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Article of the Week
Posted on: Monday March 13th, 2006
The Old Silk Route at Nathu La
Nathu la- Trading Cigarettes at the Old Silk Route
Pics and text by Sanjay Austa
Nathu La is the highest mountain pass which has the famed Old Silk Route between India and China. Trade and business flourished between the two countries from this pass a long time ago. Today it is primarily an Indian army establishment on one side and Chinese across the barbed wire fence. Apart from the view of the snow-capped Himalayan Peaks and the glory of the Silk route , the close proximity of the Chinese Posts here are a major attraction for the tourists.
A Sign Post Pointing to the Old Silk Route to China
However for me it was the along- the- route scenery that was the major plus of a visit to Nathu La. Till Gangtok the capital of Sikkim , the climb was gradual but beyond it, it became more undulating and steeper.
We started out at 6am. We were travelling in an old army jonga. It was a 1988 model jeep the driver informed me. He added with pride that it guzzled three litres of fuel per kilometre. Nathu La at 4300 meters is formidable height and I wondered if the old jonga had enough horsepower to make the ascend. The jonga gave no trouble. It was the driver who almost gave up on us when he began to complain of a headache after reaching an altitude of 3000 meters. He informed us he was from Hydrabad and had never been to a hill station before. The lack of oxygen was affecting him but thankfully it did not show on his driving.
Chinese and Indian Soldies at Nathu La Border
After 35 kilometres of steady ascent from Gangtok you come across the beautiful Changu Lake. It is situated at 3780meter and fed by small streams flowing down from the mountains. From here Nathu La is only 20 kilometres away and after going over a few loops in the mountain one can see Nathu La in the distance. Nathu La is located on a barren mountain whose flanks are craggy. There is very little oxygen at this altitude to sustain any vegetation.
Indian flags flutter at Indian Post in Nathu La
The Chinese posts are a big draw for the tourists. Especially because there is always an opportunity of an informal interaction with the Chinese soldiers across the barbwire fence. The two young Chinese soldiers we met knew neither Hindi nor English apart from some vulgar words in both these languages. But they gestured hysterically and asked for our cigarettes, our pens, mobiles and whatever we had and offered to give us Chinese goods in return. While they bargained at the barb-wire fence their colleagues peeked at the proceedings through binoculars from posts high on the mountains.
Nathu La is an ideal holiday site for the adventurous.
