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 spect
acular 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, th
e 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. Lache
n 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!!!
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, th
e 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. Lache
n 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 Gu
ru 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.
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 Gu
ru 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.
Beautiful post.. Keep going..
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