Footsteps : Through the Mountains in a Tempo | Day 3

Way to Rabangla, Sikkim 

Day 3 : After covering mostly lower Sikkim in the first 2 days we were going to Rabangla today. Rabangla is quite a famous tourist town  but we were not there for touristy stuff, we were going there to complete our work. There are two ways to reach Rabangla from Jorthang . One is through Namchi and Damthang to Rabangla and another is through Nayabazar Road. Nayabazar road will actually can take you to Pelling too. Anyway we had one stop at Damthang also, so we had to take that road only. Mr. Jigme said Ravangla will be quite cold so to take few more layers along. I was more excited than worried. I asked him if there is snow. He said not that he has heard of it yet but if we were lucky we might see some. With renewed excitement I was ready to roll again.

beautiful views along the road

Around 8:30 am we started our journey with all our load on the back of our tempo. We started with the same route to Namchi and quickly left Namchi town and entered Namchi Damthang road . It was going alright for sometime as road was ok but not much smooth like before. After 15 -20 minutes from Namchi, the road was becoming bad. After some time we could see that there were road construction going on . Excavators , road rollers, bulldozers and lots of people with yellow helmets.  That really slowed us down. To be honest, I was actually enjoying it rather than getting worried because I could enjoy the journey longer and the scenery was starting get more beautiful. 

Roads work in the clouds

Road work going on

 Soon after time around 11:30 am We hit a road block. It was quite funny and frustrating at the same time. So the road workers were digging up the hill side and had to block the entire main road. So they made a temporary bypass for letting the cars go. They actually made two ways so traffic can go from both side. And of course there was that one dumb a***, who drove his/her car on the opposite side. And few vehicles behind it also followed the same path. So we were stuck. 

Everyone awaits the clearance

If you know anything about Himalayan roads, be it Manali or Sikkim the edges are dangerous with huge drops. One mistake or slip and meeting you maker is inevitable. And We were driving on the "meeting you maker" side of the road. I could see the drop as I was on the left side. We sat for some time in the car, then like every body else we came out and watched the drama. As I said before, frustrating yet fun at the same time. Everybody was giving their expert opinions while road workers were actually figuring out a way to make the clearance. I was just enjoying the view and having a laugh with Jigme about the whole situation. To be honest though, his calmness stopped me from worrying at all.

Anyway after like half an hour we got out of the traffic jam and moved on. The road was bumpy through out though. At around 1 pm we reached Damthang. The school was near the main road also so we reached there. We were already late, so we just took some tea and left. As it was afternoon almost lunch time so they asked food if we would like some food. But Mr. Jigme had other plans so told me to politely decline it.     

Damthang

So, We went on ahead towards Rabangla. While I was hoping about snow as the weather already got a lot colder but Jigme quickly destroyed all my expectations saying, as per the weather he could see at Damthang he did not think we would get any snow in and around Rabangla today. But anyway he brought me to this small little town area probably just outside Damthang for our lunch. There were these cute little houses with beautiful colors and small gardens in front of them. We sat inside one of the houses. When I went inside, there was this neat little restaurant .

We had our lunch here

We stopped a little ahead for lunch

We finished our lunch and it was amazing. No wonder he stopped there. We started moving for Ravangla after finishing our lunch. This was one of the absolute beauty of a route that I took during the the whole trip. So I am not gonna say a lot of things but show you the pictures that I took during going to Rabangla and the return there after. 

On the way to Rabanlga

As We were climbing, the pine trees started to show up. The cloud was moving a lot that day so, some time it was sunny and sometime cloudy. 

Pine forest 

Getting higher and higher

Distant hills

Finally entering Rabangla 

After reaching Rabangla at around 3 pm I finally felt a strong chill through my bones as I came out of the car. I covered myself with the extra cloths that I brought. Jigme also put on a jacket. School was almost empty as they were preparing for the winter holidays to start and we were quite late also. I gave the Principal Ma'am quite a few instructions regarding keeping the instruments as the winter vacation will start very soon and it will snow here in January. That took some time but we left eventually.

what a place to have a school

Return Journey from Rabangla

As I said, I will not write much, but show you the pictures but to tell you in short as I have mentioned before this part of the journey stayed with me for a long time. Even today I fondly remember it. Hope you enjoy the pictures.

The color changed as the Sun was going down

Jigme was running against the Sun going down, before we reach Jorthang. He was driving faster but his skills were actually showing up then. I never really felt any danger or anything. Only thing was why were we leaving this place so early, why couldn't we stay here. But that's the difference leisure travel and professional travel. You have stick to the schedule. Alass 😞!!!

Somewhere between Namchi and Jothang

We reached Namchi at around 4 pm and at about 5:30 or around we finally reached Jorthang. Sun already had gone down and it was dark when we reached. So, that was quite a day. In a word "absolutely amazing"(consider absolutely amazing as a single word 😁) experience throughout the whole day. Some would say, but the roadblock and waiting. But for me that was more of a blessing as It stopped me somewhere I wouldn't have otherwise and also it wasn't really long enough to disturb all the schedules.   

We decided earlier to take a break for the next day and complete our final delivery the day after. I informed the same to the office and the schools also. So, I had a day off. I made a plan for Namchi. I didn't tell this to Jigme or he would have helped, but I wanted do it myself. So went to the main Jeep station near the main square and asked for booking. The guys there assured me that I don't need to book ahead as there will be enough cars available in the morning. So I made myself some itinerary with the help of internet and waited for the morning to come. But, that's a story for another day.

Please share your thoughts and comments and I will come back with the next part of the journey tomorrow.

Thanks.