Yumthang valley is a deep green Dale and looks like a kaleidoscope of colors. As it is the habitat of various species of flowers, birds and is surrounded all over by East Himalayan alpine. It is popularly known as “Valley Of Flowers” or “Switzerland of India” and is situated at an elevation of 11,693ft(3564 meters) in North-Sikkim. In spring, the valley is painted red as dominated by red rhododendrons on both sides of the road. The “tree-line” ends here, means trees can not grow above this altitude.

You can not visit the Valley in a single stretch, as it’s distance from Gangtok is approx 150 k.m. First, reach Gangtok with a taxi (shared or book a cab ) from Siliguri. You can reach Siliguri via train coming at New-Jalpaiguri station or by air to Bagdogra airport. From Gangtok come to Lachung and stay at night there. Lachung is the nearest town to Yumthang valley. Lachung means “small pass”, is in North-Sikkim, at the altitude of 9600 ft, near the Tibet border. It is situated at the confluence of Lachen(means big-pass) and Lachung rivers, both are tributaries of Teesta river. In winters due to heavy snowfall, this town is fully covered with snow. After visiting the majestic Gurudongmar lake, we went to Lachung. We started at 3:00 p.m from Chaten, our previous stay. Lachung is approximately 50 k.m from Chaten. We reached at 5:20 p.m at our stay. It was raining and the cold wind and freezing temperature were giving us shiverings. The view was mesmerizing as huge mountain range was welcoming us once again. 

Lachung has 2 main tourist spots: Yumthang Valley and Zero point. We left for Yumthang Valley at 7:00 a.m next morning as it was 20 km from our hotel and due to unpredictable weather constraints. The road is mostly fine except some rough patches. The way to Yumthang valley passes through Shingba Rhododendron Sanctuary which is an abode to 24+ species of rhododendrons and more than 20 species of birds. Sanctuary is in 43 square km area, full of rhododendron stretches. It looks like a painting full of bright colors like red, pink, yellow, white and mauve.

Rhododendrons are alpine species and characterized by shrubs or small trees and can be evergreen or deciduous. They have small leaves and some species have clusters of flower. It is the state flower of Sikkim and the national flower of Nepal. Rhododendrons mainly bloom in the spring season. Blooming is at the peak in April and by May end its over.

 

So we were really lucky to see this magnificent view of nature. We thanked God for this,  as many of our friends told us that they had not seen the valley in full bloom. The view was beyond words. The enchanting beauty of valley was like the earth was dressed as a bride in most splendid colors possible. We stayed there for some time, explored the varieties and colors of rhododendrons, walked through nearby trails and clicked lots of pix. After that, we moved towards the valley.

There is a small market before Valley where you can have noodles, momos, omelets and tea or coffee. Tourists can rent woolens, boots, gloves for Zero point(Yume Samdong), which is approx 24 k.m from the valley and will take around 1.5 hours to reach. At the altitude of 15000ft, the civilian road ends and that’s why it is called Zero-point. It is covered with snow throughout the year, oxygen is less and it is near to China border. Visit it if you want to enjoy the snow. We left it and decided to stay and enjoy the view of valley and rhododendron sanctuary.

After having noodles at a shop, we walked towards the valley. In the valley, Yumthang River is flowing melodiously on small rocks, surrounded by beautiful mountains peaks such as Pauhunri and Shundu Tsenpa forming the backdrop of Yumthang River. Some mountains are snow capped, some are covered with mist and fog and trees all around. We sat there for a while tried to absorb all the sterling visuals in our minds. Suddenly kids started demanding for a horse ride and our train of thoughts broke. Both kids enjoyed their rides, we spent little bit more time, but it was freezing out there and the wind was also very chilled, so we decided to return.

While returning we visited “Yumthang hot spring” which comes just before the valley. It’s a natural hot spring with lots of medicinal quality in it as per told by locals. The hot spring is covered, as a house is made around it, you have to cross the small bridge over Teesta decorated with colorful prayer flags and climb steps to reach out there. One inlet from the natural water spring is made in the room and a tub is there to take a bath or playing. We all enjoyed at hot spring, some people were drinking water from it and some were taking it in a bottle as it has sulfur in it and it has healing capabilities. You can get the entire view of the valley from here.

After that, we left for Gangtok. The nearest city was Mangan, 30 k.m from the valley, we stopped there had lunch. It had many natural lakes formed due to landslides. It had market, restaurants n garage and shops. Our steering had some issues due to highly rough terrain and on mountains where human habitation is not there you can’t find a garage, so we waited but the issue was not fully resolved. Gangtok was 70 km from Mangan.We left for Gangtok but due to fog all around, visibility was not there and with steering issue, we went very slow.

Important Points:

Best time to visit the Valley: April to May end, as the rhododendrons are in full bloom.   Ater that monsoon starts but you can find Himalayan flowers.

Trip Itinerary:  3D/2N tour

Day1- Gangtok to Lachung

Day2- Lachung to Yumthang,  Zero point and back to Lachung

Day3- Lachung to Gangtok.

2D/1N trip: Day1- Gangtok to Lachung

Day2- Lachung to Yumthang, Zero point and back to Gangtok.

Nearest Railway station– NJP(New Jalpaiguri)

Nearest Airport- Bagdogra airport