| Product: |
Sikkim |
| Date: |
15/01/08 (176 review reads) |
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Advantages: beautiful scenery that will take your breath away
Disadvantages: watch out for the mountain sickness
FACTUAL INFORMATION
Sikkim is a state in India nestled in the Himalayas. It has the smallest population in India and is the second smallest state in size after Goa. It has a population of 540,000 which makes up 0.05% of India's total population. If you consider there are 76 people per square mile in the state you can imagine how few people live there compared to say New York having 401 people per square mile and the UK having nearly 400!
The main religions of Sikkim are Hinduism, Buddhism and Christianity and local languages spoken include: Nepali, Bhutia, Limboo, Gurung, Sherpa and Tamang, The main occupations of Sikkim's residents including farming, government contractors and employees and cardamom growers. There are 82 police stations in the state and 6 hospitals as well as 24 primary health centres.
12 generations of Chogyals (kings of Sikkim) ruled the area for more than 300 years until 1975 the kingdom was abolished and Sikkim officially became India's 22nd state.
Although Sikkim is so small compared to other parts of India, it is geographically diverse due to being on the Himalaya. We had temperatures of 28 degrees in town and down to minus figures up in the mountains during our stay. The Kanchenjunga mountain range is on the boundary of Nepal and it was pretty much visible from wherever we were, whether we were out shopping in local markets or sightseeing during the day or at a restaurant in the evening.
Gangtok is the capital of Sikkim and this is where I stayed for 3 days and nights recently during a holiday in India.
The nearest airport to Sikkim is Bhagdogra which is 120 km away and it took us well over 5 hours to travel by car to Gangtok. Siliguri is the nearest town with a station and it's also 6 hours from there to Gangtok. The roads are such that it is difficult to get to speeds higher than 40-50 km per hour, most of the time it's much slower than that. A lot of the drive from Bhagdogra is on mountainous roads so you get a spectacular view of the mountains and scenery on your way. Hope you're not scared of heights if you're ever planning to visit this wonderfully scenic and serene plane in India! I would also point out that the gorgeous Teesta River flows through pretty much the whole state and is a real wonder to behold; I couldn't take my eyes of it for most of our journey into Gangtok as it was breathtakingly serene and truly really aqua or emerald in colour.
There are a wide range of hotels in Gangtok at different price ranges starting from 500 rupees a day (which is about £6.25).
PLACES OF INTEREST
I thought I'd briefly list some of the places recommended for visiting when in Sikkim and then I'll mention some of the places I actually visited having lost the best part of one day to mountain sickness (you don't know how rotten it is till you've experienced it yourself)!
On the Eastern side of Sikkim you have the Enchey Monsatery which is situation 3km from Gangtok and the Permanent Flower Show (which I really wish I'd had time to see as it sounds marvellous)! Then you have the Handloom and Handicrafts Centre, the Namgyal Institute of Tibetology, Nathula Pass (which non Indian nationals have to get a permit to visit through the Tourism Department), the Rumtek Dharma Chakra Centre (which fortunately I DID get to visit), Tsongo Lake, Jhakri Falls, Baba Mandir and Lingdum Monastery (the last 4 of which I also got the chance to visit).
In West Sikkim you have the Pemayangtse, Tashiding and Sanga-Choling Monasteries as well as Khecheopalri Lake and Sorent which is a beautiful village with fantastic landscapes.
In North Sikkim you have Singhik which gives you the closest views of Mount Khangchendzonga (try spelling that without looking it up)! There are also the Phodong and Phensang Monasteries and Yumthang which is 11,800 ft high and perfect for nature lovers. You also have the Guru-Dongmar Lake which is milky coloured and considered one of the most sacred lakes of Sikkim by Hindus and Buddhists.
In Southern Sikkim you can find the Temi Tea Gardens (the only one in the state) which produces international quality tea, Menam Hill which is at an altitude of 10,300 ft and the scenic village of Borong.
MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCES
We arrived in Sikkim on a Wednesday afternoon having spent about 6 hours travelling on mountainous roads with breathtaking views along the way from the airport. Most of the journey from Bagdogra airport was on what seemed to be very winding and rocky roads with groups of local women every few hundred yards in the process of collecting rocks and other debris off the road to make the roads safer for vehicles. We understood from our driver that these locals are paid to do this and are all in all weathers every day of the year. I saw children as young as 5 or 6 helping out their mothers which made me quite sad to see but they all seemed to be having fun doing so as they seemed full of energy with grins on their faces. For a large part of the journey we had the Teesta River down below which runs through a very large part of Sikkim - it was a beautiful sight to look at and even though it was a long way down and almost scary to look down the side of such a sharp drop the sight was so beautiful it was impossible to be scared and I spent much of the journey in awe of the beautiful scenery of the Teesta River below and the Khangchendzonga mountains above and in the distance. The Teesta River was mostly aquamarine in colour and was just so glorious to look at I can't describe fully how peaceful and happy it made me feel just to look down at it! Actually if I close my eyes now I can see the beautiful Teesta River now and transport myself back to that glorious journey!
We stopped halfway between the airport and Gangtok to have a bit to eat at a roadside café. It was clean enough but my cousin ordered us a plate of Chicken Momo (which is a sort of dumpling) each - I had never tasted this stuff and I never want to taste it again as it seriously made me want to bring it all back out the way it went in - and I'm not exaggerating! I don't know if this was the first sign of mountain sickness but I had less than one of the Momos of the six on my plate and couldn't bear to have any more. Maybe others will find it edible, but sadly it was not for me and I was somewhat worried as my cousin said it was the staple diet of this region! I asked to use the toilet and was pointed in the direction of a cubicle which wasn't even really private - I looked on in horror as I saw the traditional Indian toilet - two bricks on either side of a hole in the floor. I couldn't use it, I wasn't that desperate and anyway it didn't even have a door to close!
We arrived in Gangtok some hours later and I was very relaxed - the journey was slow but so picturesque it seemed to wash all thoughts of outside life away. Our driver was a little star, all the way there, he talked non-stop (after asking us if we wanted to know about various places and us agreeing) about the different places to see and the sort of people he had driven around before. It was highly amusing for my cousin and I when the driver said the staff at the roadside café had asked if my cousin and I were Bollywood film stars. I found this hilarious whilst my cousin was somewhat embarrassed! I think it might have been purely the fact that we were wearing sunglasses and no one else was!
We stopped at a waterfall on the way too which didn't have a name which I thought was rather strange as it really was gorgeous. Apparently many of the waterfalls are constant and are fed by spring water but some of them are fed their water by melting snow. We stopped to take some photos and I really didn't want to get back in the car as I was mesmerised by the sight of the water trickling down onto what looked like golden rocks!
We arrived at The Crystal Palace hotel, which is pretty much in the centre of Gangtok, at about 4pm and the driver asked us to come and have a look at the room first to see if we liked it before booking. It was a double room with en suite bathroom and my cousin and I were fine with it except it had a double bed - we wanted separate beds so they happily offered to bring us in a camp bed as all other rooms were double also or already booked and occupied. We waited till they brought in the camp bed and as it was sturdy and comfortable - what you most need, we were happy to stay. The room was 1000 rupees a night - £12.50.
We refreshed ourselves and then went to have a browse around the local markets. I bought a few knick knacks which were very cheap and very pretty, mostly souvenir and gift items and ridiculously cheap. Our driver trying to be helpful kept trying to bargain with the market stall owners which was pretty redundant as the majority of them refused to bring down their prices at all. I wasn't bothered about the bargaining as they didn't seem to like it and the stuff was so cheap anyway, I didn't want the headache of upsetting the vendors. They were actually waving people away who kept trying to get the prices lowered and at the end of the day, if they know they're going to be able to sell their products for the prices marked on them why would they bring down their prices?
We went to a smart looking Chinese restaurant which was labelled "Bar and Restaurant" on the outside - but had no actual name! Funnily enough, they had no bar and no drinks at all, not even soft drinks. So we had a lovely dinner there, couldn't even put a name to the place and had to drink still mineral water which is all they had in the way of beverages, The place was clean, very pleasant to look at and the food was delicious, so we were happy enough.
Our driver had organised a local tour guide to take us out the next day who charged us 1400 rupees to drive us around the sights for the whole day. He is a registered tour guide and you are not allowed to use your own driver in Sikkim for touring purposes - you can only use a local tour guide. Our driver was organised by a family friend and we kept him with us for safety reasons (being two women alone is not recommended in any part of India) and he stayed in staff quarters in the hotel at night.
The first day out touring we drove up into the mountains for a few hours and went up to 12,500 ft to visit a Sikh shrine called Baba Mandir. By the time we got here I was feeling really nauseous - mountain sickness - it's the first time I've been up in a car to that height and it apparently gets everyone. I had no idea what was wrong with me and I hated the feeling of helplessness - there's 25% less oxygen at that height and I felt dizzy and lethargic and just wanted to go to sleep. The Baba Mandir is not actually a temple (Mandir means temple) - it's a place dedicated to a soldier who died in the late 60s called Harbhajan Singh - apparently he appeared in a dream to a fellow soldier shortly after his death and asked for a monument to be built in his memory and they did it - the place has now acquired a status of a pilgrimage. What is strange is that he is still paid a salary to this day (decades after his death the salary is paid to his widow) and he has been promoted to a major, and not forgetting to mention that a solider (not a commoner) hand washes his uniform EVERY day even now and polishes his army boots/shoes! I heard some very strange tales about how a chauffeured car picks him up and takes him to work and he goes home for the holidays in a train compartment reserved solely for him and also how people have gone to the Baba Mandir looking for peace and have felt "him" touching their shoulder to grant them their wishes. I don't really believe in that stuff myself but the weirdest thing was my mountain sickness disappeared for the duration of my visit to that place and as soon as I left I felt ill again!
We stopped at Tsongo Lake (which is considered a holy lake) on the way back down to Gangtok (at an altitude of 12,400 ft) having decided to write off the day due to my sudden illness but I was too ill to even get out of the car. I was very disappointed not to see the Lake itself but I asked my cousin and our driver and tour guide to take photos for me and encouraged my cousin to have a yak ride which she really enjoyed after being a bit nervous about it initially. The photos were lovely but it was a shame I didn't get to see it myself.
That evening, after I had a few hours rest back at the hotel and was feeling almost human again, we asked if we could go out to a nice restaurant where we could have a relaxed meal and a few drinks. Our driver took us to The Crowne Plaza hotel where we dined in the very posh restaurant, seated by the window so we could see practically the whole of Gangtok by night and the mountains in the distance. It really was an amazing night time view. We found the staff very efficient and friendly, they all spoke fluent English and nothing was too much trouble for them during our meal. There was a power cut during our meal and we were only without light for moments before they got the back up generator switched on. It was very strange looking out of the window and seeing complete darkness when earlier we had seen the whole state lit up like a fairy tale! Our meal for two of us with alcoholic drinks (including a couple of cocktails each) came to under £25. Considering we had 4 or 5 drinks each as well as starters and main course, this was a real bargain for me and I insisted to my cousin that I get the bill. They accepted my credit card with no problems for payment. I always worry when in India in case they say they don't take credit cards or the machine isn't working...
The following day we left the hotel at about 8am to drive to Lingdum Monastery which was an absolutely stunning place to visit. Before you enter the monastery there are prayer wheels on a wall and it's supposed to be good luck if you walk along the wall spinning each wheel till you reach the end. We all did this and it was good fun, although exhausting as there seemed to be 100s of wheels to spin and they're not exactly light! The lamas (Buddhist monks) were extremely friendly and welcoming and it was delightful to see monks as young as 3 or 4 years old running around playing, studying, laughing and singing. We were shown inside the actual monastery and at no time did we feel any pressure to make a donation (but we freely did when we found the only donation box in the huge grounds). We were allowed to take as many photos as we wanted and the lamas were happy to pose with us for shots too. As soon as you walk into the main grounds you have to stand and stare in awe at the beauty of it all. With Tibetan Buddhist architecture all around and pagoda styled roofs surrounding the courtyard, we spent a good half hour just looking around in wonder. You need to remove your shoes to enter the main chapel where it was very peaceful, except for a very annoying male visitor talking at the top of his voice on his mobile phone! The main Buddha statue inside is about 5 meters high and seemed very life-like. When we left the monastery there was a little shop where you could buy souvenirs, not like here where tourists are charged extortionate prices for any kind of souvenirs but very nominal prices for things like tea, incense sticks, biscuits, etc. From what our driver told us when we asked why there were such young children there as monks, apparently people from the region are supposed to give up one of their sons to become a lama. People are quite happy to do it apparently as it's tradition and every single lama I saw there seemed genuinely happy and at peace.
Next we visited another waterfall - Jhakri Falls Park powered by solar energy. The park seems to be in the process of being repaired or completed but we were still able to wander around freely looking at the huge waterfall, a colourful dragon on the lake, Shiv Mandir in a cave and other bright and dazzling items! The entry is supposed to be 15 rupees a head but we weren't charged anything - possibly due to the construction work going on around us?
Next we visited the Rumtek Dharma Chakra Centre, also in East Sikkim, which although lovely didn't mesmerize me quite as much as the Lingdum Monastery. This is actually the largest monastery in Sikkim and it's based on a hilltop which faces the city of Gangtok. It's quite a long trek from parking your car to entering the grounds and making your way up to the actual main monastery which has an armed guard outside who reminds you that you are not allowed to take photos inside. As if to prove they mean it, there are reels of film hanging down from the wall to show what happens if you try to take photos. The Golden Stupa houses statues made of pure gold, so one can understand the need for armed security although you'd have to be superman to be able to carry any of the artefacts out of there on foot! Opposite the Golden Stupa is Karma Shri Nalanda Institute for Higher Buddhist Studies which we weren't allowed to enter.
OVERALL
I think I've given you a good idea of what I experienced whilst in Sikkim - I went there quite by accident, I was supposed to visit Darjeeling but couldn't due to political problems out there meaning the whole state was closed to the public.
The people of Sikkim were friendly to an extent but I have to admit that I didn't find the people in the shops and markets as friendly as the people of Calcutta who always seem to be bright and breezy. I was advised that people of Sikkim tend to drink every day, due to the cold weather - they should come and live here - then they'll know what really cold weather is! At the end of November, they were wearing hats, coats and scarves and I didn't need to even wear a jumper for the 4 days I was there! I noticed the smell of alcohol on the breath of many people from early morning onwards which made me feel somewhat uncomfortable.
I will always cherish my trip to Sikkim - I would love to go again and visit some of the places I didn't get to see - I really fancy seeing some more monasteries - they were really stunning to behold and so peaceful, I could have moved in! But I'm a woman, I wouldn't be allowed to live there!
n.b. Also published on ciao.co.uk under the same username
Summary: Highly recommended - don't forget to take comfortable shoes
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