There are many wild areas of Nepal that urgently require protection. Milke Danda in the eastern hills is one such place, a place of rare beauty, repository of the rhododendron.
Milke Danda is a 25-km-long north-to-south ridge that divides the Arun and Tamur river valleys, an elongated mountain in the Mahabharat belt which stands like an eastern counter-point to the Khaptad plateau of far west Nepal. Khaptad is the only national park in the Nepali midhills, and increasingly there is a demand for Milke Danda to be protected as well.
Milke Danda is known to the locals and a few aficionado trekkers for its unique cloud forest and its incredible variety of rhododendron species. The area is easily accessible, as the southern limit of the ridge is Tsute Deurali (2460m), barely three kilometres from Basantapur, which is the roadhead extension of the Dharan-Dhankuta highway. In one long swing, the ridge extends all the way up to Milke Bhanjyang (2970m), which merges further on with the lower flanks of Jaljale Himal.
The diversity of the rhododendron genus is most dramatic on the hump of Tinjure (2870m), where up to 25 species are found. The trees flower simultaneously and the profusion of colours makes it seem as if the whole Milke Danda is abloom. Only the fall colours of New England can match the sight in terms of dramatic effect, except that there it is dying leaves that provide the attraction, whereas in Milke Danda it is living colour—all the shades of pink, purple, scarlet and white. The period for viewing Milke Danda rhododendrons is all of April and into early May.