The alarm buzzed at 7 am & I was wondering Oh god not again. But then it hit me, wait a sec I was in Sikkim & I didn’t have to be in front of a computer keying in random engine serial numbers. Not today – today was meant for excitement. After a su
mptuous breakfast at 9.30 am we were aboard our Scorpio with Ramesh (who was all looking bashing for the day) & started our day’s travel. The flavor for the day was the Tsomgo Lake which was the highlight of Gangtok. Another thing which has to be mentioned over here is the fact that Tsomgo happens to be one of those areas where required the Inner Line Permit to make a foray into. Luckily for us, Baichung had this covered & we were through the army check post after showing our documents. The Army is seen through this area, since ahead of Tsomgo happens to be the Nathula Pass which forms the border to India & China.
Initially Nathula was also a part of our plan, but due to the ongoing China-Tibet conflict, we decided not to take the chance to get stuck in an ACCIDENTAL crossfire. Anyway once we started our ascent after the check post, we ran through an amazing scenic route. The roads were cut on the mountain sides & even though they were a little bumpy in patches, all praise should be given to the Border Road Organization (BRO) who was responsible for these roads.
At a village called Kyongnosale, we halted to click some snaps along a beautiful waterfall. Since it was a tiny tourist spot, there were plenty of tea stalls (we were on a high octane tea diet these days). But another point that has to be highlighted over here is how the people over here have been quite sensible enough in trying to make their tourist spots clean to the core. Everywhere you halt you can see a dustbin at your disposal. But again it is left to the common bloke to follow up by dumping his/her trash in this.
Once our Scorpio pulled into the make shift parking lot in Tsomgo, we all
were left gaping at the scene that was there in front of us. Ok so we have seen snow before & lakes too & they have been beautiful too, but yet this one did make us still go OOOOOOHHHH. At 12,400 ft above sea level, & frozen partially Tsomgo Lake was worth every single bump we 
drove over the way. Surrounded with shops on a side & so many yak ride hawkers, the lake & the snow mountain behind it could beckon anyone with ease. So we made Panda climb a yak (we got some gear like a boot & jacket for Panda & gloves for all of us from one of Ramesh’s contact’s shop) & started off to the snow mountain. Along the way we saw many folks slip on the snow & as far as I was concerned once again I misjudged the cold & was left clattering my teeth at times.
After playing in the snow, getting our butts chilled & even making a
makeshift snowman, we decided it was time that we get back to some good old mud before ending up frost bitten & numb. Once we returned to Shop 15, we returned the gears & feasted ourselves on some delicious mommus. After stuffing ourselves to the hilt we decided to get 
back to our abode on Gangtok. So at 2.15 pm we started our descent & with the exception of a light doze of dizziness for Panda, we made it back within an hour.
After taking some nice rest, we decided
to do some city touring in the evening & around 7.30 pm we got off to MG Market. This market is supposed to be the most happening market in Gangtok & I figured out more than that after our foray into one or two shops here. The stuff here is like shit expensive & some of the brands they have at display I haven’t seen then even in Hyderabad. But that apart my opinion still remains the same, if you want to do shopping, Gangtok is not the place for that. After doing all the window shopping (Panda managed to walk through a market for the first time without purchasing anything & all credit was to the great Vineet) we decided to have a final tummy refill & got into one of the 
restaurants on the same market road. On the way we bumped into Baichung & confirmed our next day’s plans too.
After dinner we walked back to the lodge (the walk sure got our food all digested) & decided to hit bed by like 8.30 pm (though we did at only 10 pm). To sum it up, the day was an absolute cracker & if things were headed in the same league, then boy oh boy we sure had something on our hands. I know I definitely can be such an extravagant bloke at times. Time to hit the sack.
mptuous breakfast at 9.30 am we were aboard our Scorpio with Ramesh (who was all looking bashing for the day) & started our day’s travel. The flavor for the day was the Tsomgo Lake which was the highlight of Gangtok. Another thing which has to be mentioned over here is the fact that Tsomgo happens to be one of those areas where required the Inner Line Permit to make a foray into. Luckily for us, Baichung had this covered & we were through the army check post after showing our documents. The Army is seen through this area, since ahead of Tsomgo happens to be the Nathula Pass which forms the border to India & China.Initially Nathula was also a part of our plan, but due to the ongoing China-Tibet conflict, we decided not to take the chance to get stuck in an ACCIDENTAL crossfire. Anyway once we started our ascent after the check post, we ran through an amazing scenic route. The roads were cut on the mountain sides & even though they were a little bumpy in patches, all praise should be given to the Border Road Organization (BRO) who was responsible for these roads.
At a village called Kyongnosale, we halted to click some snaps along a beautiful waterfall. Since it was a tiny tourist spot, there were plenty of tea stalls (we were on a high octane tea diet these days). But another point that has to be highlighted over here is how the people over here have been quite sensible enough in trying to make their tourist spots clean to the core. Everywhere you halt you can see a dustbin at your disposal. But again it is left to the common bloke to follow up by dumping his/her trash in this.
Once our Scorpio pulled into the make shift parking lot in Tsomgo, we all
were left gaping at the scene that was there in front of us. Ok so we have seen snow before & lakes too & they have been beautiful too, but yet this one did make us still go OOOOOOHHHH. At 12,400 ft above sea level, & frozen partially Tsomgo Lake was worth every single bump we 
drove over the way. Surrounded with shops on a side & so many yak ride hawkers, the lake & the snow mountain behind it could beckon anyone with ease. So we made Panda climb a yak (we got some gear like a boot & jacket for Panda & gloves for all of us from one of Ramesh’s contact’s shop) & started off to the snow mountain. Along the way we saw many folks slip on the snow & as far as I was concerned once again I misjudged the cold & was left clattering my teeth at times.After playing in the snow, getting our butts chilled & even making a
makeshift snowman, we decided it was time that we get back to some good old mud before ending up frost bitten & numb. Once we returned to Shop 15, we returned the gears & feasted ourselves on some delicious mommus. After stuffing ourselves to the hilt we decided to get 
back to our abode on Gangtok. So at 2.15 pm we started our descent & with the exception of a light doze of dizziness for Panda, we made it back within an hour.After taking some nice rest, we decided
to do some city touring in the evening & around 7.30 pm we got off to MG Market. This market is supposed to be the most happening market in Gangtok & I figured out more than that after our foray into one or two shops here. The stuff here is like shit expensive & some of the brands they have at display I haven’t seen then even in Hyderabad. But that apart my opinion still remains the same, if you want to do shopping, Gangtok is not the place for that. After doing all the window shopping (Panda managed to walk through a market for the first time without purchasing anything & all credit was to the great Vineet) we decided to have a final tummy refill & got into one of the 
restaurants on the same market road. On the way we bumped into Baichung & confirmed our next day’s plans too.After dinner we walked back to the lodge (the walk sure got our food all digested) & decided to hit bed by like 8.30 pm (though we did at only 10 pm). To sum it up, the day was an absolute cracker & if things were headed in the same league, then boy oh boy we sure had something on our hands. I know I definitely can be such an extravagant bloke at times. Time to hit the sack.
No comments:
Post a Comment