Chapter 10_Sikkim (F)east

Chapter 10

Sikkim (F)east

We woke up to a breaking news from Mahesh: “I don’t think I can go up any further. You guys carry on…” Thorappan and Khan were startled. It was not much of a surprise for me though. Mahesh’s body weakens with every falling degree of temperature. Back in 2015, during our Punjab trip, we (Mahesh and I) had to drop our Shimla plan in a similar situation. Why then did we plan Sikkim, if we knew this before? Well, more than the destination, it was the ride that mattered to us. Besides, we hoped for a little surprise from our Mahesham, who was known for it.

We didn’t compel him much, one – he was weak, two – he is an adamant fellow. We made an amendment to our already reworked itinerary. We extended the booking at the Gangtok hotel for another day, but just one room instead of two. We neatly arranged our stuff and Mahesham in this room. We were to ride to Nathu La, visiting Tsongmo Lake on the way, roll down the old Silk Route and halt at Zuluk for the day. The next day we would be back in Gangtok again. Therefore, we just packed the items that were necessary for the day and left the rest of our things in the hotel itself. We left the hotel at around 7:15 AM. Mahesh came down to the parking to see us off; jokes apart, we felt handicapped riding without him.

The view from the Gangtok hotel…

Thorappan left a couple of minutes ahead of Khan and me. He had to meet Mr. John and get the permits for the day. Since we had altered our plan after our roller-coaster ride in Kolkata, the permits had to be changed accordingly. Khan and I filled up fuel and waited for Thorappan. Khan then suggested that we ride downhill and click a few photos at a waterfall we had seen yesterday on our way to the hotel. It was just a kilometer away from where we were. Besides, Thorappan would anyways be coming back that way as well. On reaching the first waterfall, we realized that the one that we had in mind was a little ahead of this one. So we rode further down and reached the next one. It wasn’t this one either; we rode further ahead and reached the third waterfall. I would have dropped the idea altogether if it wasn’t this one either; but yes, this was the waterfall that we had in mind. You should also infer from this that Sikkim is a land of waterfalls. As we clicked a few photos, Thorappan joined us, and then we clicked a lot more of them. Thorappan too filled his tank; he stocked a few liters in his jerry cans as well.

A click at the third waterfall…

It was drizzling and the weather forecast wasn’t much promising either. But we had quite equipped ourselves for the rains – covered completely from head to toe. Mahesham’s sick leave meant that I got an extra set of rain coats and shoe covers, which proved really helpful. After a few kilometers, we reached the first check post – the third mile check post. There was a long line of white coloured cars (taxis) waiting for the ‘check’ at the post. We exercised our ‘privilege’ (the one that bikers get in any traffic jam) and made our way to the head of the line, where a few other bikers too were getting their documents verified. One of them, a YouTube vlogger, was in the third month of his cross-country (India-Bhutan) tour.

Third Mile Check Post

After the verification, we resumed the ride. We bought chocolates from one of the vendors at the check post. Perks worth Rs. 10 were sold to us for Rs. 20. Given the weather conditions, we didn’t complain either. A few kilometers from the check post, we stopped for breakfast. It was a small shop on the roadside, in a little village. The place was green all around and little houses sprouted out here and there. It was such a satisfying sight for the eyes. 

Inside the shop, we witnessed a Hollywoodish scene. A man, perhaps in his sixties was enjoying a bottle of beer with his friend. He wore a shirt, tucked into a pair of trousers, and had a hat on his head. He reminded me of ‘cowboy’ characters from some of the English movies. They didn’t talk anything. They just sat simply and took joyful sips from their beer mugs. Thorappan couldn’t but envy the presumed ‘bliss’ of those men.

We ordered tea and maggi. The shop was managed by a middle-aged couple. Besides food, they sold a few other stuff such as jackets, monkey caps, gloves, sweets, snacks, cigarettes and liquor. Liquor bottles were neatly arranged in a glass shelf, like how shampoos and other cosmetics are displayed in departmental stores. At the door, there lay a dog with a lot of fur; some visitors fed it with Parle-G.

Liquor on display at the shop…

Maggi never ever tasted so good in our lives. It was soupy and spicy. Cold rainy mornings were perhaps the best time to slurp hot maggi. We bought a few more perks from the shop. We weren’t charged extra though. Now this was a problem. The creature in my head started chattering: why did the lady at the check post charge extra then? For a moment my external self wished that we were charged extra here as well!

After a fulfilling breakfast, we continued our journey. Green lorries of the army would pass by every now and then. There were army camps every few kilometers. The roads, managed by the ‘Border Roads Organization’, were mostly in good condition. Yet, we had to be very careful. Rain and mist made visibility very low. There were landslide debris and water crossings once in a while. We progressed slowly, as a pack. Soon we got to see the Himalayas at close proximity. We stopped to enjoy the beauty. The mountains were enormous. I sat and tried to fit some of them into a single frame of my vision. Sitting in front of them, I felt myself to be a tiny little dot. It was a glorious sight and an even greater feeling.

Road filled with debris and sludge…

Imbibing the beauty of the Himalayas…

After about an hour and a half, we reached Tsongmo lake. Most of the taxis from Third Mile were already there and the place was abuzz with tourists and vendors. It was a small glacial lake, with huge mountains in the background. The water had a peculiar green colour and it was a serene place. It all depended on the mood of the air, whether you could enjoy the beauty of the lake or not. For, all of a sudden, a curtain of mist would be drawn across the lake and then we would have to wait patiently for the curtains to be drawn, to see it again. Yak safaris were on offer along the lake. Oh, that was the first time I was seeing a yak in my life.

A panoramic view of Tsongmo Lake

Thorappan positioned his mobile on a small cliff, with the timer on, and ran back to us to click selfies with Tsongmo in the background. There was a restaurant and cable car safari near the lake. We had to climb up a few steps to reach the restaurant and the ticket counter for the cable car ride. I struggled to breathe as I ascended the steps; my body wasn’t quite adjusting to the altitude. Thorappan and Khan were okay though. We rolled the prayer wheels on the sides, as we climbed up the steps.

One of Thorappan’s adventurous clicks from Tsongmo…

The prayer wheels at Tsongmo…

The rope car, the highest in Asia, took us to a height of 14,500 feet. It dropped us there and we were free to roam around for as long as we wanted, before we took another car downhill. The sight from the top was majestic, with huge mountains spreading out in front of us. One of them was supposedly the mighty Kanchenjunga, though we couldn’t identify it. Thorappan and Khan ventured higher up and soon disappeared. I decided to stay back as I struggled to breathe after taking every few steps. I sat down and imbibed the beauty around me. The vegetation was very colourful – green, yellow, red and so on. I soon got high on nature!

Colourful vegetation

Thorappan and Khan came back to tell me how they had got a terrific view of the lake from the top. They clicked a few good pictures as well. We took the car back down. A fellow rider, an army officer on vacation, tried to capture much of the ride on his mobile; all that got recorded on his camera was the mist though.

When Khan and Thorappan explored the heights…

After the cable car adventure, we went to the restaurant for an early lunch. We weren’t quite sure whether the rest of the ride had food options enroute. Like at the breakfast place, there was a friendly canine here as well. We had hot maggi and tea at the restaurant. The price got higher with every passing spot.

After our quick lunch, we headed towards Nathu La. Most of the taxis had disappeared by the time we left Tsongmo. I sensed that we were getting late. It was just another 18 kilometers to Nathu La, but it would take us around 70 minutes to get there. That’s the thing about mountain roads; at times you even feel disappointed to realize that you hadn’t covered much distance in so long a time. Waterfalls, water crossings, debris, sludge, wooden bridges, army camps, greenery and the Himalayas made the rest of ride to Nathu La quite adventurous. 

Crossing a wooden bridge…

At around 2:30, we reached a point from where we had to make a small deviation towards Nathu La. Our permits were verified there and we were given the green signal to go ahead. It was a two kilometer steep and winding climb upwards and at the end of it, there we were – at Nathu La. It was freezing cold up there. There was a small army camp there. A few soldiers were picking up litter, probably left by the tourists. We couldn’t see any civilians there. The soldiers then informed us that the place was closed for the day and we would have to come back the next day!

(to be continued…)