June 01. 2011
As I had mentioned yesterday, we were told that it is not possible / allowed to take our private vehicles to places like Gurudongmar, Zero Point etc. and that we have to go through an authorized travel agent who arranges for the permits, the transportation, food as also the accommodation at Lachen, from where one goes to Gurudongmar Lake and Lachung from where one goes to Zero Point and Yumthang Valley.
Yesterday we had identified a travel agent, Ad-venture, from whom we had taken a two night three days package. Today we reached his office at about 10:30 hrs and proceeded along with his representative to a taxi stand from where taxies for Lachen & Lachung, Nathula etc. leave. There was utter confusion at the taxi stand. It took us a long time to identify the taxi in which we were supposed to travel. Finally after about an hour or so we boarded our tourist vehicle, a Mahindra Maxx, and left the taxi stand at about 12:30 hrs. Our driver was a young boy twenty years of age. He was completely inexperienced. I had this horrible feeling that the vehicle papers were not in order and that this young boy did not have his driver’s license, but I decided not to probe more in to it since it was his and the travel agent’s problem.
I don’t want to say anything about the ‘roads’, if you want to call them that, but can’t help saying that calling them HORRIBLE would be an understatement! In fact I would want to say that practically there is no road at all……it is track of stones, boulders, land slide debris, mud and slush. So from that angle our drive was terrible. This drive was spoiling the immense satisfaction and pleasure of the beauty of the lush green mountains, the huge waterfalls, the valleys and the clouds.
We reached seven sister’s waterfalls at about 14:30 hrs. It is called so because it falls in seven steps out of which we can see only two from the road level. We had something to eat here and took some photographs before restarting our journey to Lachen.
We reached Chumthang which is a junction from where one road takes you to Lachen and one to Lachung. We took the road to Lachen and reached there at about 21:30 hrs.
It was quite cold. We were to stay in a hotel at which our accommodation was booked by the travel agent. Our rooms were quite small and the facilities very basic. We had our food and went to bed since tomorrow we have to wake up at 03:30 hrs.
Bye and see you here again tomorrow.
June 02, 2011
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June 03, 2011
We woke up at 03:30 hrs and left for Gurudongmar Lake which is at a distance of about 58 kms from Lachen at about 05:00 hrs.
The morning was cold and as we started gaining height it started getting colder still. HORRIBLE road now goes without saying. The atmospheric oxygen was depleting and we were able to feel it. The problem was getting aggravated because of the exhaust of the vehicles which were spewing black smoke on account of incomplete combustion of fuel.
We stopped at a small hamlet at an altitude of 14000 feet for our breakfast – omelet and noodles followed by some tea.
We reached Gurudongmar Lake which is at an altitude of about 17150 feet above MSL, highest altitude sweet water lake, at about 11:00 hrs. This lake provides a stream as source of river Teesta, the main source being a lake called Cho lhamu some distance away from Gurudongmar Lake. This lake is named after Buddist Tantrik monk Padmasmbhava who is said to have stayed here.
The lack of oxygen is quite palpable here. One cannot stay here for more than 20 / 25 minutes. We took some pictures, absorbed as much beauty of the place as we could in that short time and started back.
We came back to Lachen to the same hotel where we had stayed for the night, had our lunch and immediately left for Lachung. We reached Lachung at about 17:30 hrs. The hotel we were booked in was hopeless. The room was very small and unclean. Phadke Ajoba and Raju slept for a couple of hours on arrival. I was feeling very uncomfortable. It had started raining by evening and I proposed that if it were to be cloudy / rainy the next morning then we will not go to Zero Point and Yumthang valley but go back to Gangtok instead.
We had some dinner and off to bed looking forward to staying in a comfortable hotel in Gangtok.
It was rainy the next morning that is May 03 and we decided to go back to Gangtok.
The journey back to Gangtok was uneventful.
On arrival at Gangtok we went to Hotel Central took our car and checked in to Hotel Chumbi Residency where we had already made our booking.
This was like heaven for us on the background of the Hotels we had lived in for the past couple of days and the horrible bone breaking journey. A warm bath was very soothing. We gave our clothes for washing and generally relaxed in the evening.
We had some proper dinner tonight. Tomorrow we will be going for a day excursion to Nathula, Changi lake & Baba harbhajan singh mandir.
Bye and see you.
June 04, 2011
Today Phadke Ajoba decided not to come for the excursion but do some administrative work like getting the cash changed to Rs. 100 notes from Rs. 1000 & Rs. 500 since these denominations are not allowed in Nepal which will be our next destination.
Raju, Raka and I took a local taxi to the tourist taxi stand and left for Nathula, the Tibet (China-India) border. Again our taxi’s papers were not in order but the driver somehow ‘managed’ though his license was confiscated by the police at the check post.
We reached Nathula which is at an altitude of 14200 ft above MSL. This is a border post. There is a barbed wire on one side of which is India and on the other Tibet (China). The distance between the Indian Post and the Chinese post, which are two well constructed buildings, is say about 10 / 15 meters. I was very very upset to see Indian tourists shaking hands with the Chinese soldiers on the other side of the barbed wire fence which is the border. The actual pass is on one side of this post and there is a gate at the border.
We spent some time there, took some photos and left.
The Changu Lake is just on the way. We took some photographs, Raka had lunch, Raju sat on a Yak and took his photographs and then we proceeded to the Baba Harbhajansingh Mandir.
Harbhajan singh was a soldier who got washed away in a flood here in 1968. It is said that he appeared in the dream of his colleagues and said that his Samadhi be built and as a mark of respect this ‘temple’ of Baba Harbhajansingh was built. There was a big queue for darshan so we decided to proceed to Gantok.
Reached hotel at about 18:00 hrs, had dinner and now off to bed.
Cheers, and see you here again tomorrow.
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