Yumthang – Valley of Flowers in North Sikkim, India

Of days gone by...this April during my solo all India motorcycle journey…

It was late in the evening and extremely cold by the time we reached the town of Lachung on the eastern end of North Sikkim.

 
It had been an eventful day for us  as we had been through a near death experience and faced a snow storm on our way back from Gurudongmar Lake. All of us shared our respective versions of the experience with the group while our dinner was getting ready. It was only after the hot and sumptuous meal that most of us felt alive. 


After an early morning wake up call, I got ready, had breakfast and waited for the rest of the group. It was during this wait that I admired the beauty of the Lachung valley. I climbed up a small hillock to get a better view of the entire Lachung town, the Lachung Chu (river) and the Himalayan peaks in the background. Soon, the entire group was ready and we got into the jeep and made our climb towards the Yumthang valley.

 
Yumthang is situated 140 kms north of Gangtok, the capital of Sikkim. It is located at an elevation of 11,800 feet (3575 m) with a close proximity to Tibet (China) and is a unique place where the tree line ends. The Yumthang valley, dubbed as the ‘valley of flowers’ is home to the Shingba rhododendron sanctuary. Typically, in the summers, this area blooms with umpteen species of rhododendrons, primulas, poppies, iris and other flora. But, due to unforeseen snowfall over the last one month, the flowering plants were still in deep slumber.

 
The winding route, the snow clad plants, the Himalayan peaks in the distance and the Lachung Chu river were all a treat to the eye. Once we reached the valley, all of us were eager to explore this very pretty valley. Snow balls were hurled at folks, folks were skidding and slipping on the icy floor and most of the group were keeping their cameras busy. Such was the beauty of this place.


There was a mountaineering institute nearby that organizes treks in the summers. But, due to the bad weather, even these guys had closed shop. Finally, after spending a couple of hours at Yumthang, we made our way back to Lachung, had lunch and continued on our long drive back to Gangtok.


Enroute, we stopped at a lovely waterfall that is nicknamed Amitabh Bachchan waterfalls as Amitabh Bachchan shot a movie scene at this exquisite location. We saw more landslides and more bad roads, and finally reached Gangtok late in the evening. The last three days proved to be a phenomenal experience of North Sikkim for me and I hope that the Indian army allows motorcycles to go there someday coz if they do, I would love to tour this part of nature on my motorcycle.

To see India through the eyes of a motorcyclist’s lens, visit the album below.

my solo all-india motorcycle journey

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Caught in a snow storm while returning from Gurudongmar Lake in North Sikkim, India

Of days gone by...this April during my solo all India motorcycle journey…

The weather was getting bad and we were just returning from the Gurudongmar Lake. We stopped at the army camp at Giagong as a couple of folks in our group were struggling with Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS). We took them to the army medic camp where the army doctors put them on oxygen and gave them shots to dilate their lungs and thereby help retain more oxygen. Even our jeep driver seemed to be struggling. Me and a couple others enjoyed a cup of hot coffee with the soldiers while the others were being treated. After spending half an hour here, we were told by the army officers to descend rapidly as the weather was bound to get worse. And all this when we still saw no signs of the other 2 jeeps.


We were worried and provided the details of our other 2 jeeps and their crew. It was only after a short while did we find out that one of the jeeps had lost their way in the desert and bad weather and entered dangerous border territory and were in the custody of the Indian army. It was only after much convincing and a message from the Giagong army camp were they allowed to leave and that to in the company of an army vehicle. By the time our other two jeep joined us, the weather had turned for the worse with heavy snowfall and heavy gusts of wind.



Slowly, but together, we made our descent to the army base camp at Thangu. The visibility was getting poorer and a thick sheet of snow was covering our windshields. And to make matters worse, the windshield wiper in my jeep stopped working. Our driver would stop every 5 minutes and clean the windshield with a piece of cloth to remove the thick crust of ice that had formed on top of the windshield. Shortly, all vehicles stopped. We wondered what the problem was and soon found out that an army truck in front of us had some problems. After completely covering myself, I got down to get specifics.


Only when I went close to the army truck, did I figure out that their diesel fuel tank had frozen. One soldier was trying to warm up the fuel tank by lighting a fire under it. The others were trying to clean the oil filter and other parts that were frozen. It seemed like a never ending wait. The army jawans kept on trying, but the vehicle didn’t fire at all. Meanwhile, one of our jeeps stopped running and we found out that its oil filter was also frozen. Seeing this, the others kept revving the engine in a bid to keep it nice and warm. Soon, the jeep with the frozen oil filter was fixed, but the army truck still blocked passage.


To kill time, most of us got down to admire the silken white beauty around us. The entire world that had been barren 3 hours back was now covered in heavy snow. The temperatures were plummeting by the minute. Suddenly, we were told to get inside out respective jeeps. One of the jeep drivers had an idea. He was going to try the daredevil stunt of avoiding the cliff and crossing by the side of the army truck. The first one went slowly and reached the other side successfully. The 2nd one tried crossing, but one of the wheels was in mid air and was facing the drop below. All the soldiers rushed to get the jeep back on the road and thankfully all were safe. The 3rd jeep made it safely. It was quite an adrenalin rush for all of us. It was a near death experience for the 2nd jeep members.


It was a slow and chilly drive to the army camp at Thangu. All the jeeps stayed close. We stopped at Thanggu for a quick tea break while the permits were shared with the army camp. It was late evening when we reached Lachen for lunch. The snowfall had given way to rainfall here as we had descended close to 7,000 feet. We packed our belongings, had lunch and headed off to Lachung situated on the eastern side of North Sikkim. During the drive to Lachung, the entire group kept silent partly because of exhaustion and partly due to the excess adrenalin rush a short while back.

To see India through the eyes of a motorcyclist’s lens, visit the album below.

my solo all-india motorcycle journey

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Gurudongmar Lake in North Sikkim, India – One of the highest lakes in the world!!

Of days gone by...this April during my solo all India motorcycle journey…

I had visited Tsomgo (Changu) lake the previous day and my motorcycle was still parked at Gangtok. The next item on my agenda was North Sikkim and I had gotten inner line permits for those too.

Three jeeps left together from Gangtok towards Lachen in North Sikkim. It was a large group comprising of a student group from Calcutta University studying geography, a couple of tourist families and then me and my hotelier friend who organized this entire tour. As we set off from Gangtok, we came across some of the worst landslide spots in the country. A 20 km section consists of 30 landslide zones and there are landslides every day. Locals actually have names for each landslide and consider B2 as the most dangerous one.


After slowly crossing this landslide zone, we went on with our journey. The entire route was extremely picturesque and green. A lot of waterfalls dotted the hills and we stopped at one of the famous places to admire the Seven Sisters Waterfalls. After a brief stop for lunch, we headed towards Chungthang. This is the main town in North Sikkim and is situated at the confluence of Lachen Chu and Lachung Chu and thereby gives birth to the Teesta river. It wasn’t easy reaching this place owing to landslides again. We got stuck in a couple of areas and to make matters worse, one of the jeeps in the group had a damaged rear tyre. It was close to 9 pm in the night when we reached Lachen with stiff knees, butts and necks. And to add misery, it was raining and very cold. This was the place where we would spend the night and acclimatize to the low oxygen levels before we proceeded to Gurudongmar Lake the next day. After a simple dinner, all of us tucked in into cold beds.

 
It was an early wake up call for us. We had to be back in Lachen for lunch coz the weather at Gurudongmar is known to deteriorate post noon. As we ascended from Lachen the terrain started getting bleaker and browner. We were leaving all greenery behind. And once we had our breakfast at Thangu and crossed the army camp at Giagong, the terrain turned into that of a desert. The area from Giagong to Gurudongmar and behind makes it one of the highest cold deserts in the world. It was a fun drive through the desert, but for a couple of weak spots where I had to get down and push the jeep which had gotten stuck in small rocks and slush. The others preferred to stay put in the warm confines of the jeep.


It was great when we finally reached Gurudongmar lake. A slight hint of snowfall made it even better. Gurudongmar Lake is one of the highest lakes in the world located at an altitude of 17,100 feet (5,148m). It lies on the north side of the Khangchengyao range in a high plateau contiguous to the Tibetan plateau. The stream emerging from the lake is one of the source streams of the Tista river. The entire view was fabulous. It is very difficult to imagine a lake of this size situated in the middle of the cold desert and I guess that is the beauty of nature’s bounty. It is said that the entire lake freezes in winter with the exception of one small portion which has been blessed by Guru Padmasambhava. And it is he who lends his name to the lake, which is scared for the Sikkimese, Hindus and Buddhists.

 
We were at the lake only for about 10 minutes when the wind started to pick up. Soon, it became a snow blizzard. All the others ran into their respective jeeps. I was chilled to the bone, but I wanted to go and shake hands with those brave Indian soldiers who patrol this area in spite of such hostile conditions, acute mountain sickness and in such a remote India-China border area away from family. These soldiers deserve a thorough round of praise and a salute at the very least!!

To see India through the eyes of a motorcyclist’s lens, visit the album below.

my solo all-india motorcycle journey

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