Sikkim-Another Feather in the Cap

---

Sikkim-Another Feather in the Cap

As quoted by Ibn Battuta Travelling – it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller.” The same thing happened while roving to the 22^nd state of the Indian Union called Sikkim. The Lepcha people, the original inhabitants of Sikkim, called it Nye-mae-el, meaning "paradise". It truly lived up to its name with great diversity in such a small state situated amidst green mountains & valleys in the north, Buddhist Monastries in west, colossal religious sculptures in south, splendid hill sight in east. Then there are stunning views of Khangchendzonga, the world's third-highest mountain (8598m), visible from almost any viewpoint in the state.

Now with the cluster of breaks on the cards in the month of September, leaving Bombay city was a valid excuse. Though, a little apprehensive about the weather as monsoon was not yet over, still with optimistic hopes we started our trip from Mumbai to Bagdogra. The closest airport to reach Sikkim is Bagdogra situated in West Bengal. The itinerary included road travel in all four directions of Sikkim covering Gangtok--Lachung—Lachen--Nathula-- Namchi--Pelling--Darjeeling.

The first day of travel was a little tiresome as it involved catching up an early morning flight from Mumbai to Bagdogra reaching around 1300 hrs and then road travel from Bagdogra to Gangtok, capital of Sikkim. Gangtok is approximately 130 kms from Bagdogra airport, so without any more delay we hired a cab from airport to Gangtok and since the previous day there was a strike in West Bengal, we ended up in a huge traffic jam. Just after few kms from the airport we halted for a quick lunch and we were surprised to visit a restaurant named Santa Banta Dhaba in West Bengal. Nevertheless, they served delicious food which was good enough to keep us energized for the rest of the day. We reached Gangtok around 2000 hrs and though we were tired, we rushed to the main market of Gangtok to arrange for next day tour. Since it was past 8pm, we couldn’t get hold of any local taxi driver so we decided to hunt for it next day morning. We avoided going through tours and travel agencies as they always charge premium from tourist. On the very next day, we cracked a deal with a local taxi driver for the entire road travel from Gangtok to Darjeeling for the next eight days plus local sightseeing.

We did some comprehensive research on what all to see and conveyed the same to our driver. The very first day we did a full day tour of Gangtok which included Rumtek monastery, Ganesh tok, Hanuman tok, Do drulchorten Stupa, Jawaharlal Nehru Botanical Garden. While visiting Hanuman tok, the locals described the significance of the placeas when Lord Hanuman was flying with the “Sanjeevani” mountain, he rested in the spotand a tok means temple was built on the spot which is now maintained by Indian army. Apart from this, it offers spectacular view of Kanchenjunga range in a clear sunny day. But, since it was raining a bit and hence totally surrounded by mist and fog, we couldn’t adore the view but the feel of the place is so serene that we actually did not regret it visiting with mist. Apart from the scenic beauty, all of us were looking forward to the one and only MOMOS. Keeping in mind the food factor, before the trip we had shortlisted the restaurants to eat out and keeping the possibility of eating in the hotel at bay. In two days, we had already visited all famous restaurant at MG road as per Zoomato and Trip advisor. The list includes Baker’s café (for breakfast, lunch and snacking), Taste of Tibet for lunch and were totally delighted to see the size of the momos and then to enjoy the nightlife of Gangtok we decided to visit Pub 25 where the night life ends at 10pm, truly implementing the saying “early to bed; early to rise; makes one healthy, wealthy and wise. And here comes the memorable momos from “The Chopsticks”, as we literally repeated the order thrice (and some more joy to us-each plate contains 10 pieces).

All geared up, we started our drive to next destination Lachung, in north Sikkim.The word Lachung means "small pass" located at an elevation of about 9,600 feet at the confluence of the Lachen and Lachung Rivers, both tributaries of the River Teesta. The town is approximately 125 km from the capital Gangtok. Lachung has been described as the "most picturesque village of Sikkim" by British explorer Joseph Dalton Hooker. It’s not only the destination which was beautiful but the journey as well. The passage was full of waterfalls (main advantage of visiting in monsoon), deep green valley’s and far reaching white mountains. We reached Lachung around 4:30 pm and checked in at Royal Delight hotel (Veg). While taking a stroll through the village, it appears the village had hardly any population. Since our hotel was not glossy, we decided to explore the area for dinner but soon we realized that now the option of eating out is at bay. We returned to our hotel which is good for staying for one night plus the location of our rooms were offering mesmerizing view of green mountains and River Teesta further enhancing the exquisiteness. The hotel staff called us for dinner at around 7:30 pm, being late diners and now having it before 10pm is what this place has done to us. The first bite of the dinner made us all say “wow” and we all gorged on the food.

The next day plan was to cover zero point, yumthang valley and leave for Lachen. We started around 6am and the hotel staff was kind enough to arrange for breakfast early in the morning. To visit lachen, prior permit is required which we arranged before time. First we drove through Yumthang valley to reach Zero point. Zero point (also known as Yume Samdong) is approximately 55 Kms (3 to 3.5 hrs drive) from Lachung positioned very close to the Indo Chinese border,at an altitude of over 15,300ft. This is the place where the civilian road ends and hence the name zero point. Though the road is treacherous but worth the view it offers. While returning from zero point, we halted at Yumthang valley located at an altitude of 12,000 ft. Yumthang means ‘valley of flowers’ but in our journey we saw dense bed of Rhododendron flowers and redefined it as ‘valley of Rhododendrons’. In fact, Shingba Rhododendron Sanctuary is located in the Yumthang valley. We couldn’t visit this as the entire landscape looks picturesque in the month of April during full bloom. After visiting these beautiful sights, we left for Lachen around 1pm, which was another 2-3 hours drive and since the road was bumpy and full of jerks, we decided to reach Lachen in day light (aroud 5 pm). And here comes the biggest disappointment in the form of flat tyre. We hired a Xylo and thankfully the driver was carrying a stepney. But the moment we saw the stepney, we were all doubtful for how long we can survive on this already frayed stepney. Though, we all were positive that soon we would get the tyre repaired. But luck was not in our favour and for next 4 hours we couldn’t find anyone to repair the tyre. At 5 pm, we got the tyre fixed and thereafter the driver declined to go to Lachen and suggested us to head back to Gangtok. In the first instant we were quite adamant on resuming the journey to Lachen but later on decided to go back to Gangtok. In the way back, carrying a regret of missing a visit to Gurdongmar Lake in Lachen will always remain even though the driver tried to convince us that it’s a small lake and not very picturesque but to some it holds religious value. Though we had taken the decision to head back to Gangtok but we had no clue where to stay. So we started enquiring with the hotel where we stayed initially i,e. Sterling resorts for one night. The unique thing about Sterling group of hotels is that they take bookings only through online so we had to make lot of effort to arrange the booking but we were never sure until we reached the hotel.

All that happens actually happens for good is an all-time great consoler to all souls. Soon we got back to all chirpy, discussing childhood TV cartoons ranging from Chandrakanta to power puff girls to duck tales to transformers to vikram&betaal. Suddenly, all of us became quietas the driver reduced the speed and all 10 eyes were on the road figuring out the road as we were passing by an extremely dense cloud in dark where we could hardly see anything. Our driver was also very tired as he was driving since morning and could barely keep awake. At this point, we all had realized that the decision of returning to Gangtok was right. We reached our Hotel at around 8:30 pm and were glad to reach safely.The next day was at leisure as we explored the main market of Gangtok known as MG road. The best part of the main market was no vehicles were allowed inside the market so one can enjoy the walk, shop and use the free Jionetwifi network.

All packed in Jackets we headed for Nathula Pass (East Sikkim-) which was 55kms away from Gangtok, located at an altitude of 14,140 feet. Nathu means "listening ears" and La means "pass" in Tibetan. It is a mountain pass in the Himalayas connecting the Indian state of Sikkim with China's Tibet Autonomous Region andforms a part of an offshoot of the ancient Silk Road.Tourist visits to Nathula Pass are restricted to Indian nationals only and requires a special permit that is issued one day in advance (our driver had already arranged for us) plus only limited vehicles are allowed per day.Nathula pass cannot be visited every day of the week as the Pass remains closed for tourists on Monday, Tuesday and Friday. Photography was strictly prohibited so we left our phones and cameras in the car only.From there we had to hike close to 100 steps to reach Nathula Pass in a cold breezy weather. It was recommended to avoid rushing up these stairs, as at above 14000 feet, we could easily get out of breath quickly. The first major structure which we came across was a war memorial dedicated to the soldiers killed in the Sino-Indian War of 1962. We reached at the top where we interacted with Indian soldiers only though we wanted to interact with Chinese soldiers but Indian soldiers restricted us. The soldiers described that Nathu La Pass is not navigable in winters as it receives heavy snowfall. Temperatures dip to -10 °C in winters with harsh winds. They also showed us the gate of the Nathu La business channel, which was closed at that time.We were quite amazed to see the Chinese shelters in comparison to Indian shelters. From outside Chinese shelter looked perfect with all essential amenities including fully air-conditioned whereas Indian one was just a normal shelter having transparent glass walls. We climbed down and clicked few pictures of Nathu la.

After a 2000 feet downhill drive there comes a splendid blue water lake called Changu Lake. The lake is situated at an altitude of 12,000 ft on the Gangtok Nathula highway. The Tsongmo Lake (also called Changu Lake) was peaceful and beautiful. We even had the daring experience of riding the Yak. Thereafter, we visited Baba Mandir or shrine, dedicated to “Baba” Harbhajan Singh, who was a soldier of the Indian Army. He slipped and fell into a fast flowing nullah and unfortunately drowned. We returned to our hotel at around 4:30 pm and were pleasantly surprised to see the activity of the day was 'Momos making'. We didn't miss this chance to learn something which we relish eating so much. We are quick learners so in no time we got the knack of how to make momos and our husbands were delighted to taste them.

After a sumptuous breakfast, we left for our next destination Pelling, west sikkim. Pelling is 120 kms from Gangtok but since we were covering Namchi (south sikkim), it took us 6 hrs(160 kms) to reach Pelling. The drive from Gangtok to Namchi was full of Tea gardens. Temi Tea Garden is the most widely spread across the hill side (21 Km stretch) within a close proximity to Namchi. Its flourishing green valley of tea gardens appears to cover the jagged landscape of a mountain with a green rug. If the sky is clear then Temi Tea Garden offers a stunning view of Kanchenjhungha and a fabulous landscape lying beneath the tea plantation zone. Namchi or Namtse (meaning sky high) is the district headquarters of the South Sikkim district and a well laid out city. The place has been developed as a hub of religious and cultural tourism in Sikkim. We visited Samdruptse monastery having wide and gigantic statue of Guru Padmasambhava (135 ft'), who was known to have blessed Sikkim more than 1,200 years ago and was considered as a tribute to the Guru. The statue is visually stunning and therefore is a must visit attraction for any tourists visiting the area. Along with this, we saw replicas of all the four dhams of India (char dhams) at Namchi namely Dwarka, Badrinath, Rameshwaram and Puri. One of the high points of the trip was to view the colossal statue of lord shiva (90 ft tall) at char dham. The moving dense clouds around the long standing statue offered a great sight though at times completely hiding the statue in its arms. The Shiva statue is situated at the highest and most commanding position in Solophok hill, facing east and one can view the statue from far off too. So after having a good time at Namchi, we reached Pelling in the evening. Pelling is a small village divided into two parts- lower Pelling and upper Pelling. We stayed in the center to get an easy access of the entire village. The weather was pleasant when we reached but later it became quite cold and rained all night. As per our self-made itinerary, the next day we visited one of the amazingly brilliant falls known as Khangchendzonga Waterfalls. Since the time is monsoon, the waterfall was in full bloom. As per the locals, it is fed by streams originating from the glaciers near the base of Mount Khangchendzonga and hence named after it. Next, we visited Khecheopari Lake, nearly 35 kilometers from Pelling. This is considered to be a holy lake and known for fulfilling wishes. Another startling feature of the lake is that leaves do not fall on the water despite being surrounded by trees and green mountains on all sides of the lake. The leaves are picked up by birds while falling into the water surface of the lake. With a belief that our wishes would come true, we moved to next tourist spot i,e. Singshore Bridge, said to be the 2^nd highest bridge in Asia. The Singshore Bridge is an engineering feat and it connects two hills. This bridge helps the trekkers to cover a large distance between hills in a short span. The bridge offers impressive view of green hillsides, deep valley with white water stream and lovely waterfalls. We soaked the peace, fresh air and refreshing greenery along with terraced hillside fields of paddy and corn. It is an idyllic spot on top of a crest, was surrounded by mist - shrouded mountains. We also tried authentic delicious Nepalese thali having nepali roti and a special boiled egg rolled in spice tomato sauce plus the weather was just perfect to enjoy hot steamy momos with chili sauce, yet one more time. After being rejuvenate at pelling, we progressed to our final destination- Darjeeling, West Bengal. This time we had a new driver to drop us at Darjeeling and returned as Sikkim tourist vehicles are not allowed in Darjeeling and vice-versa. Since we started early morning from Pelling, we reached Darjeeling around 11 am. After checking in, we decided to explore Darjeeling on our own. Our resort was 15 minutes away from the main road and the nearby toy train station was Ghoom station. From the beginning of the trip, we were so sure of boarding the toy train keeping in mind the famous ‘Barfi’ movie, but after looking at crowd and speed, changed our minds and took shared taxi to Mall road. Now again in mall road/MG road, no vehicular traffic is allowed so we walked and walked and walked!!! The road seems to be never ending as it was steep and appearing to be steeper with empty stomach. Nevertheless, we reached one of the shortlisted restaurant ‘Glenary’s’- a two storied white colonial building. This is one of the most popular restaurant offering both fine dining (top floor), bakery n cafe (middle floor) and pub (basement). After a stroll around the mall road, we decided to try one more top rated (on trip advisor) café – ‘Kunga’ famous for momos. Though we were not hungry still without any second thoughts, we gorged on to momos, thukpa, milkshakes and coffee and were once again delighted to eat momos. Suddenly a thought came in my mind that could it be our love for momos that drove us to Sikkim!!!!

While returning from mall road, we made travel arrangement for our next day local sightseeing and soon we realized that this was the last time we making the arrangements as our long trip is coming to a conclusion. Without giving much importance to this fact, we enjoyed our last day in Darjeeling as we walk through the tea gardens enfolded in clouds.

As rightly said by Martin Buber, “All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware”. We were also not aware that we could ever see a Red Panda in Himalayan Zoological Park, but we were caught in surprise while catching first a glimpse of Red Panda and then seeing rest of his family from quite close. This is the only specialized Zoo in the country and is internationally recognized for its conservation breeding programmes of Red Panda, Snow Leopards, Tibetan Wolf and other highly endangered animal species of Eastern Himalaya. The mammal collection includes Asiatic bear, Blue sheep, Yak, musk deer, Himalayan palm civet, Slow Loris and Jackal. Among Birds, we sighted golden pheasant, Himalayan monal pheasant, Lady Amherst, red jungle fowl etc. The next point we visited was a Museum in Himalayan mountaineering Institute which was established in 1954 to encourage mountaineering as an organized sport in India. The Museum was quite fascinating as it in houses the details of Everest expeditions which set off from Darjeeling. After a short visit to Japanese temple and peace pagoda, we took a drop off at mall road to explore rest of the time on our own.

Next day morning, we checked out of hotel and took a taxi to reach Bagdogra and boarded our flight to Mumbai with just one thing in my mind I have seen more than I remember, and remember more than I have seen. -Benjamin Disraeli

---