Day 5 - Gangtok

We managed to leave Pelling by 8:30 AM for another long drive to Gangtok. The previous Tata Spacio was back. Although the distance was only 120 kms, it took us nearly 5 hours to reach Gangtok, via Ravangla. Inbetween, due to the rugged roads, we had a puncture also, which took half an hour to fix.

Since Gangtok was the capital of Sikkim, we had to observe a peculiar rule there. Tourist vehicles were not allowed in the capital between 9 AM to 6 PM. This was probably due to the narrow roads & to control traffic. So, our driver made us get down at the city taxi stand and asked us to hire a cab to go to the hotel. He had told the driver of the cab about the location of the hotel - Venjula Residency.

It was around 2 PM when we reached the hotel. On the way, we saw outlets of many popular branded companies - Wrangler, Lee, Levis, Adidas, Reebok, etc. We wondered how these made way till here! The locals looked like foreigners. It was hard to distinguish between locals & foreigners actally. Back in the hotel, we quickly ordered lunch and by this time another cab had arrived which was meant for local sightseeing of Gangtok. We grabbed a bite and left for the half day tour of Gangtok.

The driver kept on asking which places we were interested in seeing in Gangtok. Hell we knew what was there in Gangtok. So finally, with the help of the tourist guide book which I had bought in Darjeeling, we fixed on the following 5 points - Enchey Monastery, Hanuman Tok, Ganesh Tok, Tashi View Point, Ropeway, Chorten Stupa and Flower garden. Each of these were well within 5 kms radius.

First, we went to Enchey Monastery, the 3rd Monastery in our trip. The way to the Monastery had bells on one side. As usual, a big Buddha idol was there. This Monastery is more than 200 years old.

Next, we went to Hanuman Tok which was on a small hill. Tok, in their language meant tip of the hill. This Hanuman Temple is maintained by the Indian Army & whoever army personnel come here first visit this temple.

Next we went to Ganesh Tok where a cute Ganesha idol was there. Photography wasn't allowed inside the temple. From Ganesh Tok, the city of Gangtok could be seen fully.

Next we came to Tashi view point from where another view of Kanchenjunga could be seen. But due to mist, it wasn't visible.

We then hurried to go to the ropeway, as it was already getting late and we were super excited to go on it. We reached exactly 10 minutes before the ropeway closes at 4:30 PM, bought the last tickets, each of Rs. 60 per head and waited for the ropeway to come at the lounge. This ropeway was connected between 2 high points in the city. This was the second time I went in a ropeway, and first for her. It took approx 10 mins to go from one end to the other. In between, they stopped for a while to have a look of Gangtok.

We alighted from the ropeway at around 5:30 PM and went back to the cab. The driver told that since it was time up, the flower garden would have been closed. So he took us to our last point - Chorten Stupa.

There was a big Stupa in the centre & 108 prayer wheels surrounded it. Inside this Stupa, many Holy books & other religious objects are present.

We came back to the hotel by 6:30 PM and asked the receptionist if there was anywhere to go for shopping. She told to go to M.G. Marg and that it would cost us Rs. 10 per head while going in shared taxi & Rs. 40 when returning as our hotel was in the interiors. We quickly refreshed & took a shared cab to M.G. Marg at 6:45 PM. Before leaving, we gave a copy of our identity proofs & photos to her, as it was required to obtain permit to visit Tsomgo Lake & Baba Mandir the next day.

When we entered M.G. Marg, we were surprised to see no traffic on the road, lines of shops on either side & benches for resting in the middle. This was probably the only M.G. Road in India which doesn't allow vehicle movement. I felt like I was on High Street of Croydon. It really looked abroad.

We strolled around, found shops which sold souvenirs & from one shop bought some Sikkim wall hangings & wallets to distribute back home. We then went to a small South Indian restaurant (the name board looked like South Indian), had hot Gulab Jamun, Rosogulla & Kachori Chat. After sometime, at a nearby place, we bought Pakodas too. We finally came back to our hotel room at around 8:30 PM, had dinner & slept. We were looking forward for another famous attraction of our trip the next day - Tsomgo Lake on the Himalayas.

Day 4 - Pelling

We were ready by 9:15 AM and set out for sightseeing tour of Pelling. The itinerary included Rimbi Waterfalls, Rimbi Hydel Project, Khecheopari Lake, Kanchenjunga Falls, Pemayangtse Monastery and some palace. For local sightseeing of Pelling, a WagonR was arranged.

We first stopped at Rimbi Rock garden, after about an hours' drive from our hotel. There seemed to exist no roads, but only stony paths all the way. This rock garden was beautiful & was made adjacent to Rimbi river. We both only were the only souls wandering in the garden. The water was cold enough, and had we come in a troupe, I would have definetely bathed there itself. There were mountains surrounding everywhere and the garden was peaceful.

From the garden, we set further for Kanchenjunga falls. It took another 45 mins or so to reach the place via the curved roads. At first, there was a small stream which flowed. But, on climbing up, there was a big falls. Some college gang had just arrived and started playing there. The force of the water was strong and the rocks were slippery. We spent some time sitting there.. couldn't go out and play. Wish I was a student still ;)

Next, we went to Khechopalri lake, which was on a deviation from Kanchenjunga falls. There were hardly any people here. This lake was very placid and surrounded by dense forests. It is believed that birds do not permit even a single leaf to float on the lake surface. There was a wooden path towards the lake which had Buddhist bells along the way. Khechopalri lake is considered one of the sacred lakes of Sikkim. Only after returning from the lake we came to know that this lake is believed to have the power of wish fulfilling, so its also called as Wishing lake.

After visiting these 3 places, we proceeded back to hotel. On the way back, our driver asked us if we were interested in going to the monastery & palace or to the bridge. We said that we have seen enough monasteries, & we would be interested in seeing the 2nd highest bridge in Asia. He told that it would cost us extra of Rs. 700, and we agreed. While returning, we stopped a while at Rimbi falls and took a snap. It was just a thin stream.

We came back to our room by 1:30 PM, had lunch & started for Singsor Bridge at 2:30 PM. It was 27 kms from Pelling and one of the most treacherous routes I travelled till date. All the while when we were travelling, we were contemplating if we had taken the right decision to go to this bridge. But once we reached there, we thought it was worth it. It took around 1 hour 15 minutes to reach there. The bridge hanged between two mountains and a stream passed below it. The view was mesmerizing. We went to the other end of the bridge & our driver told us to enjoy this place and come back to the other side by walk.

We lazily hanged around the bridge for quite some time admiring nature. This place was as calm as heaven. No traffic, only the two of us & a pleasant weather. We felt good to be here.

We left the place as the clouds had started arriving. By 6 PM, we were back in our room and had settled on our bed. As it was Valentine's Day that day, we tuned into Set Max and watched Rab Ne.. Our tour operator called and asked us to be ready by 8 AM the next day for shifting to Gangtok. We had candle light dinner in our room as there was no power & slept off. 50% of our trip was over.

Day 3 - Tiger Hills & Pelling

We got up as early as 3 AM and got ready to visit the most important place of our tour - Tiger Hills. I had googled earlier about this place and had found out that this place was ideal to watch the sunrise & also the 3rd highest peak in the world - Kanchenjunga. But we had little doubt if the weather would be clear, as it had rained the previous day. We woke up the hotel guys & got the door opened. Our cab was ready to pick us up, & our driver had come there with his wife.

It took about an hour to reach Tiger hills. The roads were empty and our driver had indicated that we would be able to see Kanchenjunga clearly as it had rained yesterday, and that yesterday was Shivratri. We bought the parking ticket and also got to know that there was an observatory at the top. Hence, got the tickets for it also, as it was dead cold outside. Till around 5:30 AM, we were in the car itself. One by one, tourist vehicles arrived & it became crowded. Later, the observatory opened and there was a sudden rush inside. We took the seat in front of the window & waited for the sunrise. There was a small peak at the far end, and I kept on thinking that it was Kanchenjunga itself. Suddenly, something shook & I could see a big mountain on the window pane opposite to it. Whoa! That was actually the Kanchenjunga! It appeared so close to us. We felt very delighted on seeing this, and at once went out of the observatory in the cold. The Kanchenjunga stood majestically covered with snow in the dark, right in front of us.

At 6:04 AM, the sun just appeared and its first rays fell on the tip of the peak. The color on the peak turned pink & it was a pleasure to watch it. Totally unforgettable moment, that too on the day after Shivratri.

As the time passed, the sun rose fully & within minutes Kanchenjunga appeared full bright & very close to us. Nature is simply superb. We were just speechless, due to cold & otherwise also.

The Himalayan range, which consisted of 3 Sister Peaks was clearly visible.

We started to leave the place and then someone said that Mt. Everest was also visible. When asked where, he pointed out to a distant peak very far away. We could see it in bare eyes, but, my camera couldn't zoom that much. Heres one look..

On the way back from Tiger Hills, he stopped us at Ghoom Monastery. This is considered to be the oldest & holiest of the monasteries present. Inside, there was a big idol of Buddha.

By this time, the weather was all clear & on our way to Darjeeling, we could see Kanchenjunga thru out. All thru the previous day, the peak stood right before us - in the tea garden, in Batasia loop, in Dali Monastery, everywhere, but we couldn't see it due to the mist. Even when we were back in our hotel, we could see the peak from our room window. We felt some jubilation inside & wanted to see it more. How lucky were we!

This is how Batasia Loop would have looked if it were clear. (Source photo from wiki):

After having bath & breakfast, we paid some amount of the trip to the cashier and checked out of the hotel. By this time, it was already around 9:30 or so, and a different vehicle was now ready to ferry us to Pelling. It was a Tata Spacio, big enough for only 2 of us & well suited for the hilly roads.

The drive to Pelling took nearly 4.5 hours with our backs having a very good ride. For most part of the journey, we could see Kanchenjunga, and it appeared that we were moving close to it. Teesta river, which is a very famous river here flowed all along the way. This river acted as a border between West Bengal & Sikkim. The drive was very adventurous & tiring, with sharp curves, very narrow stone roads & in the midst of nature.

We finally arrived at the beautiful pleasant city of Pelling at around 2:30 PM and checked into Aryan Residency. Our room was so good, we just fell in love with the room and also the place. Pelling is famous for magnificent view of the snow-capped mountains of Kanchenjunga. From our balcony, Kanchenjunga was near & clearly visible.

As we were damn hungry, we went out in search of a good restaurant, but all restaurants we saw were closed or they didn't have people in them. Finally some gang of tourists entered some restaurant & we too followed them. We ordered the same soup & rotis with curry. As there was nothing else to see in the days itinerary, we had it very leisurely. Before coming out of the restaurant, we asked if something was there to see, but they told that nothing of interest was there, and that we could go to helipad on the top to view the mountain ranges. We coolly walked uphill for about 1.5 kms, chatting nonstop. There were hardly any people on the road. We liked this place very much. We reached the helipad at around 6, but by then the clouds began to settle around the peak and so couldn't get a clear view of it.

On the way back to our room, we saw a tourist board of Pelling sightseeing and noticed that among other places, there was the second highest bridge in Asia was close to Pelling. We thought that it would be covered in the next day's itinerary. We came back to our hotel room, as it was getting dark, and settled on the cozy bed. We ordered dinner & by that time our tour operator called and asked us to be ready by 9 AM the next day for a day tour of Pelling. We were looking forward for the next day..

Day 2 - Darjeeling

Before I begin, let me give some trivia about Darjeeling. The name Darjeeling is a composition of dorje meaning Thunderbolt and ling meaning place.. The Land of Thunderbolt. It is very famous for its tea industry and the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. For more info on Darjeeling, click here.

We began our day by having aloo parathas for breakfast. The weather was cold and little sunny. But we couldn't see far off things. We set out from the hotel at around 10 AM for the day trip. First, we visited Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park, also known as Darjeeling Zoo. Our trip itinerary didn't consist of entry tickets to any place. Inside the zoo, the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute is also located. We purchased tickets for both at the entrance. This zoo was big enough and it housed various animals - black bear, blue sheep, deer, gorals (mountain goat), spotted leopard, snow leopard, Indian tiger, Himalayan wolf and the famous Red Panda, which is the state animal of West Bengal. Among the birds were the parrots, falcons, monal, silver pheasant, peacock and others. At the HMI, there were the tools used by Tenzing & Hillary for the first expedition of Everest, a model of the entire Himalayan range, and all equipments needed for mountaineering. This institute provides training for mountaineering activities. We spent about an hour & a half in the zoo campus, and while coming back, I grabbed a copy of Darjeeling & Sikkim pocket guides from the nearby souvenir shop.

Next, we stopped at Tenzing Rock. This is a very short but steep rock where HMI conducts training. Close to Tenzing Rock was the Gombu rock with was very high & steep. Tenzing and Gombu rock also commonly known as " monkey rock" was named after late Tenzing Sherpa and Nawang Gombu respectively. It is where Tenzing Sherpa climbed the Tenzing rock in the presence of Late Prime minister Jawaharlal Nerhu without a belay.

Next, we came to the famous tea estate of Darjeeling. The view of the tea estate was so pleasant, we felt like staying there itself. Mist had covered the entire range though. We tasted authentic Darjeeling tea at a small shop nearby & it was too good. We brought a packet of tea from there itself.

When we were sipping tea at the stall, a news came from our driver that a strike had been called for the next day by students union for Gorkhaland, and that we had to drop Tiger hill the next day & leave for Pelling as early as 3 AM as during the strike which was from 6 AM to 6 PM, no vehicles would be allowed to move. We felt utterly dejected on hearing this news.

Next, he took us to Tibetan refugees self help centre. There was a monastery there, but little did we know that it would be closed on Fridays.

Continuing further, we went to a place called Lebong, where there was a flat ground on which horses were trained. We wondered how was it possible to have a flat ground of such size on a hilly region! On the way to Lebong, he showed us the most famous school of Darjeeling - St Josephs High school, where the legendary Amitabh Bachchan studied.

Further down, at Lebong, he showed us the army training camp, but visitors were not allowed inside.

From Lebong, we came back to Darjeeling and midway we stopped to have a glimpse of entire Dajreeling.

We continued further towards Ghoom to Batasia Loop. The weather was getting colder & mist was engulfing us. We reached Batasia Loop in the afternoon & couldn't bear the cold. So all our accessories - gloves, jackets & sweaters were put to use.

The Batasia loop is an engineering marvel where the railway tracks intersect to form a figure of eight. The world famous heritage toy train - Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (DHR) has a station here. This is the only place where the engine can be seen from the last compartment. There is a war memorial at the centre of the loop that honours the men of Darjeeling who died in several wars.

From Batasia loop, we headed back to Darjeeling. On the way, we went to our last spot - Dali Choeling Monastery, which is the biggest monastery in Darjeeling. It was huge & very colorful. Inside the monastery, there were 5 big idols of Buddha & prayers were going on. Photography was prohibited inside. They prayed in tune, blowing the horns & other instruments. Nearby, there was a small room with huge prayer bells. Next to the room were some Stupas of saints. I don't know Buddhism very well..

It had began to drizzle. We headed back in the car to our hotel. On the way, the Darjeeling station appeared and the engine of DHR had halted.

After we came back to our room, when we were about to go to munch some stuffs, our driver came back to our room and told that the strike had been called off & that we could go to Tiger hills. He told us to be ready by 3:30 AM in the morning to go there. We were very happy on hearing this news. Tiger hills was the main attraction here, & we would have been unhappy if we had missed it.

It was 4 PM when we went out for lunch, and by that time, the rains had worsened. We went to a nearby restaurant & had tomato soup & some rice. The soup remained sweet, as was in Mirik, and we wondered if these guys ever knew how to prepare soup. Old instrumental songs were played in the background, making the place romantic. By the time we finished eating, the rains had lessened, so we decided to go to the Mall, as it was too early to hit bed. As we walked for some distance, it started pouring heavily, so quickly we came back to our room and settled on bed watching TV. At around 8:30 PM, we ordered dinner and slept by 9:30 itself, as we had to get up at an unearthly hour the next day.

Chandrayaan - Day 1

Before the memory fades away, when each minute of the trip is right in front of my eyes, let me finally start this blog on my (our) Chandrayaan trip (do I need to translate it? ;)). After considering all the possible places, we finally decided to go for the unexplored North East part of India & the one which struck in mind was a week-long trip to Darjeeling & Sikkim. We had booked our package tour thru Darjeeling travel for 7N-8D which covered Darjeeling, Pelling, Gangtok & Kalimpong, starting 11th Feb. The onward flight tickets were booked a month earlier thru Jet Airways  & return by Kingfisher. Bagdogra is the closest airport to Darjeeling, & we had to change flight at Kolkata both ways.

On 11th, we arrived at Bagdogra at around 1:30 PM & our cab was ready to take us to Darjeeling. We had carried huge jackets, as we had heard that the weather would be chilled. But, at Bagdogra, the weather was so hot that we cursed having got the jackets with us as it was very heavy to carry & it was like a tail. We passed thru the dense forests along the way & finally began ascending the hills. As we ascended higher, the weather got colder. We finally arrived at Mirik at around 4:30 PM and first went to a restaurant to have lunch. We both were the only humans not wearing a jacket in such a cold weather. The outside temperature was 8 degrees. We had hot parathas & went back to the cab. The driver took us to Mirik lake, also called Sumendu lake which was close by. The sheer calmness of the lake in this cold weather was awesome.

Mirik is situated close to Nepal border and is a very famous tourist spot enroute Darjeeling. One could go boating in this lake, but since it was already 5:30 PM, it was closed. Later got to know that boating was available only till 5 PM. The climate was very pleasant and we enjoyed our first spot.

Next, he drove us to Nepal border, called Pashupatinath Border, which was around 30 mins drive from Mirik on the curved hilly roads. We just stepped on Nepal's soil and returned, as it was already time up & no further people could go thru. For Nepal, one doesn't need a visa :) There were only 2-3 security personnel & a long wooden rod as a gate which separated India and Nepal.
 

We then headed to Darjeeling. It had already got dark at around 6:30 PM and the visibility on road was very poor. We had clearance of hardly 10 ft! The mist had engulfed us and our jackets were put to use. The driver was very experienced & drove very carefully as we kept our hands locked.

We could finally see some light as we entered Darjeeling. There was a small narrow gauge railway track which came from somewhere & joined us all the way. We could see some crowd, and city centre neared. There was a Big Bazaar & other popular branded stores on way to our hotel. We finally reached our hotel - Crystal Palace at around 8 PM & checked into our room. As it was very cold, we thought of getting a heater to our room. But on hearing the per night price of the heater (Rs. 150), we ditched the idea. We ordered roti and curry for dinner & slept off. For the next day, the driver had already informed us to be ready by 9:30 AM for a day tour of Darjeeling.