Travelogue: Sikkim Again
Sikkim , like I had conveyed before, is a masterpiece of Mother Nature. The hills carefully sculpted out of Earth to complement the fluffy clouds above, the girls...I mean the people living there, are all so wonderful(My bad). My earlier trip to this place three years back remained incomplete (It still is). This time, me and my family took a trip to North Sikkim, and also to some unvisited places in East Sikkim.
We started our journey from Howrah Railway Station as before. We had boarded our train on 29th at around 11pm, delayed by 8 hours from its scheduled time, and reached New Jalpaiguri Railway Station at around 8 in the morning the next day. The current disarray in schedules of NorthEast bound trains can be attributed to the recent floods and its aftermath on the rail connectivity, but overall Indian Railways is falling apart. We already had hotels booked, and had originally planned to visit Lava, Lolegaon and Darjeeling, but changed our plans due to the strife and turmoil going on in the hills at that time. Gangtok seemed at peace, but it had also been affected by the strikes in Darjeeling, the ensuing fear of being stuck keeping enthusiastic tourists away. Nevertheless, we had a nice time.
Some moments in Gangtok liberated
The weather gave us a bit of a hard time though. We spoke to the hotel manager, and made arrangements to visit Lachung, Yumthang and Zero Point in North Sikkim. It turned out that due to lack of tourists in peak season, not many cars were available for the trip, so we could only leave for Lachung a day later, on 2nd. The evenings were boring since it was almost always raining. We couldn’t go out much, lest our clothes get wet, and its a nightmare getting them dried in that climate.
Lachung is almost a 5-hours drive away from our hotel in Gangtok. We left around 9:30 am, reaching around 2pm at Lachung. It is a very serene and remote village, but the road leading there isn’t. Recently, many hotels have come up for the comfort of tourists, but earlier home-stays were the norm, with lack of proper food and shelter. We had already booked a package trip arranged by our hotel in Gangtok, which also owns a hotel in Lachung, where we would be staying. Temperatures drop to around 4°C at night since its always windy, and with the rain, it was much colder than usual, which I really like(I know, I’m weird).
On the way to Lachung
Sahasra Dhara Falls
The road
Amitabh Bachchan Falls
On Day 1 in Lachung, we didn’t have much to do except look around and enjoy the isolation. There was a football match going on between the local Govt. Senior Secondary School boys and the local Lachung Club. The Club won 3-1. The match was being watched over by ITBP officers and soldiers. They were very welcoming towards us, and even gave us a front row seat to the match(not that it is FIFA, but engrossing nevertheless).
Gardeners’ efforts in Lachung
Day 2 had some very nice and long trips in store for us. One was to Zero Point via Yumthang, the other being back to Gangtok. Some may ask why we didn’t visit Gurudongmar Lake. Well, turned out that visitors are being permitted upto Lachen, since there is some riot going on between Sikhs and Buddhists over who should own the Lake(like anyone owns anything in life!! Hearsay though, all of it). Lachung and Lachen are actually two rivers which separate at a place called Chungthang. Perhaps I might get to visit Gurudongmar Lake later.
“Yo, have some juicy bone on ya?”
“Nope, but would you mind posing for a picture? Thanks.”
Zero Point is where all roads in Sikkim end, the border between India and Tibet(currently in possession of China). Also known as Yumesamdong, Zero Point is about 14000 ft above MSL(approx info obtained from BRO camps; please verify). Cold winds seemed to freeze my spine through 4 layers of clothing. Also, I had some bouts of almost blacking out due to lack of Oxygen at such heights(I know I’m a pussy too).
On the way to Zero Point
At Zero Point
On the way we got to see Yumthang Valley(valley of flowers, sans the flowers). The valley gets to be in full bloom after March, when the snow starts to melt. There were also many army bunkers along the way. After the earthquake that hit Sikkim in 2011 rendered many roads almost unfit for commutation. Also, since it was the rainy season, streams gushing down the hill slopes made it even more difficult to drive along them. But it turned out to be quite an experience. Dangerous, but fun.
Yumthang Valley
We reached our hotel in Lachung at around 1 pm(the driver was unnecessarily rushing us, telling that it would get dark by the time we reach Gangtok). We had our lunch and got ready quickly for the return journey. This road was almost as treacherous as the Yumthang one, though only for short stretches. The driver was an arse-hole, young and rash, because he drove so fast, without any stops, that we reached Gangtok by 6 pm. It was really a very hectic journey. Also, I caught a cold.
Mt. Kangchenjunga from the room, early in the morning after a night of heavy rain
We took the next day off, and took our Nathu La trip on 5th. It was a short one-day trip. We visited Baba Harbhajan Singh Mandir(not the cricketer), and Tsomgo Lake. We had already visited Nathu La Pass on our earlier trip and it wouldn’t look as spectacular without the snow, so we didn’t bother. The history of this temple can be found here. We missed Tsomgo Lake earlier due to the snowfall. It is said to be holy. Lots of yaks around, reined by their owners, hiring them out for rides and photo sessions. I had a moment with one too.
On the way to the Mandir
Baba Harbhajan Singh Mandir
Thangu Lake
Tsomgo Lake
The return train home was late too, no surprises there. What was surprising is that the train got delayed on the way by 3 hours, on the way which could have been easily covered in time. Also, the coaches were labeled incorrectly, people with unconfirmed tickets were boarding the train because they had no choice - it was pretty much chaos. But here I am, rattling on about my trip.
I will be writing soon about my trip to South India. I think I might make several sections of it, because it was a very long trip. Till then, salut.
For newcomers, you can visit my previous blog on Sikkim here.