Zuluk(Old Silk Route) was in our wish list for quite some time and we had also planned it in Apr-2020 but then we all know who came to our lives during that period and “yes” like others, we also had to cancel our plan. Travellers can’t let go of anything in their wish-list, so we again planned it during Apr-2022.
Apr 14th – Kolkata to NJP by Darjeeling Mail @22:05
Apr 15th – NJP to Icche Gaon
Apr16th – Ichhegaon to Padamchen
Apr 17th – “Old silk route” sightseeing
Apr 18th – Padamchen to Rishikhola
Apr 18th – Rishikhola to NJP and catch Darjeeling Mail to Kolkata
We were a total of 8 adults and 4 kids so we booked two Boleros for our trip and also booked all the homestays in advance and left everything in Corona’s hands 🙂
Day-1 (Apr 14th) : Journey to NJP from Kolkata
As per plan we all reached Sealdah station and the party began inside the Darjeeling Mail coach. We had a gala dinner with home cooked food – Fish finger, Paratha , Chilli Chicken & Mishti and went to sleep in anticipation of a lovely good morning at NJP.
Day-2 (Apr 15th) : Icche Gaon
Our train was almost on-time and we reached NJP at 8:30 AM. Our drivers were also waiting at the parking lot so without wasting any time, we started our journey towards Icche Gaon on the two Boleros. We got uber excited when we saw Coronation bridge, green hills, Teesta river, it seemed we were seeing them after ages !
We took a “Momo STOP” at one of the roadside shops and the food (Momo, Maggie, Wai Wai) was really yummy. We reached Ichche Gaon around 1PM and got our rooms at “Lamasherpa Homestay”. The view from the homestay balcony was awesome. After some adda, we enjoyed our hot lunch ( Rice, Dal, Aloo Fry, Sabji ,egg curry and papad) which was part of the homestay package.
Post lunch, we headed for a short hike along the valley, the view of the valley from top of the hills were beautiful. The strong cold breeze blowing through our face and hair made us feel that mother nature is welcoming us to its lap with open arms.
In the evening, we were served Tea and Pakoras. The gang of twelve sat in the dimly-lit big dining area and the adda began. The kids recited poems one after the other followed by loud applause from the excited parents. Our lead singer Torsha had brought her Ukulele this time, so the evening was jomjomat with chorus singing by Payel, Piyali, Ratul and Bishu.
Later at around 9 PM we were served dinner- Rice and Chapatis as per our preferences, Dal, Sabji and Chicken. This kind of set meal is somewhat common throughout the destinations along Silk Route. Shortly after having dinner, the team called off the day and hit the bed. But Arnab, the Bird Watcher had a different plan with the boys! We, the boys went towards the nearby jungle area for Night Birding where Arnab was identifying nocturnal birds like owls, nightjars, and Eastern whip-poor-wills through their calling. It was an amazing feeling, staying away from all the hustle bustle of the towns, enjoying the calmness of the starry night with frequent calling of nocturnal birds and insects.
Day-2 (Apr 15th) : Icche Gaon – Padamchen
Morning started with Arnab’s Calling “It’s Kanchu outside”. I was thinking that he was just trying to fool us because sighting “Kanchenjungha during mid April” is just impossible. When I came out of the room, I realized the reason of popularity of this place.
The morning views had set the day for us. We were served Puri & Alu Sabji for breakfast at around 8:30 AM. After having our breakfast we packed our luggage and left for our next destination Padamchen via Rongli Bazar , bidding goodbye to Sherpa family at around 10 AM.
After 20-30 mnts journey, we stopped at Ramdhura view point which gives a beautiful panoramic view of Teesta river, hills and pine forest.
After another 2 hrs of journey, we reached to Rongli Bazaar from where one needs to get the Silk Route permit. Our drivers took care of the permit and we enjoyed our Momo, Coffee and shopping at Rongli Bazaar. After 45mnts we started and crossed Lingtam . In between we had to pay a entry fee of Rs. 560/- for 3 days stay at this wildlife zone. Further we stopped at Que-Khola Falls in Nimachen.
We reached Padamchen at around 2:30 PM. We had our booking at Lamakhang homestay but after reaching there they gave us a different homestay. It was normal for us to be unhappy about this. We insisted on Lamakhang Homestay, however we were told that the option given to us had better rooms, and on checking we indeed found that to be the case, which pleasantly surprised us. We thanked the owner and checked in to Arjastik Rigsel Homestay. It has only 5 rooms and we had booked 4 rooms, so it was only US in the entire building. This homestay stands alone in an elevated stretch of the road , little away from the central area, making it even more beautiful.
It was around 3PM when we reached there. We were starving by then, so every dish that we were served in lunch felt delicious!!
After taking some rest we went for a walk. It was an absolutely different experience – quiet and serene. We thanked god that destinations like Icchey Gaon and Padamchen are still unknown, and that’s the reason we got to enjoy this kind of charming destination away from the maddening crowds.
Evening started with pakora, cha and musical adda led by Torsha & Ratul. Meanwhile we discussed and decided that only boys will head for a sunrise trip next day early morning. After an early dinner, we went to bed with an excitement as the next day was the most important day of “Silk Route”.
Day-3 (Apr 16th) : The Old Silk Route
We woke up at 3AM and our car started at 3:30 AM. It was an hour’s thrill drive through hilly roads plunged in complete darkness. We reached the Lungthung sunrise point at around 4:45 AM. The eastern night sky started to bleed the first light before the sun actually rose while a full moon and the stars were still twinkling. Gradually sun came out and the hues on the great Kanchenjunga started changing from red to pink, then golden to silver. The entire panorama of Kanchenjunga was visible.
We thought that the surprise was over for us that morning but we were wrong as a beautiful Monal was waiting for us to play “hide and seek” with us 🙂
We came back to our homestay where the rest of the team was waiting for our day sightseeing around Old silk route area. We started after breakfast at around 9AM(from 8000 ft). The road was very beautiful through the pine forests till Zuluk which is 10KM from Padamchen. Along the road, we got glimpse of Zuluk village which is at 9400 ft and then proceeded towards our first stop at “Thambi view point”. This is around 16 KMs from Zuluk, driving up and up through exhilarating hairpin bends (around 32). We stopped for some photo session and to be frank, this was the main attraction of the trip – to see and capture the zigzag path through my eyes and camera lens respectively 🙂
Our next stop was Lungthung view point which is at 12400 ft , it also gave us the panoramic view of Mt Kanchenjungha.
We proceeded towards Nathang Valley which is situated at 13500 ft. Nathang Valley in current times is gaining popularity due to its pristine landscapes, and is sometimes also referred to as ‘Ladakh of the east’. It indeed has some similarities. It has a glacial melt stream and world’s highest golf course. Nathang Valley is the second highest place in Sikkim where tourists can stay but again, spending a night at 13500 ft., the body needs to be acclimatised properly. Although we skipped an overnight stay at Nathang valley this time, we are certainly going to do the same during our next trip.
Our next stop was the old Baba mandir (the actual bunker, in which Sentry Harbhajan Singh of Indian Army resided) falls on the old silk route. We went inside the bunker and saw Baba’s bed, shoes and other articles . A lot of stories fly around Baba Harbhajan Singh who is still considered to be living, like how his neatly made bed every day is found crumpled every morning, as if someone has slept on it, or how his polished shoes are found muddy in the evening.
The backyard of the bunker is cordoned off and is said to be strewn with landmines laid during the war of 1962 in anticipation of a Chinese invasion which never happened because of “blessings of Baba” but those were never taken out. Baba’s favorite dry fruits are served as Prasad to everybody visiting the temple. Indian Army arranges for hot meals on some special days, and we seemed to be there on one of these days. The delicious hot meal (Paratha, Fried rice, chole masala, chana masala, payesh and halua) felt heavenly in the chilly afternoon. Kids enjoyed a lot playig with previous night’s fresh snow patches.
We headed towards our last stop Kupup lake. We saw more snow as we proceeded towards the lake. At the centre of a glorious adjoining valley, a small village Kupup with a sparse population is situated on the banks of a lake. Lake is also referred as Elephant Lake due to its resemblance of an Elephant.
After having some photo shoot we started our return journey as we had to cross one check point before 2PM. We arrived at our homestay at around 4PM.
After a successful day, we spent the evening with snacks and loads of chit-chat within our rooms as it started raining. Later we went to the dinning room to have our dinner. Rain had stopped by then and we came out to the lawn area to have our final adda of Padamchen. Arnab suddenly spotted something on a tall tree and when we flashed torchlight on it , we all were pleasantly surprised to see a “Flying Squirrel”. Silk route was throwing surprises at us every now and then.
Day-4 (Apr 17th) : Rishikhola
Our final destination was Rishikhola which is 2 hours drive from Padamchen. We reached Mozauley River Retreat around 12PM and everyone’s expression was just “WoW” after seeing the location of the resort-surrounded by evergreen forests and a charming khola (Small rivulet in Nepali). This place is on the edge of West Bengal, where the river Reshi marks the border with Sikkim. It has always been my dream to stay in a wooden village cottage, in the midst of a hilly jungle beside a rippling river.
The resort was just awesome, it was like living inside a forest. After parking our luggage, we all headed towards the river and had our bath in the cool water as the weather was almost like that in Kolkata. After spending sometime, we had our lunch, the food served was really tasty.
This place is heaven for bird watchers, so we all took a walk with our big lenses and got glimpses of some Himalayan birds.
The evening started with bonfire and BBQ party to celebrate our successful trip. (Un)Fortunately there was a power cut due to previous night’s storm. As the place plunged in darkness, it generated an amazing feeling in us – away from all the hustle bustle and brightness of the town, we enjoyed the calmness with “Jhi Jhi poka r daak” (Cricket) amidst lush green forest.
We finished our dinner and called off the day and hit the bed!!
Day-5 (Apr 18th) : Final Day – Home Calling
It was our final day and we had couple of hours before starting our journey back to NJP . So we all busied ourselves as per our interests – Arnab went for bird-watching, I captured shots of the river in various angles and the rest went for a stroll along the banks of the river.
We had our breakfast in the resort and bid goodbye to Rishikhola. On the way we stopped at Lohapool for a break which is Arnab and Bishu’s favorite shop which we couldn’t locate on day-1.
We boarded Darjeeling Mail saying “We are coming back to “Old Silk Route” for next level of thrill”.
Tagged: East Sikkim, Himalaya, Ichhey Gaon, India, Kanchenjungh, Kanchenjungha, Kupkup Lake, Mountain, Mozoulay, Old Baba Mandir, Padamchen, Rishi River, Rishikhola, Sikkim, Silk Roue, West bengal, Zuluk
Ajoy Kumar Maji 
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