I was back to Himalayas again after a break of 2005. This time with my wife only. And two of my friend had joined after a couple of day. I had planned the Trip in Three Parts.

1)   Tsongo ( Changu ) Lake, Baba Mandir, Nathu La

2)   North Sikim Trip

3)   Gangtok Side Seen.

Accordingly Me & My wife boarded the NJP bound Darjeeling Mail at night. As I have traveled a lot in that particular train a lot it was a kind of natural thing to me. But my wife was really exited about that. As usual the train was late to reach NJP an hour late next morning.

Day 1

We two reserved four seats at the back of a Tata Sumo just to have some comfort Mimi was really exited to have the beautiful surroundings as our car started to climb up the mountains. We had a short stop of 30 minutes or so at Molley Bazar for some food. Weather was getting cooler as we were gaining height. It was almost 2.00 PM when we reached Gangatok. Our hotels was finalized and it was Mazong Residency. It was at the Heart of Gangtok. We had our lunch and a nice sleep. During afternoon, our hotel manager came with a person who collected our photos and other relevant documents for our next day trip to Nathula. We enjoyed the evening at the Market before returning to our Hotel for the dinner.

Day 2

We woke up early and as I removed the certain of our window the sight of Kanchenjunga came to us. 

View from Hotel

We took some snaps of the worlds third tallest peak and soon became ready for the Trip.

The car came in time and we took our respective seats. But it was a horrible wait for another group who took almost One Hour to arrive. Finally it started. The landscape around was pretty well and the road is much steeper than what we encountered yesterday. It took almost two & half hour to reach a small check post just few kilometers before Tsongo Lake.  Within 30 minutes we passed the lake and headed towards Nathu La. Just two kilometers before we had to wait for nearly one hour to obtain the final permit and for the descend of the car above as the road was one way that time. Finally we reached the destination. It was all fog around and light drizzle was the continuous order of the day. We need to climb another one kilometer on foot before we reached the true border of India & China.  


The place, to me is not scenic but full of a different atmosphere…..Patriotism…..How our soldiers are working day in and day out…..to save our country……to provide security to us. Chinese soldiers standing on the opposite side of the barrier looking at us……..and the Indian Try colour showing its glory inside our territory……..enough to make you proud of your country

At Nathula Pass

Cloudy Nathu La

We spend nearly an hour or so. Weather became completely foggy and we descended to our next spot…..Baba Mandir.

Brief History of Baba Mandir………

Baba Mandir is a tribute to our Army soldier, Harbhajan Sing.

After that we descended to the beautiful Holy lake, Tsongo which is commonly known as Changu lake. It remains frozen almost all the time during January to March but being October, it is dark green now. As we were having our lunch at a roadside shop the sun came out which created a beautiful rainbow over the hills. We enjoyed a yak ride along the lake and finally started our journey towards Gangtok.

Tsongo Lake from Top

At Tsongo Lake

The first day of the trip is a real good experience. My the time we were completing our dinner my friends arrived at the hotel. Next day is going to be long journey to North Sikim.

Trip to North Sikim

1^st Day ( Gangtok to Lacung)

We were told to be ready by 8.00 AM and we were perfectly maintained the time. The manager of the travel agent arrived at 8.30 and took us to his travel office. Then there was a delay of long two & half hours………..The permit of the noth sikim is issued last, after the permit of Tsongo Lake then Nathu La and then….

Finally the car came with other co-traveler. All set, we started at exactly 11.00 AM in my watch. The road was patchy at times. Soon we cossed Tashi View Point( Kind of Lovers’ Spot ) and after an hour we crossed a long bridge to enter into North Sikim leaving the East Sikim behind us. North Sikim is known as the land of water falls & high mountains. As we proceeded  we reached our first view point…….Seven Sisters Falls. The long and glorious waterfall was coming in Seven Steps which gives us that name. We took some snaps before proceeding further to Mangan. Mangan is little village of North Sikim with 2 or 3 shops where we had our lunch.  

Seven Sisters falls

On our way we crossed another small village Phedong. That place is famous for viewing Kanchenjunga from a different angle altogether.

The continuous ups and down road took us to another beautiful but dangerous waterfall. The turbulent flow of the water was crossing the road diagonally which became really tricky to even the car to cross during heavy rain. Thank God, it is channeled through a underpass during 2008 for safety reason. We crossed that falls over its tremendous flow. It was around 5.15 PM when we reached Chungthang.

Chungthang is the District Head Quarter of North Sikim. It is the place where to river Lachung Chu and Lachen Chu meets to form the River Tista. From Chungthang to roads lead to different village. One along Lachung Chu to take you to Lachung & the second one along Lachen Chu towards another small village Lachen.

We took the first one. Lachung is around 21 KM from Chungthang and took almost 1 hour to reach there. We relaxed at Hotel Orchid and had some delicious Hot dinner.

Day 2

We woke up at around 5.00 AM and soon got prepared for the journey. As adviced by our guide we took some dry food, heavy woolen garments and the journey began with natural twilight just made the surroundings visible. The weather was mighty cold outside. After nearly a couple of hour we reached the valley of Yumthang. We took a break for 15 to 20 minutes and took some photo. Soon we again boarded the car towards our final destination Zero Point.

Zero Point is not the end point of road. It is the highest point of that stretch after which the road descended again towards Gangtok in a different way. Lachung Chu river is originated from here which is one of the two tributaries of river Tista.

Zero Point

As we were gaining height with every sharp bend, the atmosphere was becoming much cold to withstand and snow came visible around the nearby mountains. After another one and half hour of drive we reached the huge valley of Zero point. The valley was fully covered with overnight snow and the surrounding mountains were also white with snow. As we were enjoying the snow some light snowfall began to transform the world really chilled. It was gradually becoming difficult to withstand and we took shelter inside the car. Then it was the time to descend towards Yumthang valley once again.

It was a long break at yumthang as we took some food there before finally start our journey to Lachung. We did the packing again………..had our lunch…….and then……started for Lachen. To reach Lachen you need to go to Chungthang again and from there we need to catch the Lachen bound road. It took around a couple of hour to reach the small village of North Sikim. Lachen is slightly higher than Lachung. The river Lachen chu is flowing some 100 feet below. We enjoyed some outing around the village before we had our dinner.

Day 3

We woke up very early….to be exact…before 4.00 AM and within half an hour prepared well for the most significant day of the tour.  

When we started, it was all dark outside. The weather was really cold oustside. Our driver was managing the sharp bend of the road which was really steep. After each & every turn we were gaining almost 50 feet height.

It took more almost Three Hours to reach Thangu. In between we stopped for some occasional snaps. After Thangu, the landscape changed so suddenly that it was hard to belive. It was just a sharp turn and we discovered a completely different world. Brown and gray mountains prevailing everywhere with not a single patch of green. Their body was smooth and they were all crowned with fresh & white snow. No definite trail…..miles of almost flat land…..and blue sky….and chill wind….we were at the heart of Mighty Himalaya. And suddenly one of our friend started to feel breathlessness….Yes we were at an altitude of over 16,000feet. We had to report at a army check post where my ill friend were treated at a make sift army hospital with Oxygen. 

It was another 1 hour beautiful journey which took us to the heaven. To see is to believe. How I would describe? I do not know. Turkish blue lake, surrounded by grand snow clad mountains and complete silence all around. It was difficult to walk quickly as we were at 17,200 feet. But who would stop us? We enjoyed every bit…..but it was a different kind of enjoyment. Some supernatural feelings engulfed everybody….no one spoke….no one laughed….Only feel the almighty.

Eventually we returned…..with a heart….with a mind…that had all type of feelings.

It was a really eventful 7 hours journey from lachen to Gangtok. We started late as one of our co-traveler was suffering from food poison.

Soon it became darker outside and rain started to come accompanied by dense fog. The visibility was reduced to mere one foot only. Even the fog light of our car appeared helpless. It was the courtesy to the great skills of our driver that we survived the eventuality and were driven safely to our Hotel.

Next day, it was the local sight seeing around gangtok city.

It was a great trip altogether. Clear sky, snow, rain, great mountains, beautiful lake…..what else one can expect?

We returned home with a promise to come back soon.

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