North Sikkim – Zero Point to Gangtok

After feasting our eyes on the breathtaking beauty at Gurudongmar Lake, we returned back to our homestay at Lachen for lunch and then set off on our journey to our next destination i.e, Lachung (9600 feet above MSL) for our night halt. The hotel rooms were quite cosy and warm at Lachung. So we had our dinner and hit our beds quite early in the night.Next day morning, the natural beauty all around our accommodation took our breath and literally our hearts skipped a beat. The Teesta river flowing down the hills with roaring noise and the waterfalls just at the backyard were simply some of the most gorgeous sceneries ever seen by us in whole of our trip till that moment. It didn't take much time to us to realise that the our hotel was located just on the foothills of a mountain peak.

Yumthang Valley is best visited during spring when the valley is dotted with colourful flowers, further beautified by green meadows and grazing animals. But the time when we were there, there was hardly any blooming flowers in the valley. However, we managed to come across small herds of Yaks now and then, as we travelled further higher towards the Zero Point at Yumesamdong.En route we had hired snow boots, gloves and jackets etc., for that extra protection needed for plains dwellers.

As we moved towards the Zero Point at Yumesamdong (15,300 feet above MSL), the weather began becoming chilled. Finally when we reached the Zero Point, which is always covered with snow all round the year perennially, it was rather difficult to prevent ourselves to venture into those snowfields and play with the snow balls as long as possible.The mighty peaks covered with snow and the chilled water streams flowing down the mountains commanded breathtaking and unparallel views.Time came after 2 hours of our personal photoshoots and playing around in snow, to move on for the return journey to Gangtok.

We left for Gangtok after returning from Zero Point and having a sumptuous lunch at the Hotel at Lachung. It was almost 10 pm in the night when we reached our hotel at Gangtok.The next day i.e, 24th May, we had an elaborate American breakfast and set off local sightseeing in Gangtok. The first destination in the town was the Govt. of Sikkim's Handicraft & Handloom Museum, followed by the Flower Show at Congeal Palden Thondup Namgyal Memorial Park, the Ganeshtok -a view point just outskirts of Gangtok from where one can have a bird's eye view of the entire town and especially in case of couples, it is worthy of trying out photoshoot in traditional Sikkimese costume. We had our lunch at Ganeshtok and left for the next destination nearby Gangtok..

Our next spot was the largest monastery in Gangtok - the Rumtek Monastery. I feel the Google and Wikipedia can give detailed information about this monastery as far as their history,tradition, culture and the lineage of Buddhism followed here is concerned, rather that me trying to describe it.If you enjoy art and architecture, the monastery has to offer several beautiful and intricate Buddhist paintings to appreciate and forever cherish in memories.By evening, we were back in Gangtok and after some shopping in the local Lal Bazaar we had our dinner there itself. Thus came to end our one of the most memorable trips so far...