The old Kalimpong to Lhasa trading road, thirty-two hairpins stacked up a mountainside, and homestays at 3,000 m.
Altitude
2,000 m to 4,100 m
Getting there
Bagdogra (IXB) 130 km to Rongli, then up
Best time
March to June, and September to December
How long it needs
3 nights
About The Old Silk Route
Before 1962 this was the trade route: mule trains from Kalimpong over Jelep La into Tibet. The road survives, and driving it is the single most dramatic day of road travel in this region.
The Zuluk loop is the famous image, thirty-two switchbacks visible at once from Thambi View Point at dawn with Kanchenjunga behind them. Above it are Nathang Valley at 4,100 m, the Kupup and Elephant lakes, and the old Baba Mandir bunker.
You stay in homestays, not hotels. They are warm, the food is home-cooked, and the hot water is a bucket. People love it or they do not; we tell you which you are likely to be before you book.
What people come for
Thambi View Point at sunrise over the thirty-two hairpins
Nathang Valley at 4,100 m
Kupup Lake and the old Baba Mandir
Zuluk and Lungthung homestays
Aritar Lake and the Rongli valley on the way up
Rhododendron on the high ridges in April and May
Know before you go
This whole circuit is a protected area. Permits are issued at Rongli against original photo ID and photographs, and Indian nationals only.
Accommodation is homestay standard throughout. Expect clean, warm and simple, not a hotel bathroom.
Nathang at 4,100 m is genuinely high and genuinely cold. Not a first choice for very young children.
Packages
1 trip that includes The Old Silk Route
Each of these can be lengthened, shortened or recombined. If you want The Old Silk Route on its own, or bolted onto something else entirely, just ask.
Tell us roughly what you want. We will send back a real itinerary.
Dates, how many of you, and anywhere you have your heart set on — that is enough for us to start. You will get a day-by-day plan with named hotels and one all-in price, in writing, before you pay anything.
