The Kanchenjunga National Park (or Khangchendzonga National Park) and biosphere reserve is also something that you cannot afford to miss while you are on the Geochala trek. This national park was declared a UNESCO world heritage site because there are endless varieties of endangered species found here. The national park spans over an area of 849.5 square kilometers, and there are some settlements of the Lepcha tribe inside the national park- a great chance to buff up on your cultural knowledge.
The Lepchas are also called Rongkup, meaning the children of God and the Rong. The Tholung monastery is also located inside the national park and is one of the oldest and the most sacred shrines of the state. A Gompa, which is the Buddhist school of learning, is also present in the national park’s buffer zone. Here, the students at the gompa learn to preserve the Buddhist heritage and cultures and are glad for the opportunity to share the experience with you during a visit.
The flora and fauna of the national park are flawless and one of the rarest.
The flora of this national park includes oaks, fir, birch, maple, willow, shrubs, medicinal plants, herbs, alpine grasses and much more.
The fauna found here are include musk, deer, snow leopard, Himalayan tahr, wild dog, sloth bear (Google it, I promise it’s worth it), civet, Himalayan black bear, red panda, Tibetan wild ass, serow, Asiatic wild dogs and much more. A whopping 550 species of birds are also found on the national park.
Need I say more?
This national park is home to one of the most diverse species collections, and you cannot deprive yourself of the opportunity to be a spectator of this exceptional land.
