Sikkim visit
Below is given a photograph of Kanchenjunga, the third highest mountain of the world, worshiped by the Sikkimese as the Guardian Deity of Sikkim :
20th
Reached Gangtok at about 9.30 pm after an arduous 123 km journey through not so good road and over one hour traffic jam near British time Tiger bridge, known popularly as Coronation bridge on Teesta river. Traffic goes through it to and comes from Assam to West Bengal. We were accommodated in Railway guest house, fairly good place. The location of the room in the corner of 3rd floor, however, did not give a good view of picturesque Sikkim. Shri S. D. NEGI, the Addl. D. G. of Police, an impressive IPS officer with commitment, who has been extremely helpful, arranged to shift us to the Police guesthouse.We decided to move to the new accommodation next day as it was already quite late.
Retired to sleep at about midnight.
21st
Police guest house is well located. Today we visited Rumtek monastery, situated at a distance of about 26 kms from Gangtok. Venita shopped a bit. Good crowd of Indians. No foreigners. Therefrom we went to Khangchenazonga Village tourism Complex, Ranka. It has a planetarium and Appu ghar type games including an electric toy train which takes adults and children together for a 5 minute journey. The Complex's attraction is its restaurant and bar. It is located inside a cave type structure with modern facilities. We had lunch there. Due to about 8 km long bad road from Gangtok to the
Complex, few people come. We also went to
Banjhakri falls on way.
It is a place where 'jhar-phuk' used to be done in the past for removal of impact/control of an evil spirit.
Venita strolled over MG road, a shopping hub, for shopping. Did not buy anything despite a couple of hour effort including one hour in a pleasant drizzle.
In the market
Retired to sleep at about 11 pm.
22nd
Visited Nathula Indian army post at over 14000 ft. It is at the same height as Amarnath Gupha. It was very cold there. We walked on its snow clad ground.
At Nathula gate
Touching each other is Chinese post. We shook hands with Chinese officer on duty on the other side of the two wired fencing.
On way to Nathula we had halted at Mandakini falls for a shortwhile.
At Mandakini falls
Frozen Lake near Nathula
Venita shopped. We got a hot cup of tea at Rs 10/- .On way back attended a 'langar' organized by local villagers, mostly Nepalese, ( Sikkim is a Nepali majority state with a Nepali CM. Others mainly are Bhutias and Lepchas ), after a puja
near a big lake.
Venita shopped. We tried to see Kanchenjunga from Hanuman Tok and Ganesh tok, two viewpoints. It hid itself within the thick veil of black clouds. On way back visited flower show, mostly colorful orchids.
At orchid show
Retired to sleep at about midnight.
23rd
Left for
North Sikkim dist. On way we saw seven sisters waterfall :
At Seven Sisters waterfall
A number of tourists, mostly from Mumbai, photographed themselves with Venita thinking her to be a Sikkimese against the background of the waterfall. Checked in the ITBP guest house after a journey of over 52 kms.
We saw a couple of fawns (young deer in their first year) playing on the road. I tried to snap them. They were too fast in disappearance. On seeing the vehicle they hid themselves, one each on two sides of the road. Today the driver drove carefully. It is quite cold here. To keep warm we had to use a powerful heater. We will stay here for two nights.
ITBP guest house is located at a height of 8000 ft. in thick forested area. The place is known as Pegong. Down below flows Teesta. In front are tall green hills as we saw at Kulu valley stay in 1998. It has a beautiful garden. Used the treadmill, provided here, for sometime to energize body metabolism. An E n T medical officer examined my right ear and gave couple of drops and antibiotics for 2 days. After dinner retired to sleep at about 11 pm.
24th
A big landslide on way to Valley of Flowers is reported by the local SHO. Had to cancel the visit. Was sorry to see the plight of hundreds of tourists stranded on the other side. Quite a few pulled their suitcases on wheels for long distance, some with infants in the arms and kids following them. About 400 vehicles go to the area everyday.
As we could not go to the Yumthang valley, we visited Angora rabbit farm at Robom and Gurudwara at Chungtham, located within a radius of 20 kms on the suggestion and arrangement of the SHO. In the rabbit farm there were over 400 big and 200 small rabbits. There hair are cut periodically and fur caps, mufflers made. A new kind of experience. wished to buy some but none was available. These are booked in advance. But they were not in a position to do the advance booking. It, being a holiday, the office was closed.
We took a couple of rabbits in our hands and fondled.
At Gurudwara, a small stony mound emits water as much as you want and does not spill-over. Venita collected a bottle full. She said that she would give it to all children of the family to drink. It is considered Amrit by Sikhs and Nanak Dev's prasad. It is said that Nanak Dev visited this place.
On the suggestion of Venita, we returned Gangtok and did not stay at ITBP guest house. On way back to Gangtok, we visited a couple of monasteries.
A photograph taken from Gangtok-Nathula road
Retired to sleep at about 11 pm after dinner of our choice at Police guesthouse.
25th
At Gangtok, we went to C
enter of Tibetology and hand-loom center. Venita bought a carpet for about Rs 6900/-. There are already three at home which are occasionally used. Again we tried to see Kanchenjunga from Tashi point. Could not see due to clouds. Venita moved in the market.
I sat in Cafe Coffee Day sipping coffee. Returned Police guest house at about 8 pm.
26th
In South Sikkim,visited Nehang monastry. Next we went to Siddheshwar dham. It is a massive complex It has recreated Chardham and temples of all Jyotirlingas
. It has a food court. The tourists were having food, snacks , drinks there. As we did not find the place quite hygienic, we had food in a nearby restaurant. It also turned out to be much below expectation. Its look and upkeep were good but not food. We ordered Chinese and we could not decipher as to what we got. Was it Nepalese or mixture of sorts? Even the local driver with us could not tell. We could not see Samudrupise and Buddha park due to heavy fog. Level of visibility was quite low. Accommodation in NHPC guesthouse was comfortable and located in picturesque surroundings. Its massive station provides power to eastern grid. Retired to sleep at about 11 pm.
27th
Visited Buddha park on way to West Sikkim dist once again as we could not see it yesterday due to heavy fog. Worth a visit once.
In Buddha park
Despite poor infrastructure religious tourists flock to Sikkim in big numbers.
A Shiva temple was next in the itinerary.
At Shiva temple
One could skip it.
Palace ruins speak history of over 500 years at Rabdentse
We joined in prayer by Lamas at Pemayangtse monastry near Pelling in the evening., hqr of West Sikkim dist. Stayed in Norbu Ghang Resort..
Retired to sleep at about 11 pm.
28th May
Left Pelling, hqrs of west Sikkim district early morning. Reached Bagdogra just on time after an over 5 hour drive. The road was quite bad in patches. From Milli in W.B. it was fairly good. The Airlines did not give seats, booked by us, paying Rs 1200/-. I have requested the Travel agent to get the refund. The Airport security did not permit Venita to take Gurdwara water, so carefully collected and carried by her.
Returned Delhi at about 1420 hrs after a 2 hour flight. Children may be interested about certain facts, given below, relating to Sikkim :
Sikkim's population is about 6.1 lakhs with density of 76 persons per sqr km. It is spread over in 7096 sqr kms. It has four districts : North with hqr at Mongon; South at Namchi; West at Pelling and East at Gangtok .It's state animal is Panda (did not see one); Bird:Blood pheasant (did not see one) ; Flower: Nobile Orchid (saw many);Tree:Rhododendron niveum (saw many). It's temperature in summer: Minimum 13, Maximum:21 : Altitude: almost sea level to over 28000 ft (went upto 14000ft.).
