Sikkim - A Photo Story

We had just finished our ride in Bhutan, a 15-day long ride. The rest of the gang had returned back to Bangalore from Siliguri and the three of us, Sai, Shubra & I had headed towards Sandakphu on the Nepal & India border in the state of West Bengal. It had been one hell of an adventure ride. For the most part, Sikkim was our unplanned ride. We had a basic idea of what we wanted to see, but beyond that, we did not have a set plan. No bookings, no plans on paper - just go with the flow kind of ride. And it was easier to do this since it was just three of us and finding accommodation or any such thing wouldn't have been a crazy affair. Sikkim welcomed us with crazy rains, the kinds which are an adventure to ride even with all the rain gear on. The curvy winding roads that led to the city of Gangtok had become a small stream. One of the amazing things to happen to us in Sikkim was meeting Karma & the Ride Sikkim gang and staying at 100 Petals hotel. Karma welcome us with open hearts and hand drew maps to share with us where we should ride to. Some popular places, some off the beaten path - but with history and interesting tales about all the places we were going to ride to. And thus began our ride of Sikkim, which became a beautiful melting pot of breathtaking landscapes, amazing and warm people, rich cultural experiences and understanding the history of places we were visiting. While I can't do justice to everything that we saw, heard or experienced, this photostory about Sikkim is a small flash in the pan of the generous experiences we had in Sikkim.

A view of the city of Gangtok nestled amidst the hills. This was our first view after a day of riding in crazy rains and resting up the night before.

Gangtok is the capital city of Sikkim. A bustling town that is catching up with modern ways of living, but beautifully holds on to its history, tradition and culture.

You will find casinos, modern eateries, coffee shops juxtaposed with the Buddhist Temples, markets from yesteryears- living in peaceful harmony.

Buddhism is an integral part of the State of Sikkim. One cannot speak about Sikkim without mentioning the influence Buddhism has had on the state and its people. Our first day was spent with Karma, visiting some of the historic & cultural places that showcased and documented the history of the land.

Buddha Statue near Seven Sister Falls near Gangtok

The majority of Sikkimese are practising Buddhists and it is very common to find many Buddhism temples around Sikkim. The food and culture are also inspired by Buddhist teachings.

Two days of rest in Gangtok and we made our way to northern Sikkim; nestled in the upper Himalayan mountains. The road was picturesque and beautiful.

North Sikkim is a land of many waterfalls. Almost at every turn, you will find freshwater, fed by the melting glaciers in the summer, cascading its way through the valleys.

The first one we saw as soon as we exited Gangtok was this beautiful falls called Seven Sisters falls - where there were 7 mini waterfalls in succession.

Another waterfall as we make our way to Lachen

The gateway to Lake Gurudongmar is a tiny village called Lachen. The road from here towards the lake goes through lush green mountain ranges. As we get close to the lake, the landscape suddenly opens up to huge barren plains with the towering Himalayan Mountain ranges.

The roads that lead to Gurudongmar Lake.

The serene Gurudongmar Lake situated in North Sikkim.

It is considered one of the holiest lakes in Sikkim. Legend has it that the reverted Buddhist Guru- Guru Padmasambhava entered Sikkim through the Gurudongmar Lake area. When he arrived, he heard the difficulties of the people who faced water shortage in winters due to the lake being frozen.

It is believed that he blessed the mouth of the lake from where the river Teesta originates. Even today, even at the peak of the winters, the mouth of the lake never freezes.

The views en route Gurudongmar Lake was nothing short of spectacular

The varied rich landscape of the region

Sikkim is the second smallest state in India. For a state that does not have a huge area, the diversity in the landscape is truly stunning. Lush green forests abundant with many streams, with snow-capped mountains in the background- you will be surprised and captivated by nature at every turn.

Me negotiating one of the many water crossings that we crossed

The visuals only got more dramatic as we headed up north

Captivated and mesmerised by our ride to Gurudongmar Lake, we made our way to Lachung. Lachen & Lachung are both situated in northern Sikkim. But due to difficulty in terrain and in making roads - they are connected through a Y-Shaped road with both Lachen and Lachung being on the two tips of Y and the town of Mangan in the centre. So we made our way back to Mangan and then took the diversion to Lachung. Our plan was to head to Yumthang and from there to Zero Point. Yumthang is also famous for the Rhododendron Sanctuary. Rhododendron is the state tree of Sikkim and during the season, one gets to see the beautiful blooming of red flowers, painting the entire valley in hues of reds. But monsoon had begun, and we weren't entirely sure of seeing the bloom of Rhododendron trees.

The entire landscape was soaked in rain and mist By the time we reached Lachung, it had begun to rain again. We were to meet a friend of Karma's, who would show us our place of stay there. There was a local sporting event in the town that day and our host called and asked us to meet him there directly. Typically this should have pissed us all off. I mean, we had ridden most of the day, and the last bit of which was in rain, and had reached fairly famished and just wanted a place to call it a day. However for some reason, call it the wisdom and patience that travel lends you, or perhaps the famed mountain spirit, we weren't really irritated. We rode our bikes to the city centre, clearly guided by all the hoardings that displayed the boxing match that was to take place in Lachung that day. We did not know this, but boxing sport was a big deal in Lachung. It was an interstate boxing match between the northeastern states of India. All and sundry, rain notwithstanding, were present and in high enthusiasm to witness the sporting spectacle of the day.

A local school girl marching with school band

We got into line, and us being travellers and with our riding gear - we sort of got a front seat view to the whole event. The starting ceremony was going on, with all the traditional dances and the school marching parades. It was a fun experience to have, to witness the local fanfare and tradition.

The traditional Snow Lion Dance performance

The traditional snow lion dance, locally known as Singhi Chham and Kanchendzonga dance being performed in the town of Lachung in Noth Sikkim. It is a traditional dance in which dancers perform in a lion costume and with respect to the presiding deity- Kanchendzonga.

Women in traditional attire wait for their turn to perform as rain hampers the opening ceremony.

We had a good stay in Lachung. We met a couple of other riders from Bangalore who were returning from Zero point. They told us that the rhododendron bloom was not great and there were too many tourist vehicles up north of Lachung. We decided to skip the Zero point and return back to Gangtok. A good days ride and we were back to 100 petals hotel in Gangtok. We spent the next day in Gangtok only, visiting some of the local cafes, trying local cuisine and also visiting the famed Rumtek Monastery.

Rumtek Monastery, located just a few hours from the city of Gangtok is a beautiful Buddhist Temple that also serves as the main seat of the Karmapa sect of Buddhists.

This Buddhist temple houses a beautiful shrine and a monastic school for the young monks. At the monastery, we came across the young Buddhist monks who were busy in their daily practice

A young Buddhist monk in Rumtek Monastery practices the Buddhist exercise of argument and reasoning.

Debate and reasoning are an integral part of the Buddhist learning process of a young monk. The process involves a challenger and a defender. The goal for the defender is to give a consistent set of responses to the challenger's arguments without contradicting what he said earlier.

Our next plan was to head towards Nathu La and make our way back towards Siliguri via Kalimpong. But our friend Karma mentioned that we had to cover West Sikkim. He said, the history of Sikkim starts from west Sikkim and it's a beautiful region in the shadow of the mighty Kachendzonga mountain. We did not want to visit Pelling as we felt there could be too many tourists. Karma suggested this off the path homestay in a small hamlet next to a lake called Kecheopelri. It sounded interesting and off we went, riding towards west Sikkim.

West Sikkim is characterized by lush green forests, set against the Himalayan backdrop.

Home to the Kanchendzonga National Park and the peak which is highly revered in Sikkim and is considered as the main protecting deity, much of Sikkim's early history can also be traced to this region.

It was home to the first capital of Sikkim - Yuksom. Subsequently, due to repeated attacks by Bhutan, the capital was shifted to Rabdantse, also in West Sikkim, before finally settling down to Gangtok as the present capital city. It is home to a large Buddha statue, located at Ravangla and also many historic sites that stand as testimony to the erstwhile Sikkim rulers and their times.

There was no motorable road all the way to our homestay at Kecheopelri. We had to park our bikes next to the lake and trek our way to a small hamlet where our homestay was. Now I must tell you, it never is a good idea to trek anywhere when you are in your high motorbiking touring shoes. The only decent thing that came out of that was some relative safety from leeches. Huffing and puffing, we somehow made our way to the small hamlet, where we would stay for the next 2 days, doing absolutely nothing other than watching clouds pass by, take long-winded walks around the hamlet, smiling and waving at people who resided there. We also had the company of few other trekkers - a couple from Italy, a gentleman from Germany and a lady from Singapore. Evening dinners made for nice conversations about each others countries and cultures.

Shubra catching up on her reading list, we spend slow days in a tiny hamlet in west Sikkim

A local priest setting up the fire for his daily rituals.

The heavenly views we were treated to, once the rain cloud moved past - opening up the landscape

The gang that stayed at the homestay next to Kecheopelri lake

Most villages on hilltops consist of few houses and generally, a small Buddhist temple and most of them are constructed using wood. There are no motorable roads connecting these villages to the main roads. People and animals are still the preferred mode for transporting material to these far-flung places. From Kecheopelri, we made our way to Yuksom, met a couple from Bombay who were travelling and trekking with their 12-year-old daughter. We decided not to stay in Yuksom and made our way back to Gangtok that very day.

Meeting and greeting locals were the best part of the journey. Here is Sai, giving a high-five to a young fellow. The next day in Gangtok was spent getting the required permits for heading towards Nathu La and Gnathang valley. From there on - our idea was to make our way to Kalimpong in West Bengal and then back to Siliguri.

Shubra & Sai helping Karma and friends hang the sacred Buddhist flags on the hotel property

I had a lot of questions for Karma regarding the ritual we were taking part in

On the ride day, we bid our goodbyes and thank yous to Karma and his family, his friends - who had become a family for us in Sikkim. We received the traditional Buddhist shawls from them, said a small prayer together and finally made our way to Nathu La. While Nathu La is just shy of 60 km from Gangtok, the pass is on the absolute borderline between China & India. The weather was also much colder compared to Gangtok. In fact, by the time we reached Nathu La - it has started snowing. However, we were too excited to see the border so up close. Now while we have been to many passes and sensitive border areas, this was the closest we had gotten to the Chinese border. In fact, my airtel connection even picked up a Chinese network for a few seconds.

Nathu La pass, covered in snow Nathu La route also used to be the route to get to Kailash Mansarovar lake after the road from Nepal side had collapsed and before the route from Uttarakhand state was fully built. It was also part of the historic silk route - connecting Kalimpong to Lhasa in Tibet.

The wonderful roads beyond Nathu la, heading towards Gnathang Valley

Shubra & I - Soaking in the breathtaking views. Our stay for the day after visiting Nathu La & Baba Harbhajan Mandir which was en route was in a small village called Gnathang in Gnathang Valley. This turned out to be our coldest night in Sikkim. Luckily we got a homestay with heated beds, that helped us stay warm during the freezing night.

One of the many hidden lakes in Gnathang Valley in Eastern Sikkim. Eastern Sikkim shares its border with China and Bhutan. It is home to many beautiful lakes, hidden in multiple valleys.

Our last point of attraction in Sikkim was riding through the famous Zuluk loops. While the ride through the loops was pretty uneventful, we did have a sort of an adventure when approaching the loops. The roads were narrow, winding and we rode at a relaxed pace. Out of nowhere, we had this bunch of dogs that started chasing us with determined barks. We couldn't speed through as the roads were narrow - but somehow kept our cool and got through the tricky situation. Luckily they did not chase us all the way to the viewpoint, from where one can get a birds-eye view of the beautiful Zuluk loops. We stood there in peace, watched the loops in wonderment. This was our view.

The Famous Zuluk Loops was part of the ancient silk route that connected the city of Kalimpong to Lhasa in Tibet. Past our ride through the loops, we made our way to the plains. From Siliguri, we took the road through Lucknow, Jhansi & Nagpur to get back to Bangalore. The story of that ride was another adventure in itself. I will keep that story for another day. Overall, Sikkim was a land of discovery for us. Like a beautiful book where each chapter opened to us a new adventure, a new experience. We met folks that became friends for life, learnt about the history of the place that was so rich and interesting, enjoyed the delicious local cuisine, had a glimpse of the simple living of the mountain folk. More than anything else, it also helped us discover ourselves. It taught us the ability to absorb, adapt and go with the flow. It taught us to appreciate the everyday things in our lives, to be more empathetic towards our surroundings and most of all - to be grateful to have these experiences in our lives.

Cheers!

Satvik