Dzukou Valley

Got a call from a friend asking me if I would like to join them on a trip to Dzukou valley, Nagaland, as they needed one more person to make the trip happen; I jumped to the opportunity. The itinerary was a simple three day program.

We started early on  11th June(June), boarding the 4AM inter city train from Jorhat to Dimapur. We reached Dimapur at 7.30 AM, had our breakfast and booked a tourist taxi to Kohima,  which is about a 2.30 hrs drive. Once in Kohima , we met with Roko and her Eastern Green Tours, and made our way to Viswema village and began our climb. We were informed that the trek from Viswema is comparatively easy with respect to that from jakhama village , which, though shorter(2-3hrs), was more steep .

One hour into our climb and I realized how ill prepared I was.  A bag full of clothes that got wet, and thus heavy due to  non stop rains, made body balance and climbing difficult. Moreover, I was carrying too much camera equipment. After three hours and many pit stops we made it through the difficult part of the trek. The next three hours of trekking along a narrow road meandering around the hills was thankfully not that steep. We reached base camp after dark. My knees were hurting, my shoulders felt as if someone stabbed me with a knife. I was out of breadth , totally drenched in rain, my bare hands assaulted my some thorny plant, in short, 'miserable'. The energy sapping trek ensured that we consumed our 3 day stock of 'Red Bull', banana and chocolates. Dinner consisted of  boiled rice, dal and vegetables, and felt like the most satisfying meal of the day.  We, without any further delay, slipped into our sleeping bags and called it a night, hoping for a good night's sleep and the lingering body ache to go away.

I woke up before sunrise and was pleasantly surprised to see a clear sky. I set up my tripod , camera and lens combination and patiently waited. At sunrise the valley lit up. The sight of the undulating overlapping  folded hills; the sound of water gushing through the valley; the call of the fire tailed sunbird breaking the morning silence; hundreds of dead and leafless trees along the hilltops; the yellow, white and pink flowers dotting the valley; a thick blanket of fog drifting across; golden rays kissing the green landscape, a moment of mystic charm and beauty --- nature's conspiracy at its best.  I no longer felt the pain in my thighs, calf and shoulders; my thoughts were clear and mind focused , trying desperately to soak in the aura around me; I was at peace with myself.



Dzukou-"Like a Dream"

After the rest of the team woke up, we made our way down to the valley to the caves and plains dotted with the rare 'Dzukou Lily". Though it rained and I got drenched again, and though I couldn't take any pictures, I was happy as a duck , navigating my way through the narrow pathway experiencing the phenomenon called Dzukou. "Like a Dream", they say, and I couldn't agree more.

We began our decent the next day i.e on 13th June, through a different route, a steep pathway with rocky steps leading to the Jakhama village. It took us almost 3.30hrs to reach the village. From there we made our way back to Kohima , then to Dimapur and finally boarded the inter city train to Jorhat. A wonderful trip came to an end; a trip where I had to keep up with people half of my age; a trip that has reinforced the merits of moving on and not giving up. I was so impressed with myself that I was almost tempted to present myself with a trophy or medal for being able to successfully complete the trek, but I settled for a mouthwatering treat of rice, boiled vegetables, chutney and a bowl of amazingly tasty smoked pork with bamboo shoot.