Day 6, 27 December 2012

                We got up at 6 and finished our morning rituals quickly. We had our breakfast and got ready for our today’s relaxed trip to Nathu La at China border. It was a nice fresh morning and lots of beautiful birds were chirping around in garden. Our Tourist vehicle came in a few minutes. The vehicle guy was a friendly smiling person and he asked us get in the vehicle quickly since all tourist vehicles would rush towards Nathu La and we might have got stuck in traffic. It was a Toyota Innova that he had brought for us and since we had hired us a private vehicle, it was only we two along with driver in this vehicle. I must admit that these guys really know how to drive a big vehicle on these roads. In spite of having steep twists and turns with places where only one vehicle could pass, this guy was gearing forward and reverse effortlessly. While doing that he used to wave at other drivers passing by with a smiling face. We went to the main market area to the government office for collecting the permits. Vehicle guy went in and got back quickly with all necessary permits and documents. Finally we started ascending towards Nathu La by around 9:30 AM. This was the first time we were observing how the road condition gets at high mountain passes. We were observing every single bit of this journey, since it was going to help us in our upcoming Ladakh tour. We halted at a small settlement for breakfast. It was like a town consisting of 8-10 dhabas, just settled below the Nathu La. Most tourist vehicles waited here for food and tea and so did we. Our cab driver had noodles there, while we had our tea just to get warmer.

                In no time we got back on our vehicle and started heading towards Tsongmo lake. The road entirely was filled with loose soil and fragile mountain slopes and so driving here was a big task. We reached Tsongmo lake first and saw a crispy, blue serene lake surrounded by mountains. It was a pleasant site. Our driver advised us to first visit Nathu la and on our way back, spend our time at the lake. We agreed to it and went towards the pass. Since we did not have the permits to visit Indo-China border post on Nathu La, we had to stop at the base of Nathu La. At this place, Army has built Baba Harbhajan Singh Temple in the memory of one of our soldier. There is an interesting story behind this temple which one can find over Internet. Here we have a high altitude Army cafeteria where one can have snacks and buy souvenirs. We bought a few and spent some time there at a high altitude of 13,000 ft to get acclimatized. We then got down at Tsongmo lake and saw a few Yaak owners running towards us. They all started convincing us to take a Yaak ride around the lake. We agreed to one of them and took 2 Yaaks for our next ride. I must say, these Yaaks were huge and heavily built with long sharp horns. The Yaak on which I was sitting had very long, backward pointing horns which were almost touching my knees while I was sitting on him. I was in a constant fear of, what if a fly comes by Yaak’s nose and this Yaak flicks his head wildly. I could’ve got my knees crushed easily and with that thought I shifted myself a little behind. The Yaak ride was a pleasant experience, as it took us around the lake through a narrow path way. The Yaak owners took us to one spot closest to the lake and then got us down to do a photo shoot. It was very quiet and peaceful over there. We sat on a rock closest to the blue lake and got our pictures clicked. The Yaak owners were very much friendly to us and were giving us a lot of information about Yaak herding business and how difficult it gets for these people to survive here in harshest of weathers. The guys then took us on a walk towards a little snow patch where we can play with snow. Me and Maithili loved this place as it was the first time we were throwing snow on each other. The Yaak guys clicked pictures for us and then with satisfied hearts we took our return Yaak ride till our vehicle.