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...

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