The Goechala Trek in Sikkim, India
The Goechala trek has been on my wish list for several years now.
Ever since I had read a story by Arjun Majumdar, the founder of Indiahikes, I was mesmerized by this trek. The story about how the trekkers got to witness a meteor shower lit sky against the Kanchenjunga backdrop, fascinated me. It was the one trek that was constantly on my mind ever since I read the story, and I had always hoped to experience the wonders of this trek like everyone before me. When Swathi from Indiahikes asked me if I would like to go on the Goechala trek and document it visually, I was overjoyed and counted myself lucky.
I had the opportunity of going on this trek in the first week of April, and after having done the trek, I can say that this has been the most challenging trek that I have been on and document visually.
Here’s a day wise photo story of the trek to give you an idea of how the trail looks like and what to expect in terms of landscape and terrain,
Day 1 - Yuksom to Sachen
The first day starts from the Indiahikes basecamp at Yuksom. This is a short day and gets your legs moving and acclimatized for the days to follow. We started from the basecamp at around 8:30 am, and right from the start you get to experience the thick forest section which gets thicker as you go forward. There are quite a few streams that you come across where you can refill your water bottles. Also, the thick green canopy provides solace from the scorching sun and you don’t really feel the heat as you go through the trail on this day.
It takes around 5-6 hours to get to the Sachen campsite and the altitude at Sachen is around 7400 feet / 2200 mts.
Day 2 - Sachen to Tshoka
The second day of the trek is from Sachen to Tshoka, and we make a pitstop at Bakhim to have lunch and catch a quick break before moving forward. This day is still inside the forest section, and the trail starts climbing rapidly and you will also notice the beautiful oak forest as you move forward. You cross a big iron bridge and then it’s one steep ascent until you reach Bakhim. At Bakhim, there is a small rest house where you get tea/coffee, and some hot snacks even. Also, if you take some time to observe the trees and plants around the Bakhim site, you will notice a lot of colourful birds flying around. There are magpies, some blue coloured birds and some green/yellow coloured birds. It’s a treat to just sit quietly for sometime and observe these birds around the place.
Also, if the views are clear you get a beautiful glimpse of the valley below. Here at Bakhim you can also refill your water bottles for the journey ahead.
From Bakhim we continue onwards to Tshoka. You start noticing Rhododendron trees along the trail, and if you’re on the trail at the right time, they might be in full bloom even. When I was on the trek, unfortunately only a few trees had bloomed and most of the trees hadn’t bloomed yet. I so envy the people who would have trekked at some point after me. It’s just ascent all the way until you reach a clearing on top, and this is Tshoka. There is a small monastery and a beautiful pond next to it, at Tshoka. Once you’ve pitched the tent and got some time to relax, you could visit the monastery and sit by the pond so that you could feel the beauty of the place that you’ve just arrived at, and connect with the nature around you. Don’t miss out on this experience. You get 4g Jio reception closer to the monastery here and this will be the last point of network reception on the Goechala trek.
It takes around 6-7 hours from Sachen to Tshoka and the altitude of Tshoka campsite is around 9800 feet / 3000 mts.
