West Sikkim : Unexplored Wonder

“Sir !! Today is the last day of pooja ,dussehra ,the streets will be extremely crowded,if the mahananda bridge is blocked i will have to drop you there itself and then you are on your own” our taxi driver sanjay was trying to justify 700rs he had charged for bagdogra airport to siliguri drop while 4 of us struggled to fit into tiny alto car.

We had landed in bagdogra an hour back and were on the way to pick up zoom car to start our much awaited sikkim roadtrip.

North eastern states have always been on my travel radar ,we started making initial plans for all the north eastern states , sikkim won the race over meghalaya-manipur / Arunchal -assam . Sikkim had least daily travel distance and that meant we would get more time to explore the places than the driving itself. 

7 people enrolled ,whatsapp grp was formed and the date to book flight tickets was decided , on the day of booking only 4 turned up , same 4 were now praying for godess durga to open the mahananda bridge in bagdogra so that we can pick up our zoom car and begin the journey.

Fortunately for us the bridge was open and we could reach the zoom car parking lot , we quickly picked up the car and we were cruising towards Kalimpong , for the next 15 days sikkim had us in owe , it entertained us , mesmerised us and left us spellbound on many occasions , here are some of the glimpse of its beauty which cannot be described in words hence the photo story.

We had planned our route in such a way that we will be travelling through the crux of sikkim , starting from west sikkim district and then to north. West Sikkim is the least touristy place hence very untouched and peaceful.

Uttarey : Living with the Sherpa's

in the north east the sun sets happens as early as 5:30 , by 6--6:30 it would be pitch dark , we had decided that we will not drive in the dark hence we decided to stay at kalimpong . Dussehra holidays are usually peak tourist season but this year due to bodo agitation and doklam standoff , tourists have turned their back at kalimpong , luckily for us that meant we got the rooms in beautiful sherpa lodge for 2k , with view like this it was worth it

Uttarey is at 110kms from Kalimpong. The owner of Sherpa Lodge in Kalimpong had warned us about the road condition which changes continously from good to bad to worst in no time however the scenic beauty keeps getting better and better

owner of shepa lodge in kalimpong had asked us to take Jorethang - Malabasey - Soreng route instead of the one through Zoom village , locals in jorethang however suggested us to stay with zoom route , even though its steep, is the shorter one. Glad we continued on the same road , road leading to zoom is one of the most beautiful we had seen , sikkim welcomed us with all its beauty.

Uttarey , unlike the name suggests is not the northern most place in sikkim , its lies at the foothills of the great east himalayan ranges , a small town of not more than 100-150 houes , most of them either hotels or homestays. We were to stay here at Sherpa Homestay . Uttarey can disappoint you at first , has no great view however it has many hidden treasures for those who explore

uttarey is a bordering village on indo-nepal border surrounded by jungles everywhere , we were on the way to a small hike to Mainbus waterfall in Barsey Rhododendron Sanctuary 

a government run trout breeding farm , we had started making trout dinner plans but the owner refused to sell us even a single fish as it was a government property

Mainbus waterfall is about 5 kms trek from uttarey , the route leads via dense jungles and small water streams , the leeches are everywhere but you do get used to them after first few bites , rhododendrons bloom in the month of march and april , the same trail goes towards chawbhanjan pass , which is part of the goe cha la trek

in barsey sanctuary you are never far away from water , its everywhere and in plenty

the forest is streight out of lord of the rings movie 

one thing you need to get used to in north east is the leech , they are everywhere and have amazing ability to get you even in unlikeliest of places , on one such occasions in the later part of the journey we were standing on a bridge and our friend nitin got the leech to his hand , you have to respect their tenacity , they are harmless though blood thirsty , you can simply pull them out with hands or stick , or use salt to make them leave you , the bites however can be itchy afterwords , do keep some anti infection cream handy

after a walk for more than an hour , our guide lead us through a thicket saying waterfall is nearby , we saw this hidden beatuy , the mainbus waterfall , its hidden in the jungle , the efforts are worth it

Uttarey also has a monastery which we could not visit , but its in the middle of a forest and would be a great place to visit

Uttarey Contact Details 

Shepra Home stay :- http://www.sikkimsherpahomestay.com , (+91) 97330-10501

Yuksam : The Peace Capital 

Yuksam or Yuksum was the first capital of Sikkim back in 1641 AD , the first king of sikkim was crowned here but for me Yumsam is the most peaceful place i have visited , its has a charm different from all the places i have visited , i have visited some of the most remote places in india but Yuksam despite of not being that remote has extremly calming influence , its one of the places you will feel bad leaving.

singshore bridge near uttarey , it was once asia's second highest suspension bridge

uttarey to sikkim is about 60kms distanct however it takes around 4-5 hours , one can visit alpines cheese factory in Dentham and enjoy the waterfalls like this , Sangay waterfall on the way 

Rimbi waterfall near pelling 

Khecheperi lake or khechedoparli lake as its locally known is in shape of a foot , its a holy lake , locals belive that even the birds do not pollute it and pick up the leaves fallen in the lake , despite of forest surrounding there was not even a single leave in the lake water, khechedoparli means the mountain of blissful heaven as per the local story the lake was formed when two cronshells fell from sky , its supposed to be the resting place of protective nymph

Yuksam means the meeting place of three great lamas's , back in 1641 these three great men got together for the crowing of first king or chogyal as its called of sikkim , Yuksom is the gateway to kanchenjunga national park , treks for Dzongri  goecha la start from here

Dubdi monastery is the oldest of them in sikkim , its a small hike from yuksam , we couldnt go in as it was closed but nonetheless we used the opportunity to meditate in the peaceful surroudings

the jungles around dubdi are equally wonderful , one can continue from dubdi and take one of the trails in the jungle to reach yuksam on foot 

new monastery at night 

it was a full moon night and we couldnt not miss the chance to capture glowing peaks of kubra from the terrace of Limboo homestay

the coronation stones

Limboo Homestay

Where would you get the best food in sikkim ? its the limboo homestay in Yuksam for sure. They have more than comfortable rooms at affordable prices but their main USP is the food , Vegetarian food. The vegetables are grown in their own garden and even the cheese is homemade.

wooden cottages are available at 1800 per , garden in front is where all the vegetables are grown

fish tank , notice the innovative use of plastic bottles as the fense

Yuksam Contact Details Limboo Homestay :- http://limboohomestay.com/Contact :-+918348167763

Pelling : Balcony view of Kanchenjunga Ranges

Everyone coming to pelling has one single goal , to see the great mountain kanchenjunga , a small hill station spreading for not more than few hairpin bends , all the hotels in pelling are facing in one single direction and you know where you would be seeing the great ranges. Finding the right hotel however it a trick , we booked ours in the last minute using makemytrip app at discounted price , Summit Newa Regency has strategically created balconies so that kanchenjunga is never off your site 

mount kanchenjungs is the 3rd tallest mountain in the world at the height of 8598mts and is believed to be the toughest of them all , even difficult than mount everest or K2 due to frequent avalanches , its a holy mountain , people of sikkim believe that its home to goddess kanchenjunga hence the moutanin cannot be scaled from India , Mountaineers do that from Nepal side but no one can summit the peak , expeditions if successful often end few meters below the top point as mark of respect to the deity residing there on the top

for the next 3 days in pelling our routine was to get up at 4:30 , make a cup of team and reach for the terrance with camera's ready and watch the drama unfold in front of the eyes , we used to repeat the same procedure in evening if the skies are clear

Pelling is a great birding site , Rabdentse was the second capital of sikkim after yuksam , now its ruins offer a panoramic view of surrounding moutains , one can take a 3km walk from pelling to the ruins and watch diffrent species of birds on the way , pemyangatse monastery is visible at the top to the left of ruins

the kanchenjunga range , starting from left it kumbhakarna , ratang , kabru , kanchenjunga and pandim

mount ratang

in sikkim the beauty is present everywhere , just look around

pemyangatse monastery is the holiest and most imp of all in sikkim , wall paintings are exquisite and monastery holds religious scripts from ancient times

West sikkim is the true sikkim , hidden from the outside world , calm and beautiful , people we met were warm and hospitable , the food we tested here was better than anywhere else in sikkim , this area is away from all the commercialization and thus saved from the money making race , hope it stays that way for eternity.