Yumthang, Zero Point: The beauty, the altitude and the rain..

Got up at 5 to see the sunrise. It was so clouded that i went back to sleep. The hotel girl came at 7 and woke us up saying it was getting late. We all got up,got ready and left for Yumthang at 8.30. Till the time others were getting ready i had a quick breakfast..
our hotel..

the room..

painting on the wall..

the hotel sitting room..



view from the window..

Anup wasn't feeling well. He was feeling very cold and also had mild fever and chest pain. We gave him medicines and had to leave him in the hotel. The scenery on the way was awesome. We could see all the shades of green and yellow with a touch of red and brown. Also on the distant mountains some snow was visible..

we were riding in a line when suddenly Gopi and Jithu got really excited. The reason was that they were seeing the snow the for the first time..
there's the snow..

But the sky was clouded with no sign of the sun; not the best light for photography.
the clouded sky..

Our first stop was at the entrance of the Shingba Rhododendron Sanctuary. What a scene it was. A stream of water flowing on one side of a smooth road washing the feet of the towering mountains. On both sides of the road is a sea of green trees. If you turn around you see snow capped peaks disappearing high into the clouds.. A place where you could just sit the whole day and absorb the beauty of nature.

the view behind..

the trees all around..






the good road..

more clouds..

8kms before road was being made..

The journey after this was a back breaker. I again taped the mobile to the rvm and made a video.

more greenery

way to hot water springs. we had to skip these due to lack of time..



stream of water which i crossed in the end of the video..

We reached Yumthang (distance of 24kms) at 10.

We had mountains on one side..

and a valley with river flowing through on the other..

a prayer chorten..

We had lunch at the only dhaba that was open. The lady running the dhaba was a textbook example of Sikkimese beauty and Amit totally flipped for her. He tried very hard to get her pick but the beauty also had brains. She refused as she was afraid he might post the pics somewhere. our love struck friend trying to turn his bike..

lotsa life everywhere

After Yumthang we headed for Zero Point, 32kms ahead. Progress was slow as we took frequent photography breaks.
more clouds..

and more trees..

Also the roads weren't good. Soon the sun came out and it got pretty warm. As the height starting increasing the views got better. One side we could see a green valley surrounded by even word green mountains on all sides and the ether side we say a turquoise blue river snaking its way through red rocks.





the climb ahead..

many waterfalls on the way..

clouds coming in..

also lotsa wild flowers around..



we came across a temple..


the view of the Yumthang valley as we were climbing up..

view as we got higher..

a posing break as the sun came out for some time..

the valley..

me..

gopi and jithu..

then the clouds came back again..

then again the sun..



and again clouds..

A few kms before Zero Point there came a bridge on the river which had broken down. The army had put up a temporary bridge a few 100mtr upstream. To reach it we had to ride a little on the river bed.

My Spiti veteran bike had no problems in getting through. As i reached the bridge, the rain started. I quickly wore my rain gear. Then i took out my umbrella and camera and clicked a few picks.
the river..

the broken bridge..

Still no sign of others. Turning around i saw they were having some problems.

Amit had got stuck i suppose. Soon they came and we moved on. We reached Zero Point at 12.30. This is as far as the road goes. After it are green grounds and then mountains after which is China.

my darling..

the whole party..

watte view..

In front of the board is a lone shack where you can get some snacks and tea.

We had some tasty pyaaz ka pakoras and cooked chanas. The shack bench seemed just too tempting.

After some rest and food we started back. some desolate village.

yaks grazing..

the broken bridge again..

Rain and sun were playing tag team match with us. For some distance it used to rain. As wind swept the clouds away, sun came out. Then rain, and again sun.. Rain made sure we got wet from outside and sweat made us wet from inside. I was riding last and stopped for pics whenever rain permitted.
the pink flowers and red stones all along the way..

more waterfalls..





beautiful flowers..

stream of water flowing in between the trees..

It was a picturesque scene. I tried taking a pano but once again camera seemed incapable of catching the beauty of the landscape.

One just had to be there, standing amidst those forest covered mountains with peaks hidden in the clouds and slopes punctured by waterfalls.



as the sun was setting..

a lovely place to retire. a cottage amidst hills with horses grazing in the garden..

We reached Lachung at 4. I straight away went searching for a PCO. It had been 2 days sinced i had called home and i knew my parent would be getting worried. But the PCO owner told me that the phones work only when the mobile network comes. And this can happen any time in the day. Funny na.. Actually they were WLL lines. When i reached the hotel i found that the only person who had not gone on the ride today, Anup ironically had punctured his bike and the others were trying to get the tire out.

some local flowers..

Till the time they took out the tire, took it to a mechanic, came back and put it back, it was almost dark and pretty late to leav for Lachen. We stayed in Lachung. Now the plan was to leave at 3 in the morning and do Lachung-Lachen-Gurudogmar-Lachen-Gangtok in one day. Sounded a bit unrealistic to me. Also taxi drivers had told us that the route to Gurudogmar Lake was a tough dirt track with the last 5kms being so steep that even they have problems in climbing with their 4 wheel drives. This scared the shit out of some of us. I was skeptical. Usually people describe Ladakh to be an impossible journey but everyone does it on bike. Well we'll see what happens tomorrow. Right now im here, lying on the couch in the hotel sitting room listening to a mix of Sikkimese, Hindi and English songs. Im suprised by the number of people who speak hindi and english here. We havn't had much language problems. Some photography to pass time..




Distance traveled in the day: 109kms
Total distance in the trip: 799kms

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