Sikkim - Magnificent North East India

Pack the bags, it's time to explore. Travelling to the new places excites me more than anything else does! What first thing rings in your mind when you hear the word travel? Rest, Peace, Away from the crowd, Leisure and New experience and much more.. No-one is wrong. This are the things that makes the trip more exciting. After seeing the beauty of mountains in manali, the craze for mountains increased day by day and finally I decided to explore one of the most beautiful part of India that is the NorthEast India - Sikkim and Darjeeling. This part of India is surrounded by high peak of Mountains namely kanchenjunga, Himalayas and more.

Sikkim is a state in India and truly a beauty. My trip started by taking flight to Bagdogra which the nearest Airport to reach Sikkim. First destination was Gangtok the capital and the largest city of Sikkim. Gangtok is almost 70 Kms from Bagdogra which takes around 5-6 hours to reach the town as there are hilly roads. I landed bagdogra at 3 pm and by 8pm I reached Gangtok. After settling down in my booked apartment for 4 days, I went for dinner. My day 1 ended here.

Good morning! Indeed it was.

Today was the local sightseeing that means you gotta walk alot, tie the shoe laces and let's go! After having heavy breakfast I was all set to explore this beautiful city with the camera on one hand and my cellphone on other. So the first point was The Monastery. There are plethora of monasteries in Sikkim and you'd never get tired of it as each monastery is built in different ways and has different history.

Like this monastery was built in stupa shape.

After the monastery by walking distance another point was Institute Of Tibetology.

Institute of tibetology is basically a reflection of Tibetan culture and their history. A kind of museum enlisted with plenty of lord Buddha's idol, the old pictures of ancient Gorkha people and their lifestyle, the old money, the letters and war weapons used at that time. Photography was not allowed in the museum so I couldn't share the pictures. This museum is a must go place as there is a combination of ancient and modern times.

Now the next point was The Monastery. Sikkim is the land of monasteries. Where ever you would travel, you could easily find it out.

Monastery is a temple and people here worship Lord Buddha. The best thing of monasteries are they are well designed, each with unique ideas and colors. The Monastery was built by king who lived here and after that now it is maintained by the government and monks living and offering prayer at the temple.

After the monastery, now next stop was the Ropeway. In Gangtok one can see the beauty of the city surrounded by mountains through this Ropeway. Trust me view from the top is always worth watching. There's charge for the ride which is 129 rs per person. Must try it here and it's safe!

After rope way, I went to ganesh tok which is basically a view point. Beautiful view of mountain ranges of Himalayas. Here, is a little temple of lord Ganesha for prayers. After ganesh tok on the way there comes a waterfall which is also a point where you can click beautiful pictures wearing the local dress of Sikkim also known as sikkimese dress. Must try it cost 50 rs per person.

last point was hanuman tok, which again is a view point given name after lord hanuman. This point is little far from Gangtok and on the top of mountain. After seeing all the view points, I decided to explore market of Gangtok town famous as mg market. It was hardly 10 min walk from my hotel apartment. Clean, full of crowd, and with amazing street view this market is sure place to visit. Here bargaining is quite low so try your luck!

Good morning! It was early morning today as I was going out of town nearly 58 Kms from Gangtok to Nathula pass where lies the Indo China border. 3 points can be covered namely Nathula pass, Tsomgo lake( changu lake - locals here call it as changu lake so don't get confuse if you hear little bit different!), Baba Mandir.

Pack your bag with popcorn and all possible things that could help you high up there to breathe as it's 14500 feet and many people face breathing problems. First point was Nathula pass. What a view! In the between the road, there were villages and cantonments of army. You can stop here and have breakfast and if wanna buy sweaters or jakctes than you must buy do a little bit of bargaining and you Wil buy the stuff in highly discounted price! (I did and I didn't regret that.) Amazing view of mountains., i even saw kanchenjunga Mountain from here. After nathula, Tsomgo lake was the next view point. Tsomgo lake or changu lake is a freezing lake with gets freezed in snow that one can walk on it! Best time is in from November end to Jan where you can see the freezing lake covered with ice. Following the next was Baba Mandir. Baba Mandir is a temple worshipping a human being. Yes! This temple is made after a brave heart who is still on duty even after his death. Baba Harbhajan Singh, an army man his story is famous for his love towards his nation. For more you can google it. Not only the locals but Army officers too never forget to take his blessings. You can sit here, look around the pleasant weather make memories.

Today was my last day in Gangtok and I was free so I decided let's see one more place which is 25kms from Gangtok - Rumtek monastery. Rumtek monastery is a Buddhist temple where there are so many monks and location is amazing for photoshoot and videography. Hardly 1-2 hour you can spend roaming here.

Enjoy some glimpse of rumtek monastery 👆

Apart from Gangtok, if you have 5days extra you can spend it in yumthang, pelling ,lachen, lachung. I didn't get time to explore other part of Sikkim but if you have you can!

Thank you for reading!

I Hope it was helpful. 😊