Thursday, July 7, 2011

A Ride to Sikkim and Bhutan 2200KM - Part 7 - Nathula

Nathula Conquered....

With permits in hand and only a day in hand as Nathula permits are valid only for a single day. We immediately set off for Nathula. The road was nothing to talk about it was raining intermittently and the continuous stretches of sludge ensured we didn't stop for any photo ops until we reached our destination. Ours were the only bikes there as such no bikes are allowed without special permission. To get Nathula in our back drop we parked near to the entrance which was not allowed and the army personnel was insisting we park in the parking lot below and walk back up. Nathula is the Indo China border. Here is an excerpt from Wikipedia 
Nathu La is a mountain pass in the Himalayas. It connects the Indian state of Sikkim with China's Tibet Autonomous Region. The pass, at 4,310 m (14,140 ft) above mean sea level, forms a part of an offshoot of the ancient Silk Road. Nathu means "listening ears" and La means "pass" in Tibetan. It is also spelled Ntula, Natu La, Nathula, or Natula.
Nathu La is one of the three trading border posts between China and India; the other two are Shipkila in Himachal Pradesh and Lipulekh (or Lipulech) in Uttarakhand. Sealed by India after the 1962 Sino-Indian War, Nathu La was re-opened in 2006 following numerous bilateral trade agreements. The opening of the pass is expected to bolster the economy of the region and play a key role in the growing Sino-Indian trade. Currently, agreements between the two nations limit trade across the pass to 29 types of goods from India and 15 from the Chinese side. The opening also shortens the travel distance to important Hindu and Buddhist pilgrimage sites in the region.
Nathula is at a distance of 55.8km from Gangtok as per Google maps. which should take about 1.5 hrs to reach, but it took us the better part of the day to go and come back. We only manages to touch back to Gangtok at around 4-5 pm in the evening even after leaving Gangtok at around 10 in the morning.
The air at Nathula is very thin the oxygen content is very low due to high altitude and less vegetation. Normal tasks like walking become a mammoth task. Some kids complained of breath and headed back to their vehicles. Some grown-ups were complaining of headache and nausea. General complaints observed in high altitude sickness. 
Since its a channel for trade there is lot of presence of soldiers of both sides both Indian and Chinese.

The three steeds have reached Nathula







Me standing in front of the Chinese soldiers on this side of the border all that separates us is a barb wire which is not visible in the pic above. The Chinese soldiers are open to handshakes and photography. Jawaharlal Nehru seems to have given this place a visit the below stone structure had been built to commemorate the same.



Nathula Business channel for China
Above is the channel through which Indian and Chinese truck pass every day at stipulated times.




We with all our gear were again a object of interest to both the tourists and the Chinese soldiers. Pointing at our jackets and knee pads they seem to be discussing among themselves something in their native language. As such we couldn't comprehend anything.

The Indian flag seen fluttering here in all its glory.







Below can be seen the Baba Harbhajan Shrine it is situated from a diversion to the way to Nathula.
As it happened while coming back we headed to the shrine but i wasn't felling very well so i told the others I would continue further down I wasn't aware that we had taken a diversion to reach the temple and kept on moving forward on the diversion much to my surprise away from Gangtok. After some KMs I felt the terrain isn't the same as it was while coming I saw some sheds ahead and found someone to enquire the route they said I was going opposite so I turned back. Both Raman and Vishal had left the shrine and moved back towards Gangtok now they were riding fast to catch up with me while I was riding fast to catch up with them. Eventually I decided it was not too sensible riding fast in those kind of roads and as such Gangtok wasn't far either so I took it easy. They too had decided to ride slow due to the terrain. Still my individual speed was more than the other twos so I finally caught up with them.

Baba Harbhajan Shrine


The rest of the journey was smooth we reached Gangtok had some nashta and headed back to our room. Later in the evening we again headed to M.G Road for dinner. Tomorrow we head to Lachen. To be contd......

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