Tucked in between the states of Nagaland and Manipur, the enchanting Dzukou valley will leave you mesmerised.I could not the describe the beauty of the valley in words, such is the surreal beauty of the valley.Located around 20kms from Kohima city, this valley is a feast for the eyes of adventure souls.
How to reach?
Reaching Dzukou valley is not a big task if you love taking hilside roads, travelling with the clouds.The nearest railway station is Dimapur which is well connected to the Gateway of North-East, Guwahati.Shared taxis and buses are available from Dimapur to Kohima city at a price of 300rs per person for shared taxi and around 120rs.it will take around 3-4 hrs to reach kohima and be ready for a bumpy ride.
After reaching Kohima, shared taxi at a price of 50-80rs will be available to reach the trekking destination.There are two routes to start the trek into the valley.
Zakhama village: Zakhama village is located around 16kms from the BOC market ,Kohima.You can easily get shared taxis available from here till zakhama village at a price of 50rs.From there either choose to walk 3kms of motorable road or a taxi guy takes around 600rs to drop you till the end of motorable road.At the end of motorable road, the trekking starts and its a steep ascent of 5-6hrs, but it is way shorter than the other route.if you are the trekker type ,its better to choose the different path.
Visvema Village: Visvema village is located around 25kms from the BOC market.Taxis are available till visvema village at a price of 80rs per person.from the village the road is motorable till 8kms which takes around 3-4hrs to walk or a taxi can take you there for 1500rs till the trekking point.The trek is steep for around one hour and after that its pretty much straight walk between tall grass.It is longer but easy route, so trekkers who are not much comfortable with trekking long ascent can take this route.
About the Journey:
This is my second time to Dzukou valley.i couldnt explore the valley first time due to time constraint .so i decided to go back again with my friends to witness snowfall and to spend my birthday in the pristine valley.
we choose to trek from Zakhama from the starting point itself.By the time we started the trek its already 1pm.So we increased the pace and started trekking hoping to see sunset by the time we complete our ascent.it was really a tiring trek for almost 5hrs walking through the lush green jungle.it was silence everywhere and we could only see a few trekkers returning.we were dying to see the valley and with the motivation to reach the top before sunset ,we trekked slowly to the top.By the time we reached valley it was pitch dark and the winds are blowing heavily,my fingers got numb.i felt that sudden cold wave and i put on my thermals and jacket.i took out my dslr and clicked some pictures of sun disappearing behind the mountains.after my friends reached we trekked the remaining straight path in dark and reached the guest house after 45mins.
Accommodation:
Accommodation is not gonna be a problem unless you are travelling in winter months.in winters temperatures can go below 5degrees and the night's gonna be gruelling if youre not prepared.otherwise it is pretty much sorted.once can rent foam mattress, blanket, and utensils for 50rs.There are VIP rooms present but they will be booked all the time.If you have your own tent and wanted to experience valley you can trek down for around 40mins and pitch the tent under the cave.Firewood can also be bought from the guest house ,but after the wildfires they banned using firewood outside except kitchen area.they provide basic food like maggi, daal rice ,but if you want you can cook your own food by renting utensils and kitchen.
There will be a nominal entry fee of 80rs which goes to students union who keeps the place clean.
Exploring the valley:
The night is gruelling cold ,even the sleeping bag couldnt control the cold.we wokeup in the morning and went to explore the valley.we strolled in the valley for 2hrs and returned to guest house to cook maggi which we brought with us.30 minutes after trying to light the wet firewood ,we somehow managed to fill the whole kitchen with smoke and cooked smoked maggi..just kidding.
I heard the people shouting outside and went to see whats going on, it snowed a lil bit.we ate the maggi and we decided to move .we packed our bags and started trekking through the visvema route and it suddenly started snowing .To my luck it did not stop this time, it snowed continuosly and grass is covered with blanket of snow.we are like"yo bro this is what we came for". we reached till the point where descent starts and the snowing didnt stop.we spent some time near the hut ,clicking pictures and decided to trek down in snow.it was very much slippery and somehow we trekked down in an hour till the parking .we met some guys over the top and they offered lift till the visvema village.it was dark by the time we reached visvema village and to our surprise there are no vehicles are plying to kohima city.A hotel guy told us we wont find any vehicles as it is sunday.we were like" shit ye tho socha hi nhi tha".
i stood on the road asking vehicles for lift and one guy offered lift and he chased the buses which are going to dimapur.But there is no space left and we decided to sit in the middle of the bus and after a 5hrs bumpy ride, we reached dimapur and catched train to guwahati.
A lost watch,trekking in the dark,hurdles faced to cook maggi with wet firewood,heavy snowfall and travelling in the bus by sitting in the midway.its been one hell of an adventure.