A Day that would be etched in my memory Forever.

We all finally decided to head to Sikkim (after considering tens of thousands of destinations like purulia, tawang, auli, vaishno devi and dunno what else) for the customary final year trip :D. Am really glad that we went ahead with Sikkim.

So, all 13 of us left for Gangtok in merely half an hour of planning. I dont want to write my trip report but there was a day that needs special mention, lets jump to it. This day, began really early (read 4.30 AM) at Lachung which is some 120 kms and 8 hrs drive from Gangtok. Take into consideration the temperature which was around 4-5 degress. We had to leave for Katau, the place where we were assured of finding snow. So, we left at around 5.30 am only to find that we cannot reach Katau because our crappy jeeps could not run on snow coverered roads as the tyres were skidding. We stopped at about 10 kms from Katau and played like little children on the road itself for 3 hours. Really it was nature at its best. First rays of sun on snow covered mountains, pine trees coverered with snow. I mean I am at a loss of words to express the scenic beauty that we experienced. It was not India for me.

On the way back to Lachung, one of the tyres got punctured (same tyre 2nd time by now) and it took an hour for the driver to change it as neither did he have a spare tyre nor the jack. And this delay was the reason for the events that took place later during the day (atleast some people feel so). Then we went to Yumthang (or Yunthang, wotever) to find that valley of flowers was all barren that time. Thus, nothing much to say about it. We just clicked some snaps and came back. I am damn sure that we have 7-8 GB of snaps for the entire trip...phew. We started for Gangtok at 3.30 pm and from here begins the adventure that all of us wound never forget.

After about 10 mins of the ride, the two cars that were carrying us collided and thus, showing some ominous signs. When we were 50-60 kms away from Gangtok, the radiator of one of the cars got blown up and was beyond repair. This happened at 7.30issh pm. Let me write something about the setting that we were in. It was pitch dark, you cannot imagine a more blacker (if that is a word) surrounding. We could not see anything, not even our faces. We did not know which way was the mountain and which way the cliff. There was not a single car moving on that road at that time, not one during 5 hours that we were there. It was like a set straight from some movie when they show that the actor is left stranded on the road at midnight, finding no one help, all by himself. It could have been an ideal horror film location, just the sound effects were missing. Next started our ordeal to find a new car which could take us to Gangtok. We looked for about an hour but no one was willing to take us at that time of the day. So, finally we had to call a car from Gangtok and it took 4 hrs to come. As soon as we were about to start, the psychotic, idiotic driver of our car found that that tyre got punctured again (3rd time) and he took another hour to mend it. So we finally left at 12 midnight from the realm of darkness.

Both the drivers drove fast or rather dangerously enough to cover 45 kms in an hour. It was like a roller coaster ride for us, swaying side by side. Then, the only thing which was left, happened, LANDSLIDE and there was a road block, we could not go ahead. This is at 1.30 am. Nothing to be done, we all sat in the car waiting for the day to break, so that some one comes to our rescue, intimates the police and gets the road open. It was about half an hour when we started hearing some loud noises of rocks falling. The darkness quotient was exactly same as mentioned in the above paragraph. We could hear thumping sounds of rocks, ground was shaking, but we could not see anything. We did not know as to where all this was happening, how much far from us. Nothing. The situation was such that we could help but prayer for our safety. We did not know whether we would reach Gangtok or not. It was so cold that we could not get outside of the car and it was so tacky inside that we could not sit in the car. You can well imagine how do you feel when you sit cramped in the same position for 9 hours. But there was nothing we could do, not knowing whether we would be alive or under some huge boulder. We waited for the dawn to usher in, lucky enough to be alive, it was a bit calm by then, and we were awestruck to find that all that rock falling was taking place at just about 100 m from where we were. So the snenario was landslide-100 m-our car-100m-another landslide. We were sandwiched in between huge mass of boulders on either side. The 2nd one that took place was more deadlier, localites said that it would take 10 days to get the road motorable again as the whole mountain had crashed and would require blasting to clear. I well believe that you can imagine the potency of the situation that we were into.

It does not end here. In the morning, luckily a tanker reached the spot and the driver told us that we could walk for some distace to find a taxi. We decided this was more wise and thus started. We hiked for 6 kms to find a taxi that would take us to Gangtok. I enjoyed hiking a lot when I was in US for my intern. But hiking after a whole night of agony and anguish and sleeplessness is BAD. Finally, we managed to make it to Gangtok at 10 am in the morning, when we were supposed to reach at 7 last evening.

It was adventure at its best for us. We experienced everything that we could have. We played in snow, got stranded in dark, sandwiched between landslides, hiked for 6 kms and yeah, savored my best momo ever, early in the morning after the hike at Tashi View Point. But am sure, I would not want to be in that situation again, for sure.

P.S.: There are many anecdotes to be mentioned about the reaction of the fellow passengers, but some other time.

Cheers to our trip to Sikkim.