Stranded near Gurudongmar lake: An adventure that went wrong

It was in the month of October in 2010, when we decided to visit North Sikkim. Our main target was to reach the Gurudongmar Lake, situated at an altitude of 17,800ft (5,136 m).

Travel to Gurudongmar Lake is generally arranged by the tour operators. You have to book a package which consists of travel, fooding and lodging. Mode of transport is by vehicles like Tata Sumo. Generally they take 10-12 tourists per vehicle.

I was travelling with a friend of mine. We did not want to go in a crowded vehicle consisting of 10-12 strangers. But booking an entire vehicle was almost beyond our budget too. Luckily we met a solo traveller from Bombay and the fellow, without slightest hesitation, gladly agreed to join us. We three were ready for the journey.

On the first day, we left Gangtok in the morning around 10 am for Lachen, located at 9,000 ft and 80 kms away from Gangtok. We were allotted a Mahindra Maxx with a young driver. The road was indeed very rough and torturing. And in some places we just had to follow the tyre marks as nothing else was visible due to poor condition of the road. The journey was really thrilling as we began to ascend. By 7 in the evening we reached Lachen and spent the night there.

On the next day, we left our hotel at Lachen around 3 am in the morning. Our vehicle started to move through the darkness. Barely 10-15 ft in front of the vehicle was visible; nothing more than that. Luckily, we noticed the headlamps of few more vehicles going towards the majestic lake.

By 5 in the morning, we experienced the sunrise while on the move. As we were gaining altitude, the terrain began to change completely. The greenery around us turned to brown; we witnessed the lack of oxygen. By 7’o clock, we reached the last village called Thangu (13,000ft). The village had few families and a big army camp. It was the usual stop for all vehicles and the point to have hot breakfast before proceeding towards the Gurudongmar Lake.

After a break of 30-45 minutes, we began our journey towards Gurudongmar Lake. The road rose steeply from here. As soon as the village went out of sight, we began to feel the lack of oxygen. The terrain was completely brown without a patch of any greenery. It was a wide valley, a snow desert kind of thing. It was difficult to find the road, but our driver did it with ease. By 9:30 am we were at the lake.

After spending half an hour, we decided to return. And the story begins here. We were somewhere in between the Gurudongmar Lake and Thangu village when suddenly our vehicle stalled. The driver inspected the issue and after a short break our journey started. But after covering not more than half a kilometre, the vehicle gave up. It stopped and it would not start. We were still about half a kilometre from Thangu village.

By the time, the temperature dropped drastically. The usual drizzle had already started. We did not have any extra food as we were supposed to have lunch at Lachen. All vehicles which were returning from the lake, stopped and tried to help but all in vain. Our vehicle just would not start.

We had no other option but to go out in that weather and altitude and push that Maxx with our maximum power. With all our effort we finally reached Thangu around 12 in the noon. At least you can find some help here.

Each and every vehicle has stopped to help us but our vehicle just would not start. And it was also not possible for us to hitchhike in any other vehicle as all vehicles were fully booked and hardly had an empty seat. We were lucky that the army camp was few meters away.

The mechanics from the army came, but was unable to fix the problem. The army men discussed among themselves, consulted and asked their best and seniormost technicians with the best available tools to fix our vehicle, but once again they failed. And the army finally gave up after labouring for more than two hours. The only hope that they gave to us was that an army truck might leave in the evening for Lachen; and we can hop on to it.

It was already 2’o clock. The cold outside became almost unbearable; we were hungry too. Some local invited us inside their house and we happily accepted it. We were not even sure if the army truck would ever come.

Around 4:30 in the evening, we heard the loud honking; and it was a relief. Finally the truck was at the doorstep. We were four including the local driver. And it was our first experience to ride an empty army truck. Finally, we safely reached our hotel at Lachen around 7 in the evening, almost 6 hours late. The journey by the army truck was horrible, but a lifetime experience which you cannot buy from any travel agent.

Ritesh Maity is a labour law advocate based out of Kolkata. He is passionate about traveling, photography and watching movies. He can be reached at https://twitter.com/riteshmaity