One of the most beautiful place
in India that I have visited during June 2014.
The memories still young in mind and every time I hear someone planning
to visit the state, I can’t stop to tell the places they should visit. What you want ; Adventure, Photography, Peace
of Mind or away from the crowded cities to relax ??? Sikkim gives you
everything..
It is an ideal proposition to
first decide the purpose of the vacation and then plan the entire trip to the
state.
Brief about the tourist spots;
Mostly whoever visit Sikkim, they
have the capital Gangtok in mind.
Gangtok is a beautiful hill city ; neat, clean, cool weather and off
course a complete different experience you will get the moment you enter this
capital city.
Keeping Gangtok as a Centre place
or base for your travel, the geography of the state can be divided as ; East
Sikkim, West Sikkim, North Sikkim & South Sikkim. In terms of geographical
placement Gangtok city fall under East Sikkim. It is the commercial and
administrative hub of the state.
GANGTOK/ EAST SIKKIM:
Ideally to cover Gangtok and east
Sikkim it will take three days ; one day in the Gangtok city and the two days for
the other places. The places worth to visit are: MG Market in Gangtok, Rope
way, Fambong Lho Wildlife Sanctury,
Zoological Park(this park is a home for red pandas, snow leopards, snow deer
and other high altitude animals), Tashi view point (you can enjoy the
breathtaking view of the Khangchendzonga. Best time to go there is early
morning during Sunrise), Ganesh Tok ( it provides a birds eye view of Gangtok
town), Hanuman Tok (provode a majestic view of the city and mountains), Bakthang Waterfalls, Banjhakri Falls, Rumtek
Dharma Chakra, Nathula Pass(situated at an altitude of 14450 feet, 56 km from
Gangtok, it is the outpost through which Indo-China trade is conducted),
Tsongmo Lake(the lake remain frozen during winter months),Baba Harbhajan Singh
Memorial Temple (Temple built in honour of Harbhajan Singh a Soldier in Indian
Army. The beautiful story of believes can be found from Google search). Though the details about all these places can
be searched from Google, each place is having its own identity and will make
you mesmerized with its own beauty. Don’t
miss the delicious Momos and local food at Gangtok.
NORTH SIKKIM:
When we travelled to North Sikkim
during June 2014, the road conditions were very bad but the journey was awesome
and you can feel the thrill while crossing the road under a waterfall, while
looking straight down at the Tista river on your right , while two vehicle from
opposite side crossing each other in a narrow track at an altitude of around 8000
feet J
J
J
. A slight mistake by the driver may end your journey there, a change in
weather condition (rain) may turn the track in to a waterfall, if there is a landslide
you are stuck J
JJ.
Imagine the journey towards this Heaven called Yumthang valley at North Sikkim.
There are two major spot at North
Sikkim; Yumthang valley via Lachung, Thangu Valley via Lachen. It required
minimum for days to cover both the places. Since we didn’t have much time with
us , we covered only Yumthang valley . It took almost an entire day to reach
Lachung, the place normally covered with snow during winter till March-April.
Since we were there during June hardly any snow was there but we could see the
snow beautiful snow peaks. We stayed the night at Lachung and unfortunately
there was no electricity that day and we were shivering with cold. The Sound of
Tista River making it a rocking musical night without any reflections around. Next
day morning we left for Yumthang valley and with a desire to experience snow,
we further travelled till Point Zero.
Wow the journey was amazing. It was like Switzerland of India. As if we
got our ROI of the trip.
SOUTH SIKKIM:
With limited time in hand, we
decided to visit Namchi a beautifully maintained place in South Sikkim and quite developed interms of infrastructure. The place we visited was
Samdruptse, Ralang Monastery, Siddeshwar Dham( situated on Solophok Hill, this
place has a special religious significance, there are replication of four major
pilgrimage destinations of Hinduism, also on display are twelve replica of
Jyoti Linga, the gigantic statue of the Hindu God, Siva also attracts the
devotees )
We couldn’t many other parts of
Sikkim due to few days in hand but off course we are planning to have another
trip some other time to cover other places and this time atleast 15 days J
How to Reach Gangtok :
Nearest Airport : Bagdogra in
Westbengal
From Bagdogra it was around 5
hour drive due to bad road conditions during that time
Note: You should carry your identity proof like passport, driving
licence and also passport size photographs. These are required for taking
permission to visit East & North Sikkim. It is always advisable to make your tour
arrangement by talking to a local tour guide or travel agent. There are many
outsiders, who too run these shows of tourism and there are chances of getting cheated
by some. Always does your home work in advance like; what are the weather
conditions, information on whether the route to Nathula and North Sikkim is
open or not by talking to different people, also the trip fare for each day and
for each route.
Tour Guide : Though there was no proper plan for us before the trip, we could find a local guy named Dipen , who made our entire itinerary for the 5 days and guided us for an wonderful experience. He is an honest guy with a small tourist guide setup. But with his network , he (on my left ) along with his friend made our journey memorable. He can be contacted at +91-9733306845
