Sikkim Stories: Yumthang Valley

Enroute Yumthang Valley

The Yumthang Valley also known as Sikkim Valley of Flowers sanctuary, is a nature sanctuary with river, hot springs, yaks and grazing pasture on rolling meadows surrounded by the Himalayan mountains in the North Sikkim. It is at an elevation of 11,700 ft. During its bloom season from Feb-June, it is home to twenty-four species of the rhododendron. Yumthang valley is generally closed from December to early March due to heavy snowfall, but is gorgeous & covered with rainbow colours from Feb to May when countless flowers bloom to carpet the valley in multi-coloured hues of rainbow.

All covered up

Piping hot tea & maggi tastes the best in such a weather

We had to start our day at 6:30 am as we were supposed to be leaving for Gangtok by afternoon. You can keep another day for Lachung if you want a more relaxing trip, however there are no markets or shopping places here but you can still walk to the village by yourself to get a glimpse of the lives of locals here.We entered Yumtang Valley around 9:30 a.m.& it had started raining by then. We had hot toast butter & maggi for breakfast here at one of the shops & it was such a welcome relief to savour these in such a chilly weather.

Tip: Carry a parachute/ woollen jacket to protect you from chilly wind at zero point. Each one of us was wearing 3 woollens each but were still shivering.