India as a country in terms of land mass is huge and extremely diverse. It feels like lots of countries within a country. My parents have always been travel buffs and in my younger days, I have travelled extensively with them. Our travel was predominantly in the western and southern part of India. The roads up north were still not well laid out and accessibility was quite poor. Kashmir with all its internal issues was considered unsafe for travel and reaching any state in the North east had its own challenges. So for many years a travel plan to the North east of India has been on my bucket list. We talked to a few friends, and Sikkim was highly recommended. So with a lot of high expectations and excitement off we went and we were not disappointed one bit!
Between 1949 to 1959, Sikkim was under the shadow of Tibet. In Gangtok, Crown Prince Thondup, Sikkim’s royal family shared more than a belief in Buddhism with their northern neighbour. They considered Tibetan nobility as their kin. Thondup also married a Tibetan girl thereby strengthening ties with Tibet. (Reference : Sikkim, Requiem for a Himalayan Kingdom). The situation then was quite unclear whether Sikkim will be a part of India, Tibet or an independent state. Dalai Lama was declared the temporary ruler of Tibet at the age of 15!
On May 16, 1975, in a special referendum Sikkim became the 22nd state of India.
My family of three landed at Bagdogra airport, Siliguri from Mumbai. We had booked a taxi from a renowned travel agent in the north east called ‘Ourguest’. We started our journey from Bagdogra to Gangtok around noon. The first part of the journey was through Siliguri, West Bengal.
Travelling in the north east is all about long driving days on winding roads. It is absolutely necessary to hire a good car and an experienced driver. At first, I was quite disappointed with our driver’s very jerky driving and the feeling of nausea was quite uncomfortable. Once we crossed the flat roads of Siliguri his driving started getting better and better, only to realise he is very experienced driving on the hills rather than flat roads. That, was the beginning of our fabulous trip in this peaceful and enchanting state.
Three Nights In Gangtok
The winding roads of West Bengal going towards the state of Sikkim are not in great condition so if you are someone who feels car sick make sure to plan accordingly. We reached Gangtok around seven in the evening and checked in to the Elgin-nor-k-hill hotel, a quaint heritage property built during the British Era. It was built as the royal guest house for the king of Sikkim. It has hosted a lot of dignitaries including the Dalai Lama. We were greeted by a silk khada and their homemade cherry liquor was nice and warming. We Mumbai-ites have no concept of winter so our ability to bear cold is quite low. The famed MG Mall Road is only a 10 minute walk from the hotel so the location is very convenient.
There are quite a few hotels for all kinds of budgets in Gangtok that you can choose from. It is recommended to stay close to the MG market as the taxis to and fro are quite pricy.
When you book a taxi in Sikkim they strictly stick to the itinerary. The car will not be at your disposal the entire day. This is quite different from the rest of India. It was only brought to our notice when we got there so clarify with your taxi booking agency in advance.
Do Drul Chorten and Institute of Tibetology
The first morning in Gangtok we visited a stupa called Do Drul Chorten which is the biggest and most significant monument in Sikkim. It is surrounded by 108 Mani Lhakor or prayer wheels. It was built by Trulshik Rinpoche , head of the Nyingma order of Tibetan Buddhism in 1945. Right next to the stupa is the Institute of Tibetology, a museum. Established in 1958, the museum holds one of the largest collections of Tibetan works in the world outside Tibet. It has very well laid out artefacts and rare collections of Thangkas. These are buddhist paintings on cotton or silk appliqué depicting buddhist culture with usually some deities.
While we were walking around the city, we passed by a quaint little bookstore called Rachana books that caught our attention. Walking in we found a wonderful collection of books on the Himalayas. It is quite an extensive and impressive collection of books. ‘Sikkim, Requiem For A Himalayan Kingdom’ by Michael Burleigh is quite an interesting read.
We then headed to the famous MG Mall road in the city centre. Its a car free street so we were dropped off outside on Mall Road and then we were to walk back to our hotel Elgin-nor-k-hill.
MG Mall Road
Mall road is a street with some small cafés, restaurants and local shopping on either side of the road. It is an open air area with benches to hang around and soak in the wonderful vibes as you watch people stroll by with their cute puppies and dogs. The street is incredibly clean and transports you to Europe! For lunch we had delicious sizzler’s at the OSM Restroom & Lounge. We then headed back to our hotel for a short siesta.
In the evening, mall road is beautifully lit up but gets very crowded. I am a shopaholic so I headed off looking for some Tibetan cosmetic jewellery. To my disappointment, only one store sold authentic Tibetan artefacts and jewellery. I browsed the store to my heart’s content and even bought a few souvenirs to take home. After a comprehensive look at the rest of the stores we headed to a cafe called ‘The Local Cafe’ which serves delicious thin crust pizzas. They are fantastic and their entire menu comes highly recommended. Our next halt was ‘Live and Loud,’ they host live bands that play some great music. It was a wonderful evening of live music, food, whiskey sour and conversations.
Nathula Pass and Tsomgo Lake
The next morning we headed to the ever so famous Nathu La Pass which is the silk trade route between India and China’s Tibet Autonomous region. It is 4500m above sea level. The drive from Gangtok to Nathu La Pass which was about two hours was very scenic. The diverse landscape of Sikkim is quite dramatic. Along the way, I noticed they have some very interesting quotes that are hilarious and striking! One such quote read, ‘Dont be in the state of gama in Lama state’!
We were dropped off at the entrance of Nathla Pass and from here its a 10 minute walk up to the Indo-China border. We had a magnificent view of Chomolhari Peak of Bhutan in the east. The guards on the Indian side are quite friendly and will be happy to guide you. On the way back from Nathu La we stopped at the jaw dropping Tsomgo lake. You can also go for a cable car ride for scenic views.
Nathu La Pass is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays so plan accordingly.
Gangtok is a nice hilly town and we loved the organised hustle bustle. The locals refer to it as ‘Jamtok’ because of the traffic during peak office hours. For us it just felt like organised traffic! It is nowhere close to the harrowing traffic of Mumbai, Bangalore and Delhi!
All in all, Gangtok is a perfectly charming little place that combines the hustle of a city with the views of a laid back hill station. A must visit on the travel bucket list.
Sikkim Part 2 is about our onward journey to North Sikkim.