Before we left Gangtok, we thought we’d take another shot at the rope-way. We reached there, sharp at 9.30 -opening time, and as should be expected from any self respecting government run set up, they claimed that routine maintenance would ensure that it opened only by 10.30.
We couldn’t wait, for this was the day we began our journey to North Sikkim…with a driver who went by several names.. and surnames – Bhutia, Denzongpa. In turn, he was confused by our itinerary, until we told him, we’d pay extra for our trip to Zero Point later.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItOVTAtJY30
The first stop was Tashi view point, from where, on cloudless days, one could see Kanchenjunga. Dark clouds loomed in the horizon, literally, and we saw the gurudwara at Gangtok, less that 10km away through a telescope, for Rs.10. And from there began the ‘Bone Awareness Drive’. The roads, which even on their best days, wouldn’t offer much solace, were more like rivers thanks to the rain. The Mahindra Maxx waded and bounced across them, introducing us to new sights and hitherto undiscovered bones at every turn. D reminded me that we could end up with a Wonderla experience. My back wished I was back in the hotel bed, but the scenic view made up for all of this.
The rain meant that the tourist’s attraction was more for the toilets provided at the scheduled tourist stops. The next stop was the ‘Seven Sisters’ waterfall. Our own waterfalls cost us Rs.2 each, the dowry has to be paid for, after all, I grumbled.
Phodong monastery was relatively more peaceful, with monks munching away at the local version of Lays. This guy seemed to have some food for thought though.
We had lunch at the Hotel Kanchendzonga, so named because they took a fancy to it, not for any view. Simple, but effective meal. Mangan was the next break, but the erm, tourist attraction was the garage, where our driver had a few repairs done on the brakes. Then came the Naga falls. Falls count anywhere as tourist attractions, it seemed, judging by the crowds, though the roads practically served as waterfalls anyway. We got lucky at the Singhik view point, beating the rain by a few minutes. Amazing view.
By the time we reached Chungthang, it was 6.30. From there the road split – left to Lachen, and right to Lachung. We’d left Gangtok for Lachen, so we began the climb with the fast setting sun as our companion. The 30 km took us about 2 hours.
The driver discussed how tourists were spoiling Sikkim’s ecosystem by littering and not even acknowledging the ubiquitous garbage disposal bins. From there we moved on to philosophy, the pace of life and respect for human lives in cities, and how even cows were now contemplating why they were crossing the road at night. The last one was important, because they chose to do so in the middle of the road, and narrow roads meant we had to coax them to finish the job and then contemplate. Horn vs. horn.
Lachen had homestays disguised as hotels. We reached there at about 8.30, and had a simple meal, right in the kitchen, followed by sleep in a strictly functional room (with clean loos) I stretched out and completed ‘The Immortals of Meluha’, while D woke at 2.30 and chose to retch, such was her gall.
