Holiday Diary Day 10: Yumthang Valley and Zero Point

Day 10: North Sikkim

Yumthang Valley and Zero Point

This was slated to be the most spectacular part of our holiday since we were planning to visit the highest altitudes in this trip. I was horrified to wake up and realize that power had not returned and my samsung’s battery was dead. I’ve not been able to recharge the phone for close to 2 days and I was going into what would be the most picturesque areas of this trip and I was camera-less. So you’ll need to make do with my descriptions of these places rather than view the pictures I could have clicked.

The night was bitter cold and when we woke up, we had to brush in cold water and do our morning ablutions in it. Today we truly experienced how cold it could get. The night temp was below 7 degrees C and the room, bathroom and water was all cold.

We had an early start – 6 am to be able to go to Yumthang Valley (14,500 ft), and go on to Zero Point (15,500 ft) which is the border to Tibet. There were many others like us who got an early start and at the check post we were told that we are vehicle no 11 that crossed this point.

The landscape was raw. beautiful and varied. Sometimes we felt we were on the moon with just rocks everywhere, grey, white, big, small,… Other times we were travelling through lush greenery with flowering plants along the way, yellow, lilac, blue, violet, …. This road journey was the most picturesque and beautiful one and I'm very sorry that I am unable to share the pictures so to get a sense of this, I give below a link that will give you an idea of one of the sections. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBIOB9hngIY 

This one is a little more representative of the general road conditions on this day. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HiG1_GXLkE

These areas can test driving skills as well as the courage quotient of the passengers. We went with out hearts in our mouth throughout the North Sikkim and East Sikkim tours and felt relieved and happy whenever we reach our destination. 

Our first destination was Yumthang Valley which means Yum (flowers) Thang (Valley) in the local dialect. So this is the Valley of Flowers in Sikkim that flowers for a few months (April - June). We entered the Singha Rhodendoron Forest Sanctuary and when we reached the valley, it was not yet a carpet of colours as expected but more like a green carpet spotted with pink dots cut up by a silver ribbon of a river. Yaks graze lazily and we noticed that there is a man who is tending to them so they must be domesticated. This is a idyllic place to potter about except for the bitter cold temperatures.

Though the valley was not covered with blooming flowers, there were Rhodendorons in full bloom along the roads, pink, yellow, lilac, violet and when I was thinking that each bush had only one colour flower then there was a half km section where each bush had 2 different coloured flowers. This area must be visited with a good camera and also a video camera. It's a visual treat that must not be missed for those visiting Sikkim.

At Yumthang we rented our snow gear - coat, snow boots and gloves because we were entering into an area that is severely cold and covered with snow. (Severely cold for a Madrasi, so don't sneer).

We also got ourselves some breakfast - hot maggi noodles and some momos. This is the staple diet in these areas. We asked the driver where we can find a loo and we were told to go behind the bushes. Some of us did that but Akshaye refused to do anything of this sort and luckily for us, some other guest at this eatery told us that there is a proper toilet further up the road. So we trudged there and would you believe it a proper convenience that is maintained well and charged at Rs 10 per use. it was well worth it and Akshaye was so "relieved" to be relieved of his burden :)

The organised part of the tour ends here at Yumthang but for an extra payment to the driver we are taken another 20 kms up the road to the end of the road "Zero Point" that borders Tibet and China. 

When we came up from Yumthang, we could see snow capped peaks up above us but did not encounter any on the road or about it. Around 12,000 feet we passed patches of snow on the mountain adjacent to ours and around 13,000 feet all the neighbouring mountains had snow except the one we were on. Wonder how that happens. Is it the traffic, that warms this mountain? Our first sight of snow on our mountain was around 14000 feet along the edges of the road and when we reached Zero Point, the valley and the mountain was covered in snow.
We walk up into the snow and climb up the slope as high as we can. Radhika stopped at probably 20 feet up the slope, me at 40 feet, Akshaye at 60 feet and Anand went on to close to 80 feet up before he felt dizzy and had to be helped back down. The altitude is a killer and any physical activity needs to be done carefully and slowly.

But the place is so beautiful and ringed with snowy mountains that it;s a visual treat for snow starved souls like me.

It was only 9 am and we had finished our main objective of the day, to play in the snow at Zero Point. We had a long drive ahead of us - return to Yumthang, return our snow gear, go on to Lachung, have lunch and then return to Gangtok. All in the same day. On our way back the clear weather gave way to clouds and then rain. The roads were now turning to slush and the scenery was turning from silver, white and blue to gray, brown and black.

They call North Sikkim as "The land of peace and tranquility" It is all that and more. It could also be called "the land of waterfalls" there are so many of them. Every turn in the road brings us to a waterfall (some exaggeration) and streams, streamlets and rivulets are accompanying you where ever you go. 

The journey back was uneventful except for the road conditions, the scenery and the rains that were heart stopping as well as spectacular. We reached Lachung in time for lunch (around 12:30). The lady had prepared some hot rice, dhal and subzi ( no guesses, only aloo). After grabbing our bags and bidding farewell we headed back to Gangtok, and reached around 7:00 pm. The journey back took a little longer because of the rains and the bad roads. Upcoming traffic was heavy on that road since they were allowed late due to repairs on some sections due to landslide.

Finally we got back to civilisation and electricity. I could now charge my phone again and we had mobile connectivity again.