Dongkha La

The Dongkha la or Donkia Pass(Chinese: 东卡拉山口)^[1] (el. 18,156.2 ft or 5,534.0 m)^[2][3][4] is a high mountain pass in the Himalaya connecting Sikkim in India with Tibet.

Painting by J D Hooker (1854)

Dongkha la
Dongkha la Show map of Sikkim Dongkha la Show map of India
Elevation	18,156.2 ft (5,534 m)
Location	Sikkim, India
Range	Himalaya
Coordinates	27°59′15″N 88°46′02″E

Located in North Sikkim, the pass offers a view of the Tibetan Plateau. The nearby Tso Lhamo Lake^[1] 6.5 km (4.0 mi) is long and 2.5 km (1.6 mi) wide,^[5] and is the source of the Teesta River. Gurudongmar Lake, some 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) to west-northwest, also feeds the Teesta.

The first observer to record the pass in western literature was botanist Joseph Dalton Hooker, who crossed the pass on 7 September 1849.

Dongkha La
Traditional Chinese	東卡拉山口
Simplified Chinese	东卡拉山口
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin dònggālā shānkǒu

References

1. White, J. Claude; White, J. Claude (4 May 1996). Sikkim & Bhutan. Asian Educational Services. p. 89. ISBN 978-81-206-1183-2. Retrieved 11 September 2009.
2. Joshi, H.G. (15 October 2004). Sikkim ; Past and Present. New Delhi, India: Mittal Publications. p. 41. ISBN 978-81-7099-932-4. Retrieved 11 September 2009.
3. Hooker, Joseph Dalton (15 October 2008). Himalayan Journals, Notes of a Naturalist: In Bengal, The Sikkim and Nepal Himalayas, The Khasia Mountains, Etc. Forgotten Books. p. 637. ISBN 978-1-60620-983-7. Archived from the original on 7 March 2012. Retrieved 11 September 2009.
4. Hooker, Joseph Dalton (15 October 2008). Himalayan Journals, Notes of a Naturalist: In Bengal, The Sikkim and Nepal Himalayas, The Khasia Mountains, Etc. Forgotten Books. p. 619. ISBN 978-1-60620-983-7. Archived from the original on 7 March 2012. Retrieved 11 September 2009.
5. Krishnan, J. K (2005). Academic Dictionary of Tourism. Delhi, India: Isha Books. p. 89. ISBN 978-81-8205-259-8. Retrieved 11 September 2009.

External links

• Mountain passes of Sikkim