Chhomrong/ Doban (2580 m / 8460 ft) – 6 – 7 hours hike
We head out of Chhomrong along the ModiKhola leaving behind
inhabited foothills into the high step and wooded slopes of the
Himalayas. We cross the suspension bridge then trek up to
Sinuwa Danda. The ascent from Sinuwa becomes somewhat flatter.
The trail passes through a thick and dark rhododendron forest up to
Khuldighar. Then, we descend long and steep stone steps into deep
bamboo and rhododendron forests through which we reach Doban shortly.
Weather forecast today: rain and thunderstorms high of 62
(note to self: There are over 2500 stone steps today that I will have to climb up on the return trip)
My camelback has been doing double duty as a hot water bottle at night which has been a welcome addition as the temperatures are getting colder.
Today was a day of rain, rain and more rain with a lot of steps, mostly down, but with about 500 going up. Today we had an elevation gain of 2000+ feet - my watch kept going on pause, so I don't have an accurate account. It was a great day, I started to feel better and had some good energy.
We left about 8 am after a plain pasta breakfast.
Here is the sign for the day
We started by walking down about 2000 steps to the river in the rain and stopped to pick up some heavy duty rain gear
We made a quick stop at the shrine
We continued down the stairs to a shrine to the local dead
and continued down to the bridge. There are supposed to be wonderful views, but they weren't visible until the trip back
immediately after the bridge we started to climb about 500 steps up to Sinuwa and we saw some views and got closer to the snow line
After walking through Sinuwa we continued to climb through some areas with small waterfalls and a few wild blooming orchids
As for wildlife we saw a squirrel and some snow pigeons (no photos)
Lunch was at Khuldighar where I had a part of a good toasted cheese sandwich - I wish I had eaten more - those higher in the hills were steamed and tasted so bad I couldn't eat them
After Lunch we went down a lot of steps - about 500 - to Bamboo, where we stopped briefly for some tea and saw a very nice kitty
We got to Doban, spelled here as Dovan, in very good time, about 5 1/2 hours.
No more ensuite bathrooms and managed a "hottish" shower which was just warm enough.
I can definitely feel the outside temperatures getting cooler. My stomach was more stable and I tried some of the local food, but it was very oily and I couldn't eat much of it.
Tonight I was able to sleep 10 hours and I can't remember the last time I slept that long. I took my first Diamox dose.
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