Family Vacation to Sikkim in December 2023
Sikkim from
December 23rd, 2023, to 30th December 2023
Prologue
Yet another
vacation right before the end of the year 2023, a family vacation indeed more
of a relaxing and rejuvenating trip and our entire family thoroughly enjoyed every
atom of it. Sikkim a lonely paradise embedded in the eastern Himalayan region
of India is a naturally chiseled place with its own radiant and brightness.
Apart from Gangtok, north, south, east and west Sikkim remains nature’s gift to
mankind and offers unparalleled unique tapestry of scenic beauty with its snow-clad
mountains. Sikkim offers no dearth of places that are must to be seen by everyone in this world. Cleanliness, discipline, warmth and hospitality of the
people of the region are worth more than a thousand words and is very hard to summarize.
The
Planning
After contemplating over a few a choice of
places, we darted at Sikkim, the northeastern state of India where we had never
been in the past. Visiting in December was an informed decision to “Brave
the Cold” but not really like the cold of the polar vortex. When I
started deliberating with fellow Samaritans (my friends and travelers of the
past), I mostly got uninspiring advice asking me not to visit in the month of
December which would be really a cold time and with incessant snow. Still we decided to
weather the storm, this really turned out to be an Ignorance is bliss for us for the entire trip.
The Flight
Considering the network of flights
and pedigree of their service as well as the wallet factor, I narrowed on an Indigo flight, a direct
flight for my onward journey from Bangalore to Bagdogra. For my return journey I couldn’t get a
better deal on a direct flight so ended up booking a one stopover flight through Delhi.
My return journey was Bagdogra->Delhi and Delhi->Bangalore. It was a red-eye
flight since we started the previous day from Bagdogra and landed early in
the morning at 1.30 am the next day.
Rather than a tip, a word of caution
– Book your flights
in such a way so that you have 7 hours’ time after landing or before taking off
to reach the airport. The labyrinth of narrow, serpentine mountainous terrains
along the roadworks happening all along the route will make you eat the dust,
dusty highways (will take anywhere between 7 to 8hrs without break. In our case
we started the car journey to Gangtok from Bagdogra by 12.40 PM. We had 3 hours
jam in the mountains and could reach Gangtok only at 8.30 pm in the night for 125
kms. Similarly, to catch our flight at 5 pm we were supposed to be in the
airport by 3 pm so we started at 8 am in the morning and reached the airport at
3 pm without a lunch break doing binge biting in the car. If you are not time
bound your flights would become out of bounds 😊
The shopping
Clothing shopping
Since the time we were planning to
visit was December we were told to prepare for a worst winter cold. Based on
our research we found that temperatures are going to be anywhere between -5
degrees to 8 degrees Celsius everywhere. Any normal winter wares are
not going to provide the warmth for survival, and you need a pair of thermal
both top and bottom, hand gloves, good winter socks, good pair of shoes, good
woolen cap with sweaters and jackets along with Jeans trouser is a must.
Tips – If you are travelling in December any normal
summer clothing, shorts etc. are not of use please don’t carry them and waste
your check in baggage weight.
Don’t ignore to carry some basic
medicines for cold, cough, fever, stomach upset. Example – Dolo, eldopar,
digene or eno,avomin, inhalers and any specific medication if you have BP or
Sugar. Carry a pack of pulse toffees to avoid motion sickness when you travel
by car in the mountains. Don’t forget to carry a thermos flask for filling hot
water from the hotel everyday before you start your day.
The Place of Stay and my Itinerary.
Being a Lacto-vegetarian and a partially
Ovo-vegetarian (without egg), I narrowed based on google reviews a place called
Pearl Retreat at Gangtok which is a pure vegetarian hotel run by Jains.
This is where googling search stands out to be the Holy Grail of the 21st
century. Holy grail must be just
understood in this context and not beyond, especially I am not for a debate on,
can life exist without google?
I could reach out to Mr. Anil who
runs Pearl retreat and many other chains of hotels in Sikkim and Siliguri. He
was my man of the world in planning my vacation based on my family needs. Later
he became my confident in coming up with an itinerary to the best of my choice.
My first Plan was something like
Bangalore -> Bagdogra by flight, pick a cab from Bagdogra to Gangtok via
Siliguri, Spend a night in Lachung @ 16000ft (Mt Katao, Yumthang Valley and
Zero point) and a night in Lacheng @ 17500 ft(Gurudongmar lake, largest glacier
lake at 17500 ft) back to Gangtok for an overnight stay for the local
sightseeing and then a few days in Pelling before boarding a flight to
Bangalore from Bagdogra.
The nature’s fury
After all my hotels had been
confirmed based on the above first plan, standing testimony to the adage that
“Man proposes, God Disposes”, On October 4th, heavy rains caused
the glacial South Lhonak lake in Sikkim, a state in northeastern India, to breach its banks, causing a glacial lake
outburst flood. The
flood reached the Teesta III Dam at Chungthang at midnight, before its gates could be
opened, destroying the dam in minutes. Water levels downstream in the River Teesta rose by up to 20 feet (6.1 m),
causing widespread damage. More than 100 Indian soldiers who were camping on
the banks were washed away untraceable causing unimaginable damage to northern
Sikkim. Many of the roads had been washed out and Lachung and Lacheng remained
cut off for more than a month from Gangtok.
Break the mould!
Based on Mr. Anil’s advice I ended
up changing my itinerary to visit Gangtok, Pelling and Darjeeling and ended up
booking hotels at Darjeeling, since Darjeeling was not in my initial plan.
Giving another twist and turn, more of a blessing in disguise, a notification
by Sikkim government and our military in the first week of December allowed
tourist to visit Lachung but not Lacheng. So, I ended up cancelling my
Darjeeling hotel and froze the final itinerary which is as below.
Final itinerary
Hotels
1st Night at Gangtok. Check-in on 23 Dec. Pearl
Retreat (3 Star). Breakfast included.
2nd, 3rd Nights at Lachung. Check-in on 24 Dec.
Rufina Kunga (4 Star). Dinner + Breakfast
4th, 5th Nights at Gangtok. Check-in on 26 Dec.
Pearl Retreat (3 Star). Breakfast.
6th, 7th Nights at Pelling. Check-in on 28 Dec.
Palpasa Resort Pelling (4 Star). Breakfast.
🚖 Transportation and Activities
1st Day - Sat, 23rd Dec - Bagdogra Airport / NJP Station to Gangtok -
Pickup (1-Innova / Xylo)
2nd Day - Sun, 24th Dec - Gangtok to Lachung -
Drive with on the way Sightseeing (1-Innova / Xylo)
3rd Day - Mon, 25th Dec - Lachung - Yumthang
Valley Excursion (1-Innova / Xylo)
4th Day - Tue, 26th Dec - Lachung to Gangtok -
Transfer (1-Innova / Xylo)
5th Day - Wed, 27th Dec - Gangtok to Nathula,
Tsomgo Lake & Baba Mandir - Excursion (1-Innova / Xylo)
6th Day - Thu, 28th Dec. Gangtok to Pelling - Transfer Via Namchi &
Ravangla (1-Innova / Xylo)
7th Day - Fri, 29th Dec. Pelling - Full day Sightseeing with Sky walk
(1-Innova / Xylo)
8th Day - Sat, 30th Dec. Pelling to Bagdogra
Airport / NJP Station - Drop (1-Innova / Xylo)
A word of thanks to Mr. Anil who arranged my entire stay and travel by booking all the hotels. All the hotels were 3 or 4 stars, and you can read their reviews if you don’t like you can book your own hotels and travel desk. Driver details were shared by Mr. Anil the previous evening to solidify our journey leaving no stone unturned for the trip.
Day 1 of
our Vacation
Like any and many vacations the euphoria behind the trip was evident from the excitement I could see from my teenage kids who had been waiting for this day from the time we booked the tickets. Our flight was at 9am, advanced by 15 minutes by Indigo airlines. We had our cab arriving unceremoniously at 6am and we reached the airport by 7 am, 2 hours before the stipulated time of departure. With security check-in done we were waiting at the boarding gate. Our flight was from Bangalore to Bagdogra which was a little over two hours. We landed safely and were out with our baggage by 11.40 am. A guy with a placard with my name embossed on it was waiting. He paraded me to the car parking area where my designated cab and car driver for the next 8-day sojourn was waiting eagerly. The cab driver name was Mr. Rajendar Nepal, a Nepali Hindu and a native of Sikkim. We later came to know that he was a voluntarily retired Indian army guy after 17 years of service whose current livelihood is being a cabbie. A matured, well behaved 43 years old guy who drove the vehicle in a soothing and careful manner along the twists and bends of the mountainous and scary roads. The excitement soon waded since the road trip to Gangtok was miserably delayed due to gridlocks on the mountains due to road works. Vehicles were stopped on one side for the other side to pass through due to the single lane nature of the route. Ideally, we should have reached Gangtok by 6 pm, but we could reach Gangtok only by 8.30 pm. The stretch from Bagdogra to Siliguri, which is a mere 10 km stretch took almost 90 minutes reminiscing Bangalore city traffic conditions. The roads to Gangtok were crisscrossing the Teesta River at many places, Teesta is the lifeline of Sikkim and to some parts of west Bengal before it reaches the Bay of Bengal in Bangladesh. The hotel was nested opposite to the famous MG Marg in Gangtok. I will talk more about MG Marg on my fourth day of the trip. We had a extravagant dinner with the help of room service and retired to our bed with a packed journey for the next day.
Day 2 of our Vacation
After a sumptuous complimentary breakfast at Pearl Retreat, Our second day plan was to check-out of Gangtok and proceed to Lachung (north Sikkim), for a two day night stay at Lachung. It was a distance of 125 kms that took almost 7 hours in the mountainous topsy turvy terrain. Enroute, we enjoyed slurping some of the staple delicacies specific to Sikkim, the momos, salivating veg momos made of cabbage and chayote squash (vegetable looking like chow chow) became our staple food during travel. The steamed light caloried momos became our evergreen lunch menu during our entire trip and it was our finger licking moment. Enroute, we tasted bamboo cup tea as well. In real time we witnessed the disaster caused by the flash floods that had happened on October 4th. We could witness the site where more than 100 army personnel vanished (swept away) on the banks of Teesta River. It was a devastating site full of rumbles of metals, broken houses, tilted houses, swept away bridges, a newly constructed dam and huge boulders of rocks, the size of multistoried building that had rolled down the mountains in to the Teesta river during the flash floods. The site was similar to an site stuck by a an earthquake of greatest magnitude. Our hearts melted for the brave hearts and with a heavy heart we started our car journey towards Lachung. The journey witnessed passing through the handmade temporary roads by BRO(Border Roads organization) after the disaster. Some stretches were scary due to the landslides that were standing testimony to the magnitude of the disaster. Enroute to Lachung we could still see the road to Lacheng disconnected and those villages and villagers are cut off from the world even after 3 months of the disaster. This was a juxtaposition and a point of inflection that made my family think that How privileged we are to spend time and money for a vacation. We reached Lachung by 5 PM and it was pitch dark by then. It was very cold, and this is the moment of time and truth when our thermal purchases was waiting to be tested for withstanding the subzero temperatures. The temperature was 2 degrees Celsius, and it was heading towards sub zero by midnight. Seeing the gravity of the cold we were the first to book room heaters at an additional cost for our two nights of stay. Dinner was included as part of our stay, and we had buffet dinner served at the hotel restaurant. The hotel was right before a cliff and the steepness of the cliff was acting like a backside wall to the hotel. It was scary as well as enticing. Teesta flowed like a small tributary on the opposite side of the hotel where we stayed. The involuntary shaking of our body due to freezing temperature created doubts in our minds of withstanding such conditions and completing our vacation without any health issues. The army base guarding our border from China was 30 kms high up in the altitude from the hotel and army vehicles and persons patrolling the roads along the hotel was a goosebump moment, made us to think about their sacrifice to our country in such extremely cold weather. Once again, I want to reiterate that we are privileged, and we all should be thankful to our Indian army for safeguarding our borders and us. After a shivering dining experience, we went to the bon-fire which was lit as part of Christmas eve celebration. We sat there for some 15 minutes and then retired to our room and bed, putting behind the scenes of the day.
Day 3 of our Vacation
Our day’s Itinerary was to visit Mt
Katao, Zero point and Yumthang valley. At the command of our seasoned driver
Mr. Rajendra Nepal, we were ready to leave the hotel at 6.15 am to Mt Katao which is a winter sporting mountain for skiing and snowboarding during the months of December,
Jan and Feb. You need to take permission for both Mt Katao and Zero point. We
must pay in total 7500rs, 3500 Rs for Mt Katao and 4000rs for Zero point. If
you don’t want both it is up to you to decide. All these should be finalized
and paid the previous day for getting permission and our driver did everything
for us. You should not definitely miss these two points at any cost. Our plan
was to finish Mt Katao by 8 am and return to our hotels for breakfast and then
start to Zero point and Yumthang valley. We reached Mt Katao by 6.45 am which
is at an altitude of 15000 ft. It was pretty cold, and you would be stopped 10
kms before the army point for security reasons. You cannot go beyond the point
where there is a metal hanging bridge and a Khanda falls to your left.
It was freezing cold and if you have
breathing problems or BP better take precautions like buying a portable oxygen
mask which can be used in Zero point and Nathula pass as well.
We spent some 30 minutes playing in
the snow and taking pictures near the frozen Khanda falls. As we climbed down back to
the hotel there is a Lachung valley viewpoint at 8500 ft to get a glimpse of
the valley, the houses and the hotels cladding the valley. It is a beautiful
sight of mountains adoring the valley with its magnificent and fierce peaks
covered with snow.
With our howling and rumbling stomachs,
we headed straight to the restaurant for our complimentary breakfast. Breakfast
may not be as elaborate as you might assume. You might get poha, chole and
batura or poori saagu, bread sandwich and alu parathas. Tea and Coffee. Coffee
would be Nescafe sachet or Tata instant coffee sachet. Breakfast timing is from
7.30 am and it was a challenge to get all items hot even by 8 am since tourists
would throng the restaurant to leave for their sightseeing.
Tip 1 for Lachung: If you are lazy and delay your
wake-up time then you are bound to miss Zero point or Katao since there are
strict timings. No vehicles are allowed after 12 noon to visit any of the
mountain ranges Mt Katao or Zero point. Zero point is at a longer distance from
Lachung, and it would be a wise decision to leave by 6 am like what we did in
order to cover all the must see places.
Tip 2 for Lachung: Subzero temperatures during the
night will haunt you if you are not little wise. Book your room heaters in
advance at your hotel reception since all tourists would want room heaters for
sure to survive the freezing temperatures. Room heaters are needed in addition
to the thermal wear, woolen caps and hand gloves.
Next spot was Zero point which is at
an altitude of 15000 ft. This is where the river Teesta originates, and you can
see for yourselves how the melting snow give rise to a small rivulet which
becomes a deluging downstream river
along its path. Breathing is a challenge at Zero point due to thin air, low
oxygen and freezing temperatures. If it is windy then you better be prepared
for a bone-chilling experience. We found lot of snow and spent almost 45 minutes
in the snow. We too felt the fatigue and dizziness of low oxygen. We prevailed
over these conditions successfully. You can hire rubber boots at the car
parking in one of the many shops selling Maggi and momos. Rubber boots charges are 100rs per boot. After feeling intense cold and exhaustion you would yearn for a
fuming Maggi or momos and there is no dearth for those. We ate Maggi and vegged
momos which would become cold within few seconds due to the subzero temperature.
Hogging those fuming Maggi and momos hot with smoke fuming out of your mouth
would be a gastronomical treat to enjoy and witness.
As we climbed down from Zero point,
we also stopped at a spot where there were lot of fresh powdered untouched snow
which motivated us to play and throw snow at each other. Our driver did the
courtesy job of taking pictures and video shots, one of those cherishable
moments of happiness.
We stopped at Yumthang valley which
is approximately halfway distance from Lachung. Zero point is 54 kms from
Lachung and Yumthang would be 31kms from Lachung. Yumthang valley would be a
valley of flowers in the months of March, April and May. Since it was winter
and December, Yumthang valley looked plain. You can walk down to the Teesta
River flowing through the valley and probably take some picture for your album.
Eventful day of sigh seeing came to
an end. It was picture perfect day with a breath of fresh freezing air and a
sight for sore eyes. To sum it up Lachung, Mt Katao, zero point and Yumthang
valley are heavens on earth and not to be missed.
Tip 3: Please carry enough cash since there is no
network at Zero point and 10 kms above the Zero point is the China border and
an army base.
Tip 4: Carry oxygen cylinders if you have BP, asthma
or any specific health conditions. It has been notified that people with comorbidities
should not venture to see Zero point due to lack of oxygen and extreme cold
weather.
Tip 5: You must first visit Zero point, Yumthang
valley is in the enroute don’t stop first at Yumthang valley you might lose
time and may be prevented from visiting Zero point after 12 noon. They don’t
allow any vehicles to climb towards Zero point after noon.
Day 4 of
our Vacation
After bidding goodbye to Lachung we started our
journey back to Gangtok where we had planned to stay for 2 more nights before
heading to south and east Sikkim. Return journey was on the same route as
onward journey with traffic jams due to road works and we could reach Gangtok
by 3 pm. Our hotel was same as the first day, Pearl Retreat. Once again we
stopped at the Butter fly falls to taste the mouthwatering momos and waiwai
noodles done in their unique way. We relaxed for an hour in the room and wanted to explore
the MG Marg which is in the uphill area across the road. We would have climbed
approximately 400 to 500 steps to reach the MG Marg by foot and it took just 10
minutes from our hotel. This is a must-see road which is only for pedestrians.
It is a decorated road only for walking with Sikkim graffiti along the
road. It is a shopping place for anything and everything. The entrance of the
road had a huge Christmas tree decorated with red roses which was a photo shoot
spot for many. The road has lot of eateries, gifts shops, bakeries and other
shops. It was bustling with fun and trade and most of them were tourist like
us. After strolling for an hour, we sat in one of the benches installed on the
road to relax and gaze at the other pedestrians. We decided to have dinner by 6
pm at a hotel by name “Parivar” which is a pure vegetarian hotel run by
the same Jain management of the hotel where I was staying. Not to mince words
here, every dish we had ordered was a delicacy and it was as authentic as you would
have had in south India or North India. Prices were on par with other metropolitan
cities. After a sumptuous feasting, we bought souvenirs for gifting and headed
back to our hotel for the day. More of a relaxed evening compared to the
previous 3 nights.
Tip: Gpay and credit cards work everywhere in Gangtok.
Day 5 of
our Vacation
Day 5 itinerary was to visit Nathula
pass, Baba mandir and Tsongmo lake. All these are enroute places. First stop
was Nathula pass which is 52 kms from Gangtok. Once again you need permission
to visit Nathula pass and there was no extra charge except parking and some fund
collected by the army for maintenance off the eco system and it was a meager 10rs/head fee. The roads were good and you can see army camps and vehicles all
along the route till you reach Nathula. Here the altitude is 15000ft and
definitely with windy weather, breathing is a challenge. So, if you are having
health issues, please avoid going to Nathula. It was a heavily crowded day at
Nathula more than 1000 vehicles were allowed and looked like all those people
who didn’t go to Lachung were here. Oxygen cylinders are sold when you enter
the climb towards nathula. We were not interested and were confident of making
it without oxygen cylinders. As we reached the summit, we witnessed the India-
China border, was barricaded with outpost of each country on either side with a
barbed wire running along the LOC demarcating two geographies. We could see the
real angels and heroes of our country standing there as pillars of security and
valor. How much ever you bundle up the windy nature of the terrain makes you
not to feel your toes due to subzero temperatures. Despite restrictions, army
people were kind enough to allow few pictures and encouraged everyone to forbid
taking more pictures. After a
Bone-chilling experience we scaled down to Baba mandir. Once again, the valor
of our soldiers was filled in the atmosphere and this place is very special for
our army and we all should be proud of knowing the significance of the place.
Please google it for yourselves to learn about Baba mandir. After buying some
goodies at the shop run by the army, we scaled down to Tsongmo lake. It is a
beautiful tarn adored by snow capped mountains. We took some pictures. If you
like you can go for a decorated Yak ride which is the money for the locals. There
is also a rope way which looked scary and steep, but we were not interested
neither in the Yak ride nor the rope way. It was lunch time, and we were looking
for a veggie friendly spot, this is where our drivers knowledge was a shot in
the arm. He took us to a very decent veggie friendly family run eatery very
close to Tsongmo lake. This was where we tried the local delicacy by name
Thukpa which is a soupy noodle with local flavors and ingredients. My kids
loved them and always pondered for Thupka for every meal from then on. After a
hive of eventful sightseeing, we retired to our hotel rooms in Gangtok, i.e.
The Pearl Retreat. The Day’s tour was worth its weight in gold.
Tip: Carry cash for purchase at army run souvenir
shop in Baba mandir. Carry cash for parking and entrance.
Day 6 of
our Vacation
The plan for the day was to check
out from Gangtok and to check in to Pelling which adores West Sikkim. It is a
hill station like Ooty or Darjeeling, but not comparable by any means of yardstick.
The Drive was 125 kms away from Gangtok and indeed a picturesque one. Enroute
we have few places to cover, first one was the Chardam temple at Namchi. Namchi
is a small town in west Sikkim. This is a Shiva temple with all the jyotirlingas
in the country, more like a ISKCON temple concept for the Shaivites. You can
spend good one hour and even perform abhisheka to each lingams from the water
kept inside each of those sanctum sanctorum. We had some quick bites which were
refreshing. Our next pit stop was to a place called Ravangla. A Buddhist temple
with a huge Buddha crowned like a Jewel atop the temple. Ravangla is a famous
tourist destination especially for Buddhist. Inside the temple all along the
walkways there were placards describing the twelve deeds of Shakyamuni Buddha.
The walls inside the temple were decorated with mural paintings depicting the
life, incarnation and the path of attainment of Buddhahood by Buddha, more of a
geek peek into Buddhism and their philosophy. From Ravangla we proceeded to our
Pelling hotel by name Palpasa resorts which is a Jain group of hotels
which serves only vegetarian food. Pelling is bifurcated in to upper, middle
and lower Pelling. To our dismay we found this hotel to be situated a little
far, way down from the lower Pelling in a remote valley immune to the hustle
and bustle of Pelling downtown. Pelling is colder than Gangtok considering its
high altitude . After checking in to the rooms with our cold feet
and shivering bodies we requested for room heaters, which turned out to be a
disaster. None of the heaters were giving the required heat to heat up the room and the
hotel heater supplies were very limited. There was some electricity fluctuation
due to which water kettle was taking more than fifteen minutes to boil drinking water. Nevertheless,
we soaked ourselves in to our thermals and winter clothing. We regained some courage to
visit the restaurant for our coldest dinner. Dinner was not included in our stay,
so we were prepared to order as per our taste buds and hunger pangs.
Day 7 of
our Vacation
Day 7, the penultimate day of our vacation was all about local sightseeing. We woke up to the majestic and magnificent Kanchenjunga of the Himalayan range. Pelling is a small resort town with some must-see places. After our complimentary breakfast, we left to our first place called Khechuperi wishing lake, the sacred place of Buddhist. The lake is in the shape Buddha’s feet with a small temple beside it. You can buy soya chunks and biscuits to feed the fishes in the manmade pond inside the temple premises. It is a belief that feeding them gives good deeds and benefits. Since this is a sacred lake, these fishes are not eaten and are prayed by the locals and believers of Buddhism. After spending an hour we left for the orange garden, the Rimbi orange garden is a government funded one along the Rimbi waterfalls. You can trek down some hundred meters to get a glimpse of the river running from the waterfall. You can relax for some time on the big boulders which acts like seats along the stream running down from the waterfall. You can buy oranges and even some organic orange wine naturally brewed. After the orange gardens, our next stop was at a place with Buddha statue, called The Chenrezig statue. It is an engineering marvel. One can see beautiful mandalas here and the breathtaking view of the Kanchenjunga is the plus point of this place. This place has a small glass skywalk to take pictures and have fun. It was lunch time and we could find a pure vegetarian restaurant at upper Pelling which was even serving Dosas, but we didn’t order. From there we headed to a Birds Park called, Sidekeong Tulku Bird Park. It was a very small bird park not on the lines of Singapore Mandai Birds Park. If you had been to Mandai then you may not appreciate this. From the Park you can do a uphill stroll to the ruins called Rabdentse Ruins. It was the old palace of the second king of Sikkim, Tensung Namgyal. When Nepal invaded this place, the king ran to a place called Lhasa and left this place to decay. This was our final destination, and it was a curtain down moment for our entire vacation which lasted for 7 nights and 8 days. We retired to our hotel rooms with all the great memories which we had accumulated over the past 7 nights and 8 days.
Tip: Carry cash for parking and entrance tickets. Some
places give student discounts. We got discounts for both of our teenagers and
in Ravangla they wanted ID proof for students.
Day 8 of
our Vacation
It was an odd day, more of a boring day
since we needed to reach Bagdogra airport by 3 PM to catch our flight. Distance
from Pelling to Bagdogra is approx. 130 kms and knowing the traffic conditions
under the command and experience of our driver Mr. Rajendra Nepal, we decided
to check out by 8 am so that we don’t miss our flight. The hotel breakfast
timings were from 8 am which was too late for us to have breakfast and leave. We
had requested them to get breakfast ready by 7.30 am which they had obliged. We had
fuming poha, bread, butter and Jam along with coffee and tea. No qualms on the limited menu , considering the chilling conditions and the overindulgence of food we experienced over the
past 8 days. It took 7 hours by road to reach the Bagdogra airport, and we were at the airport by 3PM without a lunch
break. Horrible traffic conditions from Siliguri to the airport is a
nightmarish experience on the road. We thanked our driver Mr. Rajendra Nepal; I
tipped him generously which he was not expecting, and we departed with a
greater satisfaction of being able to have fun and frolic among the beautiful flora
and fauna of the Sikkim state. Luckily, we were able to cover East, west, north
and south parts of Sikkim. Only regret not really, was not able to visit Lacheng
valley and Gurudongmar lake. But if you think about the plight of the people
and impact of flash floods on their livelihoods, you should consider yourselves
as the luckiest soul on earth to make a trip when the other other part of the world(Lachen) is
still yet to come to reality and they don’t even have the slightest clue by
when their life would come back to normalcy or close to normalcy.
Tip: Carry cash for entrance and parking. Every place charges for parking and entrance.
Epilogue and Thanks
I want to conclude my experience by stating some more facts which might be of help to fellow family tourists.
Rest rooms are a challenge 95% of the places have only Indian type toilets and no flush. You have to manually pour water for cleaning. Rest rooms are not as clean as you would expect it to be. Some places charge 10rs even for urinals but lacks cleanliness. It would be wiser to complete your washroom activities before leaving the hotels. If you pee in public even in villages or mountains you can be charged with a fine of 1000rs. So plan better and get used to Indian toilets.
Carry thermos flask one or two so that you can
carry hot water to high altitude places which might help you to reduce the cold
feeling.
Gpay and airtel network were always available for communicating and making payment. Except for a few restricted areas like Zero point, Mt Katao, Nathula pass.
Taxi Charges don’t vary much between different travel desks because they have fixed rates for taxis, especially if you book like us , from Bagdogra back to Bagdogra for all the 8 days.
Vegetarians have no problem visiting Sikkim
since there are lot off pure vegetarian and very veg friendly hotels across
Sikkim.
People of the state are very disciplined, even
the cab drivers, they follow lanes even if there are traffic jams for hours, they
don’t make two lanes like drivers in Bangalore.
Hospitality and the kindness of the people of
the state must be given 5 stars or even more. At any point of time, we never
faced any challenges nor insecure feelings.
My sincere thanks to Mr. Anil, owner of the
Pearl retreat who did an excellent job in suggesting and booking our hotel and
travel for the entire trip of 8 days.
My since thanks to our driver Mr. Rajendra
Nepal for his maturity, professionalism and treating us with utmost respect.
Even though he is financially constrained, his pride in doing his work and
paying for his meals and expenses without a sight of frustration really needs
to be appreciated.
Last but not the least our army and soldiers
ensuring the safety of the borders and the nation in challenging weather conditions
cannot be expressed in words or summarized in short. Jai Hind.
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