|
|||||||
|
|
|
|||||
|
|
|||||||
Our Route Map
Day 1- Gangtok
Day 2- Gangtok- Mangan-
Chungthan- Lachen- Thangu
Day3- Thangu- Army
checkpost- The desolate plateau- Gurudongmar-
Thangu- Chungthang- Lachung
Day 4- Lachung- Yumthang Valley- Lachung
Day 5- Lachung- Khatau-
Lachung- Managn- Gangtok
Day 6- Gangtok- Tsomgo- Nathula- Gangtok
Day7 – Gangtok- NJP-
Day 8- Calcutta- Chennai
The names in bold are of places the original map doesn’t show so I
have drawn them by hand in Red & black thanks to MS Paint J
3/5
Rammer reaches the
airport late as usual. The flight from Chennai to
I managed to get a
window seat for a change, and we sneaked out our Cams and Handycam, to sneak
brilliant pix of the Chennai coastline and the azure glow of the setting sun
over the bay-of-Bengal.
The
Chennai Coastline The setting Sun
Unlike the
I had a bitter
coming-of-terms with the callousness of the great Indian middle class while
hanging on the footboard of the AC coach (with the door locked from inside
:-( )...I shouted out for help to
an old man sitting near
the gate (while the train was slowly gathering speed all the while) who (horror
of horrors) cast a glance at me and turned his face away as if I am what a Jew
would mean to a Nazi.....Fortunately for me, Rammer had dashed into the same
coach and he came running to my rescue and opened the door.....I Gave the oldie
a sound lashing terming him a Rakshas ;-)
By The way the net-on-go
thanks to Rammer's Reliance phone is turning out to be an ultra cool thing.....
Time to crash and be in
NJP when I wake up.
3/6
Seems the Chennai weather has taken its
toll on me as even a March morning on the North Indian plains is making me
shiver, so much that I am even finding it difficult to type......
Can't wait to reach NJP and head for
the hills! there’s something about the Himalayas....Once hooked, u can't stay
away for too long....which is what perhaps explains this mad (almost) on the
verge of cancellation trip from 2500 kms down South...... More later....
Not too eventful a day, hoping that
tomorrow turns out to be different!
Reached NJP early in the
morning (by our standards)…got a cool
driver with a cool bargain rate of 900.00 from NJP to Gangtok….(admittedly,
didn't bargain as well as the bongs)
10 kms from NJP and we hit the foothills,
bringing with it a flood of memories of previous trips to the
The route, for the most of it
tracked the path the Teesta (mighty!?) akes
across the valley…
Stuck on a railway crossing….a
couple on another Sumo decides to make the best use of this time by BRUSHING
THEIR TEETH :-O….we utilized it to the hilt by putting sutts and
Coke…… Sitting on the front set at the co-passenger's seat, I couldn't help
but appreciate the fun of being
chauffeured all the way….
Hit Kalimpong
on the way and couldn't help thinking about the old family associations with
the place……
The route (for a change from the Shivaliks) cut across mountain chains instead of trudging and
circumnavigating across the same chain….. Finally hit the
across the horizon.….
Reached Gangtok
at 12:30.…Hit MG road (surprising?) and found a decent
bar where we replenished our lost energy supplies with a generous (??) dosage
of Beer and Irish Coffee.
On the way back we decide to hit the
local Taxi stand and ended up striking a
bargain with a taxiwalah (Karma Bhutia)
for a 3 day trip to Lachung/Yumthang and Gurudongmar lake @5K We had enough dissuaders in the form
of a policewallah and other taxi drivers telling us
how Gurudongmar @18k :-O feet would be freezing and
inaccessible……
Thanks to Rammer's Fatigue pants and
our backpacks, most people ended up mistaking us for faujis including our prospective cabbie…..;-)
Back to the pub, Rammer hits another
Irish coffee while me & bajji scout around for a
good bargain for a sleeping pad and find a decent one for 300/-
Stuuf transferred to the room, we hit MG
road for a round of awesome pastries, ok coffee and awesome dinner and drinks
at Glenfrays (was that the name???)
Rounding off today with a couple of Bacardis and a smattering of ghost
stories + Pjs ………
Time to crash as the cabbie comes to
pick us up at
Hoping tomorrow turns out to be a
lot more exciting than today……………..what with the promising premise (apologies Again !) of Yumthang valley at 14K feet and Gurudingmar
at 18000 feet :-O
3/7
Morning dawns
and surprisingly, I am the first one to get up and pull out the rest of the
travelers from bed.
I &
Bajji decide to check out the Tourism office for obtaining ILPs
and pay a visit to the local cab stand once again. The tourism office folks
give us a bad scare telling us that it takes 24 hrs from the filing of an application
to get an ILP issued. Saddened at the thought of spending another wasted day in
Gangtok, me & Bajji walk
to the cab stand to figure out other possibilities. Here we hit pay-dirt when
we meet this hazaar enthu
chap called Ranjit who works as a tour operator/guide
in Gangtok.
10 minutes
of bargaining and promises of Chai- sutta on the way, we hit a deal for 6K for a TATA Sumo
for 4days and 3 nights (including fuel)
20 minutes
later, Ranjit is done with the paperwork with the ILPs ready J so much for the 24 hour processing
period.
12’o clock,
we are out of Gangtok, cross Tashi
view point and hit a point where a Truck is clearing out the debris from a
recent landslide
Timepass At the landslide
area
Not a very
auspicious start but the total delay caused was barely 10 minutes. We hit the
road again pausing for a small chai sutta nashta break at a
touristy spot called seven sister falls.
Break at the seven sister’s fall Our Cabbie’s House
Couple of
hours later, we stop in front of a small house down the valley that turns out
to be our cabbie’s home. Picture
postcard perfect with a cute baby & a couple of cats and a few dogs in tow.
And to round it off, the cab stereo was crooning “Our house” (the
A hearty
lunch of Dal-chawal later, chai-sutts, and a change of
drivers we leave for Chungthang. Turns
out that our cabbie’s sister had never been to
Gurudongmar so she too was to go with us. So far it seems that no-one
has ever been to Gurudongmar.
So with Pema, a young chirpy 18ish guy at the driver’s seat an Ranjit + the lady in the front
seat, we left for Chungthang.
The road
went gradually uphill from here. Pema’s Cassette collection, and the ubiquitous BRO danger boards took excellent
care of our entertainment needs.
Small
digression here for the BRO. Border Roads organization is a government body
entrusted with the task of building and maintaining the hill terrain roads in
North and North- East India. Not just have they done an excellent job of their
primary task at hand, but have also dotted their roads with absolute gems of
in-your-face signboards (Sampling: “Be gentle on my curves ;-)”, “Horn bajao, sabko bachao”,
“ No horry (sic!), no worry”, “Skill x Will x Drill =
Kill”)
Hit the
first sight of the silver peaks of the Greater Himalayas just before Chungthang.
The first of the peaks Pema’s friend
Rammer seems pretty happy at his
first glance though Balaji has much higher
expectations. More on this later.
Chungthang (7000 feet above MSL) turned out to
be a typical picturesque Himalayan hamlet surrounded by sky high peaks from all
sides. Chungthang is the confluence of the Lachen Cho and Lachung Cho (Cho
means river in Tibetan) that form the Teesta at this point. The road from Chungthang
to Lachen follows the path of the Lachen
Cho. Chai sutts at Chungthang done, we
leave for Lachen. It had started getting dark by then
and the nip in the air kept getting nippier (apologies!) as we went further
uphill.
We hit Lachen
by dusk. Lachen (9500 feet) turned out be a one of
the prettiest places I have ever been to. Lachen is
set on a grand ridge between two real mighty chains. The view of the valley
below and the misty peaks above had an absolutely bewitching effect on the
senses.
Ranjit and Pema
got the paperwork with the army officials done in a jiffy while we waited in
the Sumo. Though all of us were tired, Rammer and Bajji (more so) had a drained
look on their face. This was probably due to the combined effect of the
weariness, cold weather and the high altitude, but I mistook this solely for
tiredness. Thus instead of asking Pema and Ranjit to stop, I asked them to get on ahead on the road to
Thangu. Foolish of me in retrospect, but I was more than excited at the
prospect of staying for the night in one of the highest villages of the world.
For the first few kms, we went downhill from here to the valley below
(probably at ~7000 feet) and meandered across the valley floor till we hit the
upward climb.
Darkness had fallen, the road had
deteriorated to a rubble track and the incline was unrelenting. We kept
gathering altitude, and I could see now see the headlights reflected off old
snow stuck on the crevices of the cliff opposite us.
The weather had decidedly turned
cold, but I did not wish to shut the window to miss out on a single vista. Now
we hit a cloud and the visual percept gets almost ethereal with the play of the
headlights against the mist, snow and the moon above us.
Poked Bala and Rammer to give them their first sight of snow
(albeit dirty) lying on the road sides. I was hoping to reach Thangu soon enough before the
water on the road froze into the dreaded black ice (Pala in Hindi.) More later.
10:30 at night, A glass of cherry
brandy in my hands and sub-zero temperatures outside under one of the most
brilliant clear skies I have been under (perhaps with the exception of Narkanda, but that’s another story)…sounds like perhaps the
perfect recipe for penning this down but for the fact that my hands seem to be
incapable of typing right now. We are spending the night in a tiny hamlet
called Thangu at an altitude of 12900 feet above MSL!!
The last mile to Thangu was covered
in seeming impenetrable mist (which later turned out to be another cloud,
albeit denser than the earlier ones) which suddenly gave way to clear thoug absolutely frigid surroundings (weird, but it was
indeed slightly warmer inside the cloud)
We stopped in Thangu in front of a
small house the board in front of which said Dragon Lodge. The door was opened
by a cherubic young lady who had a bottle of beer (warm, we later
discovered!!!) in her hands.
We were
escorted in our room which turned out be a lot better than what we were
expecting. Though there was no power, but the wooden cots, floor, roof and the
gas heater seemed more than welcoming.
After a
hearty dinner of Momos in the family kitchen
downstairs (warmed by a three way gas heater!!), we returned back to our room.
The cherubic young lay warned us not to leave the lamp and the heater on for
the night given the extremely low oxygen content in the air.
Me being myself, decided to go for a walk in the snow outside and
realized to my dismay that we were not carrying any torches.
I coaxed Bala and Rammer to come along and went downstairs to knock
on the main door of what also doubled up as a small convenience store. Asked
the fella if we could buy a torch, got a negative
reply. Got another brainwave and asked the fella if
we could buy batteries, to which we got a Yes. After buying the batteries, I
ask the fella if we could borrow his torch and put
our batteries in J
Thus
managing to get a torch, we walked out into the freezing cold wrapped in just a
Thin sweater + shawl. The place looked completely dark
and desolate but for the glow of the stars and the moon above. The silver
moonlight reflecting off the snow covered peaks was a sight to behold. Pity I
couldn’t get a photograph. (Though we took a lot of snaps of the sunrise off
the same mountains in the morning)
The peaks around
Thangu
3/8
The night in Thangu turned out to be
somewhat uncomfortable given the sub-zero temperatures and the low oxygen
levels in the air…Woke up in the morning to discover my brain cells crying out
for Oxygen with a mild but throbbing headache …SO I woke up and decided to take
a walk outside…The fresh air outside did a lot of good to my head..
Returned to the room to discover
that the night was infinitely more uncomfortable for Rammer & Bajji…..Poor
Bajji had a severe headache and was feeling all pukish…Seems it wasn't too good
an idea to take first timers to the Himalayas to such altitudes to spend the night….Both
the guys seems to be suffering from a mild attack of the dreaded AMS (acute
Mountain Sickness).
Left for Gurudongmar after a couple
of Bread slices and 1 boiled egg…Bajji (especially) and Rammer almost refused
to eat at all…..
The way to Gurudongmar seemed almost
surreal with the road going between two high ranges but we still didn't know
what was in store for us later…..
The road seemed to be following the
path of a mountain stream (??) which
wasn't really a stream what with the water stopped dead in its tracks by the
-ve temperatures.
The Road To
Gurudongmar Plateau
Our cabbie and guide advised us to
be careful with the Cams due to the fact that this was an extremely sensitive
area with photography completely prohibited by the army.
Our driver told us that the army has
planted mines on the sides of the roads to prevent infiltration. At first I
though that this was all hearsay till I noticed a board that proudly (??)
proclaimed, "Danger, Mines on the sides!" :-O
The road kept leading us through
almost straight without the customary hairpins one associates with mountain
roads…..We were definitely much above the treeline a the only visible
vegetation was some scrawny scrubs covered with snow……Pema turned out to be an
extremely skilful driver which I realized when we hit a patch of black ice and
the tires refused to provide any traction….Putting the vehicle in 1st gear, and
slipping the clutch, he managed to guide the vehicle through this (and other patches to follow)…
The road continued with absolutely
breathtaking views of the high ranges as we moved onwards….. An hour later, we
hit the last military checkpoint on our way….The
incharge let us through duly
informing us that the road was just recently cleared and we are the first folks
he was letting through to Gurudongmar this year…..
Nothing had prepared for the sight
that was to greet us now….A little beyond and above the checkpost, the road
took a curve and put us on an absolutely desolate barren windswept lunar
Plateau with some high mountains looming in the distance……
First View Of The
Plateau
Our vehicle had started complaining
about the lack of air by now, and the engine died out a little later…Turned out
that the Diesel had started freezing (Diesel has a crystallization point of
-25C) and the fuel injection system had started taking in air.
A small diversion here to take a
look at Bajji and Rammer….Bajji looked completely distraught even in his sleep
(He was fast asleep on the backseat)
On the plateau Now
Some frantic pumping on the FI
system, the Sumo got going again….A little later, we stopped somewhere in the
middle of nowhere to drop our friends guiding us through to Gurudongmar,,,
Coming to think about it, noone seems to have ever been to Gurudongmar,,,,Neither
has our guide, nor our driver been there,,,,,,,,,
Nevertheless, I decided to get down
utilizing this moment for some picture ops….wonder if it was a good decision or
a bad one….. The winds on this barren plateau probably had a wind-chill factor of
-30 C or low…. These killer winds bought back my headache too. The pictures
turned out to be absolutely wonderful though.
The Gurudongmar Plateau
The landscape around here looked
like a queer mix of
Just a couple of hundred meters from
Gurudongmar, the jeep died out again. Another photo op. This time around it
seemed that the weather and atmospheric conditions had finally gotten the
better of our trusted Sumo. Though I could have walked from here to the lake, I
cannot say the same about my other companions, especially Bajji and Rammer who
were still sleeping on the backseat.
The jeep gets going and I hop back
in. Few minutes later, we reach the lake.
Jumping out of the sumo, I rushed to the lake, and what a sight it was.
The frozen lake with the backdrop of the twin Gurudongmar peaks in the backdrop
was breathtaking to say the least. Trust me; the pictures don’t do any justice
to it.
Surprisingly, the section of the
lake supposed to have been blessed by Guru Padmasambhava was still liquid. I
was more than delighted to discover a pair of rare Brahmini ducks swimming on
the waters. Unfortunately, in my hurry to see the lake, I had left the camera
back in the Sumo. I dashed back to the vehicle to pick the cam and the
handycam. Too late I realized, the elusive birds had flown off (Flying
ducks!!!)
However, I was able to catch a video
of the birds flying away thanks to the 24X optical zoom on the trusted
Panasonic.
At 17100 feet above MSL, almost on
top of the world with no-one (except for our companions of course!) around for
miles. The very thought gave me the goose pimples.
The
Several slips & slides on the lake
and some literally breathless walks in & around the lake, we get going back
for Thangu.