A Ride to Sikkim and Bhutan 2200KM - Part 9 - Gurudongmar Lake

Gurudongmar Conquered

Finally we reached the outskirts of Lachen. Below can be seen the outer gate of Lachen. When we reached Lachen Village we had to make an entry at the post We checked in a hotel for the night. Dinner was again at the hotel it was basic Dal, Rice some veggies and egg. We had our fill and went back to the room. Later we decided to make some phone calls home. After Mangan there is no network except for BSNL mobiles which none of us had. So we started hunting for PCO there was one but was a little farther away. Also it was dark and it had started raining so we could not venture far. While asking for directions we asked the person itself if he had a mobile. He had one and agreed to allow us to make calls even when he had low balance, so nice of him. We called home and asked them to call back on same number. After that we decided to call it a day as such it was pretty dark and the village was very small and there was nothing much we could do there. We headed back to the hotel. We asked the caretaker to wake us up early when we asked him to wake us up at 5 he insisted at waking us up at 3 AM we were like what. He was a little over the top as we found out later. We finally woke up at 6 AM had tea and set off for Gurudongmar. On the way to the Lake it was getting very cold. I had forgotten my thermal liner for my jacket at hotel in Lachen also I was not carrying any winter wear though I had it all in hotel, Somewhere en-route we came across a small village where lots of tourists took a stop for tea and Maggi we too had some there itself I found some winter wear and bought it to keep me warm. There were a lot of other tourists too one of them was feeling unwell Vishal offered them some tablets for high altitude sickness. The road to the lake was mostly broken Tarmac, Sludge, Mud mixed. The last habited place en route Gurudongmar Lake is Thangu which is an army post after which there is nothing except barren land.

At Lachen outer gate.

At Lachen outer gate

En-route to Gurudongmar Lake

While approaching Gurudongmar Lake Raman and Vishal were left behind so I took a stop and clicked this pic it shows the terrain and the road too. No other vehicles other than SUV's ply on this road. Later I just followed one of the SUV's as the others  were still way back and their progress was slow due to the terrain.
The vehicles make their own path or follow previous tread marks their are no predefined roads here. Also at the same time one excavator truck was trying to level the ground in the process destroying the previous paths made by vehicles. It was easier for the SUV to make its way I had to ride relatively slow avoiding the big boulders coming in the way. Also the lack of oxygen was making my head spin and heavy. I followed the SUV till the last mound where its a steep climb and decided to wait there for the rest. While I waited clicked the following pics, soon the two arrived I gestured them to move forward. Taking each step was feeling like a herculean task. I started the bike and started following Raman. The less oxygen was making it difficult for the bike too. In the end I just couldn't get my bike to the top. I did not have the strength to push it up I was already gasping for breath. I tried walking with the bike but it was too daunting both Raman and Vishal reached the top. After parking their bikes Raman looked to me. He saw me struggling he tried to give me some directions but to no avail. He then walked down the mound very slowly. The less oxygen was taking a toll on all of us. He started the bike and managed to ride it to the top. I slowly walked to the top taking breaks mid way. The site of the lake was really beautiful but our state was really pathetic to enjoy it to the full. I decided I had to click some pics and so started clicking. My head felt like I had banged it to a wall. But still we had to make it back too. Last year we had been to Pangong Tso Lake in Ladakh it was similar to this. But the extremely low oxygen levels made it really tough here.

Gurudongmar Lake 17100 ft above sea level.

Vishal at Gurudongmar

Sarv Dharma Sthal

Raman at Gurudongmar

Snow covered mountains ahead of Gurudongmar

Me at Gurudongmar wearing the newly bought sweater.

We did not loiter around much as our condition was bad and knew that in the afternoon the weather deteriorates here. We set back on our return journey soon all three together. The terrain again tested our mettle. My bikes left front suspension oil seal broke and the oil started coming out on the suspension so was the case with Vishal's Passion too. I observed that near Gurudongmar my head was heavy but a little ahead it started feeling better then again nearing Thangu it started getting heavy again. We slowly made it back to Thangu the last post of the army on way to Gurudongmar Lake, their an army man from Maharashtra getting the news from colleagues that we are visiting Gurudongmar was waiting for our return to greet us and chat with us. We were in bad shape but had to put a smiling front to greet the Army guy he chatted with us for sometime and offered us biscuits juice and tea all free. Probably he was longing to go home and so felt the need to chat with us and talk about hometown. So is the state of this soldiers in far of lands. We soon bid goodbye and set back to our hotel in Lachen. Once in Lachen we found it was too late to venture back to Chungthang which was our original plan we stayed put also more due to our condition returning from Gurudongmar. The next day also did not bring any respite to my health and I started feeling dizzy pretty badly.

To be contd....