Simply Sikkim

It was a long time coming. After many failed attempts to move up north with our travels we finally made it. The place... a mesmerizing little state ... Sikkim.

Lets get it started
The three of us met up in Calcutta on the 2nd of October and proceeded to Bagdogra. From there we had a 4 hr cab drive to Pelling, a destination chosen for its close proximity to the Himalayan range. Well close proximity for viewing that is. On a clear morning you can see the Kanchenjunga from most of the hotels out there. We did manage to get a peek sightings from our room. But surely the best part of pelling was the waterfalls. Damn clean water that we just drank out of the stream and truth be told it was probably the best water we ever had.
Khecheopalri lake aka the wishing lake is another serene location to visit.
Interesting Fact: Though surrounded by dense cover there is no sign of foliage on the lake. The story goes that if a leaf falls a bird comes and picks it up from the lake.

Next stop Gangtok
Probably the only true city in Sikkim we landed in Gangtok via a shared cab, which are aplenty. We hung out at Club31 in the evening. Had a few drinks, chatted with some local guys, who were very helpful with how we should spend our time there, and just chilled. We had taken a room at 1200 per night. A bit overpriced but well.

Nathula Pass
The open trade border between India and China has not turned into a tourist spot. Frankly it is very disappointing to ride all the way out there and definitely not worth the pain. The journey is flooded with cabs all through the route and the scenic beauty is better enjoyed with them. Of course for the cheap shopper there are some Chinese goods shops en route. Beware this route is flooded with tourists.

Target 17000
Next we headed to Guru Dongmar lake. The northern most tip our our journey. We took a private cab at a hefty price to avoid the additional shared cab tourists and skipped Yumthang to head out to Lachen. We stayed the night at this quite non descript town that is suddenly becoming a one-night halt for tourists like ourselves. The rooms here are cheap around 500 per night if you book it directly. Most of the bookings however are done as a package deal right from Gangtok. The food too is about 50-60 per plate (non-veg). It gets chilly from here on.
We had a couple of pints at a local shop, felt more like someone's home/garage. Here we met two amazing guys. Chaddi buddies and all of 47 these two youngsters travel together on their bikes aka motorcycles every year during the Durga Puja holidays. This year they were biking out to Guru Dongmar lake. And yeah they live in Darjeeling... What a life right.

The next day we got up at 4 and headed out to the sacred lake. Be prepared half-an-hour mandatory stop at 15000ft that the army rightly enforces to ensure that you can take the altitude. Once you are given the clean chit you can move on. We were one of the two jeeps to arrive there by ourselves and had the lake to ourselves for 30mins, under the watchful eye of the army ofcourse :)
Interesting fact: The lake doesnt freeze in the chilliest of winters. Temperatures reach around -30C out here.

When we reached here the Jat regiment was manning the posts and luckily we ran into a couple of Army folks, Col Anoop, Capt Sharad and gang who were also visiting. We managed to rob some time off the colonel and its always memorable talking to an Army man.

Once we saw the number of jeeps rise up we left. Headed out to Lachen for lunch and then a long ride back to Gangtok.

RnR
After that long and hectic ride we decided to take a day off just relaxing. Yeah we need off days during our vacation as well:) So we chilled in Gangtok and just roamed around. Ofcourse with this day off we knew we would not be headed out to Bhutan

Stranded
Little did we know that our RnR would cost us dearly. The next day was Durga Puja and there were no cabs to be found. So we like true vagabonds decided to stay put and hang out in Gangtok. We took the local sightseeing cabs and enjoyed a good lunch at Tashi Delek, recommended by Col. Anoop. The food was great and we enjoyed ourselves just doing nothing :)

Rabongla
Next we decided to hit Rabongla, since Pelling was not currently ready for returning back so soon. The place seems enticing especially because it was completely covered within the clouds when we drove through from Pelling to Gangtok. We took up a decent hotel there 800 per night for a 3 bed room. It was a dainty little town with nothing much to do other than enjoy the fresh air. Best part no tourist spots and hence .. aha.. not too many tourists.

Namchi
Since Rabongla was all done in 1hr we decided we should see another place. We decided on Namchi. We wanted to head out to Kewzing from there which is a village tourism spot. Supposedly you get to live in a village and experience Sikkimese life first hand. But the Kewzing guys decided not to answer the phones. So we diligently called up the next best place. Later on peeking through our lonelyplanet handbook we stumbled upon the Dungmali home stay. Called them up and found a room available for the night... case closed we decided to head out there.

Dungmali Home Stay
Nestled a good distance away from the hub of Namchi the homestay is a cozy house of an ex phys-ed teacher and his family. Now this was a true find. Firstly the place is in expansion mode and will be building cottages all along their property soon. So we got there just in time. Second luckily for us quite a bit of the family was in for the Durga Puja holidays and the place was alive and bustling. Third the mountain on which the home is located is going to be a bustle of activity once the CharDham is completed (March'09). Fourth and the best is that you get an amazingly clear view of the Kanchenjunga right off their veranda and yeah we got to see it all next morning. Pretty neat eh! All in all serendipity and perfect timing.
The great company and conversation cut through the evening which was appropriately topped with authentic local cuisine for dinner.

The next morning we headed off to Calcutta via Bagdogra.

Calcutta
To be nice.. lets just say its better left forgotten.

Total Cost for a 12day trip per person: More than expected :)

When in Sikkim
* Be prepared for land-slide or a traffic jam
* Be ready to inhale gargantuan amounts of car smoke while travelling
* Be amazed at how clean the state is
* Be surprised by the presence of "clean" public urinals at all tourist spots
* Be ready to pay Rs2/- to pee at these public urinals (maintenance)
* Be ready to squeeze into a shared cab - or if you can pay a for an additional seat and have some space
* Be ready to see a lot of monasteries
* Feel like an ant in front of the mountains
* Be ready to be see more curves per km of road than anywhere else
* Be ready to weather two way traffic on roads that barely fit one car
* Be amazed at how polite the people are
* Enjoy the smiles by the cute little kids playing all over the place
* See more cops than anywhere else in India - and yeah... and yeah without the beer belly
* See the clouds below your feet or be within them
* Try to head out on a trek.. starting from 8 days onwards they seem enticing
* Breathe in 2-5% oxygen
* Be ready to be stunned by the beautiful girls who get 5/10 simply for their dressing sense
* The only thing more beautiful are the mountains
* Forget flat land
* And of course be in awe of the Kanchendzonga

Itenary
Day 1 (2nd Oct) Hyderabad-Calcutta-Bagdogra-Pelling [Flight and Cab]
Day 2 Pelling [sightseeing - reserved cab]
Day 3 Pelling - Gangtok [shared cab]
Day 4 Gangtok... Nathula Pass [sightseeing - shared cab]
Day 5 Gangtok - Lachen [reserved cab]
Day 6 Lachen - Gurdongmar - Lachen - Gangtok [reserved cab]
Day 7 Gangtok [just resting]
Day 8 Gangtok [sightseeing - reserved cab]
Day 9 Gangtok - Rabongla [shared cab]
Day 10 Rabongla - Namchi [shared cab]
Day 11 Namchi - Siliguri - Bagdogra [shared cab] - Bagdogra - Calcutta [flight]
Day 12 (13 Oct) Calcutta - Hyderabad [flight] - Back to work!!