Sikkim – The Shangri-la of India

One of the holiday destinations, I had been long contemplating to visit was Gangtok in Sikkim. I along with my family and my friend’s family went on a 6 day trip to Sikkim. I would like to share my experience with you through this article.

Sikkim is a small state, in the North East part of India with a small population of just 5.5 lakh people. The state is surrounded by 3 countries, Bhutan, Nepal and China. As a result, Gangtok serves as an army base, to secure the protection at the borders. It was interesting to know, that Sikkim was an independent country till 1975, after which it became a part of India. Though Sikkim has their own state language, Sikkimese, most people speak Nepalese. Of course, they can converse in Hindi too. The nearest airport to reach Sikkim, is Bagdogra in West Bengal. From there it is a 5 hour drive on the hilly terrain to Gangtok.

Sikkim is divided into 4 districts, North Sikkim , East Sikkim, South Sikkim and West Sikkim. Our tour spanned across 3 districts, excepting for West Sikkim. Gangtok is in East Sikkim and also the capital of the state.

On our way to Gangtok, there was a place where we could do white water rafting at the Teesta river. It was so much of thrill and fun. There are a number of attractions in and around Gangtok, such as Buddhist Monasteries, Flower Gardens, Temples, Falls and the Tsmogo lake located at 12,000ft above sea level, making it the most popular tourist destination. We spend 2 days in Gangtok seeing all these places.

Though Gangtok is beautiful, there are a lot more less popular places that are even more beautiful. For instance, Lachung and Yamthang, which are located in North Sikkim are extremely beautiful, as nature is in it’s pristine best. Lachung is a beautiful place, with mountains on all sides with a stream of river flowing in the middle of the town. Driving another 25 kms upward, we reached Yamthang which has a valley of flowers. Beautiful flowers of red, pink, white and purple cover the place, making it a treat for our eyes.

The next day, we proceeded to a place called Namchi in South Sikkim. Namchi, has a beautiful view point of the world’s third largest peak, Kanchenjunga. There is also a Shiva Mandir called Chardham, which encompasses a mega size statue of Lord Shiva.

After spending a night there, we proceeded back to the Bagdogra airport, carrying beautiful memories of Sikkim.

Momos, Thukpa, Wai Wai and Maggi Noodles became a part of our daily food. There aren’t many full fledged restaurants, but these foods are cooked and served in small provision stores, which serve as an eatery too.

A few things worth being mentioned are, the cleanliness, discipline and friendliness of the people there. It is just amazing and worth emulating for every other Indian state. There is no litter thrown outside. Every cab has a garbage bag in which the waste is put and later disposed by the cab driver. If any passenger is caught throwing any litter out of the car, then the cab driver is fined Rs.1000/- so they are quite concerned about this. Also there is no overtaking of lanes. If they overtake, there is a spot fine of Rs.5000/- This law and order mechanism ensures cleanliness and discipline in the state.

A saying goes, “Difficult roads often lead to beautiful destinations”. This perfectly matches with Sikkim. As it is a hilly terrain and as about 50% of the road are just dangerous dirt roads, we were to able to cover an average of only 20kms per hour. Though we spent hours of travelling, beauty enveloped us from all sides, making every sight an awesome experience.

No wonder, Sikkim is called the Shangri la of India. It is definitely a place, everyone must visit at least once.

 

 D. Senthil Kannan,

Managing Trustee, PALMS, Tuticorin.

Author of "Transformational Thoughts" - A Journey of learning 

Email: senthilkannand@gmail.com