This is a guest post from my daughter
Our trip to Gangtok started with a lot of excitement and anxiety. Our cab driver was late to pick us up from home, so we had to rush to the airport. At the airport, we met Dipu uncle and his family, who were also going to Gangtok with us. We boarded the flight to Bagdogra just in time, after a confusion with change of gates at the last moment by the airlines company. The flight was smooth and we enjoyed the view of the mountains from the window. We landed in Bagdogra ahead of time and collected our checked-in bags. Since Bagdogra is a military airport, we were asked not to take any pictures in the airport. After landing in Bagdogra, we took a taxi to Gangtok. On the way, we stopped at Santa Banta Dhaba, where we had some delicious breakfast. The drive was very long, about five hours, but we had fun chatting along the way. Finally, we reached Gangtok and checked into our hotel – “The Muscatel Grand Silk Route”. The hotel was a nice and comfy, but the road leading to the hotel was anything but. The 200m of the road from MG Marg to the hotel was a steep downward section with a shard hairpin bend included. Anyone who learns to drive in Gangtok is surely an expert!
After resting for a while, we decided to go for some shopping in MG Marg, which was a lively and colourful place. We walked for a long time, taking pictures and enquiring the price of souvenirs. We also tasted some delicious momos at a local store on MG Marg. Finally, we had dinner at a top-rated restaurant in Gangtok called “Nimtho”, where we again tried some local cuisines – the names of which unfortunately I do not remember anymore, but were very tasty. We had a great time exploring the city and its culture.
The next day, was the day we explored the snow-capped mountains in Sikkim. We had a nice breakfast at the hotel and started towards the mountains. Since these places are quite close to the international border, we need a special permit to enter these places. The first point of interest was Baba ka Mandir (which actually was the furthest away, as we decided to cover the other attractions on the way back). On the way, we had a quick 5 mins break at the beautiful Mandakini waterfalls and also rented out some snow boots, gloves and jackets and proceeded on the way to Baba ka Mandir, a memorial for a soldier named Baba Harbhajan Singh - who is believed to be the spirit of the mountains, protecting the Indian army. The mandir was located near the Nathu La pass, surrounded by big mountains. We paid our respects to Baba, ate some prasadam and took many photos. On our way back, we stopped at a sloping mountain where there was a lot of snow. We had a blast making a snowman and having a snowball fight. Then, we also visited Tsongmo lake, a beautiful glacial lake where we sat on a yak and took some pictures. Tsongmo lake also had a ropeway which would have given some nice views of the lake; however, it had started snowing and we had to leave soon.
We returned our rented boots and jackets and had some hot noodles, momos and tea at a nearby stall. The snowing had increased considerably by then and the roads were filled with about an inch of snow. We rushed back to our cabs and started driving very carefully towards our hotel. Due to the snow, we could only drive in the first gear at a speed of less than 10kmph. We thanked God for our safe ride back to the hotel. Later, we were shocked to hear that there was an avalanche warning and that some tourists who were behind us, got stuck in the mountains and had to be rescued by the army. After taking a short break at the hotel, we did some more shopping in MG road and bought some souvenirs for our friends and family. We also had an early dinner at a lovely restaurant named Tashi Delek in Gangtok, where we enjoyed some local cuisine. We had an amazing day full of adventure and fun.
On our third day, we visited some of the famous attractions in Gangtok city. We started with Do Drul Monastery, which has a big Buddhist stupa, a stunning white structure with a golden top. The stupa was surrounded by a square boundary that had rotatable cylinders known as Prayer Wheels, which were used by monks for praying. The cylinders were brown with golden inscriptions on them. Inside the stupa, there was a small room that was lit by a thousand candles, creating a serene atmosphere. Next, we went to Namgyal museum of Tibetology, which was built in memory of a crowned prince who joined the Indian air force and died in World War 2. The museum had a lot of exhibits about Buddhism and the items used for worship. We learned a lot about the history and culture of Tibet. After that, we took the Gangtok Ropeway, which was a thrilling ride in a cable car that could fit 20 people. We enjoyed the amazing view of the city and the mountains from the cable car.
Finally, we left Gangtok and headed to Darjeeling, our next destination. The drive from Gangtok to Teesta Bazaar was smooth with wide roads along the banks of the Teesta River, however once we took the turn towards Darjeeling the roads became narrow and winding. Although our hotel was only 35kms from Teesta Bazaar, it took us almost 2 and half hours to reach as we had to climb big mountains. We had stopped at a restaurant to have some food in Teesta Bazaar, but later with the winding roads it made me sick and I threw up. Finally, we reached our hotel “The Summit Swiss” at about 4.30 pm after a journey of more than 4.5 hours. Since all of us were tired from the long journey, we decided to take it easy for the rest of the day and did not venture out. We had a sumptuous dinner at the hotel and retired to bed early.
Our fourth day in Darjeeling was full of fun and adventure. My parents woke me up at 5 in the morning to see the Kanchenjunga, the third highest mountain in the world. It was a breath-taking sight, covered in snow and shining in the sun. We took a lot of photos of it and then I went back to sleep. I woke up at 7am and we had breakfast. Then we walked to the toy train ride, which was a heritage railway that ran through the hills. The toy train ride was for one and a half hours and we stopped at two places: Ghum station and Batasia loop. Ghum station was the highest altitude station in India at 7407 ft and had a small rail museum. Batasia loop was a spiral track that had a beautiful garden and a memorial for the army martyrs. The toy train ride was very tiring but enjoyable.
After that, we took a cab to the Darjeeling Zoo, which was one of the best zoos I have ever seen. It had many exotic animals like the Red Panda, Snow Leopard, Black Bear, Royal Bengal tiger and many birds. The animals were not kept in cages but in natural habitats. They looked happy and healthy. We also visited the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute (HMI), which was inside the zoo. This was where Tenzing Norgay’s body is buried. He was one of the first people to climb Mount Everest. There was also a mountaineering museum that had many interesting exhibits and artifacts. Next, we went to a tea garden, where we saw the lush green tea plants and enjoyed the view. However, it started raining soon and we had to return. We bought some Darjeeling tea and decided to go back to our hotel. We children were tired, so we stayed in the hotel while the adults went shopping in mall road, which was a popular market place. We had a wonderful day exploring Darjeeling and its attractions.
Our fifth day was the last day of our trip. We had to leave Darjeeling and go back to Bangalore. We started at 5 in the morning and took a cab to Bagdogra airport. The first half of the drive was smooth and scenic, but then we faced a problem. There was a broken tree on the road near the tea garden, probably due to a storm the previous night. We had to turn around and take another route, which delayed us a bit. We reached the airport just in time and boarded the flight to Bangalore. We were so tired that we slept in the flight. After landing in Bangalore, we booked an Uber and came home. It was a tiring but fun trip and I enjoyed it a lot.