Hi all,
Long time since I've written something worthy.
This post is to share my travel experiences in Sikkim & Darjeeling and also for me to remember the journey with all it's details. Hoping my memory is still fresh {It's been a week since I got home, I wanted to do this as soon as I got time but then I fell sick 😟 and now I'm fine 💪😎} So let's start this:
Firstly essentials checklist: /What I carried with me: This Checklist is not exhaustive. (You can google the checklist of essential items needed to travel to the particular places you are going.)
1. An Empty Water bottle to get Gurudongmar Lake (Sacred lake) water. (Unfortunately this visit was cancelled as the road was covered in ice and the journey could be fraught with risk & danger.)
2. All the Toiletries because admit it what most hotels give are just crappy products.(I still take 'em because they can be used for cleaning and also to remind you of the place if you liked it.)
Examples: Listerine, Toilet paper, Soap, Wet wipes, Toothbrush, Scraper, Paste, Scissors, Makeup etc
Special mention: Lip Balm/Salve, Sanitizer, Sunscreen
3. Pens & a book (Could be useful)
4. Winter Clothes (Take plenty but also consider the weight if you are going in an airplane. Take lots of Thermals & tops or tees and few jeans which you can repeat wearing. Skip the traditional clothing or any expensive clothes because the place is really cold and you anyway end up with jackets & sweater pictures. Also plenty of Inner-wear because you can't dry your stuff out in the cold and few face towels & Body towels.) Also Empty covers to put your soiled clothes.Take plenty of socks.
5. A Bedsheet (You can spread it on the hotel blanket because hotels are generally very neat.(Sarcasm) and a double blanket.
6. Random: Flipflops,Safety locks, Chargers, Power banks, Sanitary napkins.
7. Food: Don't assume you can buy anything anywhere. Carry Mineral water bottles & some energy bars, cookies, dry fruits like cashews, raisins, pistachios, almonds etc. everywhere so you can munch on them when you are hungry.
I took with me lots of Rite Bite energy bars in several flavors, Snickers, Hard Candies, Brittania cakes, cookies etc.
8. Medicines: (No matter how fit you are currently or before the start of your journey carry all the First aid kit if you are going to a new place/travelling anywhere.)
I carried pretty much everything and what I ended up using are the ORS sachets, nausea & vomiting meds, altitude sickness meds, diarrhoea meds & Digene.
Special mention: Glucose & Tiger balm/Any pain balms or sprays. Also I carried cloves for nausea & motion sickness which worked like wonder.
9. All out mosquito repellent or spray and Odomos cream or lotion.
10. Shoes, Sunglasses, Umbrella,( I din't use it on this trip but yeah it did rain one day so know what the weather would be like before travelling) Money, Handbag/sling bag, Purse, necessary documents/permits, xerox of ID's, an original ID like your passport etc
11. Good Camera to take plenty of pictures.
I think I covered mostly everything so let's hop on to the trip part.
Intro:
We visited Bali, Indonesia, Malaysia & Singapore for our honeymoon and loved it. We wanted to explore India for our second trip as a couple. We shortlisted a few places and Sikkim made it to the top of the list as it promised to offer a lot in terms of nature and North-East was unexplored territory for both of us. We looked up a lot and finally decided to go with "TravelTriangle" to customize the trip suiting our needs. We decided that we needed to take guidance from a an established travel website as visiting several places in Sikkim requires special permissions & police permits for specific areas as it borders Nepal to the west, China's Tibet autonomous region to the north and east, and Bhutan to the south-east (In short "a sensitive border state".) Taking care of all these permissions on our own could get cumbersome & tiring, so contacting a Travel agency seemed like a wise decision.
The taxi situation in Sikkim is notorious for their 'organized unions' who enforce strict rules on drivers, vehicles from other states. Driving in Sikkim in itself requires a very high skill as the roads are extremely steep, narrow and often overlooking extremely deep bottomless valleys. Having said that, it was a once in a life time opportunity to be able to visit the Gurudongmer lake (~17,000ft). It was also our chance to experience some snow :)
Day 1:
Hyderabad - Bagdogra Airport - Gangtok
We made an early start from Hyderabad to catch our flight to Bagdogra. We reached there on time, but the it was was very hot. Here after a quick meet-and-greet, our travel agent handed over our travel kit (a bunch of printouts with hotel vouchers and the day to day itinerary) and handed us over to the driver who was supposed to be with us for the trip till Darjeeling.
We were quite happy as we got assigned a brand new Innova (even though we booked a regular car). But our excitement was short-lived. From the airport to Gangtok, our journey was very bad as we had a chainsmoker for a driver. He was very fast and nearly killed us, multiple times (no kidding). Headache, Nausea & motion sickness started due to his rash driving. On our way we were supposed to go to Melli river rafting but had to skip it. To give you an idea of how his driving was, here is a picture:
The taxi situation in Sikkim is notorious for their 'organized unions' who enforce strict rules on drivers, vehicles from other states. Driving in Sikkim in itself requires a very high skill as the roads are extremely steep, narrow and often overlooking extremely deep bottomless valleys. Having said that, it was a once in a life time opportunity to be able to visit the Gurudongmer lake (~17,000ft). It was also our chance to experience some snow :)
Day 1:
Hyderabad - Bagdogra Airport - Gangtok
We made an early start from Hyderabad to catch our flight to Bagdogra. We reached there on time, but the it was was very hot. Here after a quick meet-and-greet, our travel agent handed over our travel kit (a bunch of printouts with hotel vouchers and the day to day itinerary) and handed us over to the driver who was supposed to be with us for the trip till Darjeeling.
We were quite happy as we got assigned a brand new Innova (even though we booked a regular car). But our excitement was short-lived. From the airport to Gangtok, our journey was very bad as we had a chainsmoker for a driver. He was very fast and nearly killed us, multiple times (no kidding). Headache, Nausea & motion sickness started due to his rash driving. On our way we were supposed to go to Melli river rafting but had to skip it. To give you an idea of how his driving was, here is a picture:
Also half an hour after our journey he started asking for money saying someone in his family has cancer and that he would return that money😑. (The trip was prepaid and we didn't have to pay him anything) I actually wanted to skip this part but I wanted to share how the first day of our trip can have an effect on the whole trip experience. Our driver was rude, stopped whenever he wanted to to take a toke and left us stranded in the middle of nowhere without answering our questions and drove very fast. He was high on something as well so it's scary and we had to hold on to the car's inside railing all throughout our journey. Also he hit 2 vehicles enroute. We had to endure this as we had no choice. So as soon as we reached Gangtok the first thing we did was change the driver after speaking to our travel agent. Our travel agent (Udaan travels) was very patient and was very helpful and promptly changed the driver for the rest of our journey. Full credit to Udaan and the personal tour organizer assigned to us.
The maniac driving had taken a big toll on our energy levels especially since it was a very long day of travel. We reached Gangtok hotel tired and dazed. Overnight stay at the hotel. Hotel Magpie Boutique was good. The weather at Sikkim is cool but bearable.
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| Teesta river on the way to Gangtok |
Day 2:
Gangtok - Dikchu - Chungthang - Lachen
After eating Thukpa(soupy noodles), Momos, bread toast and having coffee for breakfast at the hotel we started for Lachen. Few pictures on the way to Lachen:
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| Butterfly falls |
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| View looking down the Chungthang dam on Teesta river |
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| Chungthang dam backwaters |
Lachen is a very small village and our hotel balcony view was amazing with the mountains and also a football field where a match was going on. Lachen is very cold. The temperatures dropped to -6c at night here. We didn't opt for a room heater here because we thought we can acclimatize ourselves to the weather henceforth our Gurudongmar lake visit could become bearable. Layers of clothing and mink blankets didn't save us from the chilling temperature. In addition to this I suffered from food poisoning and suffered from vomiting & diarrhoea the whole night. My husband took care of me and even he couldn't sleep the whole night.
I couldn't stand in the balcony for more than 3mins and there, some were playing in shorts.😒
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| View from our balcony overlooking the football field and the mountains. |
We thought of cancelling the Lake visit and we woke up late in the morning. (For the Gurudongmar lake visit you are supposed to start at around 3-4am in the morning). Some other tourists from our hotel tried to visit the lake but they returned after 20mins of travel as the road was covered in ice and the weather was very bad. Later in the day, we visited a beautiful monastery nearby and it was closed.There wasn't anything else to see here. It is 50km from the Chinese border and so there is Indian military presence everywhere.
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| The Lachen monastery |
Day 3:
Lachen- Chungthang - Lachung
My health was fine before travel but I din't eat anything heavy and had only bread for breakfast, lunch & dinner the whole day, I was okay, my energy levels got depleted so much but I was fine and this time my husband got sick and suffered the same ordeal as me.Though we had only hot food and didn't eat any fast food we had to suffer this. Our suspect is the poorly cooked momos from the hotel in Gangtok to be the culprit but we really don't know. It could be the potatoes & cauliflower curry or daal or just about anything in the hotel in Lachen or Gangtok.
Lachung is much bigger than Lachen and is beautiful as well. We weren't in a condition to enjoy the views. My hubby had to survive on bread again which was generously given by the hotel and I ate very lightly. We opted for a Room Heater here and I spent most of the time just sitting before it though it was a blow heater. It felt like bliss to feel some hotness on your body. The hotel & the hospitality were good and we had a good night's sleep. Few pics of our hotel (nothing significant on the route) we were too weak to admire the views or to take any pics.
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| View of Lachung valley from our hotel room |
Day 4:
We started for the Yumthang valley excursion early in the morning around 7 am. This is very beautiful and though our visit is at a time when there are no flowers neverthless it was amazing and covered in snow. On our way we also saw Yaks.There is the Shingba rhododendron (They bloom b/w April-June) sanctuary on our way but no flowers again as it was all covered in snow. From the valley we went to Zero Point/Yumesamdong. On the way to Zero Point there are winter wear shops at one point along with refreshments.I bought a cap with embellishments & pom poms here and I mention this specifically because the cap though looked good and is very cheap wasn't worth it.The threads stuck to my hair and the stitches got torn.It was a waste buy.On our way we see weary tourists and people vomiting from altitude sickness.Zero point is very beautiful & very cold.I couldn't stand outside the car for more than 5mins even for pictures. There they were selling Maggi and Tea/coffee etc. Though they do not exactly take you completely to the top, the cold was unbearable for me.
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| Yumthang valley |
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| Yumthang valley |
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| Yumthang valley view from zero point side |
On our way to Gangtok we saw the Seven sister waterfalls & Tashi view point. The Seven sister waterfalls was okay .Seven streams of waterfall must flow but there was only one stream so It became a single sister waterfall.
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| Seven sister waterfalls missing its six other sisters :( |
Overnight stay
We got a even better room this time at the hotel.We opted for a Room Heater here though it didn't give out much heat.We couldn't see the MG road famed for shopping as we were very tired.We spent the Valentine's day here eating a special fried rice & yoghurt (Finally as most cool places in Sikkim don' have Yoghurt for obvious reasons).
Day 5:
Gangtok - Tsomogo lake - Nathula - Nathang valley - Zuluk
We started our trip to Zuluk and On our way we visited the Tsomgo lake and there is also the yak ride here.We didn't take it as one yak kept shaking and a guy nearly fell down on the road and was scared and also it is very cold outside.The lake is very very beautiful and scenic and the best thing we saw in our entire trip probably.
After that we saw Baba Mandir. Baba Mandir is where the mythical presence of Sri Baba Harbhajan Singh ji of the Indian Army is present at the very spot and guarding the region from any untoward incident. There is the new Baba mandir and the old Baba mandir and we visited both. There is also a military museum enroute. Also near the Baba Mandir there is a large meditating Lord Shiva statue in white. At the Baba Mandir they give you prasad which is sugar balls & raisins and you can ring the bell just like in a normal temple.The military people sincerely pray and salute to their hero at the temple. There is a souvenir shop nearby the temple where you get several handicrafts. Here is where I did some shopping. I bought some dragon souvenirs, handcrafted bag, metal tree hanging etc.
We started our trip to Zuluk and On our way we visited the Tsomgo lake and there is also the yak ride here.We didn't take it as one yak kept shaking and a guy nearly fell down on the road and was scared and also it is very cold outside.The lake is very very beautiful and scenic and the best thing we saw in our entire trip probably.
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| Tsongmo Lake or popularly known as Changu Lake (Partly frozen) |
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| The more popular view of Tsomgo lake |
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| Memorial at the Nathula pass diversion |
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| Another of those frozen lakes at the Nathula Pass diversion |
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| Another frozen lake after Baba mandir |
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| Nathang valley Snow clad mountains, icy roads beyond Baba mandir |
Day 6:
At Zuluk - Following the legendary silk route
On our way we had amazing views of the famed silk route/silk road & snow-capped mountains and frozen lakes.
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| Silk route leading to Zuluk perched on the relatively flat mountain top. |
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| Winding roads that mark the old silk route: Thambi view point (Dhupidera) |
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| Our first view of the Kanchenjunga peak (at 200mm zoom) |
A room heater was necessary here too for us. This was supposed to be our relaxing spot in our trip as the rest of the trip was hectic with lots of travelling and bad roads. But we were bored very easily as there isn't much to see anything outside and there was no cell signals either so no WI-FI or internet.
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| Our home stay |
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| Walk from our room to the dining area |
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| View of the valley from our room |
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| "The dining area"; have to say we were well fed given the remote location :) |
Later during the day, we were too bored and walked to a nearby helipad from our hotel and there is also a Shiva temple nearby but the place has nothing else to offer and I think it's just pure marketing and link ups b/w travel operators and the hotels. The hotel had torn bed sheets and the room is very depressing.
Day 7:
Zuluk- Darjeeling
After puris for breakfast at Zuluk hotel we started to Darjeeling, the roads got even more narrower and Darjeeling is dirty with all the littering everywhere. Hotel was the best in our entire trip. We reached at around 2.30pm and then we took the Toy train ride to Ghum and back at 4pm after arriving at Darjeeling.
While the pics tell a different story, the Toy train ride is so overrated and is overpriced (@INR1550/head). During your journey on the train, all you see is garbage and litter everywhere and it is so noisy and the coal falls on the road causing a lot of inconvenience to the people who close their ears and brush their hair with their hands as the train goes. Some watch in disgust and some look amazed to have a glance at the UNESCO HERITAGE famed steam train passing by.
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| Darjeeling station (Building built during WWII) |
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| The famous DHR steam engine |
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Making the trip eventful...
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| At Batasia loop |
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| DHR museum at Ghum |
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| My hubby taking over the train, well it was too dusty for him |
Day 8:
Darjeeling: Tiger hill, Old Ghoom monastery, Darjeeling tea gardens, Darjeeling Zoo
After an overnight stay early in the morning we went to see the Tiger Hills to view sunrise over Kanchenjunga peak. There were too many people waiting to see the sunrise and the place was crowded in no time. We got to see the sunrise in all it's amazing glory and colors. There is a watch tower/gallery which is still under construction and there are way too many people wanting to get a view.
Visit to the Darjeeling Tea Gardens:
Darjeeling: Tiger hill, Old Ghoom monastery, Darjeeling tea gardens, Darjeeling Zoo
After an overnight stay early in the morning we went to see the Tiger Hills to view sunrise over Kanchenjunga peak. There were too many people waiting to see the sunrise and the place was crowded in no time. We got to see the sunrise in all it's amazing glory and colors. There is a watch tower/gallery which is still under construction and there are way too many people wanting to get a view.
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| Sunrise from tiger hill |
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| The golden glow of the Kanchenjunga from Tiger hill |
There are so many tea gardens in Darjeeling and all varieties of teas can be found here. After a Photo session at the Tea garden in local garb & jewelry with a tea basket on my head, we sampled some amazing Darjeeling tea & green tea. My husband and me don't usually drink tea except for green tea. Even we loved it so it must be special hence bought the tea.
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| Me featuring as the local folk :) |
After the Tea gardens we visited the Ghum Monastery which is very beautiful & peaceful.Next was the Japanese temple/peace pagoda visit which is also very nice & well-maintained. Tenzing & Gombu rock was on the way.
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| Ghoom monastery |
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| The Japanese peace pagoda |
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| Shanti stupa |
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| Gombu rock |
Next was Himalayan Mountaineering Institute. It is very informative but photos were prohibited inside HMI. Tenzing Norgay was the 1st individual known to reach the summit of "Mt.Everest".There is a statue of him at the institute and also his memorial with his quotes.
Up next was the Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological park. The zoo is very well maintained, home to a good variety of Himalayan fauna. It was also my first encounter with the Red panda and the snow leopard.
Up next was the Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological park. The zoo is very well maintained, home to a good variety of Himalayan fauna. It was also my first encounter with the Red panda and the snow leopard.
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| Snow leopard |
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| The yellow and blue tailed macaws |
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| White macaw |
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| Peek-a-boo, the Red Panda |
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| The Himalayan Monal |
Later we visited a Tibetan refuge self-help center on the way where there is a shop selling all the handicrafts. The carpets were beautiful but too heavy to carry back home.
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| Mall road, Darjeeling |
Day 9:
Darjeeling: Rock garden at Chunnu falls, Darjeeling market and the mall road
Beautiful waterfall is situated in the rock garden which is very pleasant with flower gardens & benches at several places to enjoy the environment. On the way to Rock garden there are several beautiful tea gardens on the slopes.
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| Tea gardens on the way to the rock garden |
Day 10:
Darjeeling to Bagdogra airport and back to Hyderabad.
It was a pleasant downhill drive from Darjeeling for a major part along the DHR track from Darjeeling to Siliguri. We made an early start to the airport fearing traffic jams as we were stuck in a bad one on our first day of the tour. After leaving the mountains behind us, it was a pleasant surprise to find vast expanses of tea gardens (the real Darjeeling tea estates) sprawling the plains at the foothills.
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| The joy of entering the plains and leaving the winding roads behind us :) |
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| Darjeeling tea estates |
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| Calling it a day, home sweet home at Hyderabad airport. |
Being old doesn't mean one has to be irresponsible & careless. We were starving the whole day, din't have lunch as there was no time in Delhi airport stopover and had just Maggi on the plane. If hunger wasn't killing us, the panic of losing the luggage was.
After I got home I was fine for 2 days and then body pains started which subsided after taking tabs. Our Journey was quite eventful & memorable.
Here are the things I loved about our Journey:
1. Exploring new places with the person you love.
2. The Lovely Bamboo trees all along on our way.
3. Kind people who are not overly friendly but are pure.
4. The Pristine untouched nature of Sikkim with little to no litter at all as plastic is banned in the state.
5. The Snow-clad mountains and gorgeous valleys with breathtaking panoramic views.
6. The Darjeeling tea experience/Champagne of teas.
7. The Golden glow on the Kanchenjunga at sunrise in Tiger Hills.
8. Tiny Oranges which tasted heavenly.
9. Soft & Silky hair of the locals
10. Near perfect driving skills of the drivers.(Except for our 1st driver, the other 3 were awesome at their job on the narrow & winding roads.
11. The beautiful Teesta river.💧💧💧💧💧
12. BRO (Border Roads Organisation) quotes/signs on the way.
12. BRO (Border Roads Organisation) quotes/signs on the way.
After our honeymoon trip, this was our second long trip as a couple together. It is definitely special for both of us and as they say "Couples who travel together stay together" because we experience something new together as a couple & learn together with freedom & Independence and bond better with good communication & knowledge of one another. Travelling with our partner increases trust & care and teaches us to survive and gives powerful memories which linger on for all our lives.Having fun & facing challenges together will only make a relationship stronger & keeps the spark alive.
So this is the story of my earthly yet magical travel experience.💕👫💑
Overall I give my travel experience rating 3.5/5.😊
P.S: With Inputs from my hubby dearest.:)
Adios,
Kavya Seetala🙏
Adios,
Kavya Seetala🙏
