Sikkim tour

Sikkim is a landlocked Indian state located in the Himalayan Mountains. The state borders Nepal to the west, China's Tibet Autonomous Region to the north and east, and Bhutan to the southeast. The Indian state of West Bengal lies to the south. Wikipedia

Mount Kanchenjunga from Gangtok, Sikkim 

The non-stop music of mountain streams, rays of golden sunlight, lots of Himalayan birds, MT KANCHENJUNGA with his other brothers will call you again and again.

We two started our journey on 21^st of Dec 2012 from Sealdah station. We reached Sealdah station 45 minutes before the actual departure of Dargeeling mail in evening. This time my destination is Sikkim. We reached NJP on 22^nd      morning and travelled to Gangtok in a shared Jeep (Sumo). We left NJP at 012:30 p.m. and took our lunch at 2:00 p.m. on the way. We reached Gangtok at 05:40 p.m. normally it takes 4.30 hrs. to reach.In Gangtok our hotel is “Hotel Glacier”. It is nicely placed near M.G. Marg. We talked to the hotel manager for a bed room. He showed us two non-view rooms at third floor and asked for Rs.800/-. But we paid only Rs.700/- . We also complete our booking for next day sightseeing towards Nathula.

In the next day morning we start our sightseeing towards Tsongmo Lake, Nathula pass, Baba Mandir. Tsongmo Lake has perhaps one of the most beautiful landscapes in Sikkim. On the Gangtok – Nathu La highway, Tsongmo Lake is situated at an altitude of 12,400 ft. Also known as Changu Lake. In Bhutia language, the literal meaning of ‘Tsomgo’ is ’source of the lake’. The travel agent charged 700 per head for this tour and also we have to submit two copies passport size photo and votar card Xerox for permission. We return to Gangtok around 6.30 P.M and stay in Gangtok.

In the third day, our destination is Ravangla, in South Sikkim. We have booking in Ravangla in “Hotel Sanjivani”. We have taken shared cab for Ravangla. It take 2 and half hours (64 kilometers from Gangtok) to reach Ravangla and charged Rs.110 per head. It is surrounded by hills with forest cover and one can view the Himalayan range from here. It has pleasant climate with panoramic views of the Himalayan range like mount kachanjunga, mount Pandim, mount Siniolchu, mount Kabru, etc.  It is an ideal place for bird watching and leisure holiday.

Next day we reserved a cab for sightseeing, which includes Temi Tea Garden the only Tea estate in Sikkim & the Gurupadmasambhava statue (135 ft.) It is said to be the highest statue of Guru Padmasambhaba in the World, Siddheshwar Temple and a newly made Buddhist temple at Ravangla. By the time we reached at Ravangla our lunch was ready. We all became monster as we were so hungry that time and dal rice egg curry were like “Chicken Biriyani” to us at that time.

In the fifth day, our destination is Rinchenpong, a small village in west Sikkim. We have booking in “Hotel Rinchen”. Normally peoples hired cab from Ravangla for Rinchenpong; it takes Rs.1500 to for Rinchenpong. But we two choose different route. First we go to Legship through shared cab. From Legship we took local tracker for Reshi. From Reshi we took shared cab for Rinchenpong. As we reached Rinchenpong we were welcomed by an enchanting view of, MT KANCHENJUNGA and wow what a view.

 It was a bright day and we were very lucky to have a great sight. After lunch we visited Rabindra smriti van. There is a monastery just at the entry to the van. We spent some time at the park and then returned to the bazar again at around 04:30 p.m.

Sun rise from Rinchenpong

In the next day, we decided to visit weekly market at Kaluk which is 3 K.M from Rinchenpon by walk. It is really nice to walk at village area.

At Chayatal

In the seventh day, we reserved a cab for sightseeing, which includes changey falls, Dentam vally, Singshore Bridge, Chayatal.
 The road for Chayatal is very bad, so it’s better to avoid if anybody has vomiting problem, but it’s a beautiful place to visit. On the way return we tried for food at Chayatal valley but again we couldn’t find a single hotel for lunch. Ultimately we took our lunch at our hotel.

In the last day we noticed that sky is pretty clear. And nature started showing its beauty. After a quick fresh up we went to the roof, from where the full range is visible. After that we saw the beauty of Kanchanjunga. It was unforgettable. Our shared cab (for Jorthang, as no share cab is available up to NJP) comes to our hotel at around 8 A.M. which drop us at Jorthang nearly11.30 A.M. From Jorthang we took another shared cab for Siliguri.

Our beautiful journey ends here with lots of good memory, beautiful tea garden, beautiful birds, mountain streams and rays of golden sunlight.