Lachen - an Unexplored Paradise in North Sikkim

One of the bases for exploring North Sikkim is Lachen, the sister village of the other base Lachung. Situated at an altitude of 8838 feet, about 121 kms and 06 hrs drive from State capital of Sikkim, Gangtok, Lachen is the base for beautiful and famous Gurudongmar Lake and Chopta Valley.

The name Lachen means "big pass". This is a small hamlet with about 200 houses and Is opened to the tourists only few years back. Lying on a verdant plane segregated by cavernous ravines, Lachen in North Sikkim is famous for its multi hued mountains along with snowy peak and black cliffs. The natural and scenic beauty of Lachen will definitely rejuvenate you and bring you closer to itself.

The town of Lachen., mainly acts as the base for excursion to the Lake of Gurudongmar and Tso Lhamu. Lachen in itself has limited attractions to offer which includes a small monastery giving you a beautiful bird eye view of Lachen town. Another attraction in Lachen is The Handicraft centre in the main market. At the centre, you can view local girls weaving carpets from Yak Wool. Lachen is also a starting point for many a trekking route including treks to Kanchenjunga National Park, Green Lake, Gurudongmar Lake and Chopta Valley.

Lachen have its own system of administration, much like the Panchayati Raj. The system is called Dzumsa head of the Dzumsa are known as Pipon & Gyenbos. The original inhabitants of Lachen are called Lachenpa. Most of the families resides during winter months only, while in summer, they are off to green pastures of Tibet to graze their cattle, however with the advent of tourism, some families have started to stay back during Summer also.

The best time to visit Lachen is from November to June.

The following are the excursions which can be taken from Lachen :

Gurudongmar Lake

Located at a height of 17800 feet, this beautiful lake remains milky in color throughout the year, owing the floating ice on the surface. The lake is considered sacred by both Hindus and Buddhist alike.

Legend is that the Lake used to remain frozen for most of the year, hence the locals have no source of drinking water. Once Guru Padmasambhava Passed by while returning from Tibet, when the local people approached him with the request of finding a source of drinking water for them. On hearing their plea, the Guru obliged and blessed a portion of the lake by touching it. This portion of the lake now never freezes, even in extreme winters and is a constant source of drinking water for the locals. The water of the lake is considered sacred and the tourists coming here do take the samples of this blessed water as a momento with them.

Gurudongmar lake is not open for the Foreingers, however Indian tourists can visit it with Inner Line Permits.

Chopta Valley

With the sunrise and desire to explore some of the beautiful secrets of Mother Nature, you need to set out early in the morning to visit Chopta Valley. Driving with Lachen as base, you will climb almost 4500 feet within a distance of 30 kms to reach Thangu. A 20 minutes drive from Thangu, takes one into the virgin valley of Chopta, famous for its breathtaking unexplored scenic beauty. As you drive towards Chopta, the green vegetation of low altitude gives way to the coniferous trees of the mountains, which further diminishes in sight, with the landscape slowly converting into Plateau like nature, with small bushes. Beyond Thangu, the vegetation is scarce with Chopta valley as the last bastion of vegetation before entering the Tibetan plateau kind of landscape. Thangu in itself resembles a carpet of alpine flower in the moth of May and June, while rest of the period (October to March) it is mostly covered with white snow. A further two kilometers drive or trek takes you to the Chopta Valley, which is the last point till which the foreign tourists are allowed to visit.

Located at an altitude of 13200 ft, with the temperature remaining sub 10 degrees throughout the year ( at night and in winters, it goes below zero), Chopta Valley is only one of the very few places in Sikkim, where you can actually walk on  frozen river, but that happens only in winter months. In springs the valley is riot of colors with green mixing beautifully with the bright blue sky and flowers of numerous hues and shades spread along to provide you with a mesmerizing experience. As far as your eyes can see, Chopta valley is a landscape of green pasture criss crossed with small rivulets, many of them are snow covered.

An adventurous trek through Chopta valley will lead you to Muguthang valley. At an altitude of 15500ft, Muguthang valley, largely un-inhabitated is another unseen destination in the greater Himalayas.

Although Lachen is still not as famous as its sister city of Lachung, its prestine beauty, its virgin unexplored landscapes gives you enough reasons to visit this area. Visit to Sikkim cannot be said complete without visit to North Sikkim, especially to Lachen and Lachung - the unexplored Paradises of North Sikkim.