The Plan : I am an amateur but enthusiastic photographer, who just bought his first camera and the excitement was at cloud 9. Added to that a trip to the Himalayas was due for quite sometime. After months of planning and preparation I along with my family members finally sorted out the time and planned the trip for October 2018. We planned to start our trip from Kolkata followed by Siliguri-Gangtok-Lachen-Lachung-Siliguri and finally back to Kolkata. The time was very limited and I had to come up with what ever knowledge that I have accumulated in the mean time.
"Good bye City of Joy" : We started our journey from Shealdah station via Darjeeling mail at 10:05pm on 18th October. Their was a mixed feeling of sadness and joy, not because we were leaving our city but because it was the last day of Durga Puja. The streets were glowing bright with lights as we departed from the station. We had our dinner and then the night was good. I mean the sleep was pretty nice.
Day 1 : Siliguri to Gangtok - We reached Siliguri around 8am. Our car was booked and our hotel was at Mangan(around 4km downhill from Gangtok). We had our breakfast on the way and reached Gangtok around 2pm. We started feeling a certain chillness in the temperature which we gladly accepted. We spent the whole day roaming around and did some shopping.
Day 2 : Gangtok to Lachen - We started our journey at around 9 am after having our breakfast. Our driver told us that it will take at around 6hrs to reach there(including the meal that we were about to have on our way). The main spots on the way are Seven-sister falls, Naga Falls & Chungthang. Though I had seen few images of these places before on google, flickr and 500px but those image were enough to give a clear idea about the place. So I had no idea how long will it take for me to find at-least some good images and more over how much time will it take. After travelling for around 32km from Gangtok we reach the first spot that is Seven sister falls.
Our Driver gave us just around 15 min hardly since we had a long way to go and time is crucial. To get the best of the composition of this waterfall one had to get wet and go down the plunge-pool. But since it was way too time consuming I decided not to and settled myself with a simple long exposure shot.
The roads were not exceptionally good but not so bad either. We reached Mangan when it was 1pm. We had our lunch. It cost 200/head for a non-veg thali.
We had no idea that the next waterfalls that we were about to witness will be so huge. Naga falls is also a multi tier waterfall but whats more amazing is the plungpool that it creates. Its just amazing. The grandest view is enough to take anyone's concentration. We spent nearly 30 mints over there and composing the Falls is really tough owing to its high and multi layers.
Next stop Chungthnag. We traveled around 15km from naga falls and at around 4pm we reached Chungthnag which was already under clouds and the temperature was dropping. For Chungthnag it is famous for two reasons, the first one is that it lies at the confluence of lachen chu and lachung chu the two tributaries of Teesta. The second reason is the construction the hydel power project that is under process.
No plastic water bottles are allowed after this point. You have to buy water bottle for the local shops for Rs.80. You can return the bottles while returning and will refund you Rs.50 per bottle. Rates can vary from shop to shop. After this we finally headed for our hotel at lachen.
It started raining at around 5pm while we were still on the car. Darkness and temperature started to fall and finally when we reached Lachen it was 6:30pm and the temperature was 8 degrees Celsius. We went on to check our hotel rooms and to dress up and have our dinner. They serves dinner at 8 pm since every tourist along with us were about to leave the hotel next day at 3-4 am in the morning for the best view.
Day 3 : When I woke up from the sleep it was 3 am. I got dressed by 3:30 am took my camera and went outside the hotel. It was pitch dark. Believe me or not the first thing that I saw was a meteor falling. It was 20th October, the peak hours of Orion meteor shower.
The whole north Sikkim comes under the darkest of the night sky reserves in the whole north eastern India. So the best thing I could do was to set my camera on a tripod and enjoy the view, since there was not enough time go for complex compositions. I shoot for nearly 1 hr and captured numerous meteors in the process. And then we finally went for the Gurudongmar Lake. For the note, Gurudongmar lake is the second highest fresh water lake in India at an altitude of 17,500mts. It takes nearly 6/7hrs to reach there. Only Indians are allowed at these lake with special permission. We witnessed one of the best sunrise on the way.
The road from Lachen to gurudongmar is extremely beautiful and equally risky. We reached Thangu around 7am and had our breakfast there. Thangu is actually a military checkpost where they verify the documents. Photography in this region is strictly prohibited. Once going ahead you get a full view of the grand valley which is exquisitely beautiful.
As we traveled further uphill, the scene changes completely and the cold dessert starts with barren land and no vegetation. The temperature went sub zero and streams were frozen.
The Landscape represents a part of Ladakh and no picture is enough to describe how beautiful it is. We traveled for another 2 hours and finally reached The Gurudongmar lake at 9am. The oxygen level was low as we readily felt it. Most of family members were back at the car and I went towards the lake to capture atleast some of it.
The lake is not small. The radius is quite big and can take atleast 1hr to fully encirle it. Photographing the details was out of question as my family members started to feel the high altitude sickness and I couldn't even completed quarter of the lake. So I just captured a simple postcard image of the lake. One thing I forgot to mention is to see every picture in full screen since the website shows a different aspect ration.
I was a bit disappointed since I couldn't capture much of the image but soon I overcame it once the car started to roll. The view is just so mesmerizing that you will forget everything.
Next we headed to "KALA PATTHAR". This region lies after the Thangu valley and before the Gurudongmar lake. After around 1hour drive we reached there and the cold that was barren turned into snow covered region with atleast 2feet of snow everwhere.
The roads were extremely narrow and it was not possible to photograph everything. I don't think there is anyone who doesn't loves snow so we were actually on hurry to reach the main spot.
After spending an hour there and having some tea since we were frozen we started to head back and deep in our heart we knew this memories are going to stay forever.
The things that I will advise my fellow photographers is that to for compositions while you are on the road. We often sleep while coming back but that's not how it should be. The roads are actually exceptionally photogenic. But since it was raining heavily I could capture more. One more suggestion is that if you are with a oung group stay at Thangu. It is extremely picturesque and home-stay's are easily available. We reached our hotel at 4pm had our lunch and headed for Lachung. It was raining cats and dogs and nothing was visible. at around 7pm we reached there. The coulds were partially capturing the sky and a part of milkyway was visible. Hence I tried to capture it. But I realized that the sky is not completely clear and the humidity is affecting the quality of the image. And after 20 min the clouds came back and again the rainfall started. So I decided to have the dinner and believe me after 18hrs of continuous travelling I was dead.
Day 4
Lachung to Yumthang Valley :
Yumthang is know as the valley of flowers as it is Rhododendron sanctuary. But since it was autumn, it was not possible to see that beauty. It takes usually 2 hrs to reach Yumthang. So started at around 8 am. The roads are not good to be fair. Construction is going on as landslide often occurs.
Yumthang valley is actually a vista created by Lachung chu river and is very big. We spent nearly 3hrs there. And I am happy that I have atleast few good images that I can be happy with.
I was fully satisfied with What I have captured and we decided to not go to Zero point as will take more time and extra Rs. 3000. We headed back to our hotel. And just after that it started raining again. Glad we took that decision to head back.
We reached our hotel at 5pm and had our lunch. Spent some time together and at around 7pm we went outside just to see that it is still raining. So we had our dinner.
Day 5
The D day :
Except the sad part that we were about to leave for Siliguri I was happy that the trip was successful with ease. I clicked few images of the Lachung for one final time.
As we went towards Siliguri the last waterfall that we saw on the way Bhimnala waterfalls. I must say the waterfall is not huge but has a unique character to it which make it beautiful.
Day 6 : We spent the whole day at Siliguri and had our train at 2pm and headed back to the city of joy.
The entire trip cost 12500 per head. You can follow me up on Instagram : Tanay_das93
Thank you. This is the first time I am writing a blog. So Your suggestions are very much welcome. Love you all.
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