[Sheel]

Do trips happen at a short notice of 30mins, that too at 4 am in the morning?

Well, in my case it happened. Though my cousin was persisting me for this trip since long, courtesy : a member ship pass to a resort Summit @ Gangtok, Sikkim.

By 5am, we (me & my wife) were good to go. We were 9 people (2 kids) in 2 Cars. My Figo D and a Estilo.

A start at that hour saw us closing on Siliguri by 7:30 despite loo & fuel top up breaks.

But then, we were grounded at Siliguri till 10 in the morning.

A teaser for what was in store for us

To Sikkim and hopefully Nathu-La, in pursuit of snow.

[Sheel]

What makes us grounded? I was busy a day earlier and could not obtain PUC for my Car. Though I was sure we wouldn't be stopped as Puja was over (just) and cops would have had their fill. But no one knows what destiny has in store for you and you might be checked for things you don't have.

So, we wasted good more than an hour checking out various shops issuing PUC, but due to Puja (right after Dashmi on 25th October) most were in holiday mood.

Finally at around 10, the shop opened, we obtained the PUC and we left for hills.

Everyone was in holiday mood & hence we weren't rushing & stopping quite often.

Kids = Momos, chow-mein

Women = Window shop, more than shopping.

The progress was a bit slow for other reason as well. Slides. Not actual, but previous ones, causing the roads to be narrow and to be not in good condition.

We reached Gangtok, Sikkim by 3 in the after noon and then the search for the Resort began.

Picture while entering Gangtok

[Sheel]

We landed at the said resort & were left wanting.

Not only were the prices inflated, there weren't rooms or villas available as well. Complete occupancy.

We were dejected & hungry. Dejected as it was quite far away (being a resort) and had to do multiple steep incline 1st gear climbs to reach.

Hungry? Well, no proper breakfast or lunch. And it was 3 in the afternoon.

We had spotted another resort on way & landed there. There weren't rooms available, but the manager was kind enough to provide a guy who would take us to another hotel.

The Hotel where we stayed was named Hotel Le Greens. It was near the Helipad.





The only one @ Gangtok. It was easy to locate.

The Hotel was nothing fancy. We were quoted Rs. 5,100 for 3 rooms which dropped down to Rs. 3,700 after bargaining.

I got a room at the top floor, while the views were splendid, it got quite chilly.

Both the Cars are parked after their first sojourn to the hills.

[Sheel]

We went to see the local market on foot (kids couldn't & hired taxis later)

The aim was to have good food, buy some woolens & soak in the atmosphere.

Morning at Gangtok

Pawan Hans in all its glory



About to take off



Innumerable small paths leading to houses



Beautiful houses & loved the way they decorate them. I believe they do the same in Europe as well.

[Sheel]

We headed to the famous MG Market.

Loved the concept of this market. No traffic & most importantly, no horns, no litter, no garbage.

MG Market



Interesting sculptures at Hotel Bayul.







Chilly Chicken



Veg Manchurian & Chilly Paneer



Excuse the no. of forks here . We were hungry as hell & it tasted yum. Pork Sekwa.

[Sheel]

After shopping, soaking in the atmosphere & enjoying the no horn/vehicle zone, we approached for permits for visiting Nathu-La.

We had no option, but to take a taxi. Maybe the Estilo could have made it, but my Figo? No chance. There are non existent roads (as reported) and the taxi union is strong enough to make it hard for private vehicles to get permit.

You require two colored photographs and one identification proof. We approached the one where MG Market starts (at the right side).

With permits & taxi fare, it came to Rs. 9,500 for 9 people. Now that is steep considering you got to travel merely 50kms and that too in a vehicle in which there is no carpet. And yes, during peak season, renting a taxi can shame the fare of an S-Class. It goes upto Rs.40,000 on some good days.

We had a day to ourselves and thought to utilize it by doing local sightseeing.

You are fleeced again. The taxi guy promises 7 point sight seeing or 9, but few are hardly worth. The places worth visiting aren't shown as either they are high up (Hanuman Top being a prime example) or they realize that you know zilch about & would take a lot of time. The zoo & the aquarium. Maybe next time.

We visited a flower garden, a monastery, Tashi Top and the rope-way point.

Few pictures of the local sightseeing.

View from the Tashi Top of the beautiful curvaceous road



Flower garden and few pictures





The mood (not us, but family friend)



View from Ganesha top





A random waterfall





I loved the architecture of the buildings of Sikkim, here is one at full zoom



And Pawan Hans retires for the night

[Sheel]

Today was going to be an exhilarating day. I am going to be at the highest altitude I ever have been. My wife has stayed for a good part at Tawang and Patnitop, so she wasn't as twitchy as I was.

We woke up early today, had light breakfast, carried ration (consisting of juices, soft drinks, noodles, fruits and some others) Unsure as to what would be available at the top, this much was required.

Though we were ready by 9, the taxi took its own sweet time to arrive, allowing me to enjoy Moto 3 and Moto 2 Races. I knew I wouldn't be able to watch the Moto GP and I was right. As soon as the chequered flag got waved for the Moto 2, the Bolero+ arrived.

Saw for the first time and couldn't resist clicking Let me tell you that their doo doo smells awful though.



This was up in the mountains, zoomed, but couldn't make out as to what it is, any guesses?



This is how roads were (it is a much better picture depicting the condition BTW)



My first sighting of the snow :-)



At Nathula



Nathula



Mera Bharat Mahan



Kirloskar genset



Random picture



Us

[Sheel]

Few more pictures of in and around Nathula

Important Directions



Powerful RWD anyone? Smoke it till kingdom arrives



Standing ovation



Random pictures now...

[Sheel]

Baba Harbhajan Singh Ji Mandir. Interesting details about him can be found on WWW. You may read a bit here

Pictures now...





What are these? Khachhars?





View of Chaangu lake while descending from Nathula





And this is the most beautiful picture I have ever shot in my life time. It is RAW, no editing & shot from a humble camera having 10 MP and 10X zoom

[Sheel]

Last set of photos :-

Snow clad mountains





Bellissima!!





We returned to the Hotel and retired. In the morning, there was nothing much to do save for packing bags, loading it up in the Car & settling bills.

Very intelligently, the Hotel Manager put the check out date as 30th Oct instead of 29th. Realized later.

The few last pictures



All downhill



We reached Siliguri at around 5 in the evening after encountering jams in the hills. The women as usual shopped till we dropped Had an early dinner and started for home (Purnea) at 9:30. I had to cruise at 90kmph thanks to an over-packed Car. My Car without any judders can pull from 50kmph in 5th. Today it had to be whipped. Reached at 12 mid-night. No stops in the mid BTW.

The total distance came to some ~650kms.

Fuel was consumed at 14kilometers to a liter.

Other expenses per head came to approx Rs. 5,000 per head.

Thanks for reading. Signing off...

[Eddy]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing.

[SS-Traveller]

That was a nice, short and sweet trip! Seems the road condition to Nathu La is not as bad as it used to be. Did you face landslides and slush on the way, especially since it was snowing?

[TaureanBull]

So many Nostalgic memories attached to this trip, I had undertaken during Sep 2009. Thank a lot for reliving those memories.

Few things:-

1. Not advisable to take own vehicle unless an SUV/vehicle with good road clearance.

2. Covering number of points in Gangtok is a money making business. Only 4-5 of them are worth visiting. Anyway not possible to cover all of them comfortable in one day. So relax sit and enjoy the ones one likes.

3. MG road market is indeed a nice concept and worth a visit.

4. The army post at Nathu La gives a "certifcate" and some badges on payment which can be a good memorabilia.

5. One gets a good view into Chinese area from the top and gets to see the nice black top roads on other side.

6. People keep "water bottles" at Baba Harbhajan Mandir to be blessed by Baba. Some even keep for months. The blessed water is supposedly curative.

[Sheel]

Originally Posted by SS-Traveller

That was a nice, short and sweet trip!

Thanks

Seems the road condition to Nathu La is not as bad as it used to be. Did you face landslides and slush on the way, especially since it was snowing?

Slush was there and lots of it. Imagine someone else driving, a Bolero, on resole tires. Creeps

Originally Posted by TaureanBull

So many Nostalgic memories attached to this trip, I had undertaken during Sep 2009. Thank a lot for reliving those memories.

:-)

1. Not advisable to take own vehicle unless an SUV/vehicle with good road clearance.

Till Gangtok, any Car can go. Unsure about a Civic, but Figo isn't known for good GC and that too when it loaded. A bit careful & you shall be through.

2. Covering number of points in Gangtok is a money making business. Only 4-5 of them are worth visiting. Anyway not possible to cover all of them comfortable in one day. So relax sit and enjoy the ones one likes.

So very true.

3. MG road market is indeed a nice concept and worth a visit.

Wish we have something like this.

4. The army post at Nathu La gives a "certifcate" and some badges on payment which can be a good memorabilia.

5. One gets a good view into Chinese area from the top and gets to see the nice black top roads on other side.

Wasn't aware of these as it was freezing & snowing quite hard.

Thanks

[dreamseller]

Wow! Liked the impromptu idea of the trip. And nice pics to complement.

So, Nathu La was worse than Rohtang? The road conditions, I mean.