Folks who know me would tell you that I’m an urban kind of serpent. Midgard is the natural habitat for this particular Elver and I’m not generally inclined to venture very far from the sultry waters of the metrop. But sometimes the leper colony where I have to go to earn my monthly paycheck occasionally gets on my nerves to such an extent that I have to get away in an attempt to forget the place exists. The place that drew the short straw this time was the state of Sikkim with a subsequent diversion planned to Bhutan by the good folks at Jungle Lore who had organised the whole thing.
Phase I – Gangtok
In order to get to Sikkim, you first have to land at Bagdogra Airport, in Darjeeling district of West Bengal. Its roughly a four hour drive, not counting stops which one might take on the way for tea & snacks. One thing that struck this traveller was the fact that darkness seems to come on very early in these parts, with the electric lights being necessary as early as 5pm. Cooler reflection of course suggests that the location of these parts well to the east of Allahabad is what leads to this situation.
We were put up at the Hotel Ttakshang Residency, which is located in a very picturesque corner of Gangtok, which itself must surely rank as one of the most picturesque state capitals in the country.
The food here was very good, and the staff very friendly and courteous. All the items on the menu are not always available (getting supplies, I am told, is a problem at times) but the Chinese and Indian food were both very well made. The primary ingredient out in these parts is chilly, which may be a problem for some, but I’m one of these serpents who likes hot things, which includes spices, so it was a case of all being for the best as far as I was concerned.
The next day was spent in some local sightseeing. Brief highlights are as below:
Rumtek Monastery
Located about half an hour from the main city, the Rumtek Monastery as it now stands was founded in 1959 by the 16th Karmapa when he arrived in India from Tibet, though the site dates back to the 16th century. It’s an imposing structure, with a number of interesting frescoes (I’ve added a couple of photos below) and relics of the Buddhist faith. A large number of Llamas are in residence in the monastery as well as in the college and residential structures in the same complex.
Photography is not permitted inside the prayer halls, but the place exudes an atmosphere of ancient rituals, containing vast numbers of prayer scrolls, idols and more frescoes. The room is also lined with mats and tables for the llamas to meditate and pray, as well as a number of musical instruments that we’re told form an accompaniment to the general effort.
Museum of Tibetology
They set up this little building housing some of the artefacts that I assume were salvaged from the sack of Lhasa.
It’s set up similar to a monastery with the frescoes etc. Again, no photography inside. The interior consists of a number of paintings on silk brocade, idols of the Buddha and various saints and ancient books among other things. An interesting objet d’art one comes across here are the various prayer items made of human skulls and bones. Macabre but fascinating.
Ropeway
From here, post-lunch it was time to get on the ropeway. This runs between Deorali and the highest point in Gangtok near the assembly building. It offers a nifty view of the city and surrounding valley, but watch out for overcrowding – the operators tend to fill the car up on the lines of Midgard local trains. Luckily when we got into the thing there were only about a dozen of us in toto, so one managed to get standing space.
Flower Garden
The final stop on the city tour is the flower garden, a beautifully maintained piece of landscape which houses some pretty exotic shrubbery. Thankfully they do allow photography here.
Mall Road
The day drew to a close with a visit to M.G. Road, which is the main shopping district of Gangtok. Point to remember – things close early here. By 7:30 in the evening, shops being to close, by 8:00 the shutters are down and by 9:00 you may be walking through a ghost town. There isn’t even a meal to be had at that time, so if you’re looking for a bite, get it done with before the clock moves into the last quarter.
Well, that’s it for now; will post the details about the journey to North Sikkim tomorrow.
Phase 2 – North Sikkim
After this it was time to leave the relative urbanity of Gangtok and head off to wilder territories. The road took us to a city called Lachung (I use the term ‘city’ in a rather broad sense – it would be barely a hamlet in Midgard).
The road is remarkably picturesque, with bridges passing over little rivulets and minor waterfalls at frequent intervals. The below photos are from the first of these . 
The next major stop was a place called the ‘Seven sister waterfalls” which appears to be a major tourist attraction in these parts. The falls are in several steps, and since the number of such steps are supposed to be seven, the name has since stuck. Only about 5 are actually visible even if one climbs up quite a long way up the facing hill.
One of the highlights from this point is a place along the road from where the lofty Kanchenjunga is visible (cloud cover being willing).
From here it’s a short hop, skip and jump to this interesting little formation below:
We did finally arrive at Lachung as darkness fell. Lunch was at a place called the “Everest Hotel” which served truly delicious chicken curry.
Including the several breaks along the way the drive must have been around eight hours.
The next day broke over a very pretty view from our hotel window.
From here it was off to the place the authorities call ‘Zero Point’, thus affectionately called because the road ends here. Beyond is a peak and beyond that is Tibet, the ancient land of mystic llamas. Our journey was a strange one. We took off on time but even as we went, cars were going in the opposite direction told us about an accident that had happened on the road up and due to which the road was closed. Our driver soldiered on anyway until we got to this point from where there the road was blocked. Nonetheless I did manage to pick up these little beauties which really seemed to bear out that old hobbit walking-song.
We did get to see the accident site thought and it was pretty gory. Broken axle’s and glass and, yes, blood was prominent. We turned back into the valley down towards the checkpoint. A walk along the riverbank yielded some beautiful photos and some really short breath. It’s amazing how even an ordinary walk can become incredibly difficult when the oxygen levels fall low.
After a strange dinner of ‘Alpine Pakoras’, ‘Veg Momos’, Maggi and the most expensive boiled eggs any one of us had ever encountered in our lives it was back to scaling the peaks. We did finally reach Zero – it was breathtaking.
From here it was back to the hotel and Lachung for a well-deserved rest. .
