“Hold on to that kid inside you!”, said Manisha when I told her I wanted to rent a bike and go up on the Himalayan roads and see snow. I was staying at the backpacker hostel she runs in Gangtok, where there was a wall full of writings by her guests. She quickly pointed out that another guy had written on the wall about seeing snow for the first time, just like me. We were humbled by how travel helps us realize the beautiful small dreams we have kept inside us for so long.
Then I started making an elaborate plan. The only road with snow that seemed doable in a single day trip from Gangtok was the one to Nathu La Pass on the China border, with a Changu Lake, Baba Harbhajan Singh Temple (not related to the Indian cricketer in any way), and some high-altitude villages on the way. However, the main agenda was the snow and the winding roads.
TZT*: The journey always matters. The destination matters too - only to get your lazy ass started on a journey!
Since I was working from Gangtok, Sunday was the perfect day - except I thought the bike rentals would be fully booked already. Some travelers at the hostel asked me if I wanted a seat in the cab they had booked but I was adamant about doing this on a motorbike. All my life I had been taken around hills in cars by bad drivers from the plains. They either had me vomiting from motion sickness or stuck to my seat anxious about getting nauseous. The previous time I was up in the hills, near Coorg, I could only sit inside a car and dream about how beautiful the experience would have been on a 2-wheeler, with an open 360-degree view.
This was my first solo trip, my first time on Himalayan roads and there were no friends or family to insist on the “comfort” of a car.
Finally, I planned to work on Sunday and do this on Monday instead. People promptly told me that Nathu La Pass would be closed on Monday and Tuesday. At first, I felt the need to change my plan, but then it dawned on me that Nathu La Pass is indeed a border post with China, and I was least interested in visiting a place of political significance. I was more interested in Changu Lake - which a local hotel worker in Darjeeling had told me was one of the most beautiful things she had seen in her life! Further, with the combined effect of “Monday” and Nathu La Pass being closed, I expected the crowd on the road to be very less.
TZT*: Travel plans and life plans become much clear and flexible when you know what you don’t want.
On Monday morning I set off to pick up my bike from Tsewang who runs a bike rental called Bikers Hub. He was very enthusiastic, and after the due procedures, he drew me a map on a piece of paper because mobile networks may not have worked up there. I was to cover Changu Lake, the Baba Temple, and go up to Kupup village if the weather seemed fine and then return. He also asked me to not use my brakes too much while coming downhill to avoid a brake failure. Instead, I was to control the speed by changing gears. I’d observed this with taxi drivers who drive every day on the hills there, and now I figured why these guys surprisingly never made me feel nauseous! I packed myself with thermals, a sweater, and my grandfather’s old jacket, to prepare for the near-zero temperatures I would encounter. I sat on that fine Hero Xpulse 200 I just rented and headed off for a steep altitude climb from 1500m to about 4000m.
TZT*: Always pick restaurants, hostels, etc. that have good reviews mentioning “the owner” and employee’s names.
The 6-hour ride covering about 120km (onward plus return) was the most surreal experience I’ve had in my life. The breathtaking views cannot be explained in words and I’ve tried putting some very terrible quality photos from my ex-phone instead. Of course, I stopped at the first sight of snow and held it in my hand like a miner finally finding gold. Another reason to take a motorbike is the liberty to stop anywhere you like, enjoy the views, and take photos (very terrible quality photos from my ex-phone) like the ones I took below:
I came back to the hostel in Gangtok by evening, just before it started raining - lucky me! I felt like I’d just visited another planet. All the elaborate strategizing had paid off: Sunday supposedly had a huge line of cars on the road, while on my Monday it was just my bike alone on the road for as far as I could see - well, at least 90% of the time.
During my ride, I had some fears about getting altitude sickness - and also, getting drenched if it started raining. It was already cold enough to make my little finger numb. Another numb finger would have left me incapable of controlling the bike. While this was a risky move for pretty views, my next plan for pretty views involved plain petty moves…
I was back in Bengaluru and after a month or two I had to head to Chennai for some work. For the return, I booked the train I had always wanted to travel in: the Double Decker! I usually book regular trains because I enjoy observing the “regular” crowds and also because those trains are cheap. I also enjoy standing at the door with a friend - but it’s not as romantic as they show in the movies. It’s so windy and you’ve to scream your lungs out to talk audibly! While I had traveled between Chennai and Bengaluru for 5 years regularly because of my college, I’d never taken the Double Decker. I had saved it for a special occasion when I was finally making my own money - like a reward of sorts. That time had finally come.
I usually tick the preferred window seat option while booking trains on the IRCTC website - but this time the website wasn’t working and I had to book through a third-party site that didn’t give me that option. The damn site gave me an aisle seat - 2 seats away from the window. The good part was I got the top deck. The bottom deck would have been a 300km long stretch of paper cups thrown next to the track. Now there were two old men - probably in their sixties between me and the window. By the time the journey was halfway done, they’d made me get up from my seat so they could walk around the aisle. They were clearly uncomfortable with being stuffed inside. When they got off their seat next, I just moved to the window seat pretending to be staring out the window for a while. When they came back, I offered the seat back to them with a puppy face but as I had expected they said I could have the window - because they wanted easy aisle access!
The top deck was higher than the canopy of most forests on the way, and this view was a new experience for me. I felt like I was flying above these forests!
TZT*: Watching “The Mentalist” may not make you a good homicide detective, but it will help you smoothly steal window seats.
Thought for Food: What is the pettiest or most elaborate plan you’ve made just for some good views?
Sukha Puri* Section
Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom: A movie about a teacher posted in a remote village in Bhutan.
Something @Sukanya read in a book lately that she found very relatable:
Strava: An app to track your walking, running, and cycling, and connect with fellow fitness enthusiasts! Made me realize I could walk 10+ km in the hills every day!
7 Mistakes Beginner Trekkers Make | Indiahikes
*Sukha Puri: the complementary dry puri usually served after having a round of gol gappa on the street side
*Traveling Zen Thoughts
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Good travelogue! The fact that you don't embellish things makes it much more relatable.
😄😄😄👏