North Sikkim: Lachen, Lachung, Yumthang, Zero-Point

Yumthang Valley

After sufficient sightseeing in East Sikkim we were due exploring beautiful regions of North Sikkim. If you are in the state at least for a week then North Sikkim is a must visit and major part of energy and time should be allocated for it. For this trip we opted for a 2-Nights/3-Days package trip conducted by Lama Tours and Travel(MG Marg, Gangtok). The total expenses for 6 people was around 16k INR inclusive of transportation, accommodation and food.

Highlights:

• Panaromic view of Teestha Valley at Singhik
• Experiencing snowfall at Thanggu
• A relaxed evening on banks of river at Lachung
• Breakfast at Pema's shop at Yumthang valley
• Experiencing sub-zero temperature and 360 degree snow clad mountains at Zero-point(15000+ feet)

Day-1, we departed at around 11 am in a Mahindra Max jeep from dedicated North Sikkim taxi stand at Gangtok. For initial one hour our driver didn't even speak a word. We were speculating that whether he's a dumb person or doesn't know Hindi or a Kadus person. Our first site of the day was Seven-sisters waterfalls. To be frank, there was nothing impressive to mention about the waterfall, even dozens of roadside waterfalls were better than it. The so called seven tier falls can be skipped unless there's a genuine need for a pit-stop.

Singhik viewpoint near Mangan 

Moving ahead, we had a break at Phodong for lunch and entered into Mangan - district head-quaters of North Sikkim which claims itself to be 'Cardamom capital of the World'. A few kms beyond Mangan is Singhik view point which offers panoramic view of Teestha Valley. With our desperate search for a cup of tea at the viewpoint we landed into a terrace hotel(cafe) which offered us the best view of the valley. The combination of tea and the breathtaking landscape was a priceless experience.

We reached Lachen at around 7 pm for overnight stay. Our arrival was delayed due to flat tyre replacement, a usual headache for drivers in North Sikkim area due to rocky terrain. At Lachen, it was moderately drizzling and our caretaker at homestay said that it will be definitely snowing at higher altitude where we were supposed travel next day.

Snowfall at Thanggu - we had to discontinue our journey to Gurudongmar lake here

Day-2 morning at 4:30 am we departed towards Gurudongmar Lake. While traveling, I immediately went into napping mode after such a early morning wake-up. By the time I woke up i.e after an hour the first image on my retinas was dominated with the color white, obviously due to snow on either sides of the road. At 6:30 am, we stopped at Thanggu for breakfast and simultaneously experienced snowfall. Our excitement of experiencing snowfall(maiden snowfalll for some people in our group) was short-lived as we were informed that Gurudongmar plan was cancelled considering high probability of road blockage due to heavy snowfall. With loads of disappointment, we came back to Lachen and departed towards Lachung after lunch.

On the way to Lachung, we saw Teesta-Lanchung river confluence near Chungthang, where there's big hydel power station under construction. Next site on the way was BimNalla waterfalls which was relatively graceful than other roadside waterfalls. At Lachung, we witnessed daylight fading into dusk by relaxing on banks of  river below a cantilever bridge. It was nice to witness ribbon waterfalls on a big hill adjacent to the town.

Pema at her Tea shop in Yumthang Valley

Day-3, we departed at 5.30 am towards Yumthang Valley. On the way to the place we saw several boards with Rhododendrons. When I was reading it aloud, the local lady(her name was Pema) to whom our driver had offered the drop from Lachung, said that Rhododendron bloom can be witnessed only in the month of April.

After reaching Yumthang we had sufficiently long spell of photosession around Yumthang-zero kilometer stone. After the session we dropped into Pema’s Shop for breakfast. Her photogenic face was a treat our cameras. Not to mentioned the lady was very friendly and enthusiastic, a diametrically opposite personality in comparison to our driver.

Our gang at Zero Point

Normally, the package tour will have sightseeing till Yumthang valley. Beyond this one can go upto  Yumasongdeong, famously known as zero-point by paying extra money directly to the driver. There we experienced sub-zero temperature at 15000+ feet amidst 360 degree snow clad mountains. The other major attraction around Yumthang is a hot spring which didn't live upto the hype. However, landscape around it was nice and good capturing in our cameras. We came back to Lachung for lunch and immediately started our return journey to Gangtok. While returning also we were unfortunate to experience hiccups of a flat tyre again and our driver had to borrow the replacement from some other jeep driver. When the tyre was being replaced all passerby drivers used to ask our driver - "Tyre Cho" .. our driver used to reply "Cho".

Finally, we were back in Gangtok at nighttime by concluding toughest part of Sikkim Trip. Next morning, we were off to South Sikkim via Rumtek.

For more details on my Sikkim trip, kindly go through the following links

• Sikkim Trip - Summary and Retrospect 
• FAQs on Sikkim Trip
• Top-10 things to do in Sikkim