Walung chung gola journey continued

We have crossed two passes by the side of Lumba Samba Peak to arrive on the Walug Chung gola side.
It took us nearly 6 hrs to arrive at the second pass. I looked towards north west direction into the snow fields reflecting if there can be any route from there into Tibet. There is a large azure lake in front of us and the 180 degree view of Kangchenjunga range adorned the sky line. Only Kangchenjunga summit was covered in clouds and the summit of Kumbhakarna (Jannu) played hide & seek in the clouds… most the other peaks were visible. Kumbhakarna is a very beautiful peak as beautiful as Ama dablam near Everest and taller than that. To its south stood Mt. Rathong and Kakthok in between them lies Rathong la., a high pass into sikkim. Further south of them is Kangla a trade route between West Sikkim and Nepal. It is still used by several villagers on both sides. The entire ridge lines runs from the flanks of all the way until it rolls down to the hills of Darjeeling. This is the famous Singalila Ridge.

To the North of Kangchenjunga were Nepal peak, Twins, Wedge peak and jansong peak extending towards Tibet. Jansong la used to be a famous trade route to Tibet from Nepal where the people used to cross “Chorten Nymala” and go to Tibet from north Sikkim. Douglas Fresh Field was one of the legends who tread in this region and mapped the glaciers of Kanchenjunga in 1898.

I was fervently taking pictures of the peaks that had been envisioning in my mind from the time I read Norman Hardie and Douglas Freshfield’s books. I suddenly realized that I had a companion as well and looked at him. None of this mattered to him. He was sipping Chinese whisky sitting on a rock that offered best seat for him. As I approached after finishing of my photo session, he handed me the Chinese Whisky in true companion spirit. As I tried to take a drop pass thorugh my throat.. It came gushing out of me. It was very toxic for me and he was having it clean/neat.
I preferred the milder “Chang – Rice beer” and felt better. The rotis that we brought were as hard as leather. I tried to eat but it got stuck in my throat. I had to drink more water which was sparse at that place.
After resting for nearly 45 mts. We rushed down the steep slopes in to the valley. As we descended to the glacier moraine we found a few ridges of boulders. We have crossed a several of them and finally hit the meadow/grass pastures. We saw some yaks grazing and a n abandoned hut. I thought it must have been high camp and it would take another two hours to reach the village. When I asked him how long will it take. His answer was – “yes, some thing around that”. We have passed through as lake and stream flowing down and I found him criss crossing at several locations. By 5PM we were in the rhododendron bushes. And found a foot path leading as downhill. It took us another hour and half to arrive at the place where we found large trees.
By then it became dark and we have entered a place where he was confused. I aske him if we have to pitch the tent. He said the Walung chung gola must be close by. And after wandering for another 15 minutes in that darkness is when he revealed me that he walke this route some 16 years back when he was 7 yrs old accompanying his brother going to Sikkim. His memory was superb as he could remember that route that far. We could hear the roar of the river close by. But we couldn’t find a way.. There were two routes in different directions.