A herd of baby Yaks jump-running on the slopes of the barren landscape of North Sikkim’s Cold Desert is one of the most beautiful sights I can recall having seen in my life. I came upon this spectacle thanks to my September 2022 visit to Sikkim, less than a week before my 25th birthday.
I with my 3 mates deboard the Steel express at Kolkata and a few hours later, catch the Darjeeling express to carry us to New Jalpaiguri, whereafter, it is us and the road in a Taxi till Gangtok.
It is a 4 to 5 hour drive till Gangtok, and there are two routes, one passing through Darjeeling, and the other, from near Kalimpong. For us, it is the Kalimpong one, because of a damaged other route.
The undamaged route isn’t undamaged either by any decent standards. A better word is ‘functional’ or ‘passable’ or ‘not broken’. There are rocky ways and bumpy, unrepaired roads for a long way, causing a lot of jerk during the journey, and as soon as we pass the West Bengal- Sikkim border and enter the Kingdom of Sikkim, the roads become miraculously smooth, and well looked after.
On the route we stop a couple times for breaks and try some progression based reels to be serialized by further shots, though the effort does not come to fruition by the end of the trip.
_______Gangtok_______
We reach Gangtok by mid-afternoon, and haggle for a cab to reach our hotel with the luggage. The auto union in Sikkim is very strong and omnipresent. It is tough to find a reasonably priced cab except for particular, common routes for the townsfolk, where sharing cabs run, and If you happen to have luggage along, then may the lord protect you.
We drop our luggage at the AirBNB, a 3 bedroom villa with a Kitchen and living space called Shumbuk Homes, and move out for a ride on the Ropeway trolley, 1.4 km away on the Deorali bazaar. On this occasion we find shared cabs with reasonable price for the distance.
On account of the fog and evening, much of the view is shrouded in white, but we are able to get some views and see the expanse of hills. The days that follow are booked with a single cab provider and since we’re a group of 5-6, it helps us. We spend a nice evening at a restro-bar and the music gives the perfect vibe to the evening. A little tipsy, conversation soon starts to flow freely and we slip into the carefree vacation mood.
On the way back, it rains, and two of us stay back to go to the market for some procurements for later in the evening. The evening plan after dinner is a small party at the AirBNB with music and all that is required. This was a really good time and will remain to be a very pleasant memory for years to come.
_______Nathu La pass_______
The next day, our plan is to start early in the morning for eastern Sikkim, to a post called Nathu-la pass, in an SUV. The Nathu la pass is a mountain pass at the border of India and China (Tibet), and lies on the old silk route, at an elevation of 4300 metres. We are out of our hotel by 8.
On the breakfast break, we stop by a local hillside shop and have tea and Maggi, and stock ourselves with chips and soft drinks.
It starts to drizzle on the way, and even without it, we can see the valley in its lush green and pristine beauty. There isn’t one bit of litter anywhere. Our driver instructs us to keep the garbage only in the bag provided behind the driver’s seat. Simple examples of initiatives driven by the governance and supported by locals.
By late morning, we stop at another small settlement with shops for winter items and travellers. We give our orders for lunch, to eat it on our way back. Having enjoyed the tea and snacks, we photograph the valley behind, and leave after buying a few accessories.
The distance is close to 60 km and it takes us well above four hours inclusive of the two breaks before we get to the place. The road is curvy all along but very well maintained and very wide for a mountain road. All credit to Border Roads Organisation.
We climb the stairway and start to feel slightly dizzy as the oxygen level has dropped at the altitude. We are mesmerized by the surrounding hills and the valley. There are some snacks and fast food counters operated by the Indian Army and are doing great business on account of the cold. It must be about 10-15 degree Celsius even at peak afternoon.
Having gorged on the unnatural combination of momos, samosa, dhokla and jalebi, we reach on the esplanade prepared for sighting the border and the valley. On the other side of the fence lies China, and I sneakily put one feet on the other side, in order to claim having stepped into China.
The area around has high gable roofed houses being used by the army. The architecture is reminiscent of Switzerland, and the surroundings no less.
We leave and by 2 PM are at the shrine of Baba Harbhajan Singh, who was a soldier in the Indian army, and died in a tragic accident around 1968. His spirit is believed to still guard the area and is revered in the status of a saint. The Indian armed forces associates high importance to the shrine and many ceremonies and an yearly ritual is dedicated to him.
Near the shrine is a Shiva temple with a stream leading to it. We take the hike and sit by the stream enjoying the unreal view.
The nest stop is at a lake called Tsongmo lake, a glacial lake considered holy by the locals. They believe that the lake’s guardian deity resides in the waters, and hence boating is prohibited.
The clang of the lakeside temple bell sends vibrations around and possibly, snubs a few intervening thoughts in our minds. The far end of the lake isn’t visible on account of the fog, it’s almost like a description of heaven.
There are Yaks at the bank of the lake to ride and click pictures with, we try it for fun, and get a few pictures on the furry animals. The beasts are pretty calm for their size and appearance, and very warm. I hug one.
At some point in this duration, a phone slips out the pocket of one among us, and not noticed, and this later becomes the cause of much anxiety and a return back to the place.
We have our lunch late at the shop, a meal of dal and rice. The return has been delayed, and on our way back, the fog blocks all visibility. We think the road very dangerous, and the driver thinks so too. However, his driving is unperturbed, a result of expertise and familiarity with the situation at hand.
_______And then there were Six_______
It’s dark by the time we near Gangtok and we stop at a place for a good navy blue sky picture over the hills. In time we reach, and spirits undampened, stop by at Gangtok Mall road. It isn’t raining today and we don’t want to miss the mall road promenade. We find other groups of friends, also visiting Gangtok from our institute, and chitchat a bit. A friend is handed over to us by another group for our next day’s plan. The friend wanted to have the best of both groups, and we welcome her into the fold.
Occupants of an underground restaurant called ‘rabbit hole’ look at us as if we’ve walked into someone’s private bedroom as we descend the stairs, and we move back.
I try getting my hair dyed, but the terminology and description get me apprehensive and I desist.
Somewhere, we dine and later, move back to our hotel. Not to forget, I save a playful dog from getting bullied and bit by another, in Gangtok market.
The next day, our plan is to start early in the morning for Northern Sikkim, to a region called Lachen. The region is deeper into the hills and is a 110 km serpentine route away from Gangtok. The road, perfect at some stretches, is also unpaved dirt road at several stretches, wide at times and barely passable at others, as we were to find later, but I’d be taking a leap into time saying that.
The cold has set in and the floors are cold. One of us prepares a french omelette (Sanya Special) or something of a similar name, an attempt to salvage a ruined omelette, most probably. We have a lot of fun preparing and eating the meal, and are soon downstairs. It’s really cold, and soon I, with another weather-beaten sea-legs-acquired hilltown billy, occupy the back seat, trading off stability and legspace for seat space and solitude on account of the motion-sickness inducing curvaceous roads leading to the destination.
This day, we travel due north, into a host of waterfalls, and vast landscapes overgrown with hill after hill and a profusion of mountains. We drive on a hill side, when we look askance, out the window are staring hills, when we look back, we see hills in their grandeur to our aft, and to our fore, loom the mighty hills again.
_______Lachen_______
The waterfalls come one by one, thankfully each bigger than the one before, else we’d have grown weary and immune. At some notable ones, like the Naga falls, we stop by and click pictures, realize the might of the waterfall, feel the cold, straighten our feet, have fun and move on ahead. Then we start skipping the less consequential ones, and stop at a bridge which was reported to us as being the 2nd highest in Asia.
Somewhere between these, we reach the periphery of the region of North Sikkim, and stop for lunch. The lunch is an abundance of starters, and no main course to speak of. We huddle on a corner table near a window, and eat and talk while shuddering slightly. Momos, kinds of momos and soup with other snacks, chocolates and drinks are gobbled down and when our tummies are full, we leave. Before starting, the driver instructs us to leave all plastic material as it is no plastic zone ahead.
Then, more of the waterfalls.
Our last major stop before the destination comes at a little shop where we stop for a little tea and snacks, and are greeted by hungry dogs, and a cat too. White ‘Darchog’ flags are strung on vertical poles on the ground, and believed to, with the aid of the wind, spread the mantras and positivity to the environs. A cow and a calf grazes nearby, surveyed by a playful dog in search of a playmate.
Having fed ourselves and the animals, we leave for the lodging destination. At last, we stop at a settlement area and lodge into a hotel prebooked by the cab-tour provider. Two rooms are provided for three people, a bed for each person. It is amply cold by the time we reach, and gloves and jackets are already out.
Dinner is served on a table on the basement floor which serves as a kitchen, and consists of simple rice, daal, chapatis and vegetables and curries with condiments. The dining room has long tables and is decorated with tibetan figures and tapestries. Soon after, two among us go out for a brief walk, and somehow one manages to lose her wallet on the way, the same phone-loser previously alluded to.
An umbrella-armed search party (since it is drizzling outside) is sent out which I am a part of, and despite our phone flashlights, we manage to find nothing on the way. However another search party of the hotel staff find it soon, and relieve us yet again. We then proceed on a walk where I scare my young and scaredy companions.
Following some more playful sneak attacks, we sleep, and wake up early next day to a beautiful and misty view of the hills from the shared balcony. Having had breakfast and tea, we enjoy the view some more and then leave in our vehicle for the main destination of the day and of the trip, a pristinely blue alpine lake in the high altitude dry and cold desert region of Sikkim, called the Gurudongmar lake, having associations with Guru Rinpoche, the disseminator of Tantric Buddhism in Tibet.
_______Gurudongmar Lake and the journey back_______
On the way we take a breakfast stop at a small wooden shack with a few calves tethered outside. The Lachen river flows past the backside of the shack. We are too fascinated by everything, and click pictures and videos on the misty riverside, and have hot maggi noodles, pakoras and tea at the shop.
Soon we leave and enter the army area through which the road goes. The region, on account of its proximity to the Chinese border, is guarded by the army. The road is good as far as the lush hills stand guard, but upon reaching the cold desert region, it’s a bumpy ride ahead.
We pass through an arid desert with beautiful, brown and smooth mounds of hills on the near and some snow-capped mountains at the far. This is where I see the jump-running baby yaks alluded to at the beginning of the text, a truly heavenly sight. We click pictures, and we move on, and stop at the Gurudongmar lake, the holy lake.
The snack packets we took with us have puffed up and are at the point of bursting, due to the pressure differential caused by the rarefied air on the outside. We take in the grandeur of the scenery and descend downwards a row of steps.
There are Tibetan prayer flags everywhere, and nothing can be more beautiful. We reach the lake, and wash our hands in it, partaking of some holy water. There are cairns on the rocks inside and nearby the lake. The sun shimmers on the perfect azure waters of the lake, which, in winters freezer to ice. At the centre of the lake, the colour of the lake appears to be glowing in a phosphorescent manner.
On the side of the lake stands the Khangchengyao mountain at 6900+ m of altitude. The elevation of the lake itself being 5400+ m, making it one of highest lakes in India and the world, the highest navigable road open to public in India.
Back on the dirt road, it is like coming out of a reverie as we make our way back to Gangtok. The entire day ahead is spent in travel. We watch past the windows of the car as we stoically drive past all the waterfalls, shops and bridges that had been a treasure trove on our onward journey.
Even though we do not take stops, the going back isn’t boring by any means. We listen to horror stories on speaker on our way back and wince at one unsatisfying story after another; while clouds take hold of the valley on our right.
It is dinner time by the time we reach Gangtok again, and head to our hotel called Little Gangtok. After some souvenir shopping, we enjoy some beer, get a little food packed and head back.
A bus delivers us back to Siliguri, from where we board an auto to Jalpaiguri and finally our overnight train to Kolkata, and that is how our short and sweet sojourn ends.
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