This was a sudden trip – we decided to go on this trip in a matter of 10
days & then quickly had to book flight and train tickets, hotel, local
tour, etc.
17th April’14 Chennai/Bagdogra/Gangtok
18th April’14 Tsomgo
Lake
19th – 21 April’14 North
Sikkim
22nd – 24th April’14 West Sikkim (Pelling)
25th April’14 Pelling/Siliguri/New
Jalpaiguri/Chennai
You need to have at least 4 photographs of each
person and address proof document for permits to visit few places. Hotel will arrange for the permit and the car
for the sight-seeing trip but we need to tell them in advance. I have given contact numbers of the drivers
who said they will also organize for the permit (cost might be less by few
hundreds).
Mr.Subash (driver from Bagdogra airport/Gangtok) –
Tel: +919679699707
Gangtok: Hotel Alaya, Mr.Nirmal Tel: +91 9830246813
/ +91 8013133245
Hotel Alaya is a decent hotel – not too flashy but
clean room and clean toilet. Rent per
night for triple occupancy was Rs.1,100/- per night.
Pelling: Hotel Sonam Delek, Mr.Shankar, Tel: +91
9831228722
Sonam Delek too is a decent hotel with clean room
and clean toilet. Rent per night for
triple occupancy was Rs.1,200/- per night (mountain view room).
Good food in both the hotels.
North Sikkim cost for 3 of us : Rs.17,000/- -
organized by Mr.Nirmal of Hotel Alaya, Gangtok (includes private car (not
shared vehicle) from 19th to 21st, accommodation for 2
nights, breakfast on 20th & 21st, lunch on 19th,
20th & 21st, dinner on 19th & 20th,
permit expense).
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| Bagdogra to Gangtok |
Mr.Anil (driver contact for North Sikkim trip) – a
good driver with really good driving skills.
Tel: +91 7872888146
Pelling: Father Travels (for car) +91 77 97283512
Pelling: Mr.Philip – Driver cum trekking guide.
Tel: +91 8759853622, +91 9733031229
Since this was a suddenly planned trip, did not
have ample time for proper planning.
Every night after coming back from office, I used to read lot of
travelogues on Sikkim, find details about hotel, etc.
On reaching Bagdogra, we hired a cab from the
airport itself to go to Gangtok (around Rs.2,700/-). Since our return was from Pelling, the taxi driver
suggested that we do the river rafting on the way to Gangtok itself. Had simple, delicious lunch in a small hotel
in Siliguri.
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| Hotel Mama near Siliguri |
For the rafting, Rs.4,500/- was the charge for the
whole boat with the safety gear (3 of us
+ driver + 2 guides) for a long rafting (approx. 45 minutes). We took the driver also with us for the
rafting. TheCD containing photo &
video of our rafting costed Rs.800/-, which is worth since it is safe to keep
our camera away from the water. We
thoroughly enjoyed the rafting…mid way in the Teesta river, the guide asked us
to jump into water (none of us knew swimming but he was holding our ankle) and
asked us to float – definitely a breath taking experience for non-swimmers.
After changing our clothes, we started our
journey to Gangtok. The best part in
Sikkim is that people are genuine and do not cheat tourists, safe for women
when compared to other places in India and every tourist spot/sightseeing place
has clean toilets.
On the way to Gangtok, it started raining with big hail stones (continuous fall of hail stones making loud thud sound on the vehicle) – the driver stopped the car for the fear of
the glass panes getting broken because of the continuous fall of hail
stones.
Our first day of the trip was action packed and we
just loved it.
M.G.Road in Gangtok is just like Mall street in
Shimla. Nice place to stroll around.
18th April – we went to the taxi stand
(searching for our designated vehicle is one big task) for our trip to Tsomgo
Lake and Nathula Pass in a shared car. Because
of heavy snow, road to Nathula was closed and hence we visited Tsomgo Lake – a
beautiful lake. Throughout my trip in
Sikkim, I never missed the opportunity to have momos – yummy momos. Hotel Alaya,
Gangtok, had organized the shared vehicle and permit for this trip. Some money was refunded to us because we
could not visit Nathula Pass.
19th April – Since we had booked a
private vehicle for the North Sikkim trip, we did not have to go to the Bus stand
and go through the stress of searching for our vehicle. Again, Hotel Alaya had organized the vehicle,
hotel bookings, permit, etc., for the North Sikkim Trip. The car reported at the hotel at 10 AM and we
started on our wonderful trip to North Sikkim – Anand, Pavithra & I loved
the North Sikkim trip the most. Gurudongmar Lake, Yumthang Valley – serene &
scenic places. Also loved the quaint
Lachen & Lachung. The cold was too
much for us. Gloves and caps are
definitely required and of course woolen/leather jackets.
There were so many streams and waterfalls we saw
during the travel to North Sikkim that we were not at all excited to see the
Kanchenjunga Falls in Pelling (West Sikkim).
Though North Sikkim is beautiful – the roads are
terrible. Most part of the travel in
Sikkim was on ‘road-less roads’ !!!.
Reached Lachen by around 8 PM and omg, we just couldn’t bear the cold. We huddled on the cot for some time before
going for dinner.
All throughout our trip, we had nice, tasty, simple yet
delicious food – being vegetarian was not a problem unlike in some places where
there are limited choices of vegetarian food. There was power cut throughout
the night.
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| Breakfast at Thangu |
Lachen & Lachung face major power outage.
20th April – Got up by around 4.30
AM. Had nice cuppa hot tea & felt
slightly better from the ‘cold-sickness’.
Left Lachen by around 5 AM for Gurudongmar Lake. Had breakfast at Thangu & proceeded to
Gurudongmar Lake.
Gurudongmar Lake – stunning white beauty all around. The army serve hot cup of tea for the
visitors to make them feel better – I have heard people say that some feel
dizzy/have breathing trouble/nausea because of the high altitude (17000 ft
above sea level). We 3 walked very
slowly to the lake so that we don’t feel dizzy, etc. Stayed there for some time
and proceeded to Lachung. We hired room
heater in Lachung hotel but it was of no use because of power cut.
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| Frozen part of the Gurudongmar Lake |
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| Standing on the frozen lake |
21st April – Proceeded to Yumthung
Valley – lovely valley with beautiful view.
We did not go to Zero Point because of the hectic travel on those
horrible roads right from day 1 in Sikkim and also we had seen enough snow in
Sikkim. Proceeded back to Gangtok –
reached Gangtok in the evening. Roamed
around M G Road in Gangtok late evening and did a bit of shopping.
22nd April – Gangtok to Pelling by a
private car. Visited Buddha Park on the
way to Pelling via Ravangla. Reached
Pelling in the evening. Met Mr.Shankar,
owner of Hotel Sonam Delek. He is very
friendly and helpful. Freshened up and
walked up to the helipad nearby and watched the sunset.
23rd April – Visited Kanchenjunga falls
and Khecheopalri Lake (Sacred Lake)and Sinshore bridge (2nd highest
hanging bridge in Asia), Pemayangtse Monastery.
One of the monk in Khecheopalri Lake told us of a cave leading upwards
above the lake. Though none of the tourists went up that side, we wanted to
give a try – went half way and were confused which way to go and so returned
since we were only 3 of us…wish we were a bigger group and had more time to
explore such nice places.
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| Khecheopalri Lake |
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| Trudging up in search of the cave near the lake |
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| Fishes in the Lake |
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| Path leading to Khecheopalri lake |
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| Pemyangtse Monastry | |
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| Singshore Bridge |
24th April – Visited Rabdantse ruins in
the morning and Sanghak Choeling Monastry in the late afternoon. Walked a lot on this day which we thoroughly
enjoyed.
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| Entrance leading to Rabdantse |
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| Sanghak Choeling Monastry |
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| Way to the monastry |
25th April – Pelling to Siliguri. Driver Phillip was narrating about the
various trekking expeditions and one must definitely trek in the mountains at
least once in a life time is what he said.
He also works as an assistant to the Trek Guide. Reached Siliguri in the afternoon. Checked into a hotel, had late lunch and went
around Siliguri.
Sikkim to Siliguri was like coming down from Heaven
to Earth. Took the night train from New
Jalpaiguri to Chennai.
Anand & I keep talking about the North Sikkim
trip and we really wanna visit Sikkim once again…soon!!!
But there’s this long pending trip to Badrinath,
Valley of flowers, Hemkund Sahib….and then the Leh-Ladakh trip and then the trek
on the railway track to Doodhsagar falls, and then Kodachadri trek and
then………….
