Today as I sit before my computer and type away all my experiences I still see those lovely faces and places in and around Gangtok. A place that came out more than what i expected of it, a place which is cold but the people so warm, a place where things seem to be in their proper place. A place that I could compare to Japan in terms of people friendliness and pride in their city and country. The pride that i felt in their words while talking about the city, about the policies of the government, the tourist destinations around is something that needs to be inculcated in each citizen. Not just that, righteousness and honesty seems to be their inborn attributes along with politeness and truthfulness. The weather may be harsh on them but they are soft on others. It is the place where the sky comes to the ground.

As I said earlier my journey to Sikkim started five years back when I first saw a paper clipping from Sunday Chronicle. It gave an insight to a very offbeat travel destination, Tsomgo lake(Tso-origin; Mgo-lake) 12000 ft (about 4000 mtrs) above MSL. But as time did not permit a group of friends to move out together I had to wait.....and I guess the wait was worth every day. Alas I made the journey in April 2008.The lake is considered sacred and folklore has a chilling side to its existence. It is said that before the lake came into existence at its present location is was located about a 1000 mtrs above and the present location was a plain land amidst the Himalayan mountains. A shepherd with her flock resided there along with another family of shepherd, one night she had a dream that the place would be submerged so she told her neighbour to move away as soon as possible but the other shepherd did not pay heed. As the old shepherd was leaving up the hills he saw a lady with white flowing gown descend from up the hills towards the plain, and within a few minutes the lake formed submerging the family of the other shepherd with his flock.