Trip to Kabji-Hoka Tsho, Punakha and COVID-19
Bhutan being very much sacred, there are many
historic sites without which one cannot call it “The last Shangri-La”. To be
precise, there are various holy water bodies among which lakes are one of the
most significant variables in the history of Bhutan. Out of many lake
I consider this trip the most heart pleasing trip
because so many things happened. As we were knocked down with Punakha Domchoe
and Tshechu holidays, this trip came into existence. Actually it was a long
awaited plan of ours and we are glad that we could make it happen this time. We
here refer to fourteen of us.
We planned for one night stay there at the lake
camping and started our journey with all the necessary items on 5th
of March 2020. It took us around one hour drive from Khuruthang till the base
point of the hike. It cost Nu.200 for each one of us in the cab. Before arriving
at the starting point of the hike, we came across beautiful valley of Kabesa
where spring air let us drown into its serene environment.
We then began our hike towards the lake exactly at
11am. The route was quite nice apart from few marshy footpaths. Since we were
going to camp there, we had to carry our own stuffs such as sleeping bag and
back packs of our own with all kinds of necessary things. We also took our own
share of rice so that it doesn’t burden anyone with heavy load. We walked
through trees capped pathway which made us feel so lively with all random
talks. There were ten girls and four boys in the group.
After taking rest for several times and exactly at
2pm, we were opened up to such a beautiful land of water which seemed so
magical. I just cannot put this into words how beautiful was that lake. So it
took us around 3 hours to hit the destination and anyone can make it within 2-3
hours. If you can walk better, it will take less than 3 hours. We were greeted
by few of our juniors from our college since they were already there for day
excursion.
Kabji-hoka Tsho holds a very historic meaning for
the people of Kabji. We crossed the lake alongside it for our camp site and
later realized that there were also few people camping there with well set up
tents. We then selected a spot to pitch our traupaulin and rest for a while.
After that we collected few fire woods from nearby forest and made ourselves
comfortable with tea and snacks.
In general, these little things like putting on
fire, preparing food together, having tea over humorous conversations are what
teaches us lifelong lessons. I personally feel that I can never exchange this
kind of experience and feeling with anything in the whole universe. Though I
had a mild headache after reaching there, my friends didn’t even allow me to
feel down with such injustice to my health in such a beautiful place. I can’t
thank enough to them.
The most awful thing that happened in this trip is
spending night under that tarpaulin. Firstly, to accommodate 14 people under
that shed was a problem. And bearing the cold for the rest of the night was a
nightmare. Rain worsened our night time. We couldn’t even have a camp fire and
had to directly get into bed. I literally couldn’t fall asleep due to cold
under that sleeping bag. When I was finally asleep I could feel some kind of
water spilled over arms which literally felt like I was sleeping in mud. I
guess it was water from underneath of the ground which somehow got inside as I
didn’t take any mat which I regretted a lot. Every one of us had bitter and
funny stories to be shared when it was finally dawn. Unfortunately we couldn’t
experience sunrise on that day as the weather was gloomy.
So the next day was going on good with offering of
butter lamps near the lake until we heard the news of outbreak of COVID-19 in
our country. Since that place was out of reach of network we didn’t know what
was happening outside. But then one of my friends had to make an emergency call
and went in search of network where she finally could get connected at one spot
where she was informed about the news. She was told that our college will be
closed for 2 weeks and all the students inside campus are quarantined since
there is one confirmed case of corona virus.
That hit us hard. We were preparing breakfast and
the new just didn’t let anyone remain quite. All kind of opinions and
suggestion were raised among us. We were really tensed about the situation and
as we were to leave the place that day, we were in dilemma what to do next.
After number of discussions, we decided to move to college if the management
let us in. We left the camp site and lake with so many memories but at the back
of our mind, it was always that fear and worry which made our way back quite
heavy. It only took us around half and an hour to descend down. Then we called
for cabs which directly reached us to the college. After reaching college I
felt that the situation was quite calm in the campus and I don’t know how much
this spread of news affected people mentally.
Anyhow this trip to Kabji-Hoka tsho was such a
memorable one and you will now know why. I couldn’t put into words well about
how exactly I felt and made memories but I tried my best. For visual story, I have uploaded the vlog about this trip in my YouTube channel. Do watch and please subscribe :))
-Deki Tshomo
Odyssey with Tshomo
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