GANGTOK - PELLING - DARJEELING

Mornings at Gangtok

So after a long period of studies, exams, entrance exams and all the chaos that a HSC student goes through, Gangtok-Pelling-Darjeeling was the most awaited trip of the year for me. I went there with my family through tours and travels company named 'Tulip Holidays'.

So without wasting any time, I'm starting to share my travel experience.

Firstly, let me tell you that Gangtok and Pelling are cities in Sikkim whereas Darjeeling is a city in West Bengal.

I'm displaying the basic tour plan here, so you'll get an idea what the blog is all about. I'm splitting the blog in 3 parts, namely Gangtok, Pelling & Darjeeling. All three cities are situated in mountains, so the roads are 'Ghats'. We lived on mountains for 8 days! We roamed through mountains for 8 days! And yes, it was very pleasing and beautiful.

PART 1 - GANGTOK

To get to Gangtok city, we took a flight from Mumbai airport @7am to Bagdogra airport which arrives there at 12.30pm. After checking out from airport, we got into the bus booked for us by Tulip Holidays, and started heading towards Gangtok. The travelling is nearly 7 hours from Bagdogra airport to Gangtok city. We had lunch at Hotel Central Plaza in Siliguri. The journey to Gangtok is first exhausting, then pleasant. You'll feel loads and loads of heat until you get out of the city and start roaming through countryside. Actually, Bagdogra is a defense airport which was used only for army purposes earlier, but recently, it was declared open for all as tourist rush is increasing in North East India. So, while heading towards Gangtok, you can see army training camps on the way. Once you touch the countryside, you are surrounded by an elephant sanctury, and yes, you can clearly feel the change in atmosphere. The heat disappears and cold breezes starts pleasing you. Once you cross West Bengal Border to enter in Sikkim, you MUST follow all the rules of Government of Sikkim. Just for info, at time of independence of India, Sikkim was not a part of our country. It was a separate dynasty which was later included in India in the year 1975. Hence, being a part of India, Sikkim has its own rules and regulations that must be followed. Some rules are :
1) No overtaking.
2) No loud music while driving in civilized area.
3) No overspeeding.
4) No littering. etc. and surprisingly, all the people follow them strictly, unlike all other urban cities.
We reached Gangtok city by 7 pm. Checked in in the hotel and rested.

Rumtek Monastery

Tibetology museum

The next day, we visited Rumtek Monastery, which is an exact replica of a monastery in Tibet. As we Hindu people go in Temples finding god, Buddhist people go in Monasteries finding their god (Gautam Buddha). It has a pillar which has carvings in sikkimese language. The inner part of monastery contains a great statue of Buddha and their holy novels and mugs of spiritual water. Outer walls of this monastery has paintings of gods and devils. Yes, it's a best place for meditation. Then we headed to ropeway ride which is near Tibetology museum. Tibetology museum is not a big museum but just a small collection of holy things of buddhist people, and also it contains the things that were used by Buddha or their pilgrim fathers during their reign. Afterwards, we went to the flower show, and it's a beautiful place to be at. This place contains different species of flowers that are not seen in urban cities or any other part of country. And it's a great place for people to enjoy.

Tourist spot at Baba Mandir

Tsomgo lake

Next day, we went to Nathula (a place near China border) to visit Baba Mandir and Tsomgo lake. As nathula is near china border, it's an army controlled area where you can see army camps and security checkposts. Nathula is roughly 14000 ft above sea level. Tsomgo lake is situated at roughly 12000 ft above sea level in high mountains. It's a holy lake and local people worship the lake. It can be said that it's Talaopali of Sikkim as we can see people offering Yak rides (just as people offer horse cart rides here). Baba Mandir has it's own story which I would like to share. Many years ago, during a rescue in Nathula, a bridge fell off and only one army man (Baba Harbhajan Singh) died, whose body was not found. One day, he went into his colleagues dream and told him where is body was and the next day army men found his body. Since then, the army men at Nathula believe that Baba was a form of god and

Yak Ride

built the temple in his memory. And it's totally in control of Army men. We can see loads of diaries in which army men write their prays. Chinese army people also confirm Baba's presence as a white guy riding a white horse in midnight. Our tour guide told us this story. It may be manipulated. So it's just a place for army men. There's a tourist spot near Baba Mandir as which I'm displaying here. This spot is nice for photography. Then we marched down to Tsomgo lake. This is also a very active tourist spot. Offerring Yak rides to tourists is probably the main business there. While going to nathula, you can enjoy snow by the roadside. We came back to hotel.

Dragon in swimming pool

OPTIONAL SIGHT SEEING IN GANGTOK -

Banjhakri waterfall

1) Banjhakri Waterfall -  Gangtok is a semiurban area. Long ago, people in Gangtok were illiterate so they used to believe in Bhondu Babas (Fake pilgrim fathers who make money in name of religion). But as people gained knowledge, they stopped worshipping them. Banjhakri was also a Bhondu Baba and this waterfall is named after him as a memory to Bhondu Baba. It's a beautiful waterfall and a great spot. You can truly enjoy yourself over there. There are many adventure activities across the waterfall for fun. There is a garden, a swimming pool with an encraved Dragon in it. It's a good spot for photography.

Place at Hanuman tok from where
kanchenjunga range is seen.

2) Hanuman tok - It's considered as highest point in Gangtok(roughly 10000 ft). It is a huge temple of Hanuman. There is a point at Hanuman tok from where you can see Kanchenjunga Mountain range which is about 29km away from Mt. Everest. Kanchenjunga is the 3rd highest peak in world (28000 ft). But it can only be seen if weather is clear. This place is also a good spot to visit and it has a garden too. It has Sanjivani Buti (used to cure Laxmana in Ramayana) preserved on a small grass patch.
3) Ganesh tok - Maybe, Lord Ganesha is only god in Hindu religion which is worshipped by Buddhist people. The temple is small, but beautiful.  The sculpture of Ganesha pleases our eyes.
By this time, our sight seeing in Gangtok ended.
For shopping purpose, M.G Road is famous where you can get all branded things at cheaper rates.

PART 2 - PELLING

Khechiperi lake

Buddha statue

Pelling is a small town rather than a city. It's a very remote area but it's known for natures beauty. Sight seeing is not much but yes , you'll be awestruck by the sceneries pelling unfolds. We lived in Hotel Golden ice, from where the Kanchenjunga range is clearly seen at sunrise. I used to wake up at 4 in morning just to see that range. When sun just peeks out of horizon, the golden rays fall on the range and the whole Kanchenjunga range looks golden in colour which looks damn too beautiful. I could not get a good snap of it due to bad weather conditions, but I'm displaying here the beauty.
1) Buddha Park - While heading from Gangtok to Pelling, we come across a Buddha park where a 130ft high statue of Lord Buddha is built over a gallery in which the life of Buddha is depicted. It has a huge garden and is a best tourist spot.

Kanchenjunga waterfall

2) Khechiperi Lake - It is one of the holy lakes in sikkim. There is nothing significant about it. People worship the lake by feeding the fish in it.

Kanchenjunga Range

3) Kanchenjunga Waterfall - Please note that it does not relate in any manner to kanchenjunga range. It's a normal waterfall where people take photos and enjoy with their families. There is an adventure activity called Traversing which is totally safe.

4) Penyang Monastery - It is the oldest monastery in sikkim built in late 1700's. This monastery has remains of the house of their father Rinpoche; also the holy books just like other monasteries.

Kanchenjunga Peak

OPTIONAL SIGHT SEEING IN PELLING -
1) Helipad - The walk to helipad is a very pleasant and untiring. It's a good place for photography.





PART 3 - DARJEELING

Memorial at Batasia loop

HMI entrance

While heading towards Darjeeling, we took a hault for river rafting. It's just for fun and anyone can do it as it's just 500-600m patch of flowing water. It's also called as white water rafting. Darjeeling is famous for tea and shopping. There are roadside trains in Darjeeling (toy trains built by british people for their children to play which are now used for transport). It's fun to watch the train running right next to us.

Sunrise at Tiger Hill

1) Tiger Hill - It's a point where you can see all the citizens of Darjeeling city along with all the tourists at 4 in morning. Tiger Hill is known for the view we see. People go there to watch sunrise, and the Kanchenjunga range just like I mentioned before the scene I saw at pelling. You are damn lucky if weather is clear when you visit the place. This is also a great place for photography.
2) Batasia Loop - It is a garden built in memory of martyrs which were killed during Gorkha Land war. It's a normal garden. Only significance is you can see the whole Darjeeling city through binoculars, also the memorial of martyrs.

Red Panda

Snow Leopard

3) Himalayan Mountaineering Institute (HMI) - This place is a wonderful museum and a training institute for Himalayan mountaineers. People who go to climb Mt. Everest are trained here. It's best mountaineering institute in Asia. In the museum, they've preserved the remains of the mountaineers who attempted to climb Mt. Everest and returned/not returned (eg. equipments used by them, etc). It has a lot of information about the Himalayan range and people who ever attempted to climb the Mt. Everest. It was built in the memory of Tenzing Norgay, first person to reach Mt. Everest summit.
4) Padmaja Naidu Zoological Park - It's a zoo for all Himalayan animals preserved here. We can see wolf, snow leopard, himalayan goat, yak. Also, bengal tiger, common leopard are also seen. There is a rarest breed of panda, Red panda, main attraction of the zoo.
5) Tenzing Rock - There is a small  rock patch which is used to train beginers of rock climbing. It was named after Tenzing Norgay.

Tenzing Rock

6) Tea garden - It's a small patch of tree preserved for tourists to enjoy. You can see tea acres and acres of tea garden while travelling in city. Here, tourists wear the traditional dress of Darjeeling and take photographs just for fun. There is no other sight seeing in Darjeeling. For shopping purpose, Mall road, Mahakal market and Dragon market are famous.


All three cities are located in mountains, so the weather is always pleasant. Rules are strictly followed. Since the roads are narrow, traffic problems are mainstream (specially in Darjeeling).

Tea Garden

This trip is very beautiful but gets a bit boring due to travelling. Sight seeing points in Gangtok and Pelling are far away from each other. And the road always troubles you as we live in urban society and have no habit of such roads. Another significant thing is there is only public transport used like taxis and mini buses. Very few private vehicles are seen.



Recommended season to visit - April 2nd/3rd week.

## ALL  PHOTOS BY TANMAY KOTHALE.