The Dongkha la or Donkia Pass() (el. ) is a high mountain pass in the

Himalaya The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 100 ...

connecting

Sikkim Sikkim (; ) is a state in Northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Province No. 1 of Nepal in the west and West Bengal in the south. Sikkim is also close to the Silig ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

with

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa, Taman ...

Located in North Sikkim, the pass offers a view of the

Tibetan Plateau The Tibetan Plateau (, also known as the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau or the Qing–Zang Plateau () or as the Himalayan Plateau in India, is a vast elevated plateau located at the intersection of Central, South and East Asia covering most of the ...

. The nearby

Tso Lhamo Lake Tso Lhamo lake is one of the highest lakes in the world, located at an altitude of .Highest Lakes Researching the highest lakes in the world , http://highestlakes.com/list.html It is situated in Mangan district, Sikkim, India, about southwest ...

is long and wide, and is the source of the

Teesta River Teesta River is a long river that rises in the Pauhunri Mountain of eastern Himalayas, flows through the Indian states of Sikkim and West Bengal through Rangpur, and enters the Bay of Bengal. It drains an area of . In India, it flows throug ...

Gurudongmar Lake Gurudongmar Lake is one of the highest lakes in the world and in India, at an elevation of according to the Government of Sikkim. It is located in the Great Himalayas in the Mangan District in Indian state of Sikkim, and considered sacred ...

, some to west-northwest, also feeds the Teesta. The first observer to record the pass in western literature was botanist

Joseph Dalton Hooker Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker (30 June 1817 – 10 December 1911) was a British botanist and explorer in the 19th century. He was a founder of geographical botany and Charles Darwin's closest friend. For twenty years he served as director of ...

, who crossed the pass on 7September 1849.

References

External links

Mountain passes of Sikkim
Mountain passes of Sikkim Mountain passes of Tibet Mountain passes of China Mountain passes of India Mountain passes of the Himalayas China–India border crossings Mangan district {{India-geo-stub