All Girls Weekend trip to North Sikkim
- Jajabor-যাযাবর
- Jul 8, 2021
- 6 min read
Updated: Aug 13, 2021
Was checking with the calendar and found Holi was on Monday. Though staying in Howrah for more than a decade, I’ve never been to Sikkim. Out of blue, I thought of visiting Sikkim. Now important question was in three days which part of Sikkim should I visit. After doing thorough google search and going through many comments in trips advisor and sikkimgovt website, I decided on North Sikkim.
In North Sikkim, standard tour packages are Gangtok-Lachen tour ( 1N and 2D) and Gangtok- Lachen- Lachung tour ( 2N and 3D). since it was three day tour, I opted for Gangtok- Lachen tour. while enquiring with tour operators, I found that the cost was Rs32,000 to Rs35,000 including pickup and drop to NJP/Baghdogra, all required accommodation in sikkim, travel and food for the whole tour. but the price was pretty high for a solo traveler like me. though I’ve heard that one can reach gangtok previous day and visit tour operators in MG Marg ( there are plenty of them), they will try to patch you up with any family for the tour, will take 3k-5k per head including accommodation and food ( which is so within my budget) but for that I’ll need to take leaves which I was avoiding.
So instead I started asking my friends if they were interested in the tour. Initially nobody showed any interest. so I booked myself train ticket from HWH to NJP, with extra one day ( to book the shared tour within 3K in Gangtok) and a hotel in Gangtok for one day. I had booked treebo nettle and fern, you guys can also check with Tag alone hostel for stay.
One week prior to my travel, three of my friends pitched in. So, we contacted travel agent though hotel who charged us Rs18500 for trip ( includes travel from gangtok to lachen, lachen to gurudongmar lake to Baghdogra on same day with accommodation and food in lachen for four people). All set, we started packing our bags. I was arriving in gangtok one day earlier than rest of our team, so thought of exploring Fambonglho wild life Sanctuary. in actual I didn’t get to visit the sanctuary but found something more precious (you will find that soon!)
The day when I boarded train from Howrah rly station for New Jalpaiguri Rly Stn
After an overnight journey, our train touched NJP at 7am. from there I shot out toward exit. just outside station, there are vehicles shouting for various destination like Nepal, Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Gangtok. I followed the person who shouted Gangtok. vehicle will leave with 10 passengers or the conveyance of 10 passenger. If you want to leave earlier, you can pay for the remaining vacant passengers. say, if there are only 8 people, and you want to leave, so can pay for 2 people and the vehicle will leave. In Mar’21, it costed Rs350 per head to reach Gangtok ( Deorali ) in shared vehicle. we left NJP at 8.30am.
we stopped in middle for lunch/ brunch break. I had chicken thukpa in a newly opened restaurant. ( not the one where the vehicle stopped ) I don’t recall the name ( something with mountains) but it was open ended, filled with air, white in colour and open space while others were dark and closed with black windows. It was tasty, costed Rs110.
we reached Deorali at around 2pm. If you want to go to MG Marg and have only one backpack, you can take ropeway like me or can hire taxi there to your hotel. I hiked 10mins to ropeway near Deorali for MG Marg.
I got down in next stop and walked down for 5 mins to reach MG Marg. for ropeway you will require cash. Approx Rs110- Rs120 for adult. ( forgive me for these tentative amounts, I don’t remember the exact cost) https://ropeways.com/project/gangtok-sightseeing-ropeway/
As you recall I had planned to visit Fambonglho wild life Sanctuary, therefore I had booked “Ayushvana Homestay” https://www.facebook.com/AyushvanaHs/ in that area. you can find the homestay in facebook. I had contacted Lucky- 9382840421/ 9564916363 for stay. since he’s working near MG Marg, he told me that he will pick me up from MG Marg and will take me to homestay. he would have finished his work by 3.30pm, so I went to have my lunch in “Taste of Tibet” https://www.google.com/maps/place/Taste+Of+Tibet/@27.3276559,88.6126059,15z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0x85608abc48d63f00!8m2!3d27.3276559!4d88.6126059 in MG Marg.
After lunch, I connected with lucky and started off towards his homestay in Tintek.
On way, we stopped on Himalayan Cafe to have some salted tea. you can mount the stairs to have amazing view of pines and mountains while sipping tea
We reached Ayushvana Homestay at around 6.30pm.
The next morning for me defined happiness curtsey to the three kids in the house. so much so that I didn’t mind skipping the wildlife sanctuary and went with the flow
Hitchhiked from Tintek to BSNL head office and then walked toward MG marg to join my friends in Gangtok
It's effort to locate few restaurants in MG Marg. took 20 mins to locate bhutia kitchen
Paa with rice Bhutia Kitchen
Ghyma chilli, Ema datshi (not in pic) from bhutia kitchen in MG Marg
carrot cheesecake from tag alone in development area
at Tag alone cafe
Breakfast at Hotel
Rang Rang Bridge near Mangan
while passing through numerous waterfalls, we reached lachen at around 7pm. lugging our backpacks into our assigned room, we were striving up on the hilly streets.
It was freezing 2 degree centigrade and dropped to zero degree at 11pm. there was washing machine, geyser in washroom but no room heater! we bought local wine and old monk to survive the night. please note that price of stuff increases as you go upward from gangtok, mrp won’t work. i.e item costing Rs65 ( Saino red wine) will be Rs120 in Lachen. Don’t have much expectation with food there. dinner/ lunch was plain rice, dal, egg and veggies ( here veggies means potato or some saag or cabbage)
I didn't dare to go further because if I somehow collapse, nobody could come down except army ( which would be much later).
Me and my awkward relationship with lens
my friends were giving me piece of their mind because as per them, while I was roaming around mindlessly, they were suffering shortage of breath for past 30 mins. to my defense, since I was out there for 40-50mins without facing any issue, I thought they were safe in the car
on way to Baghdogra, seeing the reviews in website, we had ordered packed dinner ( momos, wonton and soup) from shuffle momos, but we didn’t enjoy it. we had tasted much better stuff in Taste of Tibet and in Kolkata. so guys, avoid places which are hyped by marketing
Notes for Solo/ group Women travelers to north Sikkim:
Book tickets in advance
Carry least amount of luggage. repeat clothes. use backpacks, its easier to move around
If going in group, book travels enlisted in Sikkim govt portal or from your hotel. make sure to confirm availability of room heater in Lachen
Carry energy bars like that of UNIBEC, Yoga bars, camphor, salted Ajwain ( all limited numbers, you are not there to feed whole population) and your own water bottle. ( they will fine you with Rs7000 if they find plastic bottles in your vehicle in North Sikkim)
keep biodegradable wipes and sanitizers/ surface disinfectant with you
Don’t litter on road. keep a pouch with you, stack the leftover there and properly throw it in dustbin in gangtok
Keep 5k cash with you
In gangtok, if going solo, try to stay in Tag alone or Treebo nettle or any hotels after checking their reviews. stay in homestays. there’s not much in gangtok, frankly I didn’t like the city. don’t take it in other way. I was travelling from city to hills with an expectation but on reaching gangtok I found that I’m back in concrete jungle.
Try local food in Taste of Tibet, Bhutia Kitchen. Chitto delivery/ Dash is home/ hotel delivery system, you can order food in your location. its just like Zomato and swiggy
Taste local wine and Rhododendrons wine ( we didn’t get to taste it)
You can try paragliding for Rs3OOO+500 ( for videos)
Carry 6-10 copies of passport size pictures (self) and photocopy of voter-id/passport/driving license
keep yourself fit before visiting gurudongmar lake; walk everyday for 30mins or do some freehand exercise, it will make your time at 18000ft comfortable. I stayed there for 50 mins ( comfortably) instead of 10mins ( as maintained by most people)
there are shared taxi s running on streets of gangtok with price ranging from Rs10 to Rs100. know your location. if you are about to go downhill, like development area to MG Marg, simply walk. walking downhill is easy and safe. there is separate pavement for pedestrian.
For three days, with flights and reserved travel, we spent Rs12000/ head. if solo, you can go with shared travels and cost will be much less, within Rs7000-Rs8000/ head.
Its safe for women to travel. be cautious before trusting unknowns. most of the people are friendly and good in nature. one of the taxi driver in taxi stand very kindly showed me the way while I was getting confused and almost panicking with google maps to reach hotel at 8.30pm.
We didn’t get to visit the monasteries due to covid 19, have heard that they are beautiful
Stay away from gangtok
If you can’t manage enough time, visit Sikkim in parts; i.e North Sikkim ( Lachen/ Lachung), west Sikkim, east Sikkim or south Sikkim. I have only visited lachen in three days, it was hectic. will need to visit again to explore
Come here with time ( minimum 4-5 days for any one part like north Sikkim). walk more on foot, indulge in local culture, stay in unknown location, go with homestays, carry your own baggage and find happiness
Credits:
Pics credit- Amrita, Abhishek, Lucky, Tania and Suchandra
Proof check- Saket
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