A Trip to Nathu La - Sikkim (North-East India)

Nathu La - Indo-China Border in Sikkim. Altitude 14200 ft.

La means Pass.. Nathu La is is one of the few Indian border posts where flag meeting with PLA happens on regular intervals.. It is a tourism hotspot too. One can experience a very closer look to the PLA settlements on the other side of the border. One can meet the PLA personnels, shake hands and even take photographs.. It is one of the most peaceful border posts along Indo-China border. But reaching there, itself a herculian task due to inhospitable terrain and unpredictive weather conditions.. Nathu La is approximately 40 km from Gangtok, Sikkim and one has to opt permit before visiting the place.

After our dry North Sikkim trip, we planned to visit Nathu La on 12th November 2010. Permits were arranged by our Hotel authority. We started for Nathula at 7 am. After travelling few km, the weather began to deteriorate and enroute the visibility was mere few meters. We stopped at a small place and had our breakfast. The route plan was Gangtok - Tsomgo Lake - Nathu La - Baba Mandir and then back to Gangtok.

The road was full of Hair-pin curves and due to poor visibility it took too much time in transit. We obsered army convoys also moving in snails pace. The tyres of the army vehicles were tied with chains to drive efficiently on snow.. Snow started to fall as we reached Tsamgo. We could not take the photographs of the lake as there was virtually no visibility. But we were happy that after the dry run, finally we got to experience the snow fall. The weather was chilling and the temperature outside was sub zero. Without wasting our time at Tsamgo we proceed towards Nathu La which is 18 km away. The area was highly militarised and there were huge army settlemets, ammunition depots and number of Helipads along side the road. We got to see the highest point Axis Bank ATM near Nathu La. After further ascend our vehicle started to skid over snow.

The whole road and the hills were covered with layers of snow. The BRO and Indian Army personnels were busy in clearing the snow to keep the road open for Army Movements. After bit adventure, finally we reached the Nathu La pass. We got down from our vehicle and found no other tourists around. Probably we were the first to visit Nathu La that day. The temperature was -7. Everyone was shiverring in cold. one of our companion refused to get down from the vehicle. We started to climb on the stairs and after few minutes we saw the war memorial. Then we saw the Indian border post and in the back side the PLA post. the view was awesome and we felt proud of our Army as they are guarding the post in such rough weather conditions day and night.

We entered the main building and a very well built Army Officer accompanied us and shown the flag meeting room on the 1st Floor.. We were not allowed to take photographs inside the Flag Meeting room. He then came with us down stairs and posed for photographs. After few Chit Chats we came to know that he is Col Nathani, the C in C and from 16 Granediers. We bid good bye to him and approached near the Chinese post, but due to bad weather no PLA personnels were seen outside..

Snow was falling heavily and we proceed towards the Cafeteria and had cofee. We got the Nathu La visit certificate from the Indian Army. We started towards baba mandir which is 10 km from Nathu La.

Baba Mandir is the temple erected to worship an Indian Soldier, Harbhajan Singh, who died in a landslide. It is beleived that his spirits still haunts the Chinese Army. We visited the temple and again had tea from the stall near Baba Mandir. Snow was falling inseasently. We then started towards Gangtok and on the way back we saw the tourist vehicles towards Nathu La were stranded due to snow fall.

We reached Tsomgo and explored the local market. We had noodle soup and momo at a small shop and purchased few woolens to beat the cold. We started from Tsamgo at 2 pm. After few Km stopped due to traffic jam and we were stranded there for 2 hours. We reached Gangtok at 5.30 pm and we called off the day..

Thank You..

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A Trip to North Sikkim (North-east India)

If you like Nature, Hills and Treks - This is for you.

North Sikkim is a District of Indian State of Sikkim. The area is blessed with pristine hills, snow-clad peaks, raging streams, Hot Springs, Spectacular Lakes, Colourful Tribes, Wild flora and fauna. Here I am going to describe my visit to Zero Point and Guru Dongmar Lake in North Sikkim in the month of November 2010. Noth Sikkim can be reached from Gangtok (Capital of Sikkim). One need to apply for tourist permits to visit this part. We planned a trip for 4 days and made our bookings accordingly.

Day 1: We started from Gangtok to Lachung. It is 124 km from Gangtok. We hired a Mahindra SUV. The road was very pathetic and poorly maintained by BRO, but the spectacular view all around has compansated the trip. On the way we saw countless water falls, and Mt. Kungchenjungha was accompanying us till Mangan. Mangan is the District HQ of North Sikkim. We had our lunch at Mangan at a roadside food court. Only rice was avaiable. North Sikkim is underdeveloped and the infrastructure is very basic. As we moved we saw the Cardamom plants all around the hills. Sikkim is known as the Cardamom Capital of the World. Teesta river was flowing on the left side of the road. We were about to reach a small town named Chumthang but due to a huge rock fall, the road was blocked. We took coffee from a small coffee shop and then started via an alternate route. We hardly saw any road, the vehicle moved forward over stones and bolders, after an hours journey we reached Chumthang and had snacks. Chumthang is the meeting Place of Lahung Chu (Chu means River)and Lachen Chu, two tributories of Teesta. Lachung is another 20 Km from Chumthang.. The road from Chumthang to Lachung was better. We reached Lachung at 6 pm. Lachung is a small village in North Sikkim, situated at an altitude of 8800 ft. The climate was chilling. We could not see the land scape due to darkness. We checked into our hotel. As i mentioned earlier that the infra of North Sikkim is very basic, the hotel was also not an exception. But the rooms were cozy. We got a warm welcome in the hotel. We had Chapati and Rice at dinner and slept early.

Day 2: We got up early in the morning, A snowclad peak was visible from my room. The weather was clear and the climate was soothing. We got ourselves ready to visit Zero Point via Yumthang Valley. We had our breakfast and started at 8 am. Zero Point is 70 km from Lachung. As we proceed we entered the Yumthang Valley. The whole valley is covered with Rhhoddodandron plants. Unfortunately we did not find the bloom. Yumthang Valley is also known as the Valley of Flowers, where more than 300 variety of flowers bloom during April to August. The Lachung Chu was flowing on the right side along with the road. We crossed several small streams. The whole valley was spectacular. The Hills were capped with snow and the chilling breeze outside was amazing.. We reached Zero-point, the originating place of Lachung Chu. The point is the boundary of India. It is a natural boundary walled by peaks. The other side is Tibet. We took several photographs and had noodles at Zero Point. The place is at 15300 ft and the temperature was below freezing point. We could not stay there for long due the Chilling Climate. We started for Lachung and reached at 4 pm. We had our food and Checked out of the Hotel and proceed towards Lachen. reached Lachen via Chumthang at 6 pm and checked into our hotel. Lachen is at 9200 ft and we could not keep ourselves away from Vodka. In lachen, we faced problem in getting foods. The foods offered by the hotel were tasteless. Rooms were good but no water, somehow the Hotel authority arranged for it. The climate was more chilling in Lachen and there was no room heater. The fireplace is out of firewood. We somehow managed firewood from the nearby house and ignited the fireplace and felt the relief. After few hours the room became warm and we all slept comfortably. Superb feeling!!!

Day 3: We woke-up at 5 am and the hotel authority provided us with hot water for bath. We started for Guru Dongmar Lake at 6 am. The Lake is 65 km away from Lachen and heavily guarded by indian Army as it is very close to the China Border. Enroute we stopped at Thangu and entered into a small hut. We asked the hut owner to ignite the bukhari and then prepare breakfast for us. We had bread butter jam and coffee and asked them to prepare vegetable momos which we will have on the way back. We left the place and proceed towards Guru Dongmar Lake. The road condition was very poor and we reached the Guru Dongmar Lake at 11:30 in the morning. Enroute we got a glance of Tibetan Wolf, later a herd of Bharal (Mountain Goat) We had a very close view of Mt Sinolchu (6300 m) Guru Dongmar Lake is situated at an altitude of 17200 ft. It is one of the highest altitude lakes in the world. The water of the lake is said to be blessed with Guru Padmasambhava and Guru Nanak. Some medicinal properties are in the water. The lake is spectacular and blue in colour. The view was simply wow.... We could hardly stay there for an hour due to heavy winds and chilling temperature. Further we faced little breathing problem also. So we left quickly. On the way back, we visited the chopta valley and reached Tangu. We had momos in the Hut and proceed towards lachen. Enroute we observed Seabuckthorn ripe berrys in the plants along side the road. The locals call it in some other name. We even tasted the yellow berries. We explored the orange and apple orchards on the way back to Lachen. We ignited fireplace as we entered into our room. We explored the Lachen Monastry and Local Market in the evening. We had Vodka again as the weather became bad in the evening and the temperature dropped drastically. We tried the food at some other place and returned to our rooms. We saw the photos in camera and slept after some chitchats.

Day 4: We checked-out from hotel in Lachen at 7 am and started for Gangtok. After 6 hrs drive we reached Gangtok and had our Lunch. in the evening we explored the Gangtok town and Checked into Hotel. North Sikkim trip concluded... The trip was excellent and will remain in the memories as the whole area was simply awsome and blessed with unmatched natural beauty..

Thank You...

Do leave a comment and write me if you require information about the area.

A trip to Tawang - Arunachal Pradesh (North-East India)

It was in the the month of November 2008, I was sitting quite in an official party in Nanded, Maharashtra, missing my home (in Assam). For more than Two and half years, i visit my home.. Suddenly my boss came from behind and gave a hard pat on my shoulder, i came back to my senses and boss observed that i was upset. Instantly he said that he wish to make a family trip, whether i have any Idea about some good places where he can spend a vacation for 7-8 days. This is how the topic began, I told him Shimla and Manali, but he discarded these and suggested that lets go & explore some good place in the North East of India. Further, he told me that You can visit your home and at the same time we will explore good places around.. I said ok! We left the party after some delicious dinner and chicken soup. Next morning, I reached office at 9.. He called me into his cabin and oh my goodness he had all the tickets ready. I was shocked! at last I am going home! I called up my parents and informed about the developments.. Thay were more than happy, they will get to see me after a long time. Boss said me to sit on my desk and to plan the trip and make sure that it gets over within 10 days. Finally We reached Guwahati (Assam) on 11th Nov. In the evening I told him that I need to buy a digicam, so we went out for shopping and site seeing. I got a sony camcorder and boss said he will pay the bill and i have to pay him later.. I said, its a good offer.. And that offer became the best deal in my life.. (Another Story).

After that we went few places in Guwahati and returned home after dinner at Pizza Hut! Next day the plan was to go Kamakshya Temple (Famous Shakti Peeth) early in the morning then to move to Shillong. We moved to the Kamakshya Temple in the morning as planned. We offered worship and started for Shillong.. I got down near my home and asked my elder brother to accompany them to Shillong and Cherapunjee.. They had a wonderful trip to Shillong and Cherapunjee. Shillong is the Capital of Indian State of Meghalaya and the largest and the most organised Hill Station (4800 ft) in India and . Cherapujee is 40 Km far from shillong and the place was the wettest place in the earth. Shillong boasts too many beutiful places to visit. The climate of Shillong attracts a large number of tourists every year and it is the perfect place for shopping of woolen and imported goods. All the heavy woolens for our onward journey were purchased from Shillong. They stayed in Shillong Club, near ward's lake. The place was built during colonial period. It is a mid budget hotel and the location is in the heart of shillong with lush green landscape.

In this gap, i got all the formalities done to visit Arunachal Pradesh. One need to opt the Inner Line Permit (ILP) from Govt of Arunachal Pradesh. Foreign Nationals need to take Restricted Area Permit(RAP) for the same.. I also booked Helicopter seats for Tawang. Provisional booking is available at no cost at the ofiice of the assistant resident commissioner of Govt. of Arunachal Pradesh (Guwahati Office).

On 16th November we started for Tawang. We reached Guwahati Airport and got the Helicopter Tickets @ INR 3000 per head (Rs 10000 in actual. 70% subsidy is provided by Deptt of Tourism, Govt of India). It was a Mi17 helicopter, recently deployed into this route promote tourism in Tawang by Govt. of India. We were lucky enough to have such a wonderful ride.

The helicopter took off and crossed the Brahmaputra river then entered into the Hilly terrain of East Himalaya. We travelled through Bhutan. The whole journey was picturesque and soothing.. We reached Tawang after 1 hour of Chopper ride. We received a warm welcome in Tawang Helipad in the form of Traditional Yak Dance. We can see the town from the helipad. It is almost 2 km uphill from the helipad. At last we arrived in "The Land of Dawn-lit Mountains." Checked the cell phone and there was no Signal bars. I got tensed but later felt happy. No one is going to ruin the vacation at least..

Tawang is a small town situated at an altitude of 10,500 ft. It is famous for its 400 year old Buddhist Monastery, which is said to be the largest Monastry after Lhasa (Tibet). Tawang has some other historical relevance. It is the birth place of the 6th Dalai Lama. A brief war was also faught with China in 1962. The present Dalai Lama escaped Tibet and entered India through Tawang. We were stranded on the helipad as there was no conveyance available from the Helipad to Tawang town, though it is near by. Later a Local Admin Officer dropped us in the Govt Tourist Lodge. (It is recommendable to stay in the Govt Tourist Lodge as the area is very convenient. Moreover, the infra of Towang is very basic, it is worthless to go for a hotel where the prices are high with same or less facilities compared to the tourist lodge.

The temperature was chilling in Tawang and after a couple of hours rest and lunch we started to explore the Tawang town on foot. The population of Tawang is about 11000 inhabited by Colourful Monpa tribes. They are Buddhists and follw the Mahayana Sect of Buddhism. They are very polite and simple. We proceed towards the main road, It was down hill trek at the bigining, later it bacame difficult to walk, as we didn't get acclimatized before. We were able to visit the 1962 Sino-Indian war memorial and paid homage to all the brave Indian soldiers who laid their life in the Kameng Sector of Arunachal Pradesh. We hired a Taxi to reach our lodge. The Infrastructure of Tawang is very basic. The area is not commercialised for Tourism as very few people visit this area and heavily guarded by Indian Army and ITBP. The obvious choice to stay here is the Govt. Tourist Lodge. All amenities were available at a very reasonable rate. We used to order the foods as per the availability of Vegetables and the Chef used to prepare it as per our taste. even we were allowed in the kitchen. Few other hotels are also available but they were not upto the mark.

It was 3.30 pm and already dark. I forgot to mention that Arunachal Pradesh is regarded as the land of rising sun. Sun rises at 4 am and sets early. We reached our lodge and all were shiverring with cold. Tawang Town was dry and we were quite disappointed that there were no snow around. Just a few snow clad peaks were visible at the distance. I got a bottle of Rum from the market to beat the cold. Liquor is damn cheap in Tawang.. We arranged our vehicle for the next days site seeing. You can find the govt rate chart for diffrent places in the Tourist Lodge. The rates are very reasonable. So always have a reality check before hiring a vehicle. Local vehicles are the perfect choice as the drivers take you to every nook and corner to make your trip memorable. You will find too many taxies at the tourist lodge premises. The tourist lodge was not bad. It was warm inside. Outside the temperature was 3 degrees at 5 pm. We ordered our foods at 5:30 so that the cook can prepare them on time. No room service was available. We had to go down stairs to have the food. Food quality was good. We tried some unique local vegetables which are not found on the plains and we all liked it. Homely Preparation.. We met several tourists in the restaurant and came to know that the majority of them were from Maharashtra. We completed ur dinner by 7:30 and checked the temperature outside, it was few point below Zero. We planned for the next days programme and slept early. At night it was -3 degrees.

Next Day we planned to visit the Sangetsar Lake (Popularly known as Madhuri Lake) and woke up early in the morning. We glanced through the window and found that the parked vehicles were covered with soft layer of snow. Driveres were busy in cleaning the wind screen with Hot water and fer were trying to heat up the engines by burning logs beneath. After having a hot cup of tea and few sandwiches we started for Madhuri Lake. Yuntin was the driver whom we hired yesterday way back from the War Memorial. He is a local monpa guy, Very Decent and well mannered. The lake was 40 km away. On the way our Inner Line Permits were checked at an Indian Army post. The area is close to Chinese border, so all these precausions. The whole area is monitored by Indian Army due to higly sensitive border with China. After crossing a pass, we suddenly entered the Snow Zone. Everyone was happy when we noticed thick blanket of snow, covering the whole valley, few glacier lakes and near frozen waterfalls were also came on the way. We also visited a Gompa of Guru Padmasambhava on the way. At last we reached the Sangester Lake. The lake is known for its beauty with too many dead trees in the lake standing still. The lake was originated due to an earthquake in 1950. One can enjoy the panaromic view of the sorrounding snow capped mountains. We were really lost in the nature. The best part was that there was no mobile network in tawang, so we were out of range all the time.

We started from there after having tea in the adjucent Army Tea Stall near the lake. On the way back we played in the snow. We reached Tawang at 2 pm and headed to Tawang Monastery and also visited the Ugreilling Monestry, birth place of the 6th Dalai Lama. Explored the local market in the evening. The Tibetan Creaft and Carpet Center is worth to pay a visit. The Rum time repeated, we went for a walk and checked the outside temperature. It was 1 point below the freezing point. Few cars were parked outside the Tourist Lodge and we noticed that the hoods of the vehicles were glittering, the water particles of fog got frozen. We made few calls from a PCO returned back to our lodge. After a good dinner we all slept early.

Next Day we planned for Zemithang. It is a small village, famous for Gorsom Chorten and Tibetan Settlements.. It was a real journey into the nature. Zemithang is 90 Km from Tawang via Lumla. we started at 5 am. Enroute we came accross enormous waterfalls, rivers, streams, hairpin curves and mindblowing valleys. We reached Zemithang and explored the local tibetan market in the foothill and also visited the Gorsom Chorten. We had our lunch at a Monpa House. There were no restaurants around, so we requested a local villager and he arranged for the food at the Monpa House. That was a nice food. We paid for the food and started for tawang.. I saw beer bottles on the shelves of a small shop and could not stop myself from having one. It was so refreshing that made the return journey more interesting.. We tried to explore some remote tibetan villages but due to time constrains, it remained unexplored.. We stayed back in Tourist Lodge at night. We were really stunned with the beauly of the place and realised why these areas are called Paradise Unexplored!!

We booked a Tata Sumo to Return to Tezpur( Assam) next day. We checked out from lodge at 4am and started for the return journey by road to Tezpur, Kaziranga and then to Guwahati.

The whole road was amazing.. the beauty cant be described in words.. We saw the Jung Fall on the way. We had our breakfast at a small hut near jung. We stopped at Jashwant Garh, the temple of the famous Indian Soldier Jashwant Singh Raut, who laid his life during 1962 war. It is beleived that he still lives in the valley and Indian Army personnels were often informed about Chinese activities due to this holy spirit. He is still serving as a regular soldier in the Indian Army and recetly got promoted to Captain Rank. So whoever visit Tawang, have to visit Jashwantgarh. We crossed the Sela Pass (14700 Ft) one of the highest motorable pass in India and crossed the Paradise Lake. The road started to descend. It was a wonderful drive along raging streams, beautiful valleys and yes the beautiful town of Dirang. We crossed Bomdiala, another town with beautiful sorroundings. You need to have time to explore all..

We reached Tezpur at 8pm and checked in a Good Hotel and Booked a vehicle for Kaziranga National Park for the next day.... We had a jungle safari on Jeep and got few glimpses of Rahinos, Wild Buffalows, Deers and few migratory birds.

I Still remeber the journey. I really enjoyed the whole trip. It was possible only due to my boss as for years i was in Assam but I never tried to reach these places.. This would always remain in my mind throughout my life. This post is dedicated to my beloved boss..

The entire episode was smooth and flawless. Simply awesome. Hope in coming days the infra will be better to accomodate more tourists. Road widening work is on and this place is sitting on the highly sensitive border which is claimed by China every second day as South Tibet.

It is always better to travel to a place which is in isolation. I feel that you can have the real fun in it. You would get too many places to explore and have everlasting memories.. Arunachal Pradesh is one of such places which is still untouched. Very few people visit Arunachal due to its tough terrain and poor tourism infrastructure. It is really a Paradise unexplored!

Best time to visit - October to Mid december and March to May (Bloom Time).

Thank you..

Do leave your comments.. Also write me if you require further information about the area.

PS: Those who are willing to visit Tawang, This is the right time.. Who knows the Chinese intentions!!