Wow, hard to believe that I have been in Sikkim for a week now... So Julien, my French Canadian friend I'd been with since Calcutta, and I said goodbye to the Darjeeling crew and took a packed jeep ride up to Gangtok, the capital of Sikkim. In the share jeeps in India, they pack 10 or more people in a jeep that we would likely think full at about 6. Such is India... Gangtok is a huge tourist destination for Indians during the hot season down south. There are not many foreign travelers and the ones that are here tend to hang out at the New Modern Central Lodge (not to be confused with the Modern Central Lodge down the hill). Julien and I went for a nice Indian meal and tried some of the local Sikkim beers our first night. The next day Julien found a group to do the GoechaLa trek in the West and I set out to find a group for the jeep trip to the north. Four hours and countless travel agencies later I had no leads and was a bit frustrated. Later, however, I met three guys who were interested in putting a group together and we decided to meet the following morning to get our permits squared away. The following morning Julien headed West and I met my new friends to sort out the trip. We opted for the 4 day, 3 night trip. I had some stomach issues that day so I pretty much stayed close to the hotel- not uncommon in India. On Wednesday morning we added one more member to our group and headed north!
The first day we spent most of our time in the jeep. Luckily the scenery was terrific. Lush green forested hills and loads of waterfalls. We stopped for thalis for lunch and continued to the small town of Lachung. It was dark when we arrived and the driver and guide had a bit of trouble finding the hotel. We drove up a dark, windy road which showed no signs of life, but then the New Season appeared. It was nowhere near the town but the seclusion meant no unnatural noise and the next morning we had incredible views of the snow capped peaks surrounding us. During this season, a clear day is a rarity so we were lucky to have about 4 hours of clear before the clouds took the views away again. We headed farther north to the Yumthang Valley. By this time the clouds had fully rolled in so we had hill views but no mountains. We'd heard of a hot spring farther up where foreigners are not allowed to go and talked our driver into letting us bribe him and the permit police to let us go up. So that afternoon we found ourselves hiking up to 16,000 feet about 10km from the Tibetan border to this small and very secluded natural hot spring. It was probably about 40 degrees and windy so hanging in the hot water was terrific! As we were leaving, we got a little glimpse of the glaciers looming above us. It was pretty magical to say the least. We spent another night in Lachung at the New Season (very warm and comfy beds and terrific food!) and got up at 5 AM to head over to Lachen a bit to the West.
Our hotel in Lachen wasn't quite as nice as the one in Lachung but it was still warm and comfortable (and comfortable beds can be hard to come by when traveling on a budget- believe me!). From Lachen we drove up to the Thangu Valley (we tried more bribes to go farther north again, but it was "Not Possible"- a common phrase in India). The weather was wet and chilly so we just did a short hike (about 1.5 hours) in the valley and headed back into town. I spent the rest of the afternoon playing cards and having a few beers with a couple of the guys while the other two went to a local house to try the Sikkim millet alcohol- I was a little bummed to have missed that. After another large, filling Indian meal, we called it a night. The next day we headed back to Gangtok in the jeep. The distance was only about 120 km, but the roads are small, windy and often scarcely paved so it took the entire day. We had hoped for views of Kanchendzonga on the way back but alas, we were foiled again. We did stop at a nice monastery and enjoyed another yummy thali (thalis are a bunch of small dishes that make a filling meal when put together).
Today four of the five of us joined another couple and headed to Tsongo Lake at 13,000 feet. The lake was nice but there wasn't a whole lot to do up there and it was rather cold and cloudy again. But we had momos and then we got our guide to take us to a local place to try the millet alcohol I had missed in the north. The millet is fermented in bamboo for 15 days and then put in a tin can. When you are ready to drink it, you pour hot water on it and let it sit for 10 minutes. If you'd like, you can pour more water on and keep drinking it once you finish your first cup. We also tried yak meat at the local establishment. All in all a good day of trying new things :).
Tomorrow I am heading to West Sikkim to see a few more towns and hopefully do a bit of hiking.
Hope everyone is well! Congrats to Sean and Christy on the arrival of Eleanor Lake!!
The first day we spent most of our time in the jeep. Luckily the scenery was terrific. Lush green forested hills and loads of waterfalls. We stopped for thalis for lunch and continued to the small town of Lachung. It was dark when we arrived and the driver and guide had a bit of trouble finding the hotel. We drove up a dark, windy road which showed no signs of life, but then the New Season appeared. It was nowhere near the town but the seclusion meant no unnatural noise and the next morning we had incredible views of the snow capped peaks surrounding us. During this season, a clear day is a rarity so we were lucky to have about 4 hours of clear before the clouds took the views away again. We headed farther north to the Yumthang Valley. By this time the clouds had fully rolled in so we had hill views but no mountains. We'd heard of a hot spring farther up where foreigners are not allowed to go and talked our driver into letting us bribe him and the permit police to let us go up. So that afternoon we found ourselves hiking up to 16,000 feet about 10km from the Tibetan border to this small and very secluded natural hot spring. It was probably about 40 degrees and windy so hanging in the hot water was terrific! As we were leaving, we got a little glimpse of the glaciers looming above us. It was pretty magical to say the least. We spent another night in Lachung at the New Season (very warm and comfy beds and terrific food!) and got up at 5 AM to head over to Lachen a bit to the West.
Our hotel in Lachen wasn't quite as nice as the one in Lachung but it was still warm and comfortable (and comfortable beds can be hard to come by when traveling on a budget- believe me!). From Lachen we drove up to the Thangu Valley (we tried more bribes to go farther north again, but it was "Not Possible"- a common phrase in India). The weather was wet and chilly so we just did a short hike (about 1.5 hours) in the valley and headed back into town. I spent the rest of the afternoon playing cards and having a few beers with a couple of the guys while the other two went to a local house to try the Sikkim millet alcohol- I was a little bummed to have missed that. After another large, filling Indian meal, we called it a night. The next day we headed back to Gangtok in the jeep. The distance was only about 120 km, but the roads are small, windy and often scarcely paved so it took the entire day. We had hoped for views of Kanchendzonga on the way back but alas, we were foiled again. We did stop at a nice monastery and enjoyed another yummy thali (thalis are a bunch of small dishes that make a filling meal when put together).
Today four of the five of us joined another couple and headed to Tsongo Lake at 13,000 feet. The lake was nice but there wasn't a whole lot to do up there and it was rather cold and cloudy again. But we had momos and then we got our guide to take us to a local place to try the millet alcohol I had missed in the north. The millet is fermented in bamboo for 15 days and then put in a tin can. When you are ready to drink it, you pour hot water on it and let it sit for 10 minutes. If you'd like, you can pour more water on and keep drinking it once you finish your first cup. We also tried yak meat at the local establishment. All in all a good day of trying new things :).
Tomorrow I am heading to West Sikkim to see a few more towns and hopefully do a bit of hiking.
Hope everyone is well! Congrats to Sean and Christy on the arrival of Eleanor Lake!!
