Sikkim Sojourn Part 9 - On the way to Guru Dongmar Lake

After breakfast at a home-stay in Thangu we resumed our trip to Guru Dongmar Lake. For the first time in my life I was going to cross the greenery of the world and go to the nothingness beyond it. My mind was filled with anticipation as to what would I see. These pictures will show you the area where the greenery ends and the desolate landscape of the higher Himalayan plateau or the Tibetan plateau takes over-

 Tall trees and dense vegetation gave way to grass and moss covered soil

 A fine example of boulders hanging over the road, ready to fall anytime. I can say with confidence that the trip to Guru Dongmar Lake will not exactly be the most safest one that you have ever taken.

 From afar it might look like a bus but it actually is a temporary construction built possibly by the army

 A road rarely taken. The telegraph poles are meant for army communications.

As you have been seeing my previous posts and now in these pictures the trees gave way to shrubs, shrubs gave way to grass.. The soil became more and more loose. In this region we came across the Indian Army’s Café, it is certified as the World’s Highest Café. After our permits were checked by the army men we resumed our journey. The pictures will reveal what I saw at the edge of all vegetation and habitable areas.

 The road to desolate landscapes of Himalayas

 Grass covered hills

 Loose soil with rocks under it are what you will find in mountainous areas

 Crags or mountains like these kept overlooking us all our way

  

 This was the last natural color(apart from green) I saw before the land turned brown everywhere

 

Observe the whiteness on the sides of these hills which might have been caused by repeated accumulation of snow and melting of it over centuries !

 A tributary of the important Teesta river which is shared by India and Bangladesh. The source of this tributary is the Cholamu Lake (5 kms away from Guru Dongmar Lake and the highest lake in India)

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