Vacation to the Hills !

I travel a lot for work... this time I took a vacation! Mom and I set off for a vacation to the hills of Sikkim. It was a sudden plan and due the lack of availability of train tickets we resorted to travelling by a royal cruiser bus. A rather bumpy all night journey to Siliguri followed by drive to our destination We arrived in Gantok on the afternoon of April 22^nd. A quick freshen up and we took to exploring MG Marg, which is the shopping haven in Gantok. As usual I picked up a bunch of stuff that I hope to turn into magic routines at some point.

At the Lobby of our hotel in Gantok.

An early morning share taxi took us to Lachun ,a small town higher up in the hills, the next day. It was a whole day drive with us stopping at three spectacular waterfalls along the way. We reached Lachun after sunset. A quick dinner and falling asleep to the sounds of the nearby waterfall prepared us for the trip to Yumthang Valley and Zero Point the next day.

Mom by a waterfall on the road to Lachun.

Another waterfall along the way...

...and one more ! 

 The drive to zero point the next day was a bumpy one, with muddy roads to drive through. He had breakfast at Yumgthang valley and then continued to drive up hill. The snow capped mountain was a spectacular sight. I had never seen anything like it before.  Due to me constantly posing for pictures with my playing cards, it was revealed that I am a magician and thanks to constant requests to “show them something” I ended up doing “street magic” in the freezing cold. More on this episode in the next blog.
The Almighty decided to share some magic with me and we were blessed with snow! We drove back to Yumthang Valley and spent some time there enjoying the peace and serenity before getting back to Lachun.

Mom. All set for the drive to Yumthan and Zero Point.

At Yumthang Valley

At Zero Point, Photobombed by Santa Clause! 

Snow! 

After lunch, we were back on the road, a rather winding journey to Lachen.  We arrived in this small town at dusk. The next morning we were scheduled to visit the iconic Gurudongmar lake, however since mom wasn’t feeling too well. We stayed at the hotel. At around noon , I had just come out of the shower , I felt my head swinging. I looked at mom, she seemed unstable too. We were experiencing  the earthquake for the first time... the curtains and water bottles started shaking in a very uncanny way. We made our way to the balcony of the hotel, but it seemed everything had calmed down. Little did we know that this was the first tremor of the Nepal Earthquake. Once the travellers from Gurudongmar had returned, we had a hurried lunch and left for Gantok, fearing landslides and more earthquakes. By now, concerned calls and messages started coming and we were beginning to understand the magnitude of the calamity. We reached Gantok pretty late and after bidding farewell to our fellow travellers we made our way back to the hotel. 

with our fellow travellers... 

The next morning we were supposed to go tsomgo lake, but our plans were called off as the government had stopped all tourist visits in fear of the aftershocks. We took to exploring MG Marg again. After picking up gifts for friends and relatives, we sat down at a cafe for lunch. In about 5 miniutes, we felt the table shaking. The whole building was vibrating. We rushed out of the building to the streets now teeming with panicking tourists and locals. This tremor was stronger than the one we had felt in Lachen. Once Mother Nature had stabilised, we made our way to an all day breakfast joint  for lunch. As soon as we were done, we were confronted by the heaviest hailstorm I have ever experienced. Within minutes the entire road was covered with ice. We sheltered in the cafe for a while and once the rain got a little lighter, managed to rush to the hotel. We were lucky were were close to the hotel as the downpour continued for the next four hours!

At the New Jalpaiguri railway station.

Sensing the possibilities of landslides and road blocks on the road to the foothills, we booked a card to New Jalpaiguri the next day. We checked in at a local hotel. As soon as we entered the room, the earth started to tremble again. The drill was repeated as everyone frantically rushed to the streets. We managed a peaceful slumber that night. The next morning we took to exploring the local markets in New Jalpaiguri. After lunch and a little lazing around, we happily boarded the Darjeeling Mail and arrived in Kolkata at 6:45 am on the 29^th of April!

Not all who wander are lost !!