North Sikkim - Part II - Lachung and Yumthang

Next morning came with incessant rain and we had lost hope to visit Yumthang valley, but due to God's grace the rain slowed down by the time we got ready. Journey to Yumthang took around 1 and half hours as the road is in much better condition than the road to Gurudongmar Lake even though it was rough at some places. But after travelling to Gurudongmar, it looked like a smooth ride. The road passed through verdant valleys with colourful wild flowers, green mountains, alpine trees and beautiful small streams. But the sight of prolific rhododendron trees on both sides of the road laden with varied colors of flowers was the real high point of the trip.

Lachung Village

Flowers at Lachung

It was still drizzling when we reached Yumthang and the rain had made the place even more colder. We settled down in a shop near the valley and had hot maggi in breakfast. The shops near the valley provide gum booots and heavy winter jackets on rent which people hire to go to Zero point. Zero point is hardly another hour of drive from Yumthang and is covered with snow all through the year. Drivers usually charge Rs 2000-3000 more for going to zero point depending on the season. We decided to skip this place as we had already witnessed a lot of snow at Gurudongmar.

A beautiful stream on the way

View on the way toYumthang

Yumthang is a vast Picturesque Valley surrounded by high mountains and alpine trees. when we visited this place in May the mountains at one side of the valley were covered with snow and the valley was lush green with beautiful purple flowers all over it. Colourful rhododendron flowers, yaks grazing in the valley, different sizes of rocks here and there and a river flowing through made the place look like an exquisite portrait of a skilled artist. The only point of pain was a lot of yak poo all over the valley which you need to be careful about while walking around. We spent an hour in the valley taking pics and enjoying its beauty and came back to our hotel to start for Gangtok early.

Yumthang Valley

River flowing through the valley

Rhododendron Flowers

By the time we started for Gangtok, it started raining heavily and after travelling for half an hour our vehicle came to a halt due to a landslide. In no time vehicles lined up in a big queue as the road got completely blocked due to few more consecutive landslides. We had to wait till the army guys came and cleared the way out. Finally we reached Gangtok at 10 pm after a long arduous journey and immediately went off to bed after having dinner. The next day we left Gangtok after breakfast to catch our train back to Kolkata. Even though the duration of the trip was short, but the days spent in the lap of nature gave me some of the most beautiful days of my life. I promised myself to come back to this place again to soak in its cool weather, to have its delicious momos and to meet Kanchenzonga again at sunrise.

Another beautiful view

Landslide on the way back

Army guy in action

Flowers on the way back to Gangtok

Labels: lachung, rhododendrons, trip to yumthang, yumthang, yumthang in may