मित्रमंडळ बेंगळुरू कट्टा - ಮಿತ್ರ ಮಂಡಳ ಬೆಂಗಳೂರು ಕಟ್ಟೆ: फोटो फिचर

SIKKIM : SMALL & BEAUTIFUL STATE OF INDIA

Ranka Monastery

Bells in the courtyard of Ranka Monastery

Our first destination was Ranka Monastery, which is 16 km from Gangtok. As our Resort was walking distance from this place, we went there early in the morning.

The monastery is known for beautiful paintings & wall hangings inside the inner sanctum.

View of Lachen village

Our next stop was at Lachen village.

It is 126 Km from Gangtok.

On the next day at 5.00am, we started for Gurudongmar lake

It takes around 4 hours via Thangu or Lachen valley

Due to close proximity to Chinese border, there is Indian Army everywhere

Frozen waterfall
On way to Thangu valley

Unpaved Path

The road is a path filled with rocks & the Gurudongmar lake is just 5 km away from Tibetian border

Gurudongmar lake

What a view!

The lake is named after Guru Padmasambhava also known as Guru Rinpoche—founder of Tibetan Buddhism, who visited this lake in the 8th century

Though it is located at the altitude of approx. 17000ft, some part of lake never gets frozen.

Visitors are not allowed to stay at the lake after 11.30am due to heavy flow of winds.

It was impossible even for us to stay there beyond 30/40 minutes!

On the way to Lachung

Our next stay was at Lachung village

Near Lachung is the Yumthang valley of flowers & Zero point- Yume Samdong. There is no motorable road after this place and the visitors are not permitted to go beyond this point due to proximity to the Chinese border.

Road to Yumthang valley

On the way to Yumthang valley, we saw some landslides that had occurred previously

Landslide

View from Yumthang Valley

Rhododendron flowers –A state flower of Sikkim

Flowers bloom only from February to May end

Grazing Yak

You can enjoy Yak ride here!!

Lachung river

It is a tributary of river Teesta - A lifeline of Sikkim

Colourful Flags

You can find these set of 5 colorful flags everywhere in Sikkim.

These are Tibetian prayer flags.

Blue is for Sky

White is for Air

Red is for Fire

Green is for Water &

Yellow is for Earth

All together signifies Balance

Do drul Chorten

Back to Gangtok

Our Nathula pass visit got cancelled the next day due to bad weather conditions in the morning.

In the afternoon we visited Rumtek Monastery & Do Drul Chorten Monastery and then spent our evening in the Gangtok local market.

Singshore Suspension Bridge

Next day, early in the morning we left for Pelling, our last stay in Sikkim.

Singshore bridge is the highest bridge in Sikkim. It is built between two hills and has a 100 meter height. The bridge offers a spectacular view of the picturesque surroundings.