Prayag's 10 days trip to Sikkim - Gangtok - Darjeeling
5 years agoRecently (Dec'19) we visited Sikkim for our honeymoon through Tourepedia tour services via Travel Triangle. Before starting with the trip details, I would like to thank Mr. Rajat,m Sharma, Mr. Mehul and the entire team of Tourepedia who made the entire trip an amazing start to our lifetime journey.
Now Starting with the tour, our journey was divided into four places spread across West Bengal (Darjeeling) and Sikkim ( Pelling, Lachung and Gangtok)
Bagdogra - Darjeeling ::
We took a flight from Mumbai to Bagdogra where our cab was already waiting for us to our mesmerizing journey of our first trip to North East. It was a 2 and half hour journey from Bagdogra to Darjeeling. Upon our arrival at Darjeeling, the hotel we were accomodated was Dekeling Resort Darjeeling. The Hotel staff ensured that all the basic amenities were kept ready before we reach the hotel. We received a very warm welcome by the hotel staff, our stay at this hotel was really amazing. we did not have anything for the rest of the day. So we relaxed at the hotel for the day. Please click the below link to see a detailed review
Check out this review of Udaan Hotels | Dekeling Resort on Google Maps
https://goo.gl/maps/oZtn43ahXcwjzCUt6
On day two of our stay at Darjeeling, we visited Tiger Hill and saw the Sun
Rise over Mt. Kanchenjunga. We also visited Ghoom Monastery & Batasia Loop, a quirky Toy Train railway track that spirals around the Gorkha War
Memorial.
While returning to the Hotel, we also visited Japanese Temple, Peace Pagoda and Himalayan Mountaineering Institute, the largest high altitude zoo in India --
PNZ Zoological Park. If you do visit this place, please do not forget to do Indoor rock climbing (if you like it) the main attraction of this zoo is the Red Panda.
We would specially like to thank few of the Hotel staff who made our stay amazing, but not limited to only these employees.
Housekeeping :: Dipen
F&B :: Alex (Chef) , Sushmika and Sushant.
Reception :: Aditi and Sandeep.
Darjeeling - Pelling ::
Post our check out at Hotel, we started our journey towards Pelling. It was a 3 hour journey. We were provided accommodation at Magpie Chestnut Retreat. Please click below link to see my detailed review
Check out this review of Magpie The Chestnut Retreat on Google Maps
https://goo.gl/maps/W8EvWyeHSwkGhfZGA
It was already dark by the time we reached the Hotel ( it gets dark by around 5 PM in North East region, so please plan your journey accordingly) .The stay was okay, as there were minor Hiccups. Though the staff was helpful, the services and facilities provided were not upto the mark.
There were issues with the food, the Heater in the room which added to our thoughts to change our stay. These issues were not completely resolved, but definitely were minimized to an extent. All the credit goes to Mr. Mehul here. Thank you
Our 4th day started with the divine sunrise as the Snow clad Mountain peaks turned
orange-yellow when sun rays fall onto these, the view which was available straight from our Hotel Room. We visited the Kanchenjunga waterfall, the Pemayangtse Monastery, Rabdentse ruins. There was even a planned visited to Helipad, the rock garden and the khecheopalri lake. However, thanks to the quick observation of our driver, Pema, who by the time knew our taste buds. He understood that we might not be interested in these things and instead made us visit Sky Walk Pelling Sikkim which is the only Glass Sky Walk in India as of Dec, 2019 ( to the best of my knowledge). The view from this sky walk is amazing. You may also like to visit the Buddha temple and statue which also has a spectacular view from the top.
Pelling - Gangtok ::
Post check out from the hotel, we headed towards Gangtok through Ravangla, which was the only sightseeing on our enroute to Gangtok. However, again, as I earlier mentioned, thanks to Pema our driver, he made us visit Chardham (wherein you will be able to do a mini yatra to Chardham and also be able to have the darhsan of 12 Jyotirlinga's). Ofcourse, we'd paid him an extra 2.5K for this journey. But it was worth a trip. Our overnight stay was at The Lindsay Cheu Den
Kingston as we'd to leave for Lachung the next day.
Gangtok - Lachung ::
After breakfast, we proceeded to Lachung. The route meanders through small villages with
valleys up to forest grove of Kabi Langchuk. Also we visited seven sister waterfall , Naga
waterfall. We reached the Hotel by afternoon. We were welcomed with hot cup of tea. The manager Mr. Santu is very courteous and makes sure that we don't find any issues during our stay and also that all the requests are taken care of. This hotel, I must say was best of our stay in our entire journey in Sikkim. It's not just because of the service and facilities provided. But because of the home made food that was prepared by the in-house catering staff. Mr. Manteswar , the chef, and his team, made every effort in letting us feel that we're having food at our home, rather than having it at the hotel. Kudos to the team for the effort. For my detailed review, please click the below link.
We were supposed to visit Yumthang Valley the next day. However, due to the weather we were restricted to Snow point, which is also a good place to step by. Please click the below link to see my detailed review
Check out this review of Delight lachung heritage Hotel on Google Maps
https://goo.gl/maps/rkPxknSHFcDRq7fR6
We headed back to the Hotel, where we had our lunch post which we checked out to reach back to Gangtok.
Gangtok ::
We reached Gangtok by evening and were now waiting eagerly for our visit to Nathula Pass in hope that our Permits were issued and this time weather won't betray us, like it did in Yumthang.
The next day, we woke up to the refreshing smell of hills and had a filling breakfast
before proceeding for the day’s sightseeing tour as we were really happy to know that our permits were ready and that there was no problem with respect to the visit for Nathula. We Set off on our excursion to Tsomgo Lake near
Gangtok. It known for changing colours, the Tsomgo Lake is among the most visited tourist
attraction in Gangtok. Further, visited the famous Baba Mandir built in fond memory of Late Major
Baba Harbhajan Singh. The show stopper for the day was Nathula. Nathula is a mountain pass in the Himalayas in East Sikkim district. It connects the Indian state of Sikkim with China's Tibet Autonomous Region. The pass, at 14,140 ft above mean sea level, forms a part of an offshoot of the ancient Silk Road. Nathu means "listening ears" and La means "pass" in Tibetan. On the Indian side, the pass is 54 km east of Gangtok, the capital of Sikkim. Only citizens of India can visit the pass, and then only after obtaining a permit in Gangtok.
We headed back to our hotel to end this tiring day.
The next day was a leisure day for us as we'd kept this day as a buffer in case of any miss happening. Fortunately, nothing sort of that happened and we spent our day roaming at the MG street, buying souvenirs for our loved one's etc.
The next day was our last day in Sikkim as we'd our returning flight to Mumbai.
Barring few minor Hiccups
1) In Darjeeling, as the car which was supposed to take us to Pelling had a breakdown and we had to stay back at the hotel for couple of hours.
2) In Pelling during our stay at the Hotel.
Things like this do happen, when you're on a long trip.
However, Thank you Travel Triangle (Ms. Shivani Sharma) , Thank you Tourepedia (Mr. Rajat Sharma and Mr. Mehul) and the entire team who worked hard to make sure that this becomes our memorable journey all together.
To see my other reviews, please check the link below where, you can find reviews of all the places I've been through.
See what I've posted to Google Maps
Level 7 Local Guide
https://maps.app.goo.gl/6nmGc8ZkEwtUGac58
Nathula Pass and Snow Point at Lachung