The Road Is the First Argument
You leave Gangtok before sunrise because you have to. The drive to Gurudongmar Lake takes anywhere from five to six hours one way, and the last army checkpoint at Thangu closes to civilian vehicles by a hard deadline that does not negotiate. So you are in a shared jeep at four in the morning, watching Gangtok's lights shrink behind you, and you are already colder than you expected to be.
