Bonnya Soren, a Gold Awardee of IAYP unit of Sri Sarada Math, Rasik Bhita.

I belong to a remote village in Hooghly District, West Bengal. I have never travelled anywhere in the Himalayas. When I came to know that I was chosen to be a part of Tumling trek as a Gold Awardee, I was overwhelmed with joy. It was a great day for me. I was waiting for 8th June to come. Seventeen girls from our unit (Sri Sarada Math-Rasik Bhita) participated in the trek to Tumling which was held from 8th June to 14h June, 2016. Sitting on the Dibrugarh Express, I was very much excited as this was my first opportunity to see the Himalayan Ranges from proximity. Getting down at NJP was a new experience altogether. We could feel the presence of the Himalayas around us.

From there we went by bus to Manebhanjan. Manebhanjan is a small mountain township on the border of India & Nepal at an altitude of 7,054 ft. At Manebhanjan our real adventure started. We had to trek a distance of approx 11 km. to reach Tumling.

Tumling is a small hamlet in Nepal and one is able to see the beautiful Kanchanjhanga range from here.

We witnessed showers during our journey. After reaching Tumling we had our lunch and in the afternoon we went to Tunglu Top by walking to acclimatize our bodies with the high altitude. That night we stayed at Tumling. Next day we started our journey towards Jaubari. We also visited Singhalila National Park on the way of Jaubari. Jaubari is a long village with open meadows and houses lined on either side. There we observed the nature closely and faced challenges that we had never imagined. We reached our home on 14th June early morning by Uttarbanga Express. A new ‘Bonnya’ came back to her village- one who now felt much closer to nature.