Situated at an altitude of about 9500 feet, surrounded by beautiful snow capped mountains is this beautiful town called Lachung, in North East Sikkim. The town has a beautiful river called Lachung river which is a tributary of Teesta river, the main river running through the length of Sikkim state.
It took a little more than 4 hours to reach Lachung from Gangtok by road. The road was partly smooth and partly bumpy as we passed through the mountains. The rough roads are because of mountain slides which are often seen along the way. We saw some tall, breath taking waterfalls on the way. A lot of greenery accompanied us most of the time. Teesta river and its tributaries were giving us company at times during our journey. Sikkim truly is a beautiful state and the beauty is more apparent in its northern part. We passed through two beautiful towns Mangan and Chungthang. Mangan is a sparsely populated town with small houses. Chungthang is a town located at the confluence of Lachung and Lachen rivers, both tributaries of Teesta river. The final road to Lachung was pretty steep and curvaceous.
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| Waterfall on the way to Lachung. |
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| Beautiful landscapes on road from Gangtok to Lachung. |
Lachung is a small town with beautiful landscapes. It is under snow blanket in winter season and so people migrate to lower heights as winter sets in. The town has plenty of apple, peach and apricot orchards. There is a famous old monastery in the town. Lachung is famous for Rhododendron trees. Lachung used to be a trading post between Tibet and India in olden times. Since the town is near China(Tibet) border, it is under military surveillance and tourists require prior permits to visit this place.
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| Snow capped mountains surround Lachung town. |
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| Lachung valley and town. |
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| Early morning on a cloudy day in Lachung. |
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Lachung has very pleasant weather. One can visit a few beautiful surrounding places viz. Yumthang valley, Yumesamdong and Gurudongmar lake while staying at Lachung. A three night stay at Lachung is sufficient to visit all these places. The best time to visit here is in April and May, when the winter is less severe.
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