8th April, 2008

One of the other pains that we have to endure during these vacations is the fact that at times we have to sacrifice our nice cozy sleep. Today was one of those days – we got up at 4.30 am & were all set to start for the day by 6 am (gosh on a regular day this is the time when I shut down the alarm). Today we were supposed to be traveling on a real long journey to North Sikkim where we were supposed to check out the Yumthang Valley.

On the way as part of our high octane tea diet we stopped at the Tashi View point, & yeah we also got some glorious views of the Kanchendzonga range. From there we continued with our foray into North Sikkim. There were plenty of waterfalls & bridges throughout this stretch & we even got ourselves snapped in some of these. North Sikkim came as one of those wild stallions which are amazingly beautiful yet hostile. In North Sikkim’s case its beauty lay in its picturesque landscape, while its hostilities were the road conditions.

The roads were bumpy & there were some patches when it was purely treacherous. But it was still heartening to see the BRO come out with signs such as INCONVENIENCE REGRETTED. Our bladders had taken quite a toll & we were on the search for public restrooms every now & then (especially the lady). However we didn’t have much work to do here, since there were public toilets maintained for your disposal at most of the areas.

I had decided to keep track of the villages that we were passing & had come real good with a list which started from Phodong, Namok, Mangshila & Mangan. However at Mangan we faced our first real test of patience since getting on that plane from Hyderabad. What started off as a routine Police Check post thing stretched all the way to hours together. While Ramesh had gone over to remit some cash & get a bank receipt, we went out shopping in the local market, came back & started playing cards, checked out the police women (who I must say were really HOT). Plus since Mangan was at a low altitude, the sun was pretty much in our faces.

So like after enduring all this for like 3 hours & having ourselves entertained with Panda’s histrionics (she sure was the entertainment box for this trip), I decided to go in the search of Ramesh, & ended up finding him waiting in a never ending queue in the Bank of Sikkim. I was left aghast & then accompanied him to the local police station where I met up with the officer in charge. It was from him that I learned that other than the Inner Line Permits that was required by us to travel into North Sikkim, it was also a local rule that tourists could not travel in cars having private registration of SK-02. They were only supposed to travel in SK-04 & SK-06 registered vehicles (don’t ask me why). So after pleading with him, he sent an officer with Ramesh to the bank to get the receipt. At last after 4 hours of wasting time at Mangan we resumed with our journey north.

After Mangan we could see the change in the vegetation on the road. The river Tista was still visible over here & the trees were growing thicker on either sides of the road. We even ran into one of a military tank. Well that was the last thing I remembered before I went of for a quick doze. When I got up I came to know from Vineet (who was awake & snapping furiously) that there we had passed 3 such tanks.

In Phenong we passed the Indo-Tibet Border Police camp & later passed through another border village in the form of Chung Thang. Finally at around 3 pm we pulled into Lachung. By this time we were already related to some dead log. We got into one of the hotels of Baichung’s acquaintances. We decided to go on to Yumthang & then return to have our lunch. Yumthang happened to be just like another 30 minutes or so from Lachung. But when we stepped out of our Scorpio at Yumthang we were left really disappointed. We expected a lot from Yumthang – which was termed as the valley of flowers. Don’t get me wrong, the snow covered mountains on one side & the Tista River’s branch flowing on the other side can be a treat at times. But when you endure for like 4 hours & then go through all those bumps & curves we certainly do expect a lot. And that’s where Yumthang failed me, Panda & Vineet all alike.

We started our descent back with pretty much gloom within the Scorpio, stopped at Lachung & had our lunch & began with our return trip to Gangtok. At 9.30 pm after an uneventful drive back (except for a bit when Panda tried humorously to play cards & ended up spraying the cards all over the place) we pulled into the parking lot of our lodge. Dreary, let down & sleepy eyed we just couldn’t wait to get to our sacks. I did make it a point to call up Baichung & give him a piece of our mind. To sum it all we had a real torrid day & as I type these last words, I am seriously hoping for a better tomorrow.