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Three people bitten by wanderlust – that’s the Bose family in a nutshell. For Gautam Bose, general manager, Al Khoudh Steel Furniture, singer wife Rupa and 15-year-old son Rahul, traveling is a hobby that has turned into a passion. Bose says since all of them are fond of travelling the roles of initiator, promoter and approver keeps changing. “One of us will propose a destination, another will second it and the third person approves it.” However, last June the family had a different sort of vacation, but one which they enjoyed for the experiences it provided.

My family and I were toying with the idea of yet another European vacation when my brother, an IT professional in Delhi, suggested Sikkim. He had been there several times on official visits and loved the place. He agreed to join us with wife and son for the trip and that settled it – we were soon on the way. A garden state wrapped in mists and clouds, with an incredible variety of orchids, rhododendrons and a host of other flowers, rustling, tumbling streams and waterfalls as well as mountain monasteries, Sikkim is straight out of a brochure.

I decided on north Sikkim as I wanted the children to see life in the most unadulterated form. I also wanted them to realise that there’s more to life than luxury and protected environment in which they live, that even as we talk about climate change and afforestation in air-conditioned rooms, there are people out there who are not educated but spend an entire lifetime protecting the forests, as their very survival depends on it.


Once you leave Gangtok, the capital of Sikkim, you can forget all about luxury accommodation. We stayed in hotels with bare necessities – a clean room with attached bath and some kind of meal facility. Throughout the trip we lived on sandwiches, boiled potatoes and chappatis and grilled chicken. June is not exactly the tourist season as it is peak monsoon. But that’s when the hills come alive with several waterfalls. We prefer off season as there isn’t much crowd and you have the entire place to yourself. There’s an added bonus – you get good bargains.

Our first stop was Lachung from where the road forks - one goes to Gurudongmar and the other to Yumthang. That was like base camp.

The next night we stayed at a place called Lachen to go to Gurudongmar. It is only85km from there but takes about 5-6 hours. Gurudongmar Lake at an elevation of 17,100 feet is one of the highest lakes in the world. Everything is so quiet and the only sound is that of the wind. All around are snow clad peaks and tranquil water. The place makes you feel so insignificant, it puts your life in perspective.

Our trip to Yumthang, known as the ‘valley of flowers’ at 11,800 feet was quite memorable not just because of the riotously colourful wild flowers like primulae and rhododendron but also because from there we went to ‘Zero Point’. That’s not exactly the border, Tibet is a few more kilometres by foot from there, but that’s the end of the road and there stands a milestone with ‘0’ on it.

There’s something special about the people in Sikkim. Many a time we would stop by at a roadside shack for tea or a quick bite. They are usually run by a family and the lady would make sure that we get back into the car well fed. The people are so uncomplicated, even when we didn’t speak their language communication was never a problem, it was as if words didn’t matter. The connections you form at such places feel very special.

(As told to Letha Jose)