SIKKIM - DAY TEN : INTO THE WILDERNESS

Rocky Waterfalls

       Excited about my sojourn into the wilderness of the North, I slept well and woke up only by 8 a.m. I finished writing about the previous day, certain that the new one would prove to be much more exciting. Once freshened up, I checked out of the hotel and went downstairs. As I left the building, a delicious waft carried to me in the breeze. My salivary glands aroused, I followed the aroma to a little fast food stall on the stairs down to the travel agency. Ordering a chicken roll, I hoped it would last me till lunch. My tummy satisfied, I walked down the remaining steps to the travel agency. My co-passengers had arrived. Within half an hour, we were all ushered to the taxi, a Mahindra Maxx. 

Looking over the Edge

     The driver was a cheerful fellow named Buddha. We were ten passengers in addition to the driver and had to squeeze into the cab. I was glad I got a window seat in the middle row as I was already feeling a trifle queasy, either because of something I ate the previous day or the roll that morning. We had to wait for twenty minutes for everybody to arrive and once they were seated, we departed. 

Cliff Edge Road

        It took us about half an hour and a couple of minor traffic jams to leave the suburbs of Gangtok behind. We travelled along low altitude flat roads for the first couple of hours and just as the heat was beginning to be felt, began the climb into the mountains. We stopped at a couple of waterfalls along the way, one of them the Seven Sisters waterfall, a series of seven levels of falls before it cascaded into the gorge below. 

Destination Snow-Peak

        As we climbed higher and higher into the mighty Himalayas, the frequency of waterfalls increased and so did the beauty of the landscape around us. A string of tourist cars snaked up the mountain road. A surprising, yet comforting fact was that the roads were well maintained, despite the ruggedness and inaccessibility of the region.

Freezing Glacial Streams

       At 1:30 p.m. we reached a little village that served as the lunch point for most of the tourist vehicles headed up to Lachen. Lunch coupons were given to us and we ate to our heart's content. The queasiness however still persisted and I continued to sit near the window. As we climbed further up into the mountains, the receding afternoon gave way to an evening chill which not only necessitated us taking out our jackets but surprisingly, with the cold, the discomfort that had plagued me since the commencement of our journey slowly disappeared. 

Colourful Place of Stay

       As we wound our way up towards the snow capped peaks in the progressing evening, the views became more and more spectacular. The sheer size of the mountains around us was a daunting vision that struck awe into anyone who did not live there and was used to seeing it. By 5 p.m. we arrived at Lachen. It was a tiny village with only one street. Snow capped mountains loomed over it on three sides. I left my luggage in the room allotted to me and after having a hot cup of tea, set out for a walk around town. The temperature was less than 10 degrees Celsius and the light breeze that had set in seemed to exaggerate the chill. 

Friendly Sisters

    I met Buddha and together we located the local pub and had a beer. This warmed us up a bit and we got talking to a few friendly locals also drinking there. They told us about Nachu Valley, three hours trek from Lachen and showed me a picture. It seemed absolutely heavenly and along with Khechuperi village, took my top spot for the most beautiful place I had encountered in Sikkim so far. The pub was run by two friendly sisters and we said goodbye to everyone before returning to the guesthouse for dinner.

Steaming Dinner to warm our Souls

      A simple yet tasty dinner had been prepared for us - rice, dal, chicken and cabbage. The cold had fed the flames of our appetites and we all ended up eating more than we usually would have. Tummies full, we retired to the room. I told Buddha that he was welcome to join me as I was staying alone and he would otherwise have had to sleep in the jeep in the cold. I had a hot bath and jumped under the warm blankets. As I wasn't feeling very sleepy, courtesy having rested well on the journey here, I wrote for an hour, then lay down hoping to get a few hours' rest, as we had to depart at 3:30 a.m the next morning, supposedly to minimize the effects of hypoxia at our destination at 17,000 feet AMSL.