Lachung
Encyclopedia
Sikkim
Sikkim is a landlocked Indian state nestled in the Himalayan mountains...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. It is located in the North Sikkim
North Sikkim
North Sikkim is a district of the Indian state of Sikkim. Its district headquarters is Mangan. It is the seventh least populous district in the country .-Geography:The district is the largest of the four districts of Sikkim....
district and is near the border with China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
. Lachung is at an elevation of about 9,600 ft or 3,000 m and at the confluence of the Lachen River
Lachen River
Lachen River is a tributary of the Teesta River....
and Lachung River
Lachung River
-References:...
s, tributaries of the River Teesta. The word Lachung means "small pass". The town is approximately 125 km from the capital Gangtok
Gangtok
Gangtok is the capital and largest town of the Indian state of Sikkim. Gangtok is located in the Shivalik Hills of the eastern Himalayan range, at an altitude of . The town, with a population of thirty thousand belonging to different ethnicities such as Nepalis, Lepchas and Bhutia, is administered...
.
The Indian Army
Indian Army
The Indian Army is the land based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. With about 1,100,000 soldiers in active service and about 1,150,000 reserve troops, the Indian Army is the world's largest standing volunteer army...
has a forward base in the town. Before the annexation of Tibet
Tibet
Tibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...
in 1950, Lachung was a trading post between Sikkim and Tibet, after which it was closed down. The town's economy has been boosted by tourism in recent years as the region has been opened up by the Indian government. Tourist come from all over the world to visit the town between October and May, mostly on their way to the Yumthang Valley
Yumthang Valley
Yumthang Valley is a grazing pasture surrounded by the Himalayan mountains in the North Sikkim district of Sikkim, India. It is at an elevation of 3,575 metres above msl at a distance of 150 km from the state capital Gangtok. It is also home to the Shingba Rhododendron Sanctuary, and has over...
and the Lachung Monastery
Lachung Monastery
Lachung Monastery is a Nyingma Buddhist gompa in the Lachung Valley, Sikkim, northeastern India. It was established in 1880.Lachung means a 'small mountain'. Lachung is at an elevation of about 3,000 m at the confluence of the Lachen River and Lachung River, tributaries of the Teesta River. The...
. Most of Lachung's inhabitants are of Lepcha
Lepcha people
The Lepcha or Róng people , also called Róngkup , Mútuncí Róngkup Rumkup , and Rongpa , are the aboriginal people of Sikkim, who number between 30,000 and 50,000...
and Tibetan
Tibetan people
The Tibetan people are an ethnic group that is native to Tibet, which is mostly in the People's Republic of China. They number 5.4 million and are the 10th largest ethnic group in the country. Significant Tibetan minorities also live in India, Nepal, and Bhutan...
descent. Languages spoken here are Nepali
Nepali language
Nepali or Nepalese is a language in the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European language family.It is the official language and de facto lingua franca of Nepal and is also spoken in Bhutan, parts of India and parts of Myanmar...
, Lepcha
Lepcha language
Lepcha language, or Róng language , is a Himalayish language spoken by the Lepcha people in Sikkim and parts of West Bengal, Nepal and Bhutan.-Population:...
and Bhutia
Bhutia
The Bhutia are ethnic Tibetans who speak Sikkimese, a Tibetan dialect fairly mutually intelligible to standard Tibetan. In 2001, the Bhutia numbered around 70,300...
. During winter the town is usually covered in snow. Lachung is also the base camp for Rhododendron Valley Trek which starts from Yumthang Valley and ends at Lachen Valley.
Lachung has been described as the "most picturesque village of Sikkim" by British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
explorer Joseph Dalton Hooker
Joseph Dalton Hooker
Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker OM, GCSI, CB, MD, FRS was one of the greatest British botanists and explorers of the 19th century. Hooker was a founder of geographical botany, and Charles Darwin's closest friend...
in his definitive, The Himalayan Journal (1855).