Sikkim-Complete tour guide

Sikkim - A complete trip guide

Location	:	Sikkim
Category	:	Nature
Best Time	:	Avoid extreme winter from Feb-March
No.of Days	:	5-7 days
Permission	:	Special permissions required
Expense	:	35K for taxi, permit+ 2K per night for hotel + other expenses
Musts	:	North Sikkim

"No quote can do justice in explaining the experience!"

Written on : 31 December 2018

Visted During : December 2018

Some more Information

One quote to remember if travelling in Sikkim is -

"Sometimes forget destination and just enjoy the journey"

Many a times you may not reach the desired destination. Just enjoy the view and the landscape on the way.
1. Taxi rates differ from Rest of India in North East India. Taxis are provided on rate/route basis and not in distance.
2. All taxis charge you full amount even if trip gets cancelled due to snowfall/landslide etc.
3. If you are travelling during winter, carry enough warm cloths. Temperature goes really low
4. Do not be heart broken if you do not reach your destination due to snow fall. Just enjoy what you get. During winter, trips to Northern Sikkim is not a guaranteed one if it snows.
5. Carry medicine, food, water while travelling as well. If you get stuck due to snowfall, you hardly get any shops/restaurants nearby.
6. Days are very short in winter and it’s pitch dark by 5.30PM
7. While travelling to North Sikkim’s high altitude areas, keep yourselves well hydrated. Popcorns help to keep yourselves warm, carry Diamox tablet to beat altitude sickness.
8. Sikkim is a well maintained state with absolutely no littering around. Respect the cleanliness and make sure not to litter and help keep Sikkim clean.
9. Packaged drinking water is not allowed in north Sikkim (I.e beyond Place called Mangan. If you are skeptical to fill water in hotels, carry enough water bottles required for your trip) My personal experience is the water provided in hotels is safe enough.

My Experience and Opinion

This trip was different from most of the trips I have done so far - in all aspects. Right from planning it well ahead to the experiences we had during the trip, it was one off kind. For the first time, I scribbled a few lines while travelling itself. Blogger within me was constantly questioning me that will I be able to put my experiences into words. I guess I will fail to do and hence I have changed the format of my blog for this post.
Beyond doubts, Sikkim is one of the most beautiful states in the country. Small state yet owns a big space in my heart now. Sikkim is one place where a mum would speak and a chatterbox may go silent looking at the landscape. The experience here are beyond what we can write in words or capture in pixels. Throughout the route, you see snow covered mountains in distance and thick forests next to you. Rough roads if you concentrate on the quality of road. But, beautiful landscape en-route does not let you take a note of it. To talk about people of Sikkim, they seem to just represent the nature there. They compliment each other and stay calm. One of the sweetest people in the country. Travelling in Sikkim teaches you life lessons. When there is a landslide, do not crib about it. Wait for a while, clear it and move on. Humongous mountains with tiny beautiful homes decorated with flower pots in their terrace is a treat to watch while travelling. There are very few homes you see but each one beautiful with vast mountain ranges as backdrop.
Unfortunately, we could not cover all the destinations we had planned for due to heavy snow fall. But, witnessing snowfall live was an experience in itself. In biting cold, seeing snow flakes falling continuously felt like a million feathers falling down from heaven in grace.
The Chungthang dam we saw on the way with green water looked like someone just washed their paint brush after painting the mountains green.
Rest, the photos below will speak. I don’t remember any of my blog posts having more than 10-12 photos. But this post does and that says it all!

Detailed Trip plan

Even though this blog post is about Sikkim, our trip was beyond that too. In short, the trip was travelling in 4 states covering 2 majorly. We travelled to West Bengal from there to Sikkim then to Assam and then covering the less travelled place Arunachal Pradesh.
In this article, I am breaking the pattern of my regular travel blogs. Here, I will try to provide a full plan for a Sikkim trip for anyone who is planning one. If anyone is planning for a trip then there is only one best way to cover major locations in Sikkim. Unlike places in rest of India, trips in North East India is a little different. Here, distance is not defined in Kilometers but in hours of journey.
Below is a best fit plan for 5-6 days in Sikkim. The plan starts from Gangtok. Siliguri and Pakyong are nearest airports to Gangtok city. From Siliguri, it takes 4-5 hours to reach Gangtok.

Day 1: (Gangtok – Tsomgo – Nathula pass – Baba Mandir – Gangtok)

Start by 9.00 AM from Gangtok to Tsomgo (Changu) lake.
Visit Nathula Pass, Baba Mandir
Return near Tsomgo lake by 2.00PM and take Ropeway to hill top.

Important:
- Special permission required for Baba Mandir and Nathula pass. Contact your Hotel for permission.
- Ropeway closes by 3.00PM. Do not miss this. You have an amazing view waiting hilltop.

Day 2: (Gangtok – Lachen/Thangu)

Start by 9.00 AM from Gangtok to Lachen/Thangu
Couple of viewpoints on the way to Lachen. Kanchenjunga viewpoint is one not to be missed. Lachen is a very cold place during winter. Stay in Lachen/Thangu.

Important:
-Special permission required for North Sikkim areas like Gurudongmar lake which has to be obtained from Gangtok tourism office. Hotel guys arrange this as well for nominal fee.

Day 3: (Lachen – Gurudongmar – Kala pattar – Lachung)

Start early morning by 4.00-5.00AM to Gurudongmar lake.
(You can spend only 15-30 minutes in Gurudongmar as it is a high altitude area. I believe every minute spent there will be worth it even though we could not visit there due to heavy snow fall.
We got fresh snow fall for hours together in Lachen. We started to Gurudongmar and had to return half a way due to heavy snow fall. We had planned for something else but felt we got something better!)
Kala Pattar is another place that can be covered after Gurudongmar lake.
Taxi guys charge additional 3K to take you there.
Travel to Lachung and reach Lachung by 5-6PM. Stay in Lachung.

Important: Taxi charges is very high for Gurudongmar lake visit. (7.5K for the day you travel to Gurudongmar)
Gurudongmar is a restricted area with special permission required. High altitude area and hence take precautions if you are not acclimatized. (Diamox tablet is one that works like a magic)

Day 4: Lachung – Yumtang Valley – Zero point – Gangtok

Start by 8.00AM from Lachung to Yumtang valley
Visit zero point (Taxi guys charge 3K extra for zero point)
Katao is another place where you can visit for additional cost of 3K. (If you visit earlier two then I would say you can skip this as well)
Return to Gangtok

Important: Yumtang valley requires special permit to be taken from Gangtok Tourist office

Day 5: Gangtok city visit/Return to Siliguri

Gangtok does not have many places to see within the city. Some options are to visit local market (lal market) where you can find some fresh vegetables and local grown items, next to lal market is MG road which has shopping options, go to higher location of the city late evening to see colorfully lit Gangtok. If you are visiting these places, I would recommend visiting in the evening.
If returning via Siliguri, start early and reach Siliguri Bengal Tiger Safari. (Decent Safari but not a must do. Sighting Leopard even in a semi-controlled environment is a great one) Checkout the safari timings as it is followed strictly.

Photos