Katao, Sikkim Diaries - 4

Ready for the trip..Do not miss the mountains at the back

A bright sunny day

Our trip to Zero Point was so overwhelmingly satisfying and frankly speaking the beauty of the path increases ten fold once we crossed Yumthang Valley and proceeded towards Zero Point. So when our driver popped the question whether we would like to visit Katao for extra bucks, it was an instant 'yes'. I had done my research and my initial plan was to drop Katao, but overwhelmed by Zero Point's beauty we decided to go to Katao.

So the next day we started around 9 am. It was drizzling in the morning, something very common in hilly areas. We crossed over to the other side of the Teesta river and started our ascend uphill. After covering some distance our driver stopped the car, from where we could get a bird's eye view of Lachung. 

Our first view point from where we got a bird's eyeview of Lachung

Lachung from above

Village women in their traditional attire

some wild mushrooms

Always some time for posing

Next we stopped at a waterfalls on the way. This waterfalls flows down and finally joins Teesta.

Some wild flower

The road with a part of the falls

Katao waterfalls

Us

wild flowers on the way

Next we reached Katao. The place is heavily guarded by the army since this is one of the last frontier of India in Sikkim. On the other side of the mountain is China. We could see Mt Katao, its caps covered in ice and glistering in the clear sunlight.

The all the year round snow covered peaks

The way back was nothing very significant and was pretty fast. The road condition from Lachung to Katao is also good.

final verdict: As per my opinion Katao is nice though not outstanding or nowhere compared to Zero Point in Lachung. This place can be skipped if needed.

To include Katao in the itinerary, driver will charge extra and that can be anywhere between 1500-3000 bucks.