Sikkim - from a traveler's Lens

  The COVID 19 has made a severe impact on the tourism sector. Each player of this domain starting from a street vendor, hotel owner, car driver to tourist all of them affected badly. As a tourist, it did not spare me too. This disease has cut down 2 valuable years from my tourist calendar. 

 Anyhow, this year we successfully settled out a travel plan for Sikkim. When you hear the word 'Sikkim' - generally the words that come to your mind are 'mountain', 'buddha', 'ice'. In this journey, we experienced the first two ie. Our Travel was bounded up to SOUTH, EAST and WEST Sikkim. So, let's start the journey.

It was 5th October - the commencement of our journey. Our train was from Sealdah station, - the heritage Darjeeling Mail. We had to spend the night on the train. The next day, in the morning, we reached NJP. We hired a car from there to reach Gangtok, the capital of Sikkim. We were going through the NH 10. The best part of this route is it goes parallelly to Teesta River, keeping it aside. The view of Teesta River, from the upper road, is fabulous. We entered Sikkim at Rongpo. Though, it's October the temperature was not less than plains. Only after reaching Gangtok, we got temperate weather. 

For the hectic car journey, that day we didn't go sightseeing.  At night, we just roamed in the MG Market. With a few people, the night dimming light, the mall was looking beautiful. We should praise the authority here. The way they have kept the mall - neat n clean with beautification is a commendable job.

Day #2 The Gangtok Sightseeing Day

Our Journey started at around 8.30 am. 1st visiting spot was Hanuman Tok. It's a Hanuman Temple at the mountain top. So, as usual, you'll feel a sudden temperature fall. When we visited the place, it was lonely. From here, the downward hill view is nice. This temple is maintained by the Black Cat division of the Indian Army. So, obviously, the place is neat n clean with properly arranged. The next spot is Ganesh Tok. As it is named, it is a Ganesh Temple. From here also, the downward nature looks very nice. The next place we visited was Plant Conservatory - the place with a ton of plant species. It's like a mini forest with a proper walking route. You don't need to be from Bio. background for finding interest in this place. Just as a nature lover you come here. I'm sure you'll fall in love with the place. Please come here with time in hand. There is a waterfall inside this compound. I'm not going to say the way to reach it. Just visit the place and find it. It's like a Hide n Seek game. Due to the COVID crisis, we missed the 2 major attractions one is Rumtek Monastery and the other is Jhakri Falls. The next place we visited is the Namgyal Institute of Tibetology. Here also, due to COVID, we were not able to enter the building. There is a Chorten inside this institute campus - Do-drul Chorten. It's a nice place. The last thing for the Gangtok sightseeing was the Ropeway ride. I'll recommend you do ride ropeway. From the ropeway, you'll see the Gangtok city beneath yourself. It's an amazing feeling. It became afternoon, we came back to our hotel room. At night, we just roamed in the M G Market - Mall. If you need to go shopping, do it here. Because - this like place with a variety of options, you'll not find in the entire Sikkim. 

Day #3 Pelling

The next day, we left Gangtok at around 8 am. This time destination is Pelling. On the way, our first visit was Temi Tea Garden. This is a beautiful tea garden, open for visitors. You need to pay for the ticket to enter the Tea Garden. The next stop was at Char Dham, Namchi. This is a very big compound with replicas of all important temples including Char Dham - sacred for the Hindu. You need sufficient time to roam around the compound. This visit starts at Jagannath Dham then Rameswaram Dham then, Dwarka Dham & ends at Badrinath Dham. In between these temples, there are many other temples like - Sai Baba Temple, 12 Jyotirlinga temples. The main attraction of this place is the giant Lord Shiva statue which is visible from a mile away. The Next & last place for the day was Ravangla Buddha Park - Tathagata Tsal. Here, the main attraction is the Giant meditating Buddha statue. There is a museum beneath the Budhha Statue. Come before 5 pm to visit the museum. The life of Buddha is painted nicely on the wall of the museum. That's all for the day. We reached Pelling at night. We stayed in a hotel at Upper Pelling. 

Day #4 Sightseeing in Pelling

Last night, we took our shelter at Upper Pelling hoping to get an awesome view of Mt. Kanchenjunga. But Alas! The cloudy mood of the morning poured water into our hope. So, all money we paid for the hotel at Upper Pelling went in vain. So, advice from my end: If you come to Pelling, in Nov-Dec-Jan, then only book a hotel in upper Pelling. Because only that time, the 24-hour sky is clear. Other times, you come, there is an uncertainty of clear sky. For that time, find a hotel in Middle or Lower Pelling. You'll get tons of good hotels there at half price. We left the hotel at 9 am for local sightseeing. 1st place we visited was River Orange Garden. This place is beautiful. But, again for the offseason, we missed the Orange in Orange trees. There is a homestay in the Garden. It'll be a great idea to stay here. There is a small pathway inside this Orange garden which ends up at the river bank. That place is also beautiful. You can touch the river water here. The next place, we visited was the Kanchenjunga Falls. It's a big waterfall. The falls you're seeing beside the road is not the real one. You need to pay Rs. 20 as entry fee to go near the main fall by upstairs. which is also not visible from the roadside. The next place we visited was Khechuperi Lake. It's a sacred lake. Locals believe that, if you pray for a wish with an honest mind here, your wish will be reality. From the gate, you need to walk a km to reach the lake. the pathway to reach the lake is fabulous On both sides of the path there are big green trees. The colourful Buddhist flags add more contrast to it. After this place, we went to the centuries-old Pemayangtse Monastery. It's a three-storeyed monastery. Many invaluable Buddhist manuscripts are conserved here. On the top floor, there is a wooden 'Ratha' type structure. They told it as Paradise of Guru Rinpoche. I find this a very strange structure. Do visit this place. The Next place, we visited was the Pelling Skywalk. There is a big statue of NOT buddha but Chenrezig (Laxmi Devi). It was raining when we reached the place. So, this visit was not that attractive. But I do recommend you to visit the skywalk. In season, you'll be able to see Mt. Kanchenjunga from here. That was enough for the day. We came back to our hotel room.

Day#5 Hee Bermoik 

While visiting Sikkim, always prefer homestays to hotels. The service at Homestays is far better than Hotels. It'll be difficult to find homestays in City areas like Gangtok or Pelling. But in small villages or semi towns, you'll get homestay options. 

We left Peling in the early morning. The next destination was Hee Bermoik. On the way, we stooped near a fall named Changey Water Falls. It is a large waterfall by height. The next place was Dentam Valley View Point. This place is beside a Fair Price Shop. From here, Dentam Valley can be seen. See carefully, you'll find the Map of India within the valley. The next spot was Singshore Hanging Bridge. It's a big Hanging bridge too high from the river. You can go through the bridge on foot. On the other side of the bridge, there is a Restaurant. That's all. After this place, we reached our Homestay in Bermoik named, Punal homestay near the Police station. We had our lunch there. The owner of the homestay Mr Baichung is a very fine man. The hospitality is too good. The houses are small and wooden. I recommend you to stay here for a day. The food they served is also beautiful. 

Day#6 Home Coming

We were fortunate enough. In the morning, we have seen Mt. Kanchenjunga from the homestay. At last, at the last spot, we got the view. At around 8 am we left the homestay. On our way, we stopped at Rinchenpong monastery. There is a place called Rabindra Smriti Van. Great poet Rabindranath Tagore came here. Climb the stone stairs just opposite the Monastery. The next stop was Jorthang. We took our lunch there. You can go shopping here. We left Sikkim at Mamring Check Post. After some steps, you'll see a Plaque stating about Kabiguru's arrival. Go ahead. This place is needed to be conserved. We reached NJP in the afternoon. We boarded our train in the evening. The End.