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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Sikkim Sojourn Part 7 - To Thangu and Beyond.....

After a gap of a month and a half I am returning to my series 'Sikkim Sojourn'. The unfortunate earthquake in Sikkim was a prominent factor for the gap but now I have decided to bring the series to a culmination. I clicked quite a few pictures which I feel you and the world might want to take a look at. I am sure some of them will leave you pleasantly surprised. The places I found on my journey to Thangu and beyond is something you will rarely find on a map or anywhere else. This was the inspiration for me to name my blog as the 'Path Rarely Taken' because very few people know about these places and even fewer visit them. 

During my journey to Guru Dongmar Lake we had a stopover in Lachen (2750mts/9022 ft). We had to start early morning around 7 am in order to get to the Guru Dongmar Lake. We needed to do so because after 1 pm the Tibetan Plateau ( a part of North Sikkim) witnesses extreme windy conditions and also because it is a condition imposed by the Army. According to my guide the gales of wind are strong enough to make dust and fist sized rocks fly in the air and therefore it is not safe to move at that point of time. The pictures follow - 

Prayer flags dot the landscape of Sikkim (Notice the settlement on the side of the hill)

Green Green Green everywhere....

Observe another settlement between the rolling hills

 From Lachen to Thangu(4267mts/14000ft) on our way to Guru Dongmat Lake lie 2 Army Posts where our permits are checked before allowing us to travel further. One check point is before Thangu and one after it. The check point after Thangu is also an Army run cafe. 

Perched at approximately 4572 meters or 15000 ft it has been certified as the highest cafe in the world. The army men re check your permit, ask you to sit for 10 minutes in the cafe(it is compulsory) while you are served coffee and chocolates (you pay for them of course ! ) and observe you for any symptoms of altitude sickness in which case they ask you to turn back. 

And yes, please do not expect hospitality over here. Naam kya hain tera ?(Your name ?) and Idhar khadaa ho ja ! (Stand at a side) are the common verbiages used gruffly in the cafe... Refer to them as 'Sirji'(Hindi for Respected Sir) as I did and chances are that they will ignore you. Photography is glared upon and as I did not want to take a chance I did not take any pictures. But that said the Army men do a good job and they have tremendous goodwill amongst locals in Sikkim. Some more pictures -

 

One of the first snow-capped crags I set my eyes upon

 Sneak peak of the first army check post (Our guide is in the picture)

Clouds settle on the peaks which overlook the Army Post

Thangu

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(to be continued..... Glimpses from Thangu)

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