Lachung – Footloose Forever

The Daily Post Photo Challenge: Solitude

February 4, 2017Posted in Photo challengeTagged alone, forest, Lachung, Nature, nature photography, North Sikkim, solitude, woods23 Comments

nature, solitude, alone, greenery, lachung, sikkim

“Loneliness expresses the pain of being alone and solitude expresses the glory of being alone.”

~ Paul Tillich

I feel lonely when I am in the crowd. I enjoy being alone amidst the nature.

We were driving to Lachung from Gangtok. On our way, I saw this woman sitting alone under the trees. It looked like she was contemplating, fully absorbed in the nature and greenery all around. And this is exactly what “solitude” means to me.

Well, I know it could have been a much better, clearer picture, but I took this shot from a running car. Hence, not a very clean shot. Hope you don’t mind that! 🙂

Published in response to The Daily Post Photo Challenge: Solitude.

The Daily Post Photo Challenge: Relax

December 3, 2016December 6, 2016Posted in Photo challengeTagged Himalayas, Lachung, mountains, North Sikkim, photo challange, plunge, relax, swim, waterfalls12 Comments

waterfalls, north sikkim, lachung, himalayas

Imagine, you are riding through rugged mountain roads. It’s almost noon and you are tired of a long, bumpy ride. As you take a U-turn, you see a waterfall and discover a small pool at the bottom. With warm sun above the head, taking a plunge in the cool water would be the best way to relax and rejuvenate yourself. Do you agree? 🙂

In North Sikkim, you will find plenty of such waterfalls with naturally formed pools. Although I didn’t get a chance to take the splash, the sight of local boys playing in the water was pretty relaxing, too.

Published in response to The Daily Post Photo Challenge: Relax.

Sikkim Diaries: Waterfall-breaks on the Way to Lachung

June 2, 2016July 4, 2016Posted in SikkimTagged Lachung, Nature, nature travel, North Sikkim, Sikkim, Sikkim tour, waterfalls35 Comments

This is the second part of my North Sikkim tour photo series. If you have missed the first part, click here to view the photo-essay on my journey to Lake Gurudongmar.

We reached Gangtok in the afternoon, on May 7, 2016, and headed for Lachung the very next morning. The shared taxis/rental cars for Lachung are available at Vajra taxi stand, just outside the city. Unfortunately, a technical fault was detected in our car right after we started from Vajra. It took some time to get it repaired. Therefore, it was a delayed start from Gangtok at around 12 pm.

The weather was fine and the views were great. The rows of white and colored prayer ‪‎flags, with the sublime mountains in the background, added a pristine charm to the ‪‎landscapes.

Unfortunately, the road condition is extremely bad in North Sikkim. It was a rough ride throughout on the broken mountain roads, but the torturous journey was compensated with breaks like these… 🙂

Our first stop was at Seven Sisters’ Waterfall.

There was a natural pool at the bottom of the falls.

And we could see big boys were having fun in the water.

This part of the Himalayas is green and verdant year-round as it receives sufficient rainfall to boost the streams and waterfalls. We stopped as many times as we could to take in the beauty of the hills and rivers on our way.

And took pleasure in small things as well…

There were quite a few waterfalls on the way up to Chungthung, a small town, after which the road bifurcates. One goes to Lachung and the other leads to Lachen, the gateway to Gurudongmar, the iconic lake in North Sikkim.

However, the last and most notable was ‘Bachchan Falls’, which is popularly called so because of its appearance, tall and lean like Big B. 😀 Well, I don’t know if this waterfall is really called so by the locals. I didn’t see any signboard there, indicating the name of this waterfall.