Saturday, December 20, 2008

Sunday, December 14, 2008

1 day Tour from Pelling


Major attractions of Pelling can be covered up by a 1 day tour from Pelling. This tour consists of 2 parts....in the 1st half you'll be seeing 1. Kanchanjangha Falls 2. Rimbi Rock Garden 3. Khecheperi Lake and in the second half u'll see Singshore Bridge. For this tour you've to contact the local travel agencies. Try to start the tour within 8 am in the morning because there are several places to see and it'll take much more time to enjoy the beauty of each place.

After starting the journey, u'll be reached the place Kanchanjangha Falls. This is a very big falls and sometimes depending on the weather, Rainbow can be seen at the bottom of the falls. To reach very near to the falls is very risky as because there are many stones which can slide and an accident may occur anytime. But dont worry.....local people out there will help u out to reach near to the falls. After this place you'll be going to Rimbi Rock Garden. It’s a big place to have fun and u can enjoy here even for 2 hrs. Basically it’s a nature park which is surrounded by mountains. When you are going down through the stairs from the road to the park, u can see the overview of the entire park and it looks awesome. There are several good places to sit on and enjoy the beauty of mountains. A river flows through the entire park in one side of the park and there are lots of small and big rocks scattered in the water. You can go to that rocks, sit over there, enjoy with the flowing chilled water. There are several flowers to be seen there at the season time. After Rimbi Rock Garden u’ll reach to Khecheperi Lake. Its’s a Lake surrounded by small hills and it is famous as it is a very holy place. Puja is done often in front of the lake. There are 2 temples near to that Lake. After seeing khecheperi Lake u’ll be going to the hotel for lunch.

In the second half u’ll be goin to Singshore Bridge which is nearly 1 hr distance from pelling. U’ll reach there in the evening time and it is very cold out there at that time. In the earlier days vehicles were allowed to pass through the bridge but now a days vehicles are not allowed. This is the hanging bridge which connects the two hills and the view of the bridge is very nice. This is the highest bridge in Sikkim. The downward view from this bridge is mind blowing which includes the sight of beautiful waterfalls. This would be the end of that day’s tour.

Local side scenes of Pelling


To cover the local side scenes of Pelling, 2 days will be enough. Apart from its natural beauty, the attractions in Pelling include Sanga-Choeling Monastery that is reachable after a casual walk through a steep hilly slope. Usually it takes nearly 1 hr to reach the monastery which is situated at the top of a small hill. On the way the whole pelling can be seen. But before going to Sanga-Choeling Monastery u can go to the new helipad ground. This two attractions fall in the same way. Behind the Helipad ground a beautiful view of Kanchanjangha is seen. This is a very nice position to click photos. If u reach the town pelling within noon time, then after doing lunch and having rest u can go out for the above 2 places at around 2.30pm. U'll get back to hotel within 5.30pm.
Only 2 places are left to see for the next day. 1. Rabdentshe and 2. Premeyangshe. Both these places are near to each other and the distance of these places from upper pelling is few kms. You can either go by bus/car or u can walk for nearly 40 mins to reach out there. On the way u’ll see several trees full of some unseen fruits.
Rabdentshe is the ancient capital of Sikkim. It is a big place where u’ll find the ancient constructions and garden full of various flowers. There is an entry gate beside the road and after getting in u’ll find a cottage and a small lake. Ahead of the lake u’ll find a path made of stone, towards the ancient capital. U have to walk atleast for 15 mins as because the path is very long. On the way u’ll find jungles in the two sides of the path. Walking alone in that path can be scary. It’s hard to find anyone in that area. After reaching the ancient capital, u’ll be seeing a map of the capital and on the way there will be several banners which indicates what further distance u’ve to walk. In the ancient capital, now a days some local people resides and there is a small playground where the local children plays. Sometimes many people come there for picnic. It’s a nice place for that. From here u can see the premeyangshe monastery. From one side of this place a huge view of mountains is seen which is very rare to see.

After Rabdentshe u’ll be going to Premeyangshe monastery which is approx 20 mins walking distance from rabdentshe. The road which ends at Premeyangshe, has very high slope. This is one of the big and popular monasteries of Sikkim. It has 2 floors inside and there are many things to be seen inside. Upto now the local side scenes of pelling has been covered up.

Pelling: A ideal place for spending holidays


Pelling is the one of the mojor tourist spots of Sikkim and Pelling tour generally starts from NJP/Siliguri(North Bengal). Both bus and cars are available to go to pelling. Generally it'll take nearly 5 hrs from NJP station to pelling. On the way u'll enjoy the scenic beauties of mountains.


Pelling is a town in the district of West Sikkim and is located at an altitude of nearly 7200ft. Generally I think the best time to visit pelling is from the month of december to march. u'll get clear weather all the day long in the month December and january. In night, temperature falls down to 2/3degree C. After reaching pelling u can enjoy the glorious view of the world’s 3rd highest peak Kanchanjangha. This is best viewed in the month of December and January and the view of Kanchanjangha from pelling is better than that from Gangtok.


Generally the town pelling is divided into 2 parts…Upper peling and lower pelling. The local market is situated at lower pelling and upper peling is comparatively less congested and full of hotels. Every year in the christmas eve, a festival is organized at the heart of pelling where people from all over the sikkim comes and have a great time. Even many people from Bhutan also comes. Bands from several corner of sikkim and siliguri comes to perform at the festival. The center of upper pelling is the former helipad ground where the festival takes place and from this position 5 peaks of Kanchanjangha can be seen.

Yumthang Tour


The Yumthang tour starts from Gangtok and it takes minimum of 2 days. The distance of Yumthang from Gangtok is approx 145 km. Lachung is the village which falls on the way to Yumthang. On day 1 u’ll be going to Lachung and u’ve to stay there overnight. Lachung has an altitude of 9600 ft. Beautiful fast flowing waterfalls, snow capped mountains, Lachen & Lachung River, Lachung Monastery….all this makes Lachung a perfect holiday destination. On the next day morning u’ll be going to Yumthang which nearly 24 kms from the village Lachung.


Yumthang is situated at an altitude of 12,000 ft. It is generally called “the valley of flowers” as in flowering season there blossoms variety of Rhododendrons, chimals and blue poppies. Yumthang is located on a flat valley and the surrounding mountains seems to kiss the Heaven. On the way from Lachung to Yumthang u will see 108 types of Orchids which bloom in different colours from april-may. The main thing about Yumthang is that the valley is totally covered with snow in winter(November end-march) and with flowers in summer. On day 2, u can come to Gangtok directly or u can stay that day at Lachung(for 3 days Yumthang package) and come back to Gangtok in the next day. That is the end of theYumthang tour.

Tukala and Baba-Mandir


From Tshangu Lake it will take around 1 hr to reach Baba-Mandir. Actually this is a temple surrounded by hills and it falls beside the main road. The name of the temple ‘BabaMandir’ was given in the name of an Indian army who died few years back. After his death the temple was formed. U may also get snow near to BabaMandir temple.


From Baba-Mandir, the road goes to Nathula and Tukala. there is a place which is quite unknown to most of the tourists in Sikkim. The name of the place is Tukala and it is 10 km away from Nathula. But the place Tukala is one of the best places of Sikkim and it is a must see place. The view of Kanchanjangha from that place is awesome. U’ll get the wide glamorous view of Kanchenjangha and infront of the peak u'll see the whole space is covered by cloud. Believe me u’ll feel that u r seeing Heaven infront of u and to see that view of Kanchenjangha will be a lifetime achievement. On one side of the road u’ll find snow in the slope of the mountain and u can play with snow at Tukala.


The Tshangu tour which is conducted from Gangtok includes Tshangu Lake, Baba-Mandir, Nathula, Tukala. This four places are covered in one day.

Nathula: India-China border at Sikkim


Nathula is the India-China border and is situated at an altitude of 14,000 ft. To visit Nathula one need a special permit/pass which can be issued by the local travel agencies of Gangtok.There is a limit of the number of cars which will be given the permission to visit to Nathula. Sometimes max. 40 cars get the pass per day for Nathula.


The best way to go to Nathula is to start the journey from Gangtok. Tshangu Lake falls on the way to Nathula. Some people faces breathing problem after reaching nathula because of the altitude of 14,000 ft. After reaching there u’ve to walk for 5-7 mins so that u can see the India-China border in front of u. The border place where the people are allowed to go, at that place the border is made by 5-6 thick wires. On one side there are Indian army and on the other side there are Chinese army. Both country’s flags are there in two sides. U can shake ur hands with the Chinese army, even take photographs of yours with them and u’ll see many people are doing that. Even it is sometimes seen, Indian army shaking hands with Chinese army. U can see the roads and mountains which falls in the part of China. There is a cafeteria in Nathula. Certificates are given in the name of the willing person whoever wants, at the cost of Rs 50/-. The certificate states that the person has arrived at nathula which is 14,000 ft high.