Nice going, loved the pics.

When the going gets tough the tough gets Going..


we started.





We were having a mini photo session as our fellow bikers joined. Deepak took the responsibility of trailing Somnath, even if his bike was capable of driving faster than what he was driving. We regrouped and decided to stop at Thangu which was 10 odd kilometers more from here. We got few glimpse of the sun as we started again.


I and rishi shared some photo copies of the permit as we started again. Deepak15 and Platinath had already started. Now I was driving single and was attaining bit more speed. With time the stiff climbs were becoming less in numbers as we approached army camps on the way. Soon the clouds were cleared and we could see the sun. I took few Karizmatic landscape again, in the meantime few tourist vehicle over took us and were more than surprised to see a two wheeler (rarity there). As Somnath and Deepak joined, we rested a bit and were talking about the beauty of the place. We lined up our bikes for some more clicks before we started.

As Deepak promised to trail Somnath, I started raving a bit more (later realized it was very unsafe, but adrenaline can do it to you). I was standing on the foot pegs sometime to avoid the jerks. Also it meant I was over taking few tourist vehicles. This continued till my tyres skidded a bit. I used front brakes too much too sudden which resulted in it. Somehow I escaped a fall and was cautious now, still trying to maintain a decent speed. Soon came the moment we dreamed of. ICE on road; bike was on a side and camera was out. Clicks; Clicks; Clicks. I never thought of this view. We had seen this in many bike expeditions earlier but this was our turn. Also ice meant that we had to bypass it to save our self from a fall. We took a narrow path and managed our way through the patch. Now the climb was less and we were diving through a valley area. We saw Yaks, they were actually scared of us, where as their size suggests otherwise.







It was way beautiful than in the pictures, perhaps a more clear sky would have made it better. We started clicking from every angle possible. The Chinese peaks were visible at a distance (info by the driver). We as a guy to click our group photo and then also helped him have his onesJ. The lake is called Sarv Dharam lake(all religion lake) with all religions welcome to visit the lake. While we were appreciating the beauty our driver asked us to get back as one of the ladies was having breathing problem. It was normal; the Oxygen level in the lake is about 6%. We started back and nothing much happened till the Army camp.
All 4 of us regrouped in the Army camp and we decided to have tea in Army Cafeteria. As we were having tea we found an aged couple and asked them if they can drop Rishi till Lachun. They asked us why and we replied that we are on bikes and since the road conditions are bad it would be good for both Rishi and the ZMA. They agreed to drop him till Lachen.
As Rishi left we started chatting with the army Jawans and officers. The conversation was in HINDI.


Then he started explaining why and all. They were also telling about the state of affairs, how Chinese people play with the border, the border basically is made of rocks with our tri color in one side and Chinese color on the other. Chinese people change the position of rocks to tease the Indian soldiers. Recently a Chinese woman came and murdered an officer after which the regiment has changed to gorkha. The jawan were talking to was around 6 feet 3 wearing a thick Army Uniform where as we were wearing full sleeve T and thermo cot and a jacket.
App logo ko thandi nehi lagti
Aadat ho gaya hai
Raat me temp kitna hota hai
Abhi to 0 se -2 bhi ho jata hai, lake me to abhi -15 bhi pohuch jata hai, hum to usme piche wali pahar pe bhi chare hain(that was a snow peak)
With every word our respect towards was increasing exponentially.
Abhi China wale nehi ate?
Aan de !#!#*^*&^ logo ko , yehi pe ##%%$ dalenge.( For the symbols please contact me, cant post them in public forum)
Their self confidence and hate towards the Chinese people was clear. Then he told us to get the paper and also have some tea. We were more than happy and accepted the offer gleefully.
.




We rolled again, there was a change in our behavior, and we were saluting every army vehicle passing by and were also getting back the same. This was something from heart. All 3 of us felt the same. Suddenly Deepak felt the need for a photo shoot of the roads and conditions and us with the bikesJ. Somnath saluted his bike for pulling through and we saluted Somnath for the will power he has.



After taking a rest we started back again. Deepak was leading this time around and I was trailing Somnath. Suddenly Somnath asked me to stop as he was not feeling well. His arms were aching too much due to extensive use of clutch and front brakes. I asked him to open his gloves and rubbed his palm. Tried some arm exercise to make him feel better. He was all right after some time and we started again deciding to stop at Lachen now which was about one hour 15 mins or so. We reached Lachen safely and found rishi waiting for us in front of the hotel. He arrived 15 mins before as the tourists were having snacks in between.
As we arrived in Lachen, cloud started to buildup and we also lost a bit of time on the way. So we sat together and decided not to return to Gangtok today rather go till Mangan which is 65 KMS from Gangtok. With loads of time in hand we enjoyed and relived the Army camp. We were very inspired and moved by them; even local hotel wale told we were lucky that the army people invited us. We freshened up and went for lunch. A slow and steady lunch and good food it was. Also Somnath told us Deepak has full filed his quota of breaking his right side rear view mirror by falling once on the way (it happens to him in every long trip), the road conditions were such that even the best to tourer can fall and we were mere babies with respect to them, this was the second fall as Somnath also managed to trip his bike by using side stand with 15-20 liters of petrol in left side. We collected all our luggage and packed it, also we emptied the last can of petrol so that the bikes were carrying less dead weight. We had to travel some 50-60 kilometers with the 10kms of bad road (no roads to be precise).

I and rishi went in with ours. Suddenly we heard

Fascinating Stuff Avik!!!!
The pics are also stunning...Sikkim indeed has lot to offer.

Yeh dil maange more

I think MANY people would've missed the last post(s) of yours black17bhp, in the crowd of several other threads. What amazing log and pictures. Sikkimg has always amazed me. I plan to visit the place some-time in the future; will make sure to contact you before making any itinerary for sure. I hear that we need permits and need to be in a 'group' if we plan to visit certain places in Sikkim (North Sikkim specifically). I would like you to provide some solid information regarding traveling to Sikkim in one or two detailed paragraphs, if you don't mind. Please. It would be helpful to a LOT of people, especially for someone like me who is always on the lookout for as much information as possible on Sikkim.

What I would also personally like to know is the kind of permits that one requires to visit places in Sikkim, and how can one gather them? I know you might have mentioned it on your log (on the earlier page), but I haven't read your last post, I am just looking at the photographs. They are lovely, I'll go through the log now.

Lovely stuff, and please do share any more photographs if you have, especially of the gorgeously beautiful landscapes of Sikkim. I would LOVE to see more. Thanks for sharing this magical stuff with us, and I sure hope to hear from you soon. If you feel there is way too much information to share on the thread, then, you can either get in touch with me through the PM or perhaps even send over a mail or something! I would appreciate it.

Aryan Bhai,

I am sure Gurudongmar would have made you remember Chandratal

Absolutely! Actually, Sikkim itself is SO magical, it has always amazed me. I really plan to travel to Sikkim some-time soon, and I would need as much information as possible before I make any sort of travel plans for the place.

As for Chandrataal, it has it's own charm, but then again, so does Gurudongmar and MANY other absolutely magnificent places in Sikkim!

It indeed remains one of the most untraversed and ignored territory in India till date as far as biking is concerned. The underdeveloped roads after Gangtok and fewer tourism campaigns by the Govt of Sikkim has also added to make this place go unnoticed for many.
Lot to explore and discover in this small state of India

Thanks Arnie. Really sikkim is beautiful, specially North Sikkim, its the raw thing that attracts me more than anything

Thanks Aryan Bhai. I have seen logs of a day or 2 in a much rider friendly conditions having more replies than this thread, but i wrote it with all my heart trying to share each and every experience we had. Will send you the info. I had planned it earlier, i will include a info post once i am done writing all of them. Hope that is ok with you, if you need anything more do contact me i will try my level best to help you out. Also so far very few(almost none) appriciated Somnath's courage as he took a city bike to this point. Will add more photos soon and update you.

When the going gets tough the tough gets Going..

Day 7 – 30th April ……. Destination West Sikkim: Upper Pelling
With plans of reaching Gangtok within 10 o clock, we got up. Also there is a fine if bikes are kept on roads other than proper parking are after 7:30. So we picked up our lazy bones to drive till Gangtok. We had plans to visit few more local spots in Gangtok today and Nathula and Tsomgo lake tomorrow. We wanted to get the passes today itself. So we started as soon as possible.
The roads were familiar and we got a smile from guys at the petrol pump. As we were going downhill it was all clutch and brakes. It was an easy drive after what we faced in last two- three days. As we were about to cross Seven Sisters water fall again we decided to take a few snaps as the place was having no attendance from tourists. We sat in the cafeteria nearby and ordered garam chana chat and coffee. Rishi and I went up to find a better view of the waterfall. It was awesome from there, we did climb a bit after the stairs ended and it got better, rishi told me to get back as we need to collect the passes for Tsomgo and Nathula. We both came back and started enjoying the food, and our kit kats. We rolled again and decided to stop at Gangtok. As we were about to enter Gangtok we saw a spot called Tashi view point. We climbed up for a better view of Gangtok; it was a disappointment as what we have seen in North Sikkim was unparallel. A few tourists from Andra was there who were interested to know about the places we have been and all. The moment they saw the pics and also got to know we are on bikes they were more than surprised. By now it has become normal for us.
We started off soon and went to Gangtok. To our bad luck we found that the Nathula and Tsomgo are closed due to land slide and snowfall. Tsomgo was no match for Gurudongmar but we missed a wanted to visit Nathula, but it was not in our luck. Also we thought of a closer visit of Kanchenjunga range from west Sikkim is better than local spots (mostly artificial). Hence we planned to start for pelling after lunch. Rishi was out in a flash to get his bike fixed and we were accumulating knowledge about the road conditions. From whatever we got the roads are great and we can drive easily. So we also went to collect some memorabilia. It was going all right till then but one of my aunts was in Sikkim in the same time, she called up as she needed money and information about the transport.
It was a funny experience as all kind of lies were flying; I saw a travel agencies name and uttered it to them. All 3 of us were there, so I told the fourth one is taking care of all negotiations and finances. It ended without us getting caught red handed. We collected some Sikkim special things and got back to the hotel to clear all our dues. This is where things went wrong; they charged us a lot for whatever they provided, but we didn’t have any options other than submitting to their demands. Rishi came back by then and we went for lunch. This was the worst lunch we had, partially because of the quality of food and partially because of the hidden costs. We finished things as soon as possible and started off for Pelling. We had to take a right after travelling 23 kms down hill and message was conveyed to everyone. As we rolled off, in the good roads we were sailing at 35-40 even 50-60 sometimes (mind you it’s a good speed in hills, generally in good roads average distance covered is 25 kilometers). I took a left and asked the locals about the direction and we appeared to be going in the right direction. I was able to see only Deepak in my rear view mirror. So I blinked the rear view indicator and stopped, so did Deepak, Rishi joined in shortly, but no sign of Somnath, we called him and found he took the wrong route. He was 10 kilometers off and was returning. We waited till Somnath was here and a scolding was normal. Instead he told only one thing, do you people think you will reach the destination early if I am behind and going in wrong way, we all are supposed to look after each other. We realized our mistake and decided to stop if there is confusion about the road. We started again, as per our Knowledge pelling was 115 kms from Gangtok and we already covered 35 so with 3 hours to sunset and 80 kms we were confident we will reach by sunset if the road conditions are the same.
Rishi was riding like anything, after all he had his babe back after 3 days and the roads were awesome to ride on, even more awesome after what we have seen in last 3 days. I was also enjoying the ride and also clicking in between. Somnath also increased his speed by 10 kilometers. With all going well we were driving like crazy bikers. Somehow people were driving like we do in race tracks; semi blind turns were negotiated without reducing much momentum and even in blind turns we were confident than before. We were slowing down but then there was a rapid increase in speed as well. The frustration was coming out after driving in off roads. As we approached ravangla around 4:30, it started getting foggy. The fog increased more as we entered the small town with some unique characteristic, it was situated in the top if a hill with cloud covering. We had to turn on our head lights and right side indicator so that we are visible and to avoid accidents. Hardly 40-50 feet was visible in front of us. It was an awesome experience. Somehow we managed to pass through the town, as we did the fog decreased. We decided to go for a kit kat break as break to banta hi hai after some drive. We did find kit kat and some snack along with tea. As we crossed Ravangla, rishi told us he would like to stay here for night at least and enjoy the mist.
We asked the shopkeeper about the distance of pelling and to our surprise it was more than what the hotel people told us. Infact it was 30 kilometers more. We started instantly. After the sunset we were driving in a formation with me first, rishi and Somnath in the middle and Deepak trailing us all. We stopped at a market place and asked for the direction. They not only showed us the way but also the city. It was a great view as well as Lachung and Lachen with the size being bigger. It was like diamond jewelry.


I took a snap before we started. We went inside pelling. Initially the hotels we went to were 3 stars and were not for us,but on searching a bit, we found ourselves a good hotel to stay, also a hotel which was having a restaurant so that we do not need to search for food at night. We ordered proper non veg after some days, Somnath was up for Chicken Tandoor and we decided for biriyani. As were ordered we were viewing the map of West Sikkim in the hotel lounge. The hotel owner realized we needed information and called us. He took out a Xerox of the map and asked us about our duration of stay. We said we plan to take a tour of west Sikkim tomorrow and will go till Darjeeling. He instantly suggested us not to go there, as it is no safer for the tourists. He showed us places to visit in west Sikkim and also marked the route for us, we were surprised with his caring behavior, and it was new for us. We thanked him and asked him if we can keep the photocopy of the map. He replied he took it out for us only. We accepted it from him and waited for dinner. As dinner came, the Ravans inside us were coming out, we ordered some more things before we were done. Before we went we asked the owner about the best spot to see Kanchenjunga range. He told us to go to helipad nearby. Also he wished us good luck as the weather is not favoring the tourists for last few days. With hope of a dream view of Kanchenjunga we went to dream land.

Will update more photos soon and attach with the days.

Bring em ON!!

I will post some of my capture (courtesy n73) soon. wait till then.

JJ.It was a sad night for us as this was officially the last night in hills. We had our dinner, pure non-veg dinner as Yi-Yi was not available here. Soon with the promise to enjoy the last day we went in our room to have a deep sleep.