Zuluk is a village strung along a ridge in the eastern Himalayas, on the old Silk Route that once connected Sikkim with Tibet, and it is a very different place from the busy tourist spots of Gangtok. The village is small, with a few homestays, an army post and a prayer-flag-covered hillside, at around three thousand metres. On clear mornings, the sunrise lights up the peaks of Kanchenjunga, the third highest mountain in the world, which seems to float above the clouds.
The road is the main attraction. Just above the village, the track from Zuluk to Thambi viewpoint climbs the mountainside in a series of tight, stacked hairpins, thirty-odd bends in all, and from the top the road looks like a ribbon of thread dropped on the slope. The road was part of the old trade route and was used by traders carrying wool, yak butter and tea, and later by British expeditions to Tibet. Today, the route is mainly used by the army and by visitors, so the traffic is light, but the surface is often rough, with loose gravel, potholes and landslides, especially after rain.
The ride from Gangtok to Zuluk is long and demanding, taking most of a day. The road winds through forests of oak and rhododendron, past villages and tea plantations, then climbs into high, open country, with big views and almost no traffic. The weather can change quickly, with fog and drizzle common, and in winter snow and ice make the road dangerous. The best time for riding is from March to May and from October to November, when the skies are clearest.
Because Zuluk is in a border area, a permit is required, and it must be arranged in advance through an agent in Gangtok. Fuel is not available in the village, so fill up in Gangtok or Rangpo, and carry spare if you can, since distances are long and stations are few. Homestays offer simple rooms and hot meals, with rice, dal, vegetables and sometimes yak cheese, and electricity can be unreliable, so bring a torch and warm clothes for the cold nights.