Gurudongmar: First Visit: April 2002

 

In April 2002, GURUDONGMAR in NORTH SIKKIM was still a rather unknown destination for tourists in general. While tourists did flock to YUMTHANG mainly to see the profusion of colourful Rhododendrons, there were very few takers for Gurudongmar, so much so that when I told my vehicle provider of my intentions to visit the place it took him a couple of days to exactly locate the correct place and to ascertain the proper route. Not happy at that, Ajit Prasad of Gangtok, who ferried people to various touristy places in Sikkim from Gangtok wanted to accompany me all the way. It was, in a way,  a reconnaissance trip for him for his travel and tourism business. All we knew then was that we needed to reach Lachen beyond Chungthang and then find out our route to Gurudongmar from there. To my credit, I HAD done some reading on the few travelogues, available till then, on visits to Gurudongmar, and armed with a limited knowledge and a LOT of enthusiasm we were off one day  in the middle of April, 2002 ( most probably 14 April 2002)  towards Lachen! We reached Lachen beyond Singhik, Mangan and Chungthang, around 4 in the afternoon having started pretty early that morning. Lachen, about 120/130 kms from Gangtok, was just a village and a very small one at that. There were no hotels worth the name and no electricity. And GOD it WAS cold! Ajit organised our stay at a local's house and as soon as it became dark we had an early and simple dinner - fortunately I had insisted on carrying my favourites - eggs - along with rice, daal and other provisions and went to bed by 7PM. To be able to sleep in such cold environs was another matter! Nevertheless we went to bed early for we would have to start by 5 the next morning. One needed to reach Gurudongmar as early as possible and certainly before 11 AM or the dreaded winds coupled with the high altitude would take a toll. As planned we left by 5 in the morning and stopped about 2 hours later at "Compu" - a military camp where Ajit Prasad had some acquaitances. Some hot tea and pakoras were most welcome and Ajit also arranged to get some High Aviation Fuel for the remainder of the trip. Half an hour later we were on our way again. Normally we would have stopped at the lonely tea house in Tsangu at 13,000 ft but thanks to the Compu stop, that became redundant. We had started off from Lachen when it was still dark; as the sun rose gradually the day became bright and sunny. The weather was gorgeous to say the least though pretty chilly. After continuous climbing, we reached around 16000 ft where the terrain flattened out. We were travelling through an essentially a cold desert plateau. There were mine fields on both sides of the dirt track we travelled on with barbed wire fences separating these from the track to the lake. There were signposts too every now and then warning travellers not to venture into the mine-fields. The air was rather rarified and local passengers could frequently be seen alighting from their jeep / landrover type vehicles and pushing them onwards. Fortunately we had a Mahindra Maxx (no Boleros/ Scorpios those days) and Ajit Prasad's cleverness in acquiring the High Aviation Fuel meant we could reach all the way to the hillock on the bank of Gurudongmar Lake, albeit very slowly. It was around 9:30 in the morning when we reached the Lake.Once at the lake-side it felt as if we were in heaven. The Gurudongmar Lake, at    17, 200 ft and one of the highest high-altitude lakes in the world, was more than half frozen. Where the water could be seen it was deep blue and semi-transparent near the shore. The scenery of the lake surrounded by snow-capped mountains simply blew our mind away.A temple had been erected on the hillock by the armed forces and to visit and pray at the temple was an experience like no other. The few army-men at the place also told us about the legend behind the lake's name. According to the legend, the local people around the area suffered from acute water scarcity and prayed to Guru Padmasambhava to bring them relief. Guru Padmasambhava then created this beautiful lake. According to another legend, the lake remained frozen for most of the year till Guru Nanak, who reportedly travelled to many places following in  Guru Padmasambhabava's footsteps, was approached by the locals to solve their problems with water scarcity. Guru Nanak then hit the  surface of the frozen lake with his "DANG" or long stick and blessed that a portion of the lake would never freeze. The Lake is thus considered to be of immense religious importance by the Sikhs.Ajit Prasad, Rajesh - the driver and I were the ONLY visitors and the army-men offered us hot tea again. What an wonderful experience. I scrambled all the way down to the water level and sprinkled some water on me where the melt-water / run-off from the Lake had formed a narrow stream-let. I was told that this was one of the sources of Lachen Chhu (River) that would eventually become the mighty Teesta! And I was busy taking photographs with my trusted Pentax MX (manual) camera, then more than 25 years old! Some photos truly came out well and are among my all time favourites.Soon it was nearing 11 and the wind had started to pick up. I could have probably spent the whole day (if not my whole life) there but that was not to be. Ajit and Rajesh started hurrying me on and then it was time to thank the army-men around and be on our way. AU REVOIR ..... it was goodbye to the Gurudongmar Lake till we met again. And I knew for certain I would be back there some day!