Trip Mates: Arun Thomas KB and Meenukkutty

Plan

26/12/2010 – Chennai to Bagdogra by flight

Package trip through a travel agent. Pakcage includes Gangktok, Yumthang Valley, Gurudonmarg Lake, Pelling, Nathula Pass. Package includes full transportation.

03/01/2011 – Bagdogra to Bangalore by flight

Package Itinerary

I contacted a travel agent in Sikkim. And he arranged a full package trip in Sikkim after transferring the amount to his account. Here is the mail i got from him.

The Trip

25/12/2010

Celebrated Christmas in my home town, Pala in Kottayam, Kerala. Boarded Chennai Mail at 5:30 PM from Kottayam.

26/12/2010

Reached Chennain Central at 7:30 Am. Took a room in a nearby lodge. After getting fresh, took an autorikshaw to Chennai airport. Charge Rs.250

The flight was delayed due to fog in Delhi. (Our flight was coming from Delhi). Flight started at 1:30 Pm and reached Bagdogra at 5:00 PM.

The travel agent had sent a Tata Indica taxi for  us. We reached Gangtokat around 10 PM.

Gangtok is around 125 kms from Bagdogra airport. Prepaid taxi charge from Bagdogra to Gangktok is Rs. 1650

27/12/2010

We started our North Sikkim trip at around 12:45 PM from Gangtok. The vehicle was a Mahindra Max with 10 passengers. There is zero comfort in that crap vehicle.

On the way we saw Seven Sisters waterfalls. At around 7:30 PM, we reached Lachen. Stay at Shangri La Retreat.

28/12/2010

The driver had asked us to get ready at 4:30 AM so that we can see Gurudongmar Lake. So we woke up at 4 AM. And started at 6 AM. It was damn cold in North Sikkim. I was surviving on 6 layers of clothes including a sweater and a jacket, woolen socks, gloves, muffler and munkey cap. The roads were full of frozen ice. We were not able to see Gurudongmar Lake because the road was closed due to heavy snow. I think the travel agents knew this before. When we asked the locals, they said the lake can be seen only in April, May, June, September and October.

We visited Chopta Valley. Then returned to the hotel. After havind lunch, we started to Lachung at 1:30 PM. Reacged there at 4:30 PM.

We took a room heater for an extra 200 Rs. It is difficult to survive without a room heater. The scenery from the windows of our room was awesome. We could see beautiful ice capped Himalayan mountains from there.

29/12/2010

Visited Zero Point. Each one of us had to pay an extra 200Rs to the driver for taking us there since Zero Point was not in the package. 10 x 200 = 2000 Rs extra bugs for the driver.

And then we visited Yumthang Valley. We didn’t see any flowers int he valley since it was not the season there.

We reached the hotel at 12:30 Pm. And started out journey to Gangktok at 2:30 PM.

But we got stuck in Chumthang due to a land slide. One worker died on the spot and the road was blocked due to the land slide. We waited there for 90 minutes. Then we got information that the road wont be opened till next day afternoon. So we had no choice than to return to Lachung which was around 30 kms uphill. And the driver charged extra for that too. Came back to hotel, paid 1200 Rs for the room.

Desp. We missed one day of the trip. My wife, Meenukkutty is fully depressed. According to the plan, the next day plan was Nathula Pass trip. She didn’t want to miss that. So i called up the travel agent and asked him to cancel the Gangktok city tour and arrange Nathul Pass on 31st. And he did that.

Note: Take enought liquid cash when you go for a trip to Himalayas. You wont see many ATMs in the mountains. And if possible, take a BSNL sim card also.

30/12/2010

Started back to Gangtok. The road was cleared using dynamites. On the way, we got stuck in another town Mangan due to land slide

So took another route to Gangtok. Extra kms – 40. Reached Gangtok at around 8 PM.

31/12/2010

We visited Nathula Pass on this day. Vehicle was Mahindra Max with 10 people.

We visited Tukla Baba Mandir and Buker, Baba Mandir, Elephant Lake, Tsongo Lake and Nathula Pass.

It was a great experience to be in Nathula Pass. We saw the India-China border. And we got a Certificate from Indian Army stating that we visited Nathula Pass which was at an altitude of 13000 feet

We had to pay an extra 100 Rs per person to the driver for taking us to Tukla.

And near Tsongo lake, we sat on a Yak and took photos.

At around 6 PM we reached Gangtok.

New Year Eve – We went to MG Marg and bought some souvenirs. MG Marg is a nice place to be. Its very neat and beautiful. Then we went to a pub in Gangtok – Cafe Live and Loud in Tibet Road.

01/01/2011

Started to Pelling in a Maruti Alto taxi. Reached Pelling at around 3:30 Pm. Stay in hotel.

02/01/2011

We could see Kanchejunga from our hotel room. Beautiful.

Local sight seeing in and around Pelling.

We visited Rimbi Waterfalls, Sewaro Rock Garden in Rimbi, Kanchenjunga Waterfalls, Khechoedpalri Holy Wishing Lake, Helipad, Pemayangtse Monastry and Rabdentse Ruins in a Tata Sumo.

03/01/2011

Started at 7:15 Am to Bagdogra Airport which was around 140 Kms from Pelling. Got a road block on the way. But somehow reached airport on time.

From Bagdogra to Delhi. Waited in Delhi airport for 5 hours since the flight was delayed due to fog. And from Delhi to Bangalore. Reached home at around 3 AM night.

Trip Cost

Flight charge – Rs. 22,000

Package cost – Rs. 30,200

Total Cost of the trip – Around 60,000 to 65,000 Rs for two of us.

Do not go in December. Best time to go is from April, May, June, July, September and October

The journey is a treacherous one.

December is not the time to visit Yumthang Valley.

A clean and beautiful city. Well organised.

MG Marg in Gangtok is a must visit.

There are around seven places for sight seeing in Gangtok including a ropeway and monastry.

Gangktop is a safe place to be. People are very nice and helpful.

The main mode of transportation is by taxis.

We can visit the border between India and China.

We can see the following places in and around Nathula Pass

Elephant Lake

Tukla Baba Mandir and Bunker

Baba Mandir

Tsongo Lake – Here we can go for a Yak ride.

Sight Seeing in Pelling

There are around ten places to see in Pelling. Some of them are listed below.

Rimbi Waterfalls

Sewaro Rock Garden, Rimbi

Kanchenjunga Waterfalls

Khechoedpalri Holy Wishing Lake

Helipad – where you can get the best view of Kanchenjunga

Pemayangtse Monastry

Rabdentse Ruins – You have to walk more than one km to see the ruins

Safety
Sikkim is very safe. It is a zero crime state. It is said that there are only three or four inmates in the jail.

Best Time To Visit
We went in December end. Its damn cold in December and January. And you should be damn lucky to see Gurudongmar lake at this time because the roads will be closed by military because of ice formations.

And there wont be any flowers in Sikkim during this period. According to locals, April to July is the best time to visit Sikkim. Yumthang Valley will be full of flowers during this time.

Roads
Roads are just ok. And roads to North Sikkim were pretty bad when we went there in 2010.

Transportation
Taxis..

No autorikshaws there..

For group tours, Mahindra Maxx 10 seater and Sumo are commonly used. Zero comfort..