[turboNath]

There's a saying that bad roads often lead to beautiful destinations. This particular quote has always surprised me with some miraculous views in each and every road trip that I have been on since I started riding/driving many many summers ago.

If you're a lazy bengali with a small flame of adventure burning in your heart, then you must have visited/planned to visit Gurudongmar Lake atleast once in your lifetime. Located at a very convenient ~900kms away from Kolkata and tucked away behind the shadows of the Khangchengyao peak in North Sikkim, Gurudongmar Lake is tale of crystal clear blue waters in a landscape that resembles Moonland. This particular lake is the closest we can get to Ladakh's Pangong if we are on a tight time constraint.

While Pangong dwarfs it in terms of its vast expanse, Gurudongmar holds its own ground standing steadily at an altitude of 17800 feet above MSL. The lake's altitude varies from 17000 to 18000 feet in different versions of stories brought back by enthusiastic and adventurous Youtubers but for this tale, let us stick to what Wikipedia suggests .

Planning
After my recent trip to Latpanchar during Holi, my heart was pining for another taste of Eastern Himalayas and the outlook calendar had a positive news for me in the shape of 'Good Friday'. This is one of my favorite holidays in a year since it has the highest probability of falling on a Friday which means it's going to be a long weekend!
But this time it will have to be on two wheels since it had been almost 2.5 years since I last took out Nemo, my orange Interceptor 650 for a proper ride. The lockdown had been especially hard on her with the ODO meter reflecting a measly 1500kms during the fateful Covid era. I spoke to my elder brother who owns a Dominar 400 and he was already 'in' even before getting to the planning part. After a few suggestions in and around North Bengal, we decided upon Gurudongmar since that would give us a small taste of adventure in a very short span of time.

This would be my 5th attempt to scale that lake and yet I was terribly excited as if it were my first! The plan was extremely simple -

Day 1 - Kolkata to Lachen
Day 2 - Lachen to Gurudongmar and back to Lachen
Day 3 - Lachen to Kolkata

Google Maps suggested 19 hours for the first leg (Kolkata - Lachen) and I knew that we wouldn't have much time to run around for permits once we crossed into North Sikkim. I contacted few travel agents in Mangan and finally decided to go ahead with one who seemed as enthusiastic as us! By this time three more riders had got onboard with the plan. Two of them would be riding from Kolkata with us and the third rider will be joining us from Kalimpong.

With the plan set, it was time for a quick checkup of our bikes and I conveniently availed Royal Enfield's Service on Wheels so that I could still attend office meetings while keeping an eye on the RE mechanic checking up on Nemo.
Based on my last 3 years experience with Nemo, I knew there wouldn't be any mechanical issues with the bike but getting a puncture at the middle of the night with no towns in sight started giving me nightmares (although my bike was running on FormulaX coated tubes).
That prompted me to consult the RE manual along with some helpful DIY videos from Royal Enfield's Youtube channel and very soon I was able to remove and refit my rear wheel without much trouble.
Since this was going to be a very short trip, I kept the luggage at an absolute minimum and settled for 1 tank bag, 1 saddle bag along with my existing top box. Apart from the essentials, I carried a portable battery powered tire inflator, inner tube repairing kit, one extra tube and an assortment of spanners and wrenches, and 2 5 litre kerosene jars for carrying additional fuel.

After a long and arduous wait of 1 week, 14th April finally showed up on the calendar and our trip was imminent.

The Adventure Begins - Day 1

Our 4 engines fired up at 6pm with a combined displacement of 2000+ cc (2 X Interceptor, 1X Himalayan, 1 X Dominar 400) !
We took our favorite STKK route that takes one through Dankuni-Mogra-Nabadwip-Krishnanagar-Baharampur-Palshanda.
We had already planned to take breaks during fuel stops since all of our bikes had similar ranges. The first fuel stop was right before Baharampur and basic math showed that Nemo was giving more than 25 kmpl even with a lot of spirited riding. We decided to have dinner at a place called 'Pappu Da Dhaba' which has existed since 1970 at Palshanda.

Till that point we had covered a little over 250kms in 4hours and the bikes simply felt wonderful to munch miles on.

Post dinner, we continued our journey hitting the NH34 and proceeded towards the first bypass road - Malda bypass. As it was well past midnight, we were wary of closed down fuel pumps and sleepy pump attendants. Hence we decided to stop early at 130kms mark (from the last fuel stop) to ensure that we will have enough fuel till dawn. This petrol pump is open 24X7 and is located near to the famous Pardesi Dhaba in Malda where we stopped for a quick Nescafe break. I did a quick visual inspection of the tires and everything looked good.

As we soldiered on, the roads seemed to get better and better and very soon we found ourselves near Ghoshpukur. This particular region holds a special place in my heart since one gets to see the first tea gardens in this area and it is really a wonderful feeling after a long night ride from another corner of the state.

By this time we were nearing the 600kms mark and it was time to clean and lubricate the chains. We also cleaned our helmet visor for the second time since it easily gets coated with greasy diesel and bug splatter whenever you're riding at night.

Google Maps still showed that we had 6 hours to go before we arrived at Lachen and hence we decided to continue till our breakfast stop post Sevoke. The straight smooth asphalt road through the clean and green Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary at Sevoke was extremely eye soothing and that infused new vigor. We stopped for a quick breakfast at a small food joint, 30kms away from the Sevoke railway crossing.

As our hungry stomachs waited for bowls of piping hot egg maggi and tea, this fluffy pupper kept us busy with his constant requirement of belly rubs!

Post breakfast we continued towards the WB-Sikkim border at Rangpo. Petrol was trending at 111 in Sikkim against 115 at WB and we lost no time in ensuring that our bikes had a heavy 'breakfast' as well. There are some bad patches of road before Rangpo and a lot of construction work is going on which meant we were covered in a layer of white sand while attempting to negotiate the potholes and craters behind trucks and other vehicles.
We took the Singtam-Dikchu road bypassing Gangtok to reach Mangan. In the previous week, Bhpian Mile_Breaker had faced a dry petrol pump at Mangan (the last petrol pump if you're going towards Lachen/Lachung) and had asked me to refuel at another BPCL 10kms before Mangan. We tanked up at that station and also filled up the fuel jars with an additional 10 litres of fuel per bike. We estimated that this would allow us to start from Lachen with full tanks on Day 3 and we could stretch till Rangpo without another fuel stop during the return leg.

Our permits were already ready and we heaved a great sigh of relief on finally holding that piece of paper in our own hands. Nothing could stop us now ! Oh wait ! There was a landslide right before the first checkpost of North Sikkim - Toong. As we waited for the JCBs to work their magic and open the road, we grabbed a quick snack break at a small joint before Toong.

By this time the rains had started and we had to cross several slush patches which was definitely a big challenge for the interceptor's highway oriented tires. But overall the bike seemed planted and that wonderful low end grunt ensured that I could overcome those obstacles pretty easily.

The landslide finally got cleared after 1 hour and the remaining road to Lachen was uneventful. The Theng tunnel after Toong was mostly devoid of traffic and we zoomed into Lachen within the next 1.5 hours. Total time taken was 19 hours including stoppage time of 2.5 hours.

'The sleepy hamlet of Lachen'




'Home sweet home for a lucky soul'


'Sentinels of Lachen'

And with that Day 1 of our trip came to an end with the promise of adventure saved up for the next morning !

The Adventure Continues - Day 2

Next day we ended up departing from Lachen at 6:30 am (1 hour delay from our scheduled departure time). This meant that by the time we hit the road, most of the tourist vehicles were already making their way up to the Thangu checkpost billowing thick black fumes. The road condition from Lachen to Thangu is great with many fascinating corners and that allowed us to have some fun on those twisties.

'It's been so long darling since I gazed into your eyes'

The rumbling exhaust note from the Interceptor seemed like a perfect tune in that heavenly setting. North Sikkim is incredibly beautiful and if you're not careful enough, you will find yourself stopping every now and then to capture those mesmerizing sights and sounds.

We cleared the formalities at Thangu (Sikkim Police checkpost) under 5 minutes and proceeded towards the last Army checkpost at Gaigaon. The stretch between Thangu and Gaigaon is not in a good shape and you will have broken patches of road with lots of undulations. However, if you're a bit careful, you can easily take a low GC vehicle along. At Gaigaon, we stopped for a quick breakfast break with Aloo Pakoras and delicious coffee. All charged up, we proceeded towards the lake at full throttle. The last 12 kms is a heavenly piece of tarmac that offers stunning views of the cold-desert landscape along with lofty high peaks.

Screengrab from GoPro

900 meters before the lake, the road breaks off from the main highway and becomes an off-road patch that delights all motorists. In this stretch you can literally 'make your own road' and proceed as per your choice.

Screengrab from GoPro

Nemo made it seem very easy and very soon I found myself standing right beside one of my favorite lakes - the mighty Gurudongmar Lake.

Gurudongmar lake can take up any shade of blue that you can ever imagine !

No brownie points for guessing my favorite sticker !

We decided to hike down to the lake shoreline in order to get close to the crystal clear water. The view down below was even more wonderful with a portion of the lake still frozen.

We spent around 3 hours by the lake shore until it was late afternoon and the high velocity winds were starting to resemble cyclones of dust spiraling towards the blue skies. We hurriedly packed up and proceeded back towards Gaigaon after a quick photo session with our 'wild horses'.

The journey back to Lachen mostly included impulsive stops along the route to gaze at unknown waterfalls, lesser known peaks and familiar avifauna from the high altitude region.

North Sikkim had us in a trance with every corner. I wish we could have stayed back if not forever then at least for another week ! But then again civilization was calling us back and we had to oblige grudgingly.

The Adventure comes to an End - Day 3
We started at 6:30am from Lachen on Sunday and reached home at 11:30pm. The ride back from Lachen to Kolkata passed us by in a blur and the entire experience felt surreal. Rushing from Kolkata to Gurudongmar for a glimpse of the blue waters kept reminding me of one of my favorite songs by Marty Robbins -

"All day I've faced a barren waste
Without the taste of water, cool water
Old Dan (Nemo) and I with throats burned dry
And souls that cry for water
Cool, clear water".

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[Rajjay]

What an awesome place to visit. Your pictures are breathtaking.

[ABHI_1512]

A burst of adrenaline on a hot and humid Wednesday morning, just enough before the vagaries of work takes over the head which is now in a tailspin. What a blitzkrieg of a ride TurboNath, I admire the tenacity more than the perseverance in taking that journey to the heavenly lake, that too in such short span of time. I would have expected some more pictures though, we deserve more for sure, knowing how much of a good photographer you are.

I am going to miss your child like exuberance once you shift to the garden city. Keep traveling and be well, Nemo has got a worthy person to look after her and I am sure, she will go places.

[Neversaygbye]

Well, what can I say TurboNath? You and your companions not only have a sense of adventure but also the fearlessness, tenacity, stamina and riding skills to go with it. Doing Gurudongmar on a bike within 3 days is no mean feat. Your trip will undoubtedly be an inspiration to many - it is to me too but I doubt i will be able to act upon it, at least with a bike. Great TL and loved the pics. Will miss your cheerful presence in our meets once you move to Bangalore. Calcutta's loss will be Bangalore's gain, but I suppose we will get to see TLs of the places you will be conquering from Blr, so it won't be all that bad!

[CR07]

Breathtaking pictures! Me and my fiance plan to visit Sikkim and WB (darjeeling) next month on a 6 day trip. Please help with following queries-

1) Is the high altitude an issue to be concerned for us normal folks? I heard you get massive headaches post returning from such altitudes.
2) We will be using a private cab if we decide to include Gurudomgar in our itinary. Is there any timeline at which the Lake is to be visited? I heard fierce winds blow past 4PM, and it's not permitted to visit Gurudomgar at that time.

[Sandman689]

In our corporate world, we are often told that "Execution is key". Your little trip is hard evidence for the same. A round trip from Gurudongmar Lake in just over a weekend is quite and achievement TurboNath!

Mesmerizing Travelogue! Rated 5 stars.

[vijayols]

Originally Posted by CR07

Breathtaking pictures! Me and my fiance plan to visit Sikkim and WB (darjeeling) next month on a 6 day trip. Please help with following queries-

1) Is the high altitude an issue to be concerned for us normal folks? I heard you get massive headaches post returning from such altitudes.
2) We will be using a private cab if we decide to include Gurudomgar in our itinary. Is there any timeline at which the Lake is to be visited? I heard fierce winds blow past 4PM, and it's not permitted to visit Gurudomgar at that time.

High altitude travels(generally 10k feet and above) comes with the risk of AMS (Acute Mountain sickness) which will have symptoms like diziness,feeling short of breath,acute headache,blue lips,drop in body oxygen levels etc.This does not hit everyone and is caused on altitude gain above 1000 feet in a day.Not having been hit earlier also doesn't guarantee that AMS would not hit this time.Hopefully it does not aggravate to HAPE.

Simple solutions could be being hydrated/avoid alcohol and go for a preventive diamox tablet course before the journey.

To reach Gurudongmor lake aim to reach by 10 am and leave by 11.30 if possible Aim for a 3.30 to 4 am start I guess.

[Truck_Monk]

Simply Wow! Mr. TurboNath your first and the last pic are enough to make me feel simply awesome. I didn't read your travelogue because those pics are not letting me to take my eyes off.

To be very true that made my heart filled with joy.

[edunata]

Beautiful. Short and sweet TL. Kudos to you for achieving this feat. When you have said previously 'Behala to Lachen', I thought you were just joking. But you have made the ~900km journey at one go. It was just amazing.:

[Samba]

Brilliant!
People plan for weekend trips from Kolkata to Santiniketan or Digha, but you guys have made it till Gurudongmar and that too on bikes. Hats off!
Even with a car, I will think twice before attempting such a hectic drive, leave apart a bike!
Plus most of the people get badly affected by ams and are not able to stay for more than 30 mins at this lake, but you guys managed to stay there for three hours!
Kudos to your fellow riders too.

Am sure you guys are super humans.
The thread title aptly says “conquers”, this is no less then conquering!

[SanSabh]

Wonderful, well organised and well enjoyed adventure, Turbonath! You've obviously made a quick recovery too. That's a sign of good fitness
I hope someday I too will be able to visit this heavenly spot
In the meantime, welcome to Bangalore!

[Sayata]

Hats off to you . You have really done a very commendable job . Brilliant travelogue .

[turboNath]

Originally Posted by Rajjay

What an awesome place to visit. Your pictures are breathtaking.

Thanks Rajjay for the compliment! It is indeed a heavenly sight to behold !

Originally Posted by ABHI_1512

A burst of adrenaline on a hot and humid Wednesday morning, just enough before the vagaries of work takes over the head which is now in a tailspin. What a blitzkrieg of a ride TurboNath, I admire the tenacity more than the perseverance in taking that journey to the heavenly lake, that too in such short span of time. I would have expected some more pictures though, we deserve more for sure, knowing how much of a good photographer you are.

I am going to miss your child like exuberance once you shift to the garden city. Keep traveling and be well, Nemo has got a worthy person to look after her and I am sure, she will go places.

Thanks ABHI_1512 for the kind words ! This journey felt actually much easier than we had initially thought it to be. All the bikes performed brilliantly both in the plains and also in the mountains which made the mile munching considerably easy. I also wanted to capture a lot of birds in and around Lachen but had to give it a miss due to time and space constraints. 90% of the images are shot on my phone. But hey, there’s always a next time !

As for Bangalore, I will be probably shifting by mid June but that definitely won’t stop me from missing too many Maharani breakfast meets with all of you! I also hope Nemo gets to enjoy the treasures of South India real soon!

Originally Posted by Neversaygbye

Well, what can I say TurboNath? You and your companions not only have a sense of adventure but also the fearlessness, tenacity, stamina and riding skills to go with it. Doing Gurudongmar on a bike within 3 days is no mean feat. Your trip will undoubtedly be an inspiration to many - it is to me too but I doubt i will be able to act upon it, at least with a bike. Great TL and loved the pics. Will miss your cheerful presence in our meets once you move to Bangalore. Calcutta's loss will be Bangalore's gain, but I suppose we will get to see TLs of the places you will be conquering from Blr, so it won't be all that bad!

Thanks a lot Neversaygbye ! You can definitely take your steed to this amazing lake and come back with a heap of memories. As for me, I will shuttle between Kolkata and Bangalore whenever I can and that will ensure my ‘attendance’ in most of our Kolkata meets!

Originally Posted by CR07

Breathtaking pictures! Me and my fiance plan to visit Sikkim and WB (darjeeling) next month on a 6 day trip. Please help with following queries-

1) Is the high altitude an issue to be concerned for us normal folks? I heard you get massive headaches post returning from such altitudes.
2) We will be using a private cab if we decide to include Gurudomgar in our itinary. Is there any timeline at which the Lake is to be visited? I heard fierce winds blow past 4PM, and it's not permitted to visit Gurudomgar at that time.

Thanks CR07 !
It’s great to hear about your upcoming trip.
1) I don’t think you will have any problems because you will be staying at that high altitude for a very short duration and very few people actually end up having severe issues. In case you feel any discomfort your hired cab will promptly bring you back to Gaigaon where you will have full Army support with respect to oxygen and other essentials. Please don’t worry about it and if you’re still apprehensive, I will suggest you to go with a small portable oxygen cylinder.

2)Well the short answer is as early as possible. Try to depart from Lachen by 5:30am which will ensure your arrival at Thangu by 7am and you will cross Gaigaon by 8. If you maintain this you will definitely reach the lake by 9 and come back to Lachen by 11:30am.
Gaigaon doesn’t allow tourists to proceed towards the lake post 11am.

Please feel free to message me in case you need additional information.

Originally Posted by Sandman689

In our corporate world, we are often told that "Execution is key". Your little trip is hard evidence for the same. A round trip from Gurudongmar Lake in just over a weekend is quite and achievement TurboNath!

Mesmerizing Travelogue! Rated 5 stars.

Thanks a lot Sandman689 ! I bet your gallant white knight will love to climb up and enjoy these views as well. Please do plan a trip soon (if you haven’t already). An extended weekend will be more than enough !

Originally Posted by Truck_Monk

Simply Wow! Mr. TurboNath your first and the last pic are enough to make me feel simply awesome. I didn't read your travelogue because those pics are not letting me to take my eyes off.

To be very true that made my heart filled with joy.

Thanks Truck_Monk ! That lake is simply breathtaking and it’s one of the reasons why I love to visit Gurudongmar every now and then !

Originally Posted by edunata

Beautiful. Short and sweet TL. Kudos to you for achieving this feat. When you have said previously 'Behala to Lachen', I thought you were just joking. But you have made the ~900km journey at one go. It was just amazing.:

Thanks edunata ! With the current state of the STKK route, planning a short weekend trip to North Bengal has become extremely feasible nowadays! I dream of a day when we will start to cover Kolkata - Siliguri within 6 hours

Originally Posted by Samba

Brilliant!
People plan for weekend trips from Kolkata to Santiniketan or Digha, but you guys have made it till Gurudongmar and that too on bikes. Hats off!
Even with a car, I will think twice before attempting such a hectic drive, leave apart a bike!
Plus most of the people get badly affected by ams and are not able to stay for more than 30 mins at this lake, but you guys managed to stay there for three hours!
Kudos to your fellow riders too.

Am sure you guys are super humans.
The thread title aptly says “conquers”, this is no less then conquering!

Thanks a ton Samba ! The STKK route has made it possible to complete this trip comfortably. I am sure Duster can do it in two days ! On the second day you will need to drive down from 17.8k feet to 0 feet ! We had plans to stay even longer but as the winds started blowing rapidly, we had to turn back.
Thanks again for your encouraging words !

Originally Posted by SanSabh

Wonderful, well organised and well enjoyed adventure, Turbonath! You've obviously made a quick recovery too. That's a sign of good fitness
I hope someday I too will be able to visit this heavenly spot
In the meantime, welcome to Bangalore!

Thanks SanSabh for your compliments but my eternal love for Biryani has ensured my fitness level stays close to the mean sea level but somehow it hasn’t affected me at all in this or in my previous trips to high altitude regions. Maybe there’s a God of Biryani who keeps a watchful eye on this mortal subject.

Thanks for your warm welcome. Will definitely love to meet you and fellow Bhpians once I am in Bangalore !

Originally Posted by Sayata

Hats off to you . You have really done a very commendable job . Brilliant travelogue .

Thanks a lot Sayata ! I am glad that you have enjoyed this travelogue.

[hashwin]

Looks like an amazingly beautiful ride.
There is nothing like Maggi in the mountains!