uttarey and Bermiok. Absolute brilliant photos (cannot count the number of pics that overwhelmed me...the hand beside the fire, the wild rivers, Mt. K and specially the star trails....absolutely stunning). If I am not wrong, the star trails were taken by Somya's DSLR...please convey my regards to him for that stunner of a snap.
Incredible photos and a superb trip report.

Mithun,
The star trail snaps are incredible!

Just a suggestion - if you have time after you complete this report - please upload some of your pics to "Images" so that more people will be able to admire them. They are an integral part of your trip report; but if they are also in your photo gallery it would be great.

I'd echo TD's suggestion and request you to upload a few photos in your IM gallery and share the link through this thread. I see a lot of prospective 'Photos of the month' in that gallery.

Thank you Sagarneel.
To me , if someone don’t mind walking a few kms, there are very few places that could be as beautiful as Uttarey- a perfect gem of nature.

Nice to have these good words from a photographer of your calibre.

Yes it was taken by Soumya , with 10 minutes long exposure in the bulb setting.
It was very first night at Bermiok- when we desperately wanted a photograph of Mt K in moonlight. But as it was very close to a no-moon night, nothing was visible above Pelling. Suddenly at around 11:30 something black in colour appeared over the hill of Pelling. There was power-cut in both Pelling and Bermiok at the same time, Soumya tried to take the longest exposure that his camera will allow. He was also afraid if power comes back during that exposure time, that would affect the sensor. We all were eagerly waiting in front of the window - none of us were sure whether it was Mt K or anything else. After the shot was taken , we couldn't find anything in the pic which could be considered as anything closer to Kanchenjunga - but that black hill was visible.

Soumya is following the thread as a guest , and I am sure , he will be delighted to watch the comments on his photos.

Thank you so much. I am already toward the end of my report , and would be eagerly waiting to read yours.


[QUOTE=theyyamdancer;1294978]Mithun,
The star trail snaps are incredible! [QUOTE=theyyamdancer;1294978]

Thank you so much Theyyam.

To me the snap in which both Sagarneel and Soumya clicking Kanchenjunga was one more moment of my trip. Both Sagar and Soumya was so much interested in clicking the photo , that upper part of their body was outside the hotel through the window. Unfortunately I couldn’t took the snap at the very right moment(By that time they have repositioned themselves), otherwise I would had called the hotel owner , would had asked for some exemption in the room rent – as most of the time during morning – Sagarneel and Soumya has kept half of their body outside the hotel.

Thank you so much Theyyam for the suggestion, I will definitely upload a few pics in the IM gallery after completion of the report.


Thank you very much Sagar- It always a good feeling, specially when someone talk about the awards.By any chance are you in the selection panel?

Excellent writing and photos Mithun. For the last few days I was checking this thread once in every 2-3 hours for the next installment. I have completed another trip to Sikkim just by reading your blog.
And, thank you for the good words for my trip report.