North Sikkim in june - A trip report

this report is to say a big "thank you" to all those who have helped me prepare for this trip, Kshil, sagarneel, Solo-n, osirisis, cutiepie, paglaghora and many others. i have bombarded them with countless questions, for a month regarding innumerable details, which they painstakingly answered and encouraged me throughout, wished me luck for this trip, despite it being monsoon, and hence quite a risky journey.THANK YOU guys...i owe this trip to you

30/05/2011- Monday

we started for sealdah station at around 7 pm. We were a group of 10, me, my brother, our parents, a friend of mine, my uncle's family with two cousins, and an elderly relative (to our horror we learned upon reaching sealdah that the last person had recently been operated on his knee and suffered from heart ailments. he chose not to mention this earlier fearing we would cancel the trip, or not take him with us )the inclusion of the last five had been totally unplanned.hence the tickets were in two different trains, kanchankanya express and darjeeling mail respectively. the night was uneventful, except that we could spot 3 cockroaches in the AC-3 coach., and later our cousins , who were in kanchankanya sleeper class reported there were mice in the compartment.

31/05/2011 - Tuesday
upon waking up, we learned the train was running late by an hour. that soon turned into two hours. at one point kanchankanya and darjeeling mail both stood side by side at rangapani just before NJP, for 30mins. we had a nice time standing at the door of two diff trains and abusing the railway system. ( nothing like blaming officials to cheer you up, especially in case of power cuts or late running of trains...trust me)
we reached NJP at 10.30,. both trains simultaneously. we had booked our North sikkim trip through omega travels, who also had agreed to provide pick up from NJP. a Tata winger was waiting for us and after slight confusion (the driver of the winger dipen, had not brought any name placards and upon asking how we would identify him, could say nothing concrete except he was wearing a sunglass!!) we started for gangtok around 11.
it was a clear and extremely hot day. bottles of cold drinks failed to cool us up. roads were good in parts, an extremely rough in parts, as the rains had already started. twice we were held up as the boulders from a recent landslide was being cleared. had our lunch on the way, and reached gangtok around 4.30. we had booked our company guest house in Hotel Thinlay tara,upper arithang road, just below private taxi stand. we checked into the rooms (they were really nice, compared to the price, 400 for a double bed with a view). it had started to get cloudy. after a quick hot shower, we went strolling upwards towards MG marg. had snack of fried chilli momos and mixed thukpas at hotel hungry jack near taxi stand. they were awsome!!. strolled across mg marg. it was nicely lit up and crowded, but some shops were closed as it was tuesday. the shops of lal market was open though, and tourists were haggling there for a bargain. but we chose the quiet stroll. had an early dinner at hungry jack again, and went off to sleep
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Too good, a detailed one....how bout the rest ?

01/06/2011 - Wednesday
we woke up around 5 to catch the sunrise but were disappointed as it was completely foggy. had our breakfast and got ready for our 2N/3D North sikkim trip. We had wanted to start as early as possible, and had requested Mr. Deepak Rai if we could start by 8am. but he requested us to start earliest at 9, as he had to send grocery to lachen, and before 8 the market would not be open. we walked up to private bus stand, just above our hotel. we had booked two Max and they were waiting for us there, and not in Vajra jeep stand as i had heard.(good for us, we didn't have to hire a taxi to vajra ). we started at around 9.15 for lachen.Mr rai, met with us on the outskirts of gangtok, and gave us our permits, (they had been already made the previous day as we had sent our documents by post)and packed a carton of mineral water in each car, with packets of chips, biscuits chocolates and cakes to have on the way. he insisted we have only mineral water in North Sikkim. Our driver Paldin Bhutia was an instant hit with the young guys of our group. he was a extremely jolly person , always ready with a joke.(his endless mimicry tired my parents at times, but we had great fun with us teasing him, and he teasing as back)our first halt was at seven sisters falls. the falls was strictly OK, nothing great, me later saw much better nameless falls on the way to LAchen itself.
We had our Lunch at phodong, at norbuling restaurant, with rice dal, 2 types of vegetables and chicken for non veg, paneer for vegetarians. the road started to get bad right after phodong.near mangan it was just terrible, with mud slips. we also faced a horrible traffic jam at mangan, which stalled us for 45 mins.there were female traffic police in Mangan, who seemeingly were amused by the jam. instead of managing traffic, they chose to chit chat with our drivers .
We reached chungthang around 4pm where it strated to drizzle. we met a family who were on their way to lachung from lachen. they had visited gurudongmar lake that morning.they said that they had a real rough time and had faced severe breathing troubles. the elderly lady in the group (around 55)had such severe breathing problem the she had to be nursed by the army for some time, before she could be brought down. "it was like a twenty kg boulder pressing firmly on your back, and another crushing your chest, while you are gasping for breath" she elaborated. my mother and aunt were really scared by this description.the road from chungthang to lachen is very good.
We reached lachen around 5.15 and checked into hotel Blue Pine. it is a new hotel with some of the floors being under construction. The rooms were spacious, clean and the beds comfortable. they had a nice view of the valley and the river, but it was drizzling, so we couldn't capture much through our lenses. It was ethereal and quiet, as we were the only guests in the hotel..we went up the terrace, and the entire village looked draped with a white veil of mist, with the only sound being of the gushing stream. that sound was loud enough, like the sound of a heavy rain on a tin roof...once in a while the mist lifted, and the lush green valley could be seen below. it made a beautiful colour combination, of soft grey, translucent white, and shades of green.. as if an artist had painted the landscape with water colour, and the picture had not dried up completely...the colours were washed, fresh, and a little wet...it was sublime.
we chatted for a while, and then had our dinner by 8.pm. dinner was simple, rice, dal vegetable curry and chicken, with salad and pickles. as we were the only guests, they served us buffet style, we helped our selves heartily, and went off to an early sleep.
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Great report Abhinandan! Must have been a good trip, waiting to see the snaps in IM...most of us can't access Picassa/flickr from work.

Same probs here..

02/06/2011-Thursday

Our driver informed us that we had to be out by 5am. it was drizzling throughout the night, and was cloudy in the morning as well.Not only us, but the drivers were also scared of the road condition. the roads were not BAD, the were just NOT THERE. i had once seen a discovery programme on off roading, and thought" how adventurous". but didnt feel half as nice to be in the same position myself. It was as if riding through a sea of pebbles and boulders, with waterfalls gushing on the roads every now and then, the car splashed right through them, and more the a couple of times one of the rear wheels would dnagle in the air, while on a bend. we had to close our eyes in some parts, it was so scary.
reached thangu at 8 am. it was the last breakfast stop before gurudongmar, a small hamlet. we had steaming hot bowls of maggi and coffee for breakfast, seemed heavenly..as the weather was chilling. we could feel the journey of the burning maggi through our throuat and within,we were so cold.
the weather strated to clear after we crossed thangu.the driver warned this could be bad for those having breathing troubles as clear weather meant lesser oxygen (fogs and mists are full of oxygen). as we reached the last checkpoint at 15000 ft, my aunt was having slight breathing troubles. our driver gave her a piece of camphor and also a pod of garlic to smell, which seemed to ease her a bit. there was a souvenir shop, and we got some key rings.our driver warned any of us who were feeling uneasy(slight nausea, headache or breathlessness) against going out of the car, as the army would be sure to send back the entire car, if they found anyone to be ill. it was freezing out there. soon as we crossed the check post, a strange thing happenned. the chips packets in our car started exploding on their own. my mother had a tube of ointment which burst out as well!! we heard that this was due to low air pressure outside..this was a unique experience for us.
the landscape changed to that resembling ladakh...a barren cold desert, startlingly blue sky, and snow peaks all around. there was no tarred road, and it seemed very easy to get lost. there were army bunkers all around, and barbed wires indicated quick sand at places. our driver mentioned there were land mines embedded from the time of China war,(an army officer at gurudongmar confirmed this, increasing my mother's intensity of prayers that we can return safely) and many yaks have died in explosion!
the lake itself was a revelation.an amazing shade of blue, against the snow capped peaks, a different shaded blue sky, and sandy barren landscapes, its beauty should be seen to be believed.there is a sarv dharm sthal or an all religion prayer area beside the lake, which has guru Nanak to guru rimpoche's image.There was a high , cold wind blowing nad the temperature was around 1 degree celcius, as informed by an army officer. we went down right o the water of the lake...it was amazing!!
We stayed there for around 30 mins, and then strated our journey back to lachen. the elderly person in our group had a headache, and a slight nosebleed...apart from that all were fine. we came back to lachen, had our lunch..(chicken replaced by egg) and strated our journey to lachung by 3pm. the road to lachung from lachen is really good...but we were too tired to enjoy the beauty of it.(volini and pain killers were doing the rounds among the elderly)
we reached lachung around 5pm and checked in at lachung tourist centre. it was a two storied house made of log.the views from the room were nice, but not as good as lachen.
We took a leisurely stroll across the village (something we couldnt do at lachen due to rains)...it was like a fairytale village, small, sweet and tranquil...yet having every basic need.we could see the sno capped peaks, on and off behind the mist. there were pretty flowers all around, and dogs in playful mood.the evening was spent again in chatting( with coffee chips and packets of jhalmuri we got from kolkata) we were firm about having chapatis and not rice that nigh( rains and rice just dont go together...i feel) and the kichen stuff reluctantly agreed ( with a call from Deepak Rai)..
after a dinner of chapatis, dal, alubhaja, cabbage and cauliflower curry, chicken/paneer and omlette, for those who were not satisfied with the 3 pieces of chicekn, we went off to sleep...with the rains having started again, this time their sound magnified ..thanks to the wooden house.
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Same here... no acccess to Picassa from office

rest of the trip coming after a couple of hours...must attend a meeting

you can use a bypass proxy utility and then access the blocked webpages.it would be against your company policy so be careful.

Don't be surprised if we actually do that. We, Sikkim lovers here at IM, are always ready to walk that extra mile

do ensure to wipe off all the traces later

Nice report abhinandab. It is always great to read the trip report of heaven again and again. But Alas , for me not even these proxy works,(Thankfully Indiamike is one among these very few sites which is not blocked) have to wait for another 30 minutes (20 more minutes in office and 10 mins to reach home). And I swear, I would watch your pics even before freshen up. Nice report, please keep going.

Watched all the pics. Wowwwww.... That cannot be a corner of the earth... Its heaven man!!!!! The view from the Lachen hotel was superb!!! Excellent photography mate. I am waiting for more........... I can't wait to go there.

Superb report man.... waiting eagerly for the next lot....The description of the journey is amazing..... remembering ours in 2001.....as if our body parts had been dismantled.... and need to fix after we came to Lachung....The photos are awesome.... but its not complete only 57 I can see...

03/06/2011 - Friday

Today we could have started an hour later than the gurudongmar day, but our driver was worried about the road back to gangtok due to the non-stop rain throughout the night. We were all set to start for yumthang and yumesamdong(zero point) by 5, but the hotel people pleaded to start at least at 5.30, so they could pack our breakfast. We started at around 5.45. the hotel owners asked u if we wanted to hire the boots required from walking on snow in zero point, but our driver was doubtful if we would at all find any snow, after the last night's rain..he insisted we rent it from zero point itself...we took his advise and started our journey towards yumthang...the weather was quite clear..we reached yumthang around 7. The valley must look beautiful had it been completely covered with flowers, but now there were only patches of flowers...those patches seemed like violet and pink handkerchiefs on a green carpet known as yumthang valley. yaks were grazing all around, and not many tourists were seen...i guessed we had reached early...after roaming around for a short while, we proceeded towards zero point. We were skeptical that if there was a crowd of tourists who reached before us, all the tranquility would be spoilt. also the driver warned us there could be a long queue of cars in peak season. we were excited to catch a glimpse to the first snow near yumthang. for the first time we saw a smile on our driver's face..even he had been worried that we might not be able to see the snow. he confirmed that there had been snowfall last night, and so there would be ample amount of snow at zero point. We all were overjoyed to hear this.we were the 3rd car to reach zero point that day ...we hired the boots at Rs50/- per pair and started to walk towards the snow. we had to cross a small stream before we reached the main snow covered area. though the stream was narrow, yet there was a swift current in it. most of us slipped at least once or twice trying to balance on the slippery rocks underneath. i guess the stream remains frozen in April, but for the rest of the year, i don't think it would be advisable for old people or saree clad women to cross the stream.( we saw 2 ladies fall down and scrap their knees and arms badly on the rock. once we reached the other side..it was complete snow world. we were only 6 people on the vast wide snow world (others of our group decided to stay on the other side of the stream, and other tourists were still busy with their boiled egg breakfast it seemed)we had fun on the snow for almost 45 mins till it started to be crowded and we decided it was the time to leave, before it starts to have no difference with nicco park snow arena or Hyderabad snow world. we came back to our car and had our breakfast of bread butter, jam eggs banana and coffee.
One word of caution, yumthang is close to 16000 ft high, and breathing problem can be seen here as well as nose bleeding. if you feel uneasy please come back to your car immediately, pull up the glasses and deep breath. we saw a girl of about 5 crying and complaining of breathlessness after running on snow but strangely the mother seemed to think it was just "shararat" ..and even scolded the kid for being a sissy, telling her "if i can run around, why cant you?"!!. please remember high altitude problems can take place irrespective of age...do not ignore it, especially in kids..it can be serious. while returning we saw another boy of around 10-12 gasping for breath in car, while his father searched frantically for others who were lost in frolic on the snow. be cautious please!while returning, a thick white mist surrounded us as we passed through zodang, known as the valley of essences, for its incense plants. the air was thick with the smell of insence. our driver tore a leaf from one of the shrubs. we rubbed it on our hands and it was the typical smell of "dhoop" or "agarbatti".
we returned to lachung around 12.00. lunch was ready...and after an hour of rest, we started for gangtok around 2pm
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