The next day started off well. S was active all through the day and we enjoyed the scenic journey from Gangtok to Lachen a lot. Even though the journey was 7 hours, the distance is just 120 odd kilometers. But it’s the ascent that matters and in a day we gain around 7000 feet above sea-level as the small sleepy village Lachen stands at 9800 feet. Typically Lachen acts as a base point to the GuruDongmar Lake for the tourists and hence has all kinds of accommodation for the overnight stay.
Whilst our journey, we enjoyed the valley views and stopped by in between at a nice little road where for the first time I saw everything that I used to imagine and put in my elementary school drawings. There was this beautiful road, with the river flowing on one side, small shanty kind of huts, mountains, a bridge, small waterfalls and the weather was so pleasant and the air so fresh. It already felt good. There were innumerable waterfalls on our way from Gangtok to Lachen and after counting 41, we both let it be and just soaked in the beautiful countryside.
Way of the life in Sikkim:
River Teestha:
A scenic Village:
There are two organizations which you will frequently bump into when in Sikkim. The first one is “BRO” (Border Roads Organization) and the second one is “ITBP”(Indo-Tibet Border Police Force). BRO has done and is doing a commendable job in laying roads in such high and rough terrain, barren lands and snow capped mountains. All through our road trips in Sikkim, I was thinking of the efforts they have put in to make life easy for us tourists and army people. And ITBP is everywhere. Right from Siliguri to the top, up until the China border they have camps. And I felt indebtable to both these organizations that preserve what is rightfully beautiful eastern part of our country unlike what they have done up north.
BRO:
Once we reached the resort, we were treated with a cherry whisky and some hot tea. S liked the hot tea a lot. In fact all through our holiday, S was enjoying her share of tea, as it is quite famous there and hot tea helps a lot in coping up with the weather and altitude shifts. The resort was just okay but the room heater wasn’t there and there was no electricity to have warm water for us as it was freezing 3 degrees cold outside.
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