30th May, 3:30am, @ Lachen, a knock on the door
by my driver to remind us that we were getting late to see Gurudonmarg Lake: “I usually sleep at that time in Mumbai”, that
was a wakeup call not just for the day, but also to realize that we were now in
Sikkim!
The idea was to combine business with pleasure and Sikkim
was the first choice due to its rising popularity amongst our customers. What
better way than to experience the place first hand, this thought brought us on
a 10 day road trip starting from 29th May covering Kalimpong,
Pelling, Lachen, Lachung, Gangtok & Darjelling. What followed was an
experience that could not be captured in photographs or mere superlatives,
hence this blog.
To appreciate Sikkim, one needs to first understand its
geography: “I kept saying I’m in Sikkim while sightseeing in Kalimpong!!. I
will never make that mistake again”. Sikkim is divided into four districts,
East, North, West and South. You practically jump from one mountain to the
other while travelling from one district to the other. Sikkim is bounded by
Tibet on the north, Nepal on the west, Bhutan on the east, and West Bengal in
the south. The state has a mix of Nepalese, lepchas (mostly settled in North
Sikkim) Sikkimese, Bhutanese and Tibetans all having their own specific
dialect, traditions and mannerisms. They also have their own hats as displayed
by one of the hotels were we stopped for lunch. If you eat what the locals ate, then you would
be relishing on Maggi, Thukpa, Wai Wai Noodles, Momos and many more mouth
watering preparations.
Call it the effect of the mountains and monasteries, or
preaching of the lamas, almost all locals (read drivers in our case) exhibited
lots of love and care within and outside its community and this was more than
evident in many stories that we heard on the way and the simple things they did
like 1) following road rules and giving way to fellow drivers going uphill 2)
stopping and asking if help was required to any stalled vehicle 3) Providing
whatever food that was available at hand, biscuits, water, mint for drivers
that were stranded 4) Protecting environment by instructing us not to throw
water bottles 5) Giving a quick tap on the horn which was there way of saying
“thank you” whenever they were allowed to pass by the oncoming vehicles 5) showing
stamina and patience while driving on one of the most excruciating roads I have
ever seen in India.
Sikkim is also unique
in its own way, while the locals respect law and order and maintain decorum,
they do not follow nationwide strikes or bandh as they feel such things affect
progress and their well being. This uniqueness was displayed when Sikkim did
not follow the 31st May’ 2012 nationwide strike against petrol
prices, life went on as usual while we were transferred from Pelling to
Gangtok, a state oblivious to negative fall outs of a nationwide crisis.
While Kalimpong: “Which is in West Bengal and not Sikkim”
gave us river rafting in River Testha which is the lifeline of Sikkim flowing
for almost the entire length of the state , Pelling in East Sikkim gave us
breathtaking views of Mt Kangchenjunga.
 |
| Mt Kangchenjunga. View from my room in Pelling |
Moving towards North of Sikkim brought
us to a junction called Chungthan from where we could either go to Lachen or
Lachung. In lepcha dialect “la” means mountain “chen” means big and “chung”
means small. This clearly suggested that “Lachen” was on a higher mountain
compared to lachung and so it was. It
took us a good 6 hrs from Gangtok to Lachen which covered only 120 Kms. All of
Sikkim is a hilly terrain but what makes it more agonizing is the road.
Handling the dizziness of the heights was one thing, negotiating bumpy roads
and back breaking drives made the entire stretch of 120 Kms extremely
exhausting. “Please wake up BRO (Border Roads Organization, the company that
makes roads in this part of the country) and smell the beans, you need to start
making roads and not pathways that crumble like a cookie.
 |
| Roads constructed by BRO (Border Roads Organization) |
30th May, 3:30am, @ Lachen, a knock on the door
by my driver to remind us that we were getting late to see Gurudonmarg
Lake: 60 Kms in 4 hrs, but it was all
worth it when we finally reached the lake. At a dizzy height of 17000 ft, and
barely 7-8 Kms from the Tibet border, this lake is open only for 2-3 months in
a year and we were one of the lucky few to witness one of the most breathtaking
views of snow capped mountains and its reflection in the calm waters of
Gurudonmarg lake.
 |
| Gurudonmarg Lake 17700 ft |
The younger brother of Lachen was no less; Lachung was much
more spread out and had spectacular views to offer. We travelled to Yumthang
valley of flowers as well as Zero point which were spectacular. Yumthang valley
has huge open spaces naturally created by surrounding mountains and you can
walk parallel to the Lachung River. Zero
Point is practically where the road ends and you can walk across the many
streams and play in snow. The weather can get very chilly and sub zero even
before you say snow.
 |
| Zero Point at Lachung |
While Gangtok came and went with monasteries and stupa, Darjeeling was one place which gave me mixed feelings. Darjeeling is
almost at the border of Bengal and Sikkim and is a place which has not been
able to accommodate the growing tourism. Half day sightseeing takes away your
full day because the other half gets eaten by the never ending serpentine vehicles.
The Mall and Chowrasta (hub of Darjeeling tourist and shops) were good to see
and the climate was one which could make traffic forgettable. Tiger Hill, which
is famous for its sun rise can be dropped in the monsoon months because of the
cloudy weather conditions. Apart from the fact that you take almost 5hrs travel
(covering only 30 Kms both ways because of traffic) for a 10 min spectacular
which is nonexistent most of the times.
The best way to make use of this place is to check in for 3 nights, do
selected sightseeing on one day and spend rest of the time soaking in the
climate, enjoying the mountain views and walking to the mall and chowrasta for
a hot cuppa.
Experiences help translate dreams into reality and that’s
what we hope to achieve as this tour gave us a lot of local knowledge of the
state as well as what to suggest to our customers. Based on which we have
revised our Sikkim & West Bengal travel itinerary. Call me on +91 800 777
4124 or mail me on info@samsantravels.com for any information you require for
this region including best time to travel, minimum days to be spent, what to
carry, do’s and don’ts of travel.
Happy Holidays!!
