DAD’S LAST TREK
Written by Eileen Jackson (2006) for the family members who were not on trek.

The plane touched down at Bagdogra Airport and faintly to the north we had our first view of the Himalaya.

This was the first time that Johnny and Marianne had been with us to visit Darjeeling and to trek in Sikkim and they were very excited. For John and myself, it was a welcome return to one of our favourite places and we were very anxious to show it to Marianne and Johnny and to make sure they had a great time.

The vehicles were waiting for us in the car park and we started up the three hour journey up into the foothills. It is an exciting journey as most of the way it shares the track with the railway – the famous Darjeeling Toy Train. As we ascended we crossed and re-crossed the line and on two occasions we had to wait until the down train passed us. At Kurseong, we stopped for a break and a welcome cup of tea or a beer before completing the journey. The highest part of the road to Darjeeling is at Ghoom and from there you descend gently down to the terminus at Darjeeling. As you near the town, the road is lined with small shops selling a variety of goods from cotton for saris to meat and fish. From one of the corners on the road you have your first view of Kangchenjunga and that day, it was clear and a wonderful sight. Then Darjeeling is there below you with the blue dome of the Mararajha's of Burdwan's summer palace glittering in the sun. Soon you are in the town with its hustle and bustle, its noise and its distinctive smell. Just beyond Alice Villa, we had to walk the rest of the way as cars cannot go beyond a certain point. Actually its not far and of course all our luggage was carried up to the Windamere Hotel. We were welcomed by Mrs. Tenduf La the owner of the hotel in the same friendly way she had welcomed us for the past forty-eight years. She is a tiny Tibetan lady and she and her husband have run the Windamere for over fifty years. Sadly he died a number of years back, but she is carrying on the sme traditions.

The hotel is is a wonderful throw back to the days of the Raj. It is delightfully old fashioned but the nicities are still kept up. At 4.30, afternoon tea is served either in the lounge or on the terrace with cups of wonderful Darjeeling Tea and homemade cakes and sandwiches. As of old, the waitresses were all sherpa or Tibetan ladies. They fuss around you making sure your cup and your plate are never empty. The bar is a very comfortable place to meet before dinner and there are always savoury snacks to nibble, and of course other guests to meet and talk to.

The menu cards are well worth looking at and keeping as souvenirs, having some fine line drawings. The menus themselves cater for both European and Indian tastes and one charming custom they have is to offer you an either /or on the main course. It really doesn’t matter which you choose because the alternative will arrive automatically as soon as you have finished the first. I suppose you could refuse this but no one ever does.

The bedrooms are quite cosy and as soon as the sun goes down, fires are lit in all the bedrooms and when you eventually go to bed, you will find a nice hot water bottle in the middle of the bed. You will have gathered by now that the hotel doesn’t have central heating.

If the weather is fine, the hotel staff will wake you up early so that you can see the "snows". Thankfully, if there are no views, they leave you to have your sleep. It is very worth while to make the effort and go to Observation Point to have your first fine view of Kangchenjunga and all the mountains that surround her. We were very lucky in 2002 to have fine views every day that we were in the area.

On this occasion our stay in Darjeeling was brief as we were there to trek in to mountains, so the second morning saw us boarding the jeeps for the drive to Mani Bhunjung, were we were to start our trek. Porters were there to meet us and of course we had Motup and Gombu with us.

Knowing that John wasn’t too well, we had arranged for a Landrover to accompany us as far as Sandakphu (three days trek). It was evident that he was finding the going very hard and so once or twice he had a lift, but he walked a fair distance and thoroughly enjoyed himself. Our first night’s camp was at Tonglu where in 1955 I had stayed with Jack and Jill Henderson and Tenzing waiting for the the Kangchenjuna team to arrive. The old dak bungalow where we had stayed is no more, and there is now a Youth Hostel in its place. The Singalila trek is a favourite trek for young Bengalis up from Calcutta (Kolkata} They don’t seem to camp but use hostels and lodges. I suppose this cuts down the cost. We however camped, and on this night , it was clear that the small mountain tents that we had used over the years, were becoming very difficult, not only for John but I too found getting and out or them rather tiresome but we managed. The second day was again glorious weather and though it was difficult going for Dad and myself, we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Once again now and again accepting a lift in a Landrover. We had a good laugh about this as the lifts always seemed to be on the easy sections. We had manfully and womanfully struggled up the steep sections, only to find that our lift took us over easy terrain. The second night’s camp was at Kala Pokari (Blackpool) and by this time Dad was getting very despondent. He found the going hard but I think the most difficult part was getting in and out of the tents. We had used similar tents for many years but in the end at our time of life, we found them just too uncomfortable and the thought of using them for several more days just wasn’t on.

It was very sad that morning. I found John looking very wistfully at the mountains, as he realised that he had come to the end of the line and that this must be his last day on trek. He had always been so strong but in the end it was too much and he had to hand over the reins to Johnny and Marianne. We had a good talk with Motup and Gombu, and Motup said if we wanted to return to Darjeeling, the Landrover was there for that purpose. Gombu in any case had to go back to Darjeeling that day as he had an interview to do for Indian television. May Joel too was finding the going hard and she said she would come back with us.

It was an moving few moments as all the party including the porters and Motup came up in turn to say Goodbye to John. After breakfast we stood and waved the rest of the part off on the day’s trek to Sandakphu. It was hard to keep back the tears.

For several years, John had been saying that this must be his last trek and this time it really was. All good things have to come to an end and it was good that his last day on trek was in full view of that great mountain, that had played such a big part in our lives – Kangchenjunga.

We met up with the rest of the party later, when they had finished their trek and we had several days with them, travelling through the beautiful Sijkkimese countryside, staying at some delightful little hotels before returning to Darjeeling via Kalimpong and the wonderful Himalayan Hotel.

Although this was a rather sad occasion in some ways, it was still good that we were there in the hills with friends and family having a great time. I am also so glad that John's last trek was in sight of that great mountain Kangchenjunga "The Five treasures of the Great Snows"