Give me a home where the snow leopards roam
From a vantage point below Kanchenjunga, the world’s third highest mountain, it was difficult to focus. The view -- a visual feast of the azure sky reflecting in the Tamur River’s glacial waters, framed by the rock-hewn tsunami of the Kanchenjunga massif – competed with the heady aroma of cardamom-filled sacks, as trains of Limbu traders sung their way down to the lowland markets of the Terai.
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Hidden deep in a remote corner of eastern Nepal Kanchenjunga rises to 8,586m and encompasses a conservation area and ecological hotspot the size of Mauritius. If you are lucky, you will spot musk deer, a red panda, signs of the snow leopard, and fiery rhododendron blooms among the bearded lichen.
Diversity is also echoed in the clans, costumes, and castes of the locals, with Gurungs, Chhetris, Limbus, Rais, and Sherpas all living in a vast complex of plunging valleys and soaring peaks, most of which is untouched wilderness straddling the Sino-Tibetan and Sikkim-Indian borders -- no wonder it is a favorite spot for many seasoned Himalayan trekking leaders.
The most rewarding goal is a three- to four-week trek from the one-yak town of Taplejung to the north and south base camps of Kanchenjunga. Translated, the peak’s name means “five treasures of the snows” – referring to its crenulated summits. The journey is a gift of isolation; there are no roads and therefore, the locals are not jaded by the hordes of tourists that mill around Annapurna and Everest, roughly 160 kilometers away.
A “namaste” salutation greets trekkers around every corner; each village is a fresh encounter of friendliness and endless, yet fruitful explanations of where you are from and what you are doing there. A local guide acts as an indispensable translator and a social catalyst for laughter between the infrequent visitor and the hardy mountain folk.
These meetings are the tonic needed after two bumpy flights or two days on a gut-wrenching bus from Kathmandu. All visitors must be on a group tour to enter the Kanchenjunga Conservation Area, which means that only a few visitors make it as far as the town of Taplejung, the last point of civilization (which itself is gradually recovering from a deadly and destructive earthquake that hit in September 2011). Earthquake-induced cracks appeared in the runway at the nearby airport, so it is now being expanded and may be ready for larger planes and better access this year.
The long, arduous journey from Kathmandu is worth it if only to observe Kanchenjunga sights like Limbu shamans offering pujas (Buddhist prayers) to expunge their straw and mud huts of evil spirits or to indulge in the drink known as tonga – a warm, alcoholic millet brew doled out in wooden mugs, sipped through bamboo straws and served up with a local song.