Day 06 - 17000 ft.

Day six we woke up in the hotel and Laching and drew the curtains and OH MY GOD! The view was breathtaking! Snow capped mountains and the early morning sunlight glinting off it making it look golden! And it was still 4.00 am. The sunrise is early in the east in Sikkim. Its so far up north too. Its the top of a mountain. Looking north!

And then we left.. To go see the snow and the place where the road goes into the mountains and stops. This is called Zero Point. At an altitude of 17,000 Feet above sea level. On the way we stopped at a place called Yama-sam-dong (did I get that right?) This is the place where there are a lot of wooden huts during the tourist season and serves as a base of trekking expeditions. We hired boots, had breakfast of stramed bread with butter and jam and moved on. It was still 7 in the morning and bitterly cold. But already the place was teeming with cars and people on their way to zero point.

 

This was the place where we saw the himalayan mountain yak. And we passed through a advanced army base camp. We were not allowed to photograph as we passed through the army camp but here are the pics of the yak and zero point where we played in the snow and had tea. the small stream had ice cold water and i didnt dip my hand in. so i took pictures. My father and brother put their hand in and were unable to move their fingers for 20 minutes..

The road was steep winding and desolate

This is where the road ends and you have to turn back - Zero Point. 17,000 Ft

And then we started back. We came back to Lachung, packed our bags and made our way back to Gangtok. the journey was again for the whole day and tiring. My brother tried to drive the Scorpio for some time and he almost went off the road! The driver was fast and rash as usual and were thankful he brought us back to Gangtok safely!

But These two days in North Sikkim were the best we had yet. We were sad that we didnt get permission to visit Changu Lake and Nathu-La, but this was fun too.. Tomorrow we will visit teagardens and markets, have visitors and visit a few temples. Then we will see camp in a farmhouse out-building and finally make our way back to West Bengal to catch the flight home three days later...

Day 05 - North Sikkim

Northern Sikkim is closer to China. And when we started that day, we had a Mahinda Scorpio with a young driver. And by god, he was fast and rash. I got a feeling I was in the Army and was on a army jeep on my way into China. It was a wonderful day and we headed north.

As we left the city, we stared to go into smaller roads that led higher up into the mauntains. The river Teesta is a river that flows into sikkim from china. We followed the river up the valley and saw landslides and boulders and small camps and army trucks. We passed through an army base and at one point left the normal road and took a road that is maintained by the army. It is built by the BRO - Border Roads Organisation.

The roads are so tough and used so much by the army that thay have to be maintained round the clock. And if there is a landslide they have to move in and clear it and repair it. We saw bulldozers, tractors, lorries and roadrollers that were there all the time, keeping the roads open and the army trucks moving all the time.

We got stuck in a landslide and had to wait two hours for the bulldozer to come and clear the boulders from the road. but we had some amazing sights and the views all round the valley was breathtaking. Here are some pictures..

The last two pictures are of the most amazing refuelling stop I have ever seen in my life! you see a cottage, stop. honk. out comes a man with a jerrycan of diesel for the vehicle. he has a funnel and a old piece of dirty cloth. he filters the diesel using the cloth and the funnel and fills your tank. pay him for the can of diesel and move on. Fun!

We finally reached a place called Lachung at about 7 in the evening. and just as we reached the hotel we saw the snow on the mountains in front of us. But we were tired and we had dinner in the room and went to bed early. It was a full day drive and a tiring one.

Day 04 - Around Gangtok

Gangtok is on a hill and is spread over two adjacent peaks. And there is lots to see, and we saw the following places. We later realized that we missed out on some of the more well known tourist places and saw the lesser places. I am not complaining. We didnt plan to be typical tourists and enjoyed the offbeat places.

First was the bhakthang falls just outside Gangtok where the river Ranipool falls into the gorge. here are two pictures. one of the water and the other of the gorge!





This is where my brother tried on some exotic local lepcha clothes.. He looks funny eh?



Then we went around seeing some temples and a monastery. a comparatively new one. It was a challenge for me because it is far below the road level and the only access is down a steep footpath. I made it down and up again in one piece..



Then we went to Tashi View Point. A high point in Gangtok from where you can get a 360 degree view of the hills..



Then it was afternoon. We had lunch and climbed on the ropeway between the two peaks of Gangtok..



Here is an amazing thing! You can see that clouds also throw shadows! Notice the sunlight is dappled on the hillside. The dark patches are actually the shadows of the clouds on the mountainside..





Last but not the least we went and saw the Do-Drul Chorten Monastery, and then headed back to dinner and bed.. It was a long day.. Tomorrow we will visit North Sikkim..

Day 03 - Gangtok

The next day started with a good omen. As soon as we got up, had a bath and went out to the dining room for breakfast, we saw Mount. Kanchenjunga. There it was in all its glory, right in front of the dining room door.. After clicking photos and eating breakfast, we left for Gangtok, the main destination of our trip.



Mount Kanchenjunga from The Swiss Hotel

See my picasa web album to find out where mount Kanchenjunga is..

The road goes down into the Teesta valley and crosses it into sikkim. Darjeeling is in West Bengal, There is some talk about a separate state called Gorkkhaland. And Sikkim and Gangtok are on the other bank of Teests. And the road only crosses into Sikkim at the bottom of the valley. And Gangtok is again on the hill. So you go all the way down and cross the river and climb all the way back up into Gangtok.



Tea Gardens on the way down from Darjeeling



The winding road down.

Then we reached Gangtok in the evening and were welcomed in the traditional way with silk khatas as a token of welcome and goodwill. The Hotel Delamere is a unique boutique hotel and we felt welcome and immediately relaxed. The drive from Darjeeling was a long and strenuous one with a mad driver. Then er went up to M G Marg for dinner, came back and to bed. Tomorrow we would see more of Gangtok and Sikkim. Two very interesting things about Gangtok.

1. No taxis from outside Gangtok are allowed in the city. We reached the outskirts of Gangtok and had to get out of the Tata Sumo. Then we got into a local Maruti Omni Taxi and reached the Hotel Delamere. That is to make sure that people in Gangtok get the best of the tourist traffic. otherwise People can hire a taxi somewhere outside and roam about Sikkim without sparing a pie for the people of Gangtok!

2. Traffic is banned in M G Marg. It is a walk only zone. What a pleasure to see such a place. I wish we had roads and places like that in Bangalore. Where you can walk without fear of being run over by some lunatic on a kinetic.. (The Walkway beside M G Road in Bangalore is gone to make way for the Metro.)

More coming up after the break, stay tuned to EOTM

Day 02 - Darjeeling

The night was cold and weary from travel, but the day dawned at 4.30 and we didnt feel it was early! We got a shock when we saw the clock and realised it was so early. Darjeeling is in the eastern part of India and so the sun rises earler. and to add to that it is a hill station and it is summer now. so sunlight is longer and comes earlier than usual!

We got up, got ready and left after breakfast. That was in the wooden floored dining room in the hotel which has a beautiful old fireplace. sadly it is no longer used. By the way the hotel had wooden flooring in all the rooms and the false ceiling is also of wood. the real ceiling on top is of shingles.

First was the Japanese Peace Pagoda and the meditation center.. A calm old place with a wooden staircase and paintings of bamboo in brush and ink, hanging on the walls in the upper rooms. Surprisingly there are no grills in the windows. If you lean out far enough, you can fall to your death. It was quite scary for my mom, who has a fear of heights (acrophobia)


The Japanese Inscription


Brush and Ink sketches in the typical Japanese style.


The entrance to the meditation center, with a picture and statue of the founder.


The pagoda itself.

Next we moved on to the waterfalls. down into the valley amidst the tea gardens and rocks, and had three cups of the most beautiful tea I have ever had in my life! Then we came back up again and we bought the same tea for friends and family, some three kilograms of it for about a thousand rupees. divided by five people paying, it didnt cost much..

My brother as usual got carried away and tried to so some stunts standing in the flowing water from the waterfalls and promptly fell into it. Came out dripping wet in ice cold water and downed some three cups of tea at the roadside shop.

Then we roamed around the Indira Gandhi zoo, which didnt have much, tried to see the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute which was closed and came back to the hotel. Then we went out walking into the market street in the late evening. My grandmother had locked her bag and lost the key. We broke the lock and went looking for a new one. We found that and also some warm woolen knitted caps, and a wonderful knife that is carried traditionally by the gorkhas.. It is called a kukri..


The way to the waterfalls where my brother fell into the water trying some stunts, standing in the ice cold water.



My brother dripping wet from head to toe and the driver of the jeep drinking tea


The mist-cloud shrouded tea gardens from the hut where they were selling the tea, which we got.

Then back to the hotel, dinner and bed.. We had to leave early next morning to Gangtok in Sikkim!

Day 01 - Travel

The original plan was that we would go to Jayanagar 4th Block Bus Stand and catch the Vayu Vajra BIAS 5 or BIAS 12, at 6 am on 21 May 2011. But true to Indian Standard Time Schedule, we reached the place at 6:40. And my dad was anxious that we will be late to catch the flight. So we caught a taxi on the road and made it to the airport in less than an hour.

We checked in before 8 for a 9.15 flight and loitered around the departure terminal eating breakfast (which my mother had made and packed the previous night) and watched other people loitering. At 9.10 my mother decided she needed a coffee before takeoff and we had to wait for 15 minutes for her to finish the coffee. And we ended up making the aircraft wait and we were the last people on board! What an roller-coaster!

That is how we started the holiday and it was a bad omen for things to come..

Good morning Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your captain, from the flight deck. We have just taken off from Bangalore International Airport (Thanks, we did'nt know) and are flying in a north-north-westward direction, at an altitude of 37000 feet, at 850 kmph. The outside temperature is -47 Decrees Celsius! Enjoy your flight.. (ya right!)

And my father started telling me that the destination was Hyderabad. I thought we were flying to NSCBIA,(Netaji Subash Chandra Bose International Airport) Kolkota! Its like the Sardarji Joke.. What technology! One plane, two destinations! Then after landing he tells me.. He thought there was a stopover in Hyderabad. But thank god no, we reached Kolkota in exactly 3 hours (12:30). The landing was rough and the plane bounced twice before rolling down the runway and taxing to the domestic terminal..

Time Time Time

Window with a wingtip

NSCBIA Gate 3A

Room Kanchenjunga, The Swiss Hotel, Darjeeling

Some idiot of a travel agent had booked us on a separate plane from Kolkota to Bagdogra. NOT a connecting flight. So we had to check out, collect our baggage in Kolkota and walk all the way around and check in at the departure gate again for the flight to Bagdogra! What a colossal waste of time!

Then we took off from Kolkota late (14:30). We were loitering in Gate 3A for nearly an hour for the flight! The gate was not even open, the aircraft was not even in the airport! Then we reached Bagdogra at 15:30, and started to look for the taxi which was supposed to be waiting to take us to Darjeeling.

We found it at 16:00 and started the drive, having momos in a small wayside tea stall at 17:00 (5 pm) finally lunch! And after a five hour drive up the mountain we reached the Swiss Hotel in Gorkhaland (Darjeeling) at 9 pm and to our chagrin discovered that there was no dinner and had to wait one hour for them to cook it. It was cold and we were tired. my mother who is diabetic started to go hypoglycemic. we scrambled for a glass of milk, gulped down some hard rotis and went to sleep in a icebox of a hotel room..

Thus ended the first day of our travel.. we had arrived battered and bruised in Darjeeling at the height of the tourist season! what rotten luck!

Introduction to Sikkim Trip

It had been a long time since we took a holiday.. And so we just started thinking of places to visit at the end of April. Both me and my brother had holidays and Mr. Anil (My dad) discovered his Leave Travel Concession was due.. Kazhiranga National Park is closed. No. Ranthambore was very hot. No. Madhurai and Kanyakumari are hot. No. Ooty and Kodaikanal are summer resorts, too many people! No.

So where? Sikkim! Thanks to Ms. Ira Pradhan! It was all planned and arranged in a matter of days. We knew nothing of the place and had no idea what to see and do. But thanks to a friend of Ira's, Mr. Bhanu Pratap, it was all arranged for us beautifully and conveniently. Sadly we didnt get to meet Bhanu, as he was very busy and we were roaming. But thanks to Mr. Vikram and Mr. Ajay, who met us and guided us, we had a lot less to worry about and were able to enjoy the places better.

So here goes a big thank you to..

Ira Pradhan,
Bhanu Pratap,
Mr Vikram Thapa,
Mr Ajay,
And everybody else who made this an unforgettable holiday!

The whole thing was ten days and I am going to write about each day in a separate post. Photos in my Picasa Album here. 10 days in 100 pictures.