Help: query about north sikkim trip in feb?

P.P.S: Visit the Lachen police station if (god forbid) any such wrong doing is suffered.

Wow! Lachen has a police station! I've never seen any police men during my stay in Sikkim (even in Gangtok!), heard crime rate is too low in this tiny state

Skll... one more thing I need to add. If you have plan to visit Zero Point (beyond Yumthang), talk with your travel agent before striking a deal. Though I doubt if permits can be obtained for Yumsadong, Zero Point and Katao. However, your driver can take you to Katao by paying him 1200-1500. You will get plenty of snow in Katao during Feb and I still remember the sun rays kissing the snow early in the morning!

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo...eat=directlink

Yes Skll, you can definitely go to Lachen first and then Lachung. Lachen is a beautiful village, you will love it.

So i will be planning it this way,
Day 1: Gangtok to lachen, O/N in lachen
Day 2: Lachen- Thangu- Gurudongmar and while returning to lachen chopta valley and then move on to lachung O/N in lachung
Day 3: Lachung-Yamthang-Zero point-lachung O/N in lachung
Day 4: if possible katao and then back to gangtok

and if gurudongmar not possible will make it a 2N/3D trip.........
Day 1:Gangtok to Lachung O/N in lachung
Day 2:Lachung-Yamthang-Zero point-lachung O/N in lachung
Day 3:if possible katao and then back to gangtok

Btw is it worth going to lachen if gurudongmar is not possible keeping in mind of the very chilly weather?
And what sites are must visit while going from gangtok to north sikkim and on my way back to gangtok?

Read this delightful travelogue of North Sikkim in Winter. This will answer most of your questions.

Thats a really helpfull piece of information on north sikkim indra3040.

btw would like to know wheather its worth going to lachen, if gurudongmar is not possible? is it completely different experience being in lachen in comparision to lachung?

hello

i want to do chadar trek possibly in winter.i m also doing basic mountaineering course at hmi guys give some advice abt these things

I haven't been to Lachen, but heard you can expect only basic facilities there. It depends on where you gonna stay a night. Apple Orchard is the best but it's costly. IMO, you can skip Lachen if you are not going to Gurudongmar, as I feel the terrain is almost the same both in Lachen and Lachung.

If you read the travelogue carefully you'll find that the author and his associates had ample fun in Lachen itself although they couldn't go to the Gurudongmar Lake.

My answer is also a big YES, Lachen itself if beautiful and even if you fail to make Gurudongmar Lake you'll be able to visit other interesting places close by such as the Chopta Valley. But since it is going to be your honeymoon and if you decide to skip Lachen and Gurudongmar Lake(i.e. schedule it for some other time in future) and curtail your overall exposure in North Sikkim, that will be a good strategy as well.

But don't think that not going to Gurudongmar Lake will make your Sikkim trip a any less special. In my first North Sikkim trip 8 years ago I couldn't go to Gurudongmar Lake because there were no other tourist in Gangtok who were willing to go and I alongwith my friend couldn't afford to go solo. (North Sikkim was not as well known as it is now.) In that trip we did eventually manage to go to Yumthang Valley and Yumasengdom(what now is popularly known as zero point) and just loved it.

I managed to visit Gurudongmar Lake only after about 3 more years.

Please go to Lachen. It is a beautiful village. just becoz you might not be able to go upto Gurudongmar,doesnt mean you cant enjoy the beauty of Lachen. your trip to North sikkim is incomplete without a visit to Lachen.

thanks solo-n and indra, will see how things are at that time and if gurudongmar is not possible will skip lachen, doing this will make me come back to sikkim again as i m too eagar to see THE BEAUTIFUL GURUDONGMAR LAKE....

hey cutiepie still waiting for a detail itinerary from your side and best according to you, would be gratefull to you all and wanna see how you sketch it for me especially north sikkim trip and the route from gangtok to pelling(Temi Tea garden and Guru Padmasambhava statue on the way and rafting if possible )

indra, solo-n, jaydeepy, cutiepie, style_guru pls help with itinerary...

Please dont plan NORTH SIKKIM, if its a HONEYMOON , if both of you are person who enjoys tough terrain and already have experiences in Mountain travelling. I am not discouraging anybody to go there. But for a Honeymoon place it may be a spoil sport if your ruin your health. It needs little bit more physically fit. Views in Gurudomnagar are amazing, but as soon you reach there you start feeling the mounatain sickness, nausea as air is very thin and breathing problem starts.Let me know if i can answer any questions. I just finished my North plan with my wife and it was really tough for me.

hmmmm....... all your suggestions are worth consideration, in a way cutiepie you are right lachen must be having its own beauty even if gurudongmar is not possible and as few suggested skipping north sikkim(but i am too eagar to go there and even my fiancee) for a honeymoon is also a worth giving a thought and as shivanand suggested physical fitness should also be taken into consideration.....

But now i think we will decide on north sikkim only when we reach gangtok as no one can predict what the weather and road sittuation would be during that time(can just hope weather GOD is on our side atleast for lachung/yumthang)...........

hopefully i am thinking on the right track?

hey shivanand can you give some details about your trip, how you went, which tour operator, vehicle, hotel stay and costing and what problem did you face as you seem to have a tough time there?

missing you all from last few days, hopefully someone can help me with the details of route to pelling from gangtok, i mean what routes are possible so that i can be able to visit namchi, temi tea garden and some water rafting on my way to pelling?
pls help....