A Million Moments

Sikkim is one of the seven sisters states located in northeastern India. Sikkim unlike other states was not part of the British India. It was a monarch until 1975 and joined the union of India only on 16^th May 1975. Do read the interesting history about this wonderful state. I will take you through a virtual journey of the Sikkim tourist places which I visited during my trip.

My journey started at Bagdogra International airport which is the nearest and has connectivity round the year. I joined 43 others from across the country most of whom were solo travelers like me and we started off with a bang! (My fellow travelers will get this reference :P). It was a 6 hours journey to the capital of Sikkim, Gangtok and my day ended soon as we reached Gangtok and retired to our rooms as by now I had been awake for almost 40 hours. Point to keep in mind is that Sikkim is a single use plastic-free state. So you will not find mineral water bottles easily so carry your own bottles. In Gangtok you can find 2l and 5l PET bottles but even they are banned in North Sikkim. You can attract a fine upto ₹5000/- if you are in possession of a PET bottle.

Day 1: Trekking through Fambonglho Wildlife Sanctuary

We started off early in buses towards Fambong Lho wildlife sanctuary for a day trek. It is roughly 7-8km trek on each side of which 3kms is easy while the rest is quite challenging with steep path and leeches. It is suggested to carry light bag with food water and first-aid kit. The trek passes through a forest so there are no viewpoints up until the finish line on top of the hill. By the time I had started with the challenging path, focus was on climbing than on photography. On a good day, you will get to see Mt. Kanchenjunga and the tea plantations of west Sikkim and the ranges of North and East Sikkim. I was not very lucky, yet I got a partial view of the eastern side. So day 1 was, “It is the journey that matters not the destination”. As a matter of fact, I did get to meet many people from my group and get to know them and also some locals who were trekking with us for some time and left us behind soon!

Honestly, it was more like those corporate team building exercises but jacked up 1000 times! So my day 1 ended with getting to know some 20 odd new people covering approximately 30000 steps and horrible shoe bites on both legs. Unless you’re an adventure junky or fit this can be skipped from your itinerary. I could complete the entire trek in less than 7 hours.

Day 2: Exploring Gangtok

After a long and tiring day 1 followed by a sweet sleep! It was time for Gangtok city excursion. We started slightly late to cover up for day 1. The day started sunny but within a few minutes Varuna dev (God of rain) graced upon us. First stop for the day was The Namgyal Institute of Tibetology, dedicated to study the origin and spread of Buddhism in Tibet and other Himalayan countries. Visitors get to see some mesmerizing artifacts dating 6^th-5^th Century BCE and even the times of Maurya Empire. Some artifacts related to Emperor Ashoka can also be found here. 

Next stop was Enchey Monastry. It is a beautiful Buddhist temple complex which is more than 100 years old. This monastery is supposedly very powerful and is considered holy among the locals. Though I spent very less time here, it did calm and help me get relaxed as soon as I bowed down and prayed. So the next place on our itinerary was Hanuman tok. It is a beautiful temple complex maintained by Indian army. The main temple consists of a pearl white Hanuman idol made of marble and there is a view point overlooking the Sivaliks range. You could shop for souvenirs, prasad and have some snacks and tea.  

We further proceeded to another view point called Tashi view point which is a wonderful place to watch both sunrise and sunset. We decided to have lunch here and I got the chance to try my luck with the Tiberian cuisine. I tried the “Thupka” but was not very satisfied with it. After this, we went to the  most exciting activity of the day. We were scheduled to take a ropeway ride which gave me the bird-eye view of the city of Gangtok! I was happy as a child and started shooting immediately! It was the time for sun to bid adieu for the day with the last golden light flashing over the buildings built on the valleys. The sight was just mesmerizing and I could only imagine the view on a clear day! Even the best of cameras could not capture the beautiful moment! That was officially end of Day 2 in Gangtok and we were free to explore the shopping lane of Gangtok. Its very own MG road. 

MG road houses some of the best cafes and restaurants in Gangtok. My personal recommendations would be Kelly’s, The local and Baker’s café. One could endlessly shop for souvenirs, clothes, shawls, spices and much more!

So that’s it ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls! The end of this blog. Stick around for next edition covering North Sikkim. Also a surprise blog which will be revealed at the end of Part 2! Do checkout and follow my Instagram handle and connect with me over LinkedIn.