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Published: August 30th 2008
Come Summer and its travel time. The destinatin is Gangtok, Nathulla & Dargeeling starting from Kolkata the year 2007 during May. We reached Calcutta on a humid afternoon , after checking in the hotel were off to the local places. My friend Viswanath's daughter Sandhya accompanied us for the trip & was a good company for my daughter through out.The local trip started with the famous Howrah bridge, the second Hoogly Bridge, the botanical gardens were for the day one. The victoria memorial the land mark of kolkata was of course in the list. The second day stared off wtih a visit to the Belur Math where lies the memorial of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and Swami Vivekananda. This is beautiful spot and the marble memorial is worth the visit.
The second half of day was dedicated to the museum. This is which was fascinating, took lots of snaps here and I we were really awe struck on the collections and the size of the museum. The Indian Museum of Kolkata is the ninth oldest museum of the world.
The Kolkata Indian Museum established long back in 1814 in the Asiatic Society Building was founded by Dr. Nathaniel Wallich, a
botanist from Denmark. It is one of the earliest museums established in the world and considered the largest
In the country.
Opened to public in 1878, the museum has over 60 galleries and is divided into six main sectors of Art, Anthropology, Archaeology, Geology, Industry and Zoology. The museum with 3 floors is spread out over an area of 930 sq.mts. It is an independent institution funded by the Government of India.
The art section is really huge in the II floor, the Art collection of the Indian Museum comprises of miniature paintings, textiles, and decorative art objects from Asian countries -- China, Japan, Nepal, Tibet, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Java and Kampuchea.
The tradition of Burmese gallery displays brass and bronze figures, wood carvings, silverwares and lacquer ware objects depicting 'Jatakas', scenes from the epic 'Ramayana'
In the Nepal-Tibet Bay a few bronze images and woodcarvings extending in date from the 9th-10th century to the 18th-19th century have been displayed. Special mention may be made of the bronze image of Siva belonging to the 9th-10th century and wooden figure of Salabhanjika of the 15th-16th century, both from Nepal and bronze figures of Yamantaka and Aryavalokitesvara,
Flowers in a bowl
This was at the hotel reception !yab-yum figures of Samvara with Sakti and Hevajra with Sakti from Tibet. The ritual objects - phur-bu (magic dagger), incense-burner, butter-lamp and a set of ornaments and bone-apron made of human bones are equally noteworthy.
The other sections include the Anthropological, archaeological, Geological, Zoological and an Industrial Section.
The next part of our tour which was more interesting was the visit to Gangtok and further from there. We boarded the train at Calcutta to New Jalpaigudi the nearest rail head to Gangtok. We reached in the morning and were off to Gangtok in a taxi. It was a good 3 hours drive and the weather was pleasant.
We checked in at the Tashi Delek hotel. This was reasonably good, rooms spacious and food was also fine. We stared off in the afternoon on our local tour. The first being the Do Drool monastery.
The huge white Do-Drul Monastery with its golden spire is a landmark of Gangtok. Built in 1945, it is surrounded by 108 prayer wheels and houses several rare religious tetxs. Nearby are two gompas (Tibetan Buddhist temples) housing huge statues of Guru Padmasambhava. About three km from here set on a prominent
Belur math
Well maintained spot. ridge, is the Enchey Monastery, the seat of the Nyingma order. This is where you can see masked dances performed during the ‘Chaam’ festival in January every year.
We then proceeded to the Government Institute of Cottage Industries (also called the Directorate of Handicrafts and Handloom) promotes and teaches the ancient crafts of Sikkim (like painting, mask making, weaving, wood carving) to keep them alive. You can spend hours exploring the Research Institute of Tibetology, housed in a traditional terracotta-and-white building.
The other places of visit includes the Deer Park, Namgyal Institute, Dul Dul Chortena, Pemayangtse Monastery, Rumtek Monastery, Labrang Monastery, Tasuk - la- khang (Palace Monastery), The last one was indeed good with lots of photographs and memorabilia of the erstwhile rulers of the hill state.
All these monasteries were colourful with beautiful paintings of life of Buddha and the various it is a unique centre for the study of Buddhist philosophy and religion. It has a collection of rare Buddhist manuscripts, ‘thankas’ (religious tapestries), and other artifacts. It is open throughout the week - 10 am to 4 pm.
We were now a bit exhausted and were back to the hotel settled with
a cup of tea and snacks and were just going around the hotel. The lady at the reception told us on the Kanchenjunga view in the early morning. We woke up for this by 5 am and had a good view snow capped mountain.
The next day’s plan was set for the great Nathulla pass. We have to give the names of the persons who will visit the place with age and other details which is The charges for one person were Rs.700/- and we hired a big travel jeep and along with 4 more tourists set off to the Nathulla pass by 8 am in the morning.
I felt this was a bit high but the cab owner started explaining the problem of getting the permissions, narrow one way road he has to drive up. Have a look at the snaps.
The route was fascinating leading through dangerous narrow hilly track the road without any support on either side, overlooking several thousand meters below the valley. A good three hous ride adn if you are scared of heights you had it , you are sure to get shaken.
The pass is located at the height of
14,400 sq. ft. above the mean sea level. The famous Chinese 'Lantern post' is located here and only a small barbed wire separates India from China. Soldiers on both side’s wave and talk to each other. Of course most of the Chinese soldiers barring officers do not speak English, so too much conversation cannot take place. Only very recently the pass has been opened to tourists by both the government of India and the Government of China. Seven to eight vehicles of tourists come to the Pass every morning between 8.00 and 11.00 a.m. From the Indian side a permit has to be obtained from the Tourist Department to go to the pass. We were among the first batch of tourists to land there as very recently before our trip the pass was opened to the public.
The pass is located only 54 kilometers from Gangtok but it takes 3-4 hours to reach there, as the journey is very arduous. One has to also cross three or four army check posts. The road in the upper reaches is very narrow and one requires a skilled driver. It was freezing cold and we reached the sacred Changu Lake. The lake
The Kolkata museum
One of biggest in Asia was calm and spotless. There was a board reading walking or playing on the frozen lake is prohibited. We had some snaps out here and were soon off to the final destination the Nathulla.
As you proceed towards Nathula you see that the entire area is under the control of the army. You come across a lot of army camps which have been set up in makeshift tin sheds. Field conditions are very difficult for both the soldiers & the officers and you realise in what unfriendly circumstances they lived work.
The Pass and the surrounding areas are under the protection of the Punjab Regiment. One of its battalions, namely, 21 Punjab is located here. As you approach closer, you see the slogans of the battalion written on the hill side to keep the morale of the soldiers high.
There are heart-warming slogans, 'life is tough but we are tougher’.
“Sleep peacefully at your homes, Indian army is guarding the frontiers”
At 14,400 .ft. above sea level the oxygen in the air is only 50% and one can easily get breathless. My wife first was not willing to get down from the van but I tried to
convince her. (Having spent so much for the tour how can we stay back after reaching so near to the spot) Another tourist from Mumbai had Doctor’s brandy and suggested that a spoonful of this would take care of the biting cold and that we could climb up easily. Reluctantly I took a sip and all followed. Yes!! It was really working and we did feel a bit warm and were off to the top most point.
We had to climb another 200 meters to reach the barbed wire which separated India from China. After climbing a few steps I felt breathless. We used the age-old technique of taking deep breaths and breathing through my mouth. After a while my breathing stabilized and I managed to go up slowly while holding on to Tariq's arm. We got acclimatized within the next ten to fifteen minutes and after that there was no problem for the next two hours which I spent there.
When we arrived there it was foggy, but soon the sun came up and we were able to see the Chinese side of the terrain or what was once the sacred kingdom of Tibet before China usurped
it. It is more rugged from the Chinese side and the nearest town is hundreds of miles away. I could see some soldiers moving about on the Chinese side. I waved to one of them. There are a lot of people of Tibetan origin related to each other living on both sides of the fence. They keep in touch with each other with the help of letters. Hence, the mail is exchanged at this point once in a week. I understand that the exchange of small gifts, watches, eats, etc., also takes place now and then between the soldiers & tourists and it helps in relaxing the atmosphere. There is no tension.
It was time for us to say bye to the wonderful Nathulla pass and we started our descend to Gangtok with fresh memories and lots and lots to speak about. We reached Gangtok and next day morning after breakfast set off to the much talked about hill station Dargeeling!
DARJEELING is one of the most magnificent hill resorts in the world. This heavenly retreat is bathed in hues of every shade. The flaming red rhododendrons, the sparkling white magnolias, the miles of undulating hillsides covered with
emerald green tea bushes, the exotic forests of silver fir-all under the blanket of a brilliant azure sky dappled with specks of clouds, compellingly confounds Darjeeling as THE QUEEN OF HILL STATIONS.
We had 2 days time in Darjeeling and planned for the Botanical gardens, Ghum Monastery, Tea plantations, Himalayan mountaineering institute, the high altitude zoo & the Batasia loop.
The first point was the Lloyd boanical garden is spread over a vast area and has a varied collection of Himalayan flora and a variety of orchids.
We then moved on tp a place called Ghoom, the age old Guru Shakya Monastery captures the eyes of all the visitors.The Guru Sakya Monastery is a historic and significant monastery of the Shakya Order. The original monastery was built sometime in 1915 and has supported the monastic community over the years
the age old Guru Shakya Monastery captures the eyes of all the visitors.The Guru Sakya Monastery is a historic and significant monastery of the Shakya Order.
The Everest Museum at Darjeeling HMI - The Himalayan mounatineering Institite exhibits the history of attempts on the great peak. The museum also exhibits equipments used by Tenzing Norgay (who lived
in Darjeeling) and Edmund Hillary on their way to Mt. Everest and a letter written by George Mallory, the British climber who was lost while climbing Mt. Everest and whose body was found just a few years back
IMPORTANCE COLLECTION IN THE MUSEUM ARE AS FOLOWS:
● An important letter from H.H The Dalai Lama through which he granted the permission to the first British expedition on 20th December 1920.
● Initially the expedition used to pass through a Dak Bunglow in Thambu (SIKKIM) instead of the present routes through Nepal &China. The Dak Bunglow register containing the signatures of varioys eminent mountaineers since 192 is preserved here.
● Important information along with original signature & equipment used in the controversial expedition of 1924 by Mallory & Irvine.
● Equipment used by Tenzing, Sir John Hunt & Sir Edmund Hillary during 1953 expedition.
● Important information & Route map of first Indian Mt. Everest in 1960.
● Original equipment used by Nawang Gombhu Who is the first man to climb Mt Everest twice during 1963 and 1965 Everest.
It was now the second day evenign and we did take out time
The HMI
Himalayan Mountaineering Institute. to buy some local stuff to give to friends and relatives on our return from this place. At times we also find that most of them are also available at our own town of course except a few exotic one's. We bought a hand made artecraft ( made of dried stem and jugnle flowers with a provision for fixing a light and it really looked amazing. Carrying this for the rest of the tour, in the air craft and safely to our home at Chennai was a challenge which we made it!.
well I hope you enjoyed the trip as much as i did and also the snaps.
bye,
Ramz
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HeatherLauren
Heather Lauren
Great Photo of that red fox, and of the locals. Your blogs are all so interesting and informative!! Thanks, Heather