The multi-summited Kangchenjunga - "the
Five Great Treasuries of the Snows" - the world's third
highest mountain, lies in the extreme north-eastern corner of
Nepal. Some 30 days are required for
the classic trek that visits both the Yalung Glacier on the
southern side and the Kangchenjunga
Glacier on the northern. In the spring ( pre-monsoon season )
when the hillsides are ablaze with
flowering azaleas and rhododendron, it is reputed to be the most
beautiful walk in the world.
Only groups self-sufficient in food and
fuel are allocated permits for the Kangchenjunga region
and provide welcome employment for porters from the local Rai and
Limbu peoples ( two of the
Nepalese hill-tribes, who together with the Gurungs and lowland
Chetris, provide the backbone of
the Gurkha regiment ). Most come from subsistence-level, family
farms and rely on trekking for hard
cash for the purchase of clothing, tools and utensils. At the
start of my "solo" trek I had a crew
of 13:- Prem Rai, sirdar, Lalu Limbu, cook, Nima Sherpa,
kitchenboy and ten porters - nine of
them carrying food.
On the southern approach from the
picturesque town of Ilam, in the tea-growing region of Nepal, the
vegetation changes with increasing altitude from lush, sub-tropical
rice-paddies and banana palms,
through alpine forests of fir and pine, to the arctic tundra of
the yak pastures at Ramze nestling
beneath the moraines of the Yalung Glacier.
Both Ramze and its counterpart Lhonak on
the northern side are magnificent campsites amidst
spectacular himalayan peaks overlooked by the tremendous rock and
ice massif of Kangchenjunga.
"This is a special place "
declared Prem at Oktang, the viewpoint at the end of the trekking
route,
as he constructed a stone cairn in homage to the mountain.
Lhonak on the northern side is only reached
after an arduous crossing of the Sinian La high pass
( or the more difficult Lapsang La ) and heading up the remote
Ghunsa Khola Valley for a further
two days beyond the compact Sherpa village of Ghunsa with its
timber-built houses, multi-coloured
mani-stones and long, white, vertical prayer-flags.
Regrettably a circuit of Kangchenjunga is
not possible as the necessary crossing of the
international border with Sikkim is forbidden. However it is a
different, and sometimes dangerous,
return route from Ghunsa down the Tamur River Valley and along
the broad crest of the Milke Dande
to the roadhead at Basantapur.
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