Nathula : Staring down the Chinese..

Next morning at 8 Anup went to the Army camp to hand over the letter. There he came to know that Army takes the letter and then a panel sits and decides whether to give permits or not. So basically its a full day process. This news really dampened our spirits as spending another day delay would mean a day less for Bhutan. In the mean time the others had gone to he market for breakfast and i was waiting for the Check Post office to open. I had asked others to get something to eat for me but it was 9:45 and they had not returned. i could not stand the hunger anymore and went to the market for a quick bite. Some pics taken on the way
This ain't any waterfall. Its the drain next to our hotel steps.. :)

Gangtok..



The MG Road of Gangtok..

Flower..

We ate in a German bakery. Lovely food.. View from the window

In the mean time Anup had made the impossible, possible. He had miraculously convinced some high ranking officer in Army to consider our case on as a special case and give us permission for Nathula. Quickly we rushed back to Check Post office and got the permits. We came to know that the gate to Nathula closes at 11am. A taxi driver told me it was open till 1pm. It was already 10. Till the time we packed our stuff, loaded it on the bikes and left it was 11:30am. We were joined by Phuentsok and Raol on their new R15's. So 7 of us left with the R15s leading the way. 5kms from Gangtok was the first check post where we needed to show the permits.
Anup with the checkpost officer

View from the place..

Gangtok is at a height of 5000 ft and the Nathula at 16500ft. So in a distance of 56kms, one climbs a height of 11500ft. Hence the climb was pretty steep. My P150 and Anup's 135cc Ambition had a pretty tough time climbing. I had to half clutch many times and once even had to ask others to push my bike up the incline. Constantly i was cursing my bike for being so useless and the bike must be cursing me for abusing it like this. After the checkpost it started raining. We quickly put on our rain gear. I had bought new Duckbag raincoats. Time to put them to a test. So we moved on amidst light rain. Along with the rain there were lots of clouds..

Since my bike was accelerating slowly and i could not afford to break the momentum. So once rpm reached 5000-6000, i dint break, just left the accelerator to slow down. People breaking in front of me broke my momentum. So i took the lead. The road was good with a few pot holes here and there.

But the rain had caused landslides and many places there was a lot of slush.
A landslide break..

the view of the valley

waiting for the road to be cleared..

another valley shot..

The rain dint give many chances for photography although whenever i got a chance i took out my umbrella and took a few pics. It was getting cold and the wet gloves were not helping much. The hands were freezing. Next we stopped at a tea stall. There was this waterfall near it. While the others bought some woolen gloves and tea i clicked on some pics..



Line up as we left the place..

All along the way there were lots of waterfalls..

As we rose higher, we were riding above the clouds..

We had to show permits at 2 more points. The second one was at the half way mark and it was already 2pm when we reached there. Amit suggested we skip stopping at Tsomgo Lake and not do anymore photography. This idea dint go that well in my system. So when we started again, i was leading and this time i dint slow down for others to catch up. Instead i reached Tsomgo Lake before others and stopped some quick shots.

After Tsomgo i rode last, stopping a few times for pics. View of the lake from top another hill..

By now the sky had cleared a bit and it wasnt raining. The clouds made a lovely portrait on the canvas of the blue sky, which sadly i wasnt able to capture as beautifully..

Soon we reached the Nathula gate, 4kms before Nathula. The army guard there said that the tourists were only allowed till 1:30pm and it was already 3pm. I tried some emotional blackmail. I told the guard how difficult it was for us to reach the place, in rain and cold. How we had gotten wet and how our hands were frozen. He checked with some senior and finally let us go. At 3:30 we reached Nathula and boy what joy it was.
The first bike to conqueor Nathula..

We were jumping around, congratulating each other, clicking pics. Even the Chinese guards on the other side climbed up to see what was happening.
The line-ups..


The gate to China..

View from the top..

After some photographs and chat with the locals, we left for Baba Mandir. I was again riding last and stopping a lot for the pics..
A lake near Nathula..

Going closer i saw there were actually 2 lakes..

Clouds clearing up..

I could see a small lake far off in the mountains..

A horse in the middle of nowhere..

A better view of the lake..

Another one..

Who dares dispute this..

When we reached there, clouds were starting to settle and the visibility dropped drastically.

The Baba Mandir. Baba Mandir is a tribute to the spirit of an Indian Soldier, Harbhajan Singh from the 23rd Punjab Regiment who chose to serve his country even after reaching his heavely abode. The temple..

You can see the clouds coming in, in the background..

I wanted to ride last so that i could click photographs but others were concerned about my falling and din't allow it. So following principals of group riding, Amit rode behind me. Like a perfect alarm clock he showed me the time when ever i stopped for a photograph. After a few kms the clouds cleared. I also knew it was getting late but the scenery was so awesome that my hand themselves hit the break. The sun was setting and the play of lights in the clouds was just so out of this world that i can not describe it. I am sure that the pics could not even capture the scene in half of its true beauty. I let the pics speak..

Rain+landslide=no road..

Lovely flowers covering the slopes..

A panoramic view..

Notice the clouds trapped in the valley. Looks as if some one has filled a hole in the ground with smoke..

As we took a turn around a mountain face, i saw Tsomgo Lake. In was surrounded by clouds with sunrays breaking through a slit..



As i stood there the scene changed. The clouds lifted and i could see blue sky..

When we reached Tsomgo Lake, its surface had become like a mirror with the mountains seeing their face in it..



I still repent taking pictures in a hurry. I could have got much better shots. But it was getting dark and others were not willing to ride in the dark.
The sunlight getting diffused through the clouds..

At this place i could actually see 2 suns.. The first one where the light directly from the sun was coming and second where the diffused light form the clouds was coming. Wasnt able to captured in the pic.
Another play of colours in the sky as the sun set..

Till we reached the halfway mark, sun had already set and we knew we had a 26km ride ahead in dark. Fire in the sky..

We ate some Maggi at a dhaba there and started again. Amit had an HID and was leading, followed closely by Anup. Then me, Gopi and Jithu. We rode in a single line close to each other. Since it was downhill, bikes were not giving much trouble.
Resting a bit..

We reached Gangtok by 7:00pm feeling proud that we had conquered Nathula. It was time for celebration. After resting a bit we set out for the market to "Indulge" in some good food. Gangtok by night..

Sadly there was a festival that day and the place was full.



So we went to another place.. Ate some good food, came back to the Hotel and crashed into the bed. Tomorrow we leave for Yumthang. We will ride till Lachung and stay there. An easy ride, hopefully!!!

Distance traveled in the day: 120kms
Total distance in the trip: 567kms

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