Trip to Sikkim

I really love to make my travel plans on short notice. Most of my travel plans are made in an instant. Few friends called me on one fine day of cold January month, 2011, to chalk out a travel plan whats it like to drive to Sikkim, I instantly replied them positively. I didn’t take much time and the next morning I was ready with two bags of essential car equipment and few winter clothes in my cool white Gypsy and drove to my friends to pick them up. We started our journey from Delhi. No wonder I did not tell anything to my father about this trip. He never allows me for a long drive :). We crossed through three states (UP-Bihar-Bangal) to reach Sikkim.

We crossed whole UP. We stopped in Agra and Varanasi. Then we entered in Bihar and drove to Bodhgaya, a world renowned Buddhist religious center. We visited many Buddhist monestries there with Mahabodhi Temple. It looks like an international city. Driving through Bhagalpur, we finally reached Siliguri. We took a break here. You will find many reasonable hotel with good services. If you are a foodie, you have a plenty of options here. Believe me :)!!! It is really a beautiful city. You can easily spend 2 days exploring this city. But next morning we had to start to ride on mountains for Sikkim, we slept early.

Get Right Taxi

Pls note if you are coming here to visit Sikkim by train or other land transport, WB no cabs are not allowed to go to Sikkim. Local drivers may try to trap you saying they will drop you to Sikkim. Try to get SK cab.

Teesta River

Next morning we started our trip to Sikkim. I must say it was really an awesome experience driving mountains. It was so scenic. Whole way you will see Green Teesta River following you. You will get lost seeing beauty of landscapes. Hello, concentrate on your driving!!! Same line my friend told me that day when he found me so amused with local scenery.

We did not find so much traffic so I took 5 hours to reach Gangtok, our destination.

MG Road

We stayed in a hotel in MG Road. Here hotels you will find a bit expensive. But Sikkim has variety of hotel options for you suiting every budget.

First thing you will notice about Gangtok that it looks like a very planned city. It is a very clean city indeed. Even in Delhi, you encounter dirty areas on daily basis. Shops are well kept. Roads are clean. Roads are decorated with flower plants. Sikkim is famous for flowers and fauna.

After taking some rest in the evening, we went out of hotel to explore the place. It was a chilling temperature outside. MG Marg is so beautiful. Do not forget to eat hot momo with sparkling chutney. You can sit anywhere there for hours. All kind of shops you will find there. It is a great place for shopping for cloths and handicrafts.

I need to write about our trip to North part of Sikkim in detail. Please wait for my next post. It was a life time experience for me to visit that part of Sikkim.

Happy travelling !!!