Wandering along Kanchenjunga Day 4 Part 1

                               

Day 4 Part 1

Today was a day meant to travel through the meandering roads of the Himalayas... Our destination was the Nathu La Pass the link between India and China...where the pilgrims to Manas Sarovar cross over to enter the Chinese territory, The Tibet Autonomous Region....

Nathu La is a restricted territory. Only if the permit is issued in our favour do we get the entry and it is not always issued. Only 40 vehicles per day are allowed depending on the weather is allowed. The permit is issued only a day earlier and we were informed that we had got one.... 

To collect the permit we entered the city. On our way out we had to pass by the Sikkim Legislative Assembly Complex... That is a fairly new building built in 1993, in traditional Sikkimese design... 

The stability provided by a single leadership for the past 24 years reflects in the public works.

 

As soon as we passed the Legislative Complex, the mighty Kanchenjunga was visible over the roof of houses far beyond... That was an indication of clear weather in the higher altitudes... It is said... One does not see the Kanchenjunga, she lets you see her... We hoped she would be kind enough to let us see her during our stay....

With the weather on our side and the permit in hand, a good omen, we set out. The journey  indeed was all I had expected and some more... When we started from Gangtok, the vegetation was mostly sub-tropical, a mixture of Fig, Teak, Sal and varieties of Bamboos...  As we crossed the check post, permits and documents were verified and so were our ID Cards by Sikkim Police.... Soon we came across  temperate vegetation of Oak, Chestnut, Maple, Birch and Silver Fir.  We crossed various hamlets..more of temporary settlements...

 

The face of the mountains are cut to make meandering roads... These are quite narrow yet give a good thrill with an experienced driver behind the wheels... Once we enter the territory of Border Security Forces, roads are well maintained by BRO... Border Road Organisation.... Constant repairs are undertaken as the hills are made up of foliate and scaly metamorphic rocks highly susceptible to weathering and erosion... Landslides are a common occurrence and its vestiges are visible on the terrain...  

                                                                                                                         
We had to cross the barracks of the Black Cats... then the Bengal Sappers and finally the 17 Mountain Division Regiment... 

At the onset of our trip to Nathu La...  our driver pointed out the peak we were supposed to scale... Though a bit distant it was easily visible. But to reach it we needed to traverse the winding roads on quite a few peaks... 

The ascension and the descent while going from one peak to the other is a treat. You come across numerous U-pin bends without respite...When you look towards the horizon, you think that you are in parallel to the various peaks. The euphoria cannot really be described. But.. as you see the ravines below,  you realize that you are at a different height altogether. Each time we passed a mountain it presented before us a mystical delight. 

We were treated to the views of various mountain ranges of this part of Himalaya in succession... Both the sky and the peaks vied with each other... They were in different hues of blue... The beauty of it could not be captured by any camera but the minds eye... 

As we went to higher altitudes, the Alpine  vegetation of the Junipers,  the Cypresses and the Rhododendrons covered the terrain.  We were greeted by cold winds and then the snow hugging the slopes.. letting us know that we had reached above 12,000 ft. from the mean sea level. The snowfall of previous night had cast a thin blanket on the slopes and was slowly melting when the sun showered it's warmth... We could see them in streaks along the leeward side of projected surface...Of course we were ensconced in the warmth of woolen... 

As we rode to higher altitude we could feel the symptoms of  altitude sickness... We could see some vehicles with permits returning half way through. 

When we got down at the Nathu La parking area we covered ourselves with warmer clothing.. and had our nose and mouth covered to facilitate easier breathing through the mouth... As instructed we climbed slowly the steps leading to Nathu La... Nathu means Listening Ears and La means Pass in Tibetean. It is an off shoot of the ancient Silk Road. It is one of the three points of transaction of goods between India and China.

             The red small building atop the mount is in the Indian side next to the Pass...

There, we were greeted by Soldiers of our Army who pointed out various points such as the Indian territory... the Chinese territory... the Bhutanese territory... the Bhutanese peak Jomolhari... Now we had reached the incredible height of  (14140 ft/4310m) And we were having quite a tough time. It made us wonder how our Bravehearts weather the weather, weather the enemies, weather out the loneliness along with combating the lack of oxygen. Reaching that height we had scaled just half of the height of Mount Everest and were without much fizz left!

At Nathu La... We saw a lone Chinese soldier patrolling... We were cautioned not to use the phones either for communication or photography in the interest of National safety... Time and again we were cautioned not to put forward even a step into the Chinese territory as the lone sentry with a camera would grab the chance to make a huge hue and cry out of it.... Mid way of the steps to the Pass is a War Memorial... Paying our salutations to the Brave hearts, we turned around.... we could see vast stretches of  arid mountains.... A terrain that needs to be constantly monitored and any lapse is at the cost of one's life. No retakes...

                                                         ~~~ oOo ~~~