The Thrills in the Hills ~ Part II

30th Dec, we wake up late morning. We took a car to see #Gangtok City. Tour is called 7 point tour of Gangtok. It includes : Rope Way,Flower exhibition center, Ganesh Tok, Bakthank Fall, Tashi View Point, Gunjam Monastery,

First we went out for a ride on the ropeway. This is just a joy ride and it gives a top view of Gangtok City.As the weather was too clear we catch a glimpse of the mighty Kanchenjunga...

There was a place or view point besides the ropeway. We spent some time there. Maximum travelers were Bengalis in gangtok.

After that we visited flower exhibition hall. The hall is too crowded. So we skipped that and enjoyed outside the place. Garden is too clear and well maintained.

Our next was Ganesh Tok. View of  Kanchenjunga from there is clear. We get a magnificent view of  Kanchenjunga from there. We take tea and popcorn from there. Beautiful Ganesh temple located at 6100 ft height and this is the best place to see the Ariel view of Gangtok . Serenity of Ganesh Temple made us fresh.

Tashi view point is very next to Ganesh Tok. So we immediately reached the spot. We climbed a bit up to reach the view point. From here we saw the mountain range and snow covered mountain peaks.

Next is Gunjam Monastery. Gunjam Monastery is situated near Tashi View Point in Sikkim.we gets a beautiful view of Gangtok from the Monastery complex. Its good to see a monk rattling the prayer and it was so soothing that one felt like sitting for more and more time. After spending few minutes, we moved to our next spot Bakthang Fall.

We reached the spots, Bakthang Fall around 2PM . This a beautiful place to spend, breathe the fresh airs, and feel the freshness of falls. But alas!! I can't take photos because of low battery of camera.

As our next target is Rumtek, But before that, we have to take lunch and recharge the battery of camera. So we back to our hotel.

 It's 3:10, we started our journey to Rumtek. This is most famous monastery in Gangtok , it is 24 Km away from the City of Gangtok . Ohh!! there was another security check. We have to show individual identity proof. After that we walk uphills near about 1km. Then we reached Rumtek... 

It's afternoon. There was very little visitors at this time. So the place contains peace. 

We have seen the beautiful sculpture and dresses, masks and lots of Books inside the monastery. On the backside of the monastery, we have seen Golden Stupa .This is really a good place to feel the spiritual aura of Buddhism.

Hurries may kills the pace of travel and joy .We enjoyed a lots in our whole day trip and enjoyed every site in Gangtok .

To be continued in next blog...

The Thrills in the Hills ~ Part I

It was total unplanned tour. My husband arranged ticket in Tatkal. It was 28th Dec. We reached NJP around 11 a.m. We took jeep to Gangtok, the capital of the state of Sikkim which is nestled between China (Tibet), Bhutan and Nepal. Through the chaos of the town NJP,we started our drive up hill. On the foot hills of the Shivalik ranges, Gangtok welcomes you with it’s pleasant weather,peaceful roads and drool worthy chicken momos.

By the time we arrived in Gangtok at around 4 pm, the temperature was around 10-12 degrees. We checked into our rooms at Hotel POTALA. It is pure vegetarian hotel. After taking lunch and taking some rest we moved towards Mahatma Gandhi Road, the main hub of Gangtok, for scrolling. It is the main attraction of Gangtok for evenings the days you are in Sikkim.

The Gangtok is a clean and environmental friendly city with no traffic on M.G. road and is reserved only for tourist scrolling. The entire stretch is dotted with quaint little eateries, sweetmeat shops, gift stores and shops selling woolen clothes. It is a great place to spend an evening, enjoying the cool weather.

As it was unplanned tour, so we have to plan everything in a day. So planned Tsomgu, Baba Mandir for 29th Dec. Nathula is closed between Sunday to Wednesday. One important thing to remember, you need a permit to visit the Tsomgo lake as the lake is very near to China Border and is in a restricted area. There are couple of places on the way where photography is prohibited because of Army camp. Your guide or driver will make you aware of the same.

Next day morning, we took a shared jeep for Tsomgu and Baba Mandir. The roads are mostly bad and there is a lot of construction going on all through the way. Add to this the complications of fallen boulders, landslides etc and it was a slow journey.There were military establishments on the way..

As our car snaked its way to higher regions, the temperature dropped, an influx of picturesque sceneries appeared at regular intervals.

On the way, we saw energetic view of snow clad view and a small beautiful market place where we borrowed ice shoes. We finally completed the tiresome 35 km ride in approx 3.5 hours and arrived at Changu Lake. This lake is situated at a height of 12,000 ft & we were awestruck seeing the lake. Heaven on Earth!

The driver suggested we visit Baba Mandir first & then come back and visit Changu lake, as the Mandir was further uphill and road repairs were going on in that area. We agreed and without getting down from the cab proceeded further to Baba Mandir, which was 15 kms from Changu lake.

Way from Tsomgu to Baba mandir was covered with snow on either side & it was a pleasant drive all through and took about an hour. On the way, we saw lots of beautiful lakes, some of which were frozen.We had finally drove through the Himalayas.

Baba Mandir is situated at a height of 13,500 ft. This Mandir is built by army in memory of Baba Harbajan Singh who went missing from this place. At this place there were many water bottles & accessories of other soldiers also.

Everything Around Baba Mandir are completely covered in snow. It was my 1st time to see snow. So I was too much excited.

I was feel slightly exhausting because of the low oxygen. To get over I was eat Popcorn.After spending some time there, we headed back towards Changu Lake.

OOhh!!! it's just amazing. I was waiting for that moment for a long time. I remembered the song

Yeh Ishq Haaye Baithe Bithaye

Jannat Dikhaye Haan...

As Changu Lake was not totally frozen, driver halted near another frozen lake. Lake was looked like crystal. Snow is too deep around the lake.After playing in snow & taking numerous snaps, we had to leave the place.

We then drove to Tsomgo Lake, which is at 10,500 ft.The weather was sunny but cold wind blew through out. TSO means lake and MGO means head in Nepali language. Upon arriving at the lake and getting out of the jeep. As it has less high than Baba Mandir, so we feel the freezing weather.

Yaks were available for riding here. The lake is quite scenic. After some more photos, we went down to the very tiny Market of Tsomgo to see what the lunch options were. Momo was so yummy at there!!!

We then proceeded to return back to Gangtok. The return journey almost took the same time & by this time the clouds had begun to engulf us.

Next day we wake up late morning. We took a car to see Gangtok City. First we went out for a ride on the ropeway. As the weather was too clear we catch a glimpse of the mighty Kanchenjunga...

To be continued in next blog...