Sikkim & Darjeeling – The Trip that kindled the traveller in me
My long wait had come to an end as I met an excited and enthusiastic person like me. (For this passage, I am referring her as “Partner” as we are Shuttle Badminton Doubles Partners).
We had planned to visit Kashmir this summer and almost finalized the package with private agencies too in the morning.
Nevertheless the fire within us didn’t let us divert from going on a tour. My partner had come up with the idea of “NORTH EAST”. My very first question was “Will there be snow in North East?”
She said like “Himalayan Ranges, Kanchenchenga, blah blah blah, so for sure there will be snow”.(And ofcourse she wasn’t confident about snow at that time but she convinced me as though she was confident).
And finally I said “Ok lets plan”. Next day morning we started our navigation to North East in Google to see what all we can include in our itinerary. We have contacted two to three agencies for their price to North East trip.
I didn’t mean to say Pelling wasn’t a good experience. But the thing was Lachung would have been an adventurous one when compared to Pelling. As we were with my partner’s mom and the different experience we had on our first day of our trip(Which I would be referring in the next couple of paragraphs), Lachung wouldn’t have been a better idea.
When I first told my mom about tour plans, she said ok. When she asked about the cost and place, she started to brainwash me saying so many reasons from safety to family functions. But of course she knew about me from childhood. If I wanted to do something in my life, nobody could stop me except me.
Then came my father’s turn. He was saying like “Is it necessary at this point of time?” I convinced my father saying I really needed a break from my hectic work and asked him to let me go. As my happiness is the first thing to him, he asked me to proceed with the plans. Of course I lied a little to my father to assure him about my safety. I am planning to share this blog to my father too (See how true I am).
I really enjoyed my trip. There was never a moment I felt lorn. If I had missed this trip, I would have felt for my life time.
My Sister’s Engagement
I was flying in air when my parents were planning my sister’s engagement. Suddenly I gulped for air when they dragged the engagement to May 1st week. I was reminded of the travel agency saying “No refund of advance or postponement of Dates”. OMG!!!! My Hard Earned Money!!!!
The ‘D’ Day of our Tour
We were waiting at our station for our train to bangalore. My heart was beating fast as if I was eloping with someone. Next day early morning we started to Bangalore airport. Boarded our flight for a 5 hours journey to Bagdogra.
I would never forget the flight journey with aunty. As it was the first time for her, she was little nervous from the beginning. Her nervousness got worse when the air turbulence was really bad. She started to tell “Kantha Shrishti Kavasam”(Devotional song which we sing in India to endure fear). We both started laughing at her. As we were already aware that the flight food wouldn’t be tasty, we have got cup noodles in our backpack. When we asked for the second cup of hot water, the look the airhostess gave was really funny. But we managed to control our laughter. We had nothing but songs to kill our time.
Finally we landed at Bagdogra airport after four and an half hour journey. Our travel agency people were waiting to receive us. We were taken to a hotel in Bagdogra for having our lunch. After our lunch, our tour guide started to explain us about the tour itinerary. “If u are lucky, you will be able to see snow. If there is not much cloud, you will be able to see sunrise. If there is no landslide, you will be taken to Tshangu Lake”. We almost got tired of the “Ifs and Buts” the tour guide used.
We started with nothing but hope. Climate was not so chill in Bagdogra. Of course you can’t expect West Bengal to be as chill as Gangtok. Roads were hardly there in the mountains as these areas were much prone to landslides. Chill weather filled our hearts with joy at a certain height. The splendid River Teesta welcomed us with its magnificent flow. The distant houses glowed like cluster of stars tied together. We couldn’t take our eyes off from the splendid view. Though the roads were like roller coaster, we really enjoyed the ride. Finally we reached our hotel Himalayan Summit after 5 hours journey.
Gangtok
Road not taken – Tshangu lake
We were ready early in the morning to start to Tshangu Lake, which was at a height of 12400 ft. It was an amazing start for a week journey. Initially we saw distant snow at the hilltop. We were having a whale of time to watch the snow clad mountains. My head was hardly inside car. I was peeping out all the time.
From there we were taken to old Baba Mandir which was at a height of 14000 ft(Not part of our package!).
As we started to descend down in our car, cute little snow pellets started to precipitate. We were on cloud nine with the pleasant surprise the nature gave. The bare roads on which we climbed up were now fully covered with snow except for the tire marks which showed us the further path. 
I was taking videos of the road we travelled all along. The driver mentioned that he had never seen a person as crazy as I am. At a height of 10000 ft, suddenly we were struck up for an hour.
Three ladies missing
After it got cleared, we felt like we would be reaching Gangtok safely. But as we descended down, at a height of 7000 ft, we could see a parade of cars lined up in a queue. Our driver was asking us to buy some snacks from the nearby inn. We were puzzled at first. Then he informed us that a landslide had happened and that was why the cars were lined up. We were astonished. We were simply blinking at each other. 
2 hours had gone, there seemed no improvement. We started to lose our temper. Our driver himself went down to the landslide spot to check the progress. We were eagerly waiting for his news in car. We called him so many times but the signal was so poor that we couldn’t hear anything. We were really unnerved at that time, as we were only three ladies sitting in car.
Since our agency couldn’t connect to us over phone (No BSNL signal at all), they declared it in our hotel that “Three ladies Missing”
Owe a lot to Indian Army
After five hours struggle by our Indian Army, landslide area had been cleared. And all the cars started to move. Without the help of army people, we wouldn’t have reached safe.
Rumtek Monastery
Next day we were having local sightseeing only. We were taken to Rumtek monastery, which is the largest monastery in Sikkim. We saw cute little monks there
After that we were taken to Do-drul Chorten and Tibetology. Since our biological clock was alarming, we stopped at one hotel to have our lunch.
Flower Show at the eleventh hour
As it was 3pm already, they closed the kitchen. So we had to wait for nearly an hour. When we returned to our car, our driver told like “Cottage industry and Flower show” would have been closed by now. We asked him to give it a try. Luckily the flower show was open but on the verge of closing. We entered and stood love stung at the beauty of all the flowers.
Samdruptse hill
Next day morning at around 9 am, we started to Pelling. The best thing about this journey was the company of tour guide, Deepan. He was like a knowledge bank for us as he was able to answer all the questions which we enquired about North East. Another best thing was that he knew to speak in English. We went to Samdruptse hill at Namchi(Sky High). Samdruptse literally means “Wish fullfilling” in bhutia language.
Guru Padmasambava was installed atop Samdruptse hill which was the highest statue of Guru Padmasambava. En route we had stopped for a small photo session in a tea garden.
Char dam
Then we headed to “Char Dam”. That is where we met lot of Tamilians. The entire complex is divided into four main elements namely
In order to attain Moksha, the Hindu belief is to perform pilgrimage to all the four Dhams. Thereby replicas of these four dhams were constructed namely Badrinath, Jaganath and Dwarka(Dedicated to Lord Vishnu) and Rameshwar(Dedicated to Lord Shiva).
We reached Pelling by 6 pm. Hotel we stayed had a wonderful view of mighty Kanchenjunga. We had an awesome experience for the day.
Pelling
Rimbhi waterfalls and River
In the morning, we started so eagerly to see the beauty of Pelling. When our driver asked us to get down, we were simply wondering why we were getting down. As we knew as per our itinerary, we were supposed to be at a waterfall. Then our driver pointed at a small stream of water as Rimbi Waterfalls.
Our disappointment vanished as soon as we spotted the mind blowing river Rimbi. We relaxed there watching the streams marathoning.
Khecheopari lake
Then we were taken to Khecheopari lake which was considered one of the most sacred lakes of Sikkim. The lake remained veiled under rich forest cover. It is also believed that the birds don’t let even a single leaf to float on the lake surface. This belief makes the lake much more interesting. This lake is also known as “Wish fullfilling Lake”.
Look at the serene beauty of the lake at its purest form. From there, we started to Darjeeling in car.
Darjeeling
Sunrise at Tiger Hill
We reached our hotel in Darjeeling by 5 pm. Next day early morning 4:00 am, we started from hotel to enjoy the magnificent Sun rise from Tiger Hill, as it is the highest point in Darjeeling.
As the sun slowly peeped out of the clouds, we were really mesmerized at the splendid beauty of the sun rays falling on the Kanchenjunga peak. It was indeed a spellbound moment for us.
Ghoom Monastery
After that, we went to Ghoom Monastery, the holiest Buddha monastery in Darjeeling.
Engineering Marvel – Batasia Loop
Then we went to Batasia Loop, an engineering marvel and a war memorial of Himalayan Railways where the toy train makes a 360 degree loop. This loop was built to offset the speed of trains in the hills. In Batasia loop, we all tried the traditional dress of Darjeeling people.
Peace Pagoda
Further we were taken to Japanese Peace Pagoda, a Buddhist temple which stands as a symbol of harmony.
Next day morning, we started to Bagdogra airport with beautiful memories to board our flight.
Month of Trip – May’14
No of days of trip – 6 Days
Trip cost – INR 33000
