A 9 to 5 job is an unavoidable junction in our lives - somewhere we need to spend some time for the essential bread and butter. But what makes life perfect is a look-out for some excitement and adventure. While planning for Sikkim with friends, we kept the outline simple, didn't read much about the itinerary and decided to keep it a surprise. I had equally crazy travel junkies, aka my husband and friends, with me to make the trip awesome.
It was a postlude of my Solo trip to Bhutan and I met my friends at the Bagdogra airport. We headed straight to Gangtok in a cab to kick-start the Sikkim journey.
We reached Gangtok at around 4:30 pm and it was surprisingly dark. There, we got the first shock to realize that Sikkim's sun sets precisely when we usually finish our late-lunch at work :D With a slight disappointment, we dropped our bags in our hotel and rushed towards M.G. Road.
Another surprise was awaiting for us when most of the shops were closed at 7:30 pm! M.G. Road was beautiful, and many of you would agree! But, what really struck me was 'girls walking on the street, with zero fear' even after a dark! Something which is a tough task in other Indian states. This experience raised my respect for Sikkim to a great extent.
A pro tip: The Sikkim girls' fashion sense is top notch and makes you question your choice of wardrobe :P So, plan your attire carefully!
The next day after a hefty breakfast, we headed towards Nathula Pass - a symbol of pride for every Indian. Our cab driver gave us a hard time, saying we may not get a chance to visit the iconic place. But, as always luck worked for us and we reached Nathula with no such hassle. The high altitude showed tit-bits of it's presence, but it didn't affect us much. The Indo-China border sure had a certain charm and our heart was full of pride when we got a chance to speak with the soldiers there. The whole day went in a complete bliss!
Next day early morning was all about ropes, gears, helmet and our efforts to accommodate our backpacks on the bikes! The handsome beasts, aka Himalayan bikes, were waiting for us to shift our journey from four wheels to two wheels for the next four days and let me share a word of advice. Exploring the north Sikkim? You must experience it on bikes, trust me! The next four days were what my dreams are made of!
Lachen
A quaint small town, with a fresh and raw essence of the rural Sikkim. It's around 6 hours bike journey from Gangtok. As we entered the town in the evening, the cold turned from pleasant to an unbearable one :D We preferred a home-stay here to unwind the experience with natives. We decided to take a stroll around the town which was a just single road connecting all the houses together. The shy, untouched rural flavor, quiet surrounding and a freezing cold changed this walk into a newfound way of meditation. The night went with us inside a bunch of blankets fighting the deadly cold.
The most awaited day finally arrived! It was time to visit the famous Tsomgo lake and Gurudongmar lake! We left early morning at 4:30 am to start our journey on bike. The road was pretty tough to ride the bike on, but the ride was gorgeous to the core. The deadly U-turns, beautiful valley and ice cladded mountains added a scenic touch to it.
The road towards Gurudongmar was one hectic road and tested the biking skills and it look us the entire morning to reach to our destination. But as we reached there, we had a big shout out! That blue shaded beauty was right in front of us!
The efforts were just worth it. Here's a glimpse #Nofilter
Very few times, we feel awestruck and Gurudongmar was definitely the one topping my list! Time seemed to have stopped for us and with an extreme reluctance, we started our journey back to Lachung.
Lachung:
Another small, beautiful city in Sikkim. Our itinerary was to move towards Zero Point to have some snow fun and visit the famous Yumthang valley.
We started off early, to cover both the places in peace. On our way towards zero point, we took a halt at a small restaurant and tried the famous thupka.
The very first impression of Zero point was okay, with many tourists hovering around and chattering aloud. Yes, being an Indian, it was understood to be surrounded by people. So, we decided to take a big halt and waited till the crowd dispersed a little. Our hopeful wish worked a miracle and post 11:30 am, the crowd reduced to a great extend and we got the whole patch of snow for ourselves. Boy, did we have a fun of lifetime there! This was my first experience of snow and I enjoyed every-bit of it, right from the snow-man, to the snow-fight!
Here's a picturesque landscape at the zero point! #nofilter
After a heartfelt snow fun, we headed towards Yumthang Valley, a beautiful flower valley with a surprisingly chilly wind!
The Yumthang Valley resides right next to the river, Covered with a greenery on rolling meadows surrounded by the Himalayan mountains. We also encountered the famous Himalayan yaks there and posing next to them was a mandate :P
Lachung welcomed us back with these three cuties waving hands on the go, and we couldn't resist to click their picture.
The rest of the day was out in open and there was still some time till it turns dark. We were in no mood to go back to the home stay, esp. with bikes in hand. So, we decided to visit the Lachung Dzong. Not a famous one among all the Dzongs, however, after a hectic bike ride, we found a much-needed solace here :) It was a perfect end of the perfect day.
The next day early morning, we decided to head back for Gangtok. The smooth road on our return journey made us revisit the adventurous bike ride, filled with bike skid, some epic bike falls on dangerous U-turns, umpteen re-arrangements of luggage to stop them falling off the bike, the list was unending. What's the life without an adventure, anyway?
Back in Gangtok
The return journey was smooth, and we visited the regular Gangtok itinerary. To be honest, it wasn't much after witnessing the four magical days on bike, So, I'm just listing the spots visited from the itinerary.
Buddha statue: Pretty statue, good to take a look
Namgyal Institute of Tibetology - a beautiful place sharing the brutal history of Tibetan refugees, must visit if you have interest in the history
Baba Harbhajan Singh temple: It's an interesting story with a flavor of patriotism.
Cable Car rope way: Interesting, good to try for a view of beautiful Gangtok city. But, it doesn't go up much.
Hanuman Tok: Not so great, visit only if you have some free time
Mangan (Necessary stop for a fuel refill in our bikes :D)
Seven sister's waterfall, and that was all!
The last day at Sikkim came with a mixed feeling - an excitement to visit the next state, West Bengal (Darjeeling) and a feeling of leaving this gorgeous state behind.
Sikkim, you beauty, many places will come and go......but you will always hold a special spot my heart :)
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