Morning at Gurdum
A lovely morning where birds and roosters shared the job of an alarm clock. We opened the window and was awestruck by the scenic beauty of the place. Last evening when we reached it was too late to open the windows. In 2011, there was no motor road to connect Gurdum to rest of the world and residents had to depend on horses to carry ration and other necessities from the towns downhill.

Gurdum
A peaceful valley, not so silent though due to the roaring Rangeet river and birds chirping all day.

Daisy 
Daisies all over the place. Daisies are native to north and central Europe but can be found in abundance in the Himalayas. The origin of the word Daisy is the Anglo Saxon “daes eage” which literally mean “day’s eye”. It was called this because of the fact that daisies open at dawn as the day just starts to begin.

Echeveria
Echeveria is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Crassulaceae, native to semi-desert areas of Central America, Mexico and northwestern South America can be found here as well. Plants may be evergreen or deciduous. Flowers on short stalks (cymes) arise from compact rosettes of succulent fleshy, often brightly coloured leaves.

Further Descent, goodbye Gurdum
The day started early as we packed our gears quickly and left Gurdum. To our surprise, the road to Shrikhola, our next destination did not start from the main entrance of the trekker's hut. We used the back door to go downhill. Last snap of Gurdum, they leave almost no chance to grow a flowering plant or a cactus.

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Rangeet
Rangeet or Rangit (Nepali: रंगीत) is a tributary of the Teesta river, the largest river in the Indian state of Sikkim. We walked along the river as we headed towards Shrikhola. The sound of the angry waters were our companions from Gurdum. We didn't see the river too often in the forest, but as we came close to Shrikhola, we had a look of the Rangeet.

Rangeet

Shrikhola
Almost the last chapter of our journey. We enjoyed every moment of it. The fresh air, the chilly winds, and the lush green. We found a nice cottage to stay in. This place has all the fast foods, packaged water and electricity most of the time. Place where you can sit beside the Rangeet river for fishing, walk across a wooden bridge or exchange smiles.

The Wooden Bridge
The bridge reminds of the British days in the subcontinent before the great war. It actually swings when people and horses cross the bridge. Scary, if there is a strong wind or a storm.
Photo courtesy: Santanu Karar

Fishing
A lot of people visit Gurdum not only for its scenic beauty but also to do fishing in the river ... lots of trout fish can be found here. The Shovraj Hotel provides fishing gears. The guide made his own fishing gear out of bamboo.

The Team
Santanu Karar, Ayan, me and our guide Peter Rai from left to right. It was a good team and all contributed with lots of energy and fun to make the Sandakphu trek a success.
Photo courtesy: Unknown (probably another guide from another trekking group)