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| Sikkim: Roof of the World |
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| Fog downhill at Kurseong. |
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| Clockwise from top: Dwayne, Queenie, Brian, Maegan, & Vanessa at Batasia. |
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| Gorkha thali at Melting Pot, Kalimpong. |
[First Draft]
At Home in the Himalayas
Notes from a traveller
-Brian Mendonça
SIKKIM: Roof of the World
As we paused at Oasis Café on the way up to
Gangtok, just inside Sikkim at the Rangpo checkpoint, the Teesta river glinted
in the valley below. Prayer flags fluttered gaily. With 85 kms. behind us from
Bagdogra airport, we were racing against time. At 4 p.m. shadows lengthened
over the mountains. 37 kms. stretched between us and Gangtok. Elevation 5500
feet. (Goa, 3300 feet)
Tip: Contact a tour
operator to plan your itinerary for you. David Rai (6297519659) in Gangtok was
ours. Share your identification documents for Nathu La before you leave.
Sikkim was added as the 22nd state of India in 1975.
Outside Oasis a hoarding proclaimed 50 years of prosperity. Along the
way we saw remnants of landslides which had hit the state recently – stones the
colour of slate. Stretches of NH 10 from Siliguri to Gangtok had only just been
restored. The market area in Pani House road, Gangtok was shut down as a
precautionary measure. Yet our place offered gorgeous valley views from our balcony.
Tip: Take the morning
flight out of Goa to reach Gangtok the same day during daylight. Indigo reaches Bagdogra airport by 1 p.m. The road trip uphill to Gangtok takes 4 hours.
The Rumtek monastery in Gangtok is the seat in exile
of the 16th Karmapa who arrived in Sikkim after fleeing Tibet in 1959. It is
under Indian Army control. No photography is allowed. On Sikkim’s Northern
border lies the Tibetan Autonomous Region under Chinese control since 1965.
The Ajanta Hall of the Namgyal Institute of
Tibetology, 20 kms. away, hosts frescoes of the 12 deeds of Buddha who lived
between the 6th-4th century BCE. (A book of the deeds
with the paintings by Thupten Tenzing is available at the shop.) Goblets made
of skulls used in tantric rituals are also displayed. No photography is
allowed. These spaces are living testaments of a life in retreat and reflection
looking across Tibet - a land which was once theirs.
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| Kandoika Book Store, MG Road, Gangtok. |
Tip: Pick up souvenirs at
a small shop selling T shirts, books, shawls, prayer flags etc. to the right of
the entrance to NIT.
For the thrill of the zip line and the ropeway for
those who dare, one can head to Banjhakri waterfalls 21 kms. away from Rumtek.
The place gets its name from a local healer (jhakri) who worships
spirits near the forests (ban). You can also pose with some of their
lifelike statues. The cable car ride, some distance away, offers stunning views
of Deorali bazar and the valley.
Tashi View Point, Gangtok is a great place for taking pictures of the mountains. There is a shop there with souvenirs like bags made of Himalayan Hemp, and pencil boxes of bamboo. At the base of the steps across the road is an army shop selling tourist items like travel bags and pouches at very reasonable prices.
Tip: Look out for the boy
with the telescope at Tashi View Point. He will let you peer through it and see
the ‘Seven Sisters’ waterfall.
A few minutes away from our AirBnB, by the nifty cabs,
was MG road in Gangtok with all its attractions. Dinner at Hotel Tashi Delek was amidst Thangka paintings. On the cold wintry terrace at dusk we were
all grateful for a sip of Herbs Rum at the Yak Bar, which was a concoction of
dark rum and all-spices tea. We also enjoyed the preparations of Taste of
Tibet on MG Road including the Tibetan favourite Sha Phaley of fried
bread stuffed with seasoned meat and cabbage. On the last day we sipped
Tongba – the rice beer from Sikkim - at Nimtho restaurant, also on MG
Road.
My hunt for a bookshop led me to Kandoika just
before it downed its shutters. After leafing through the poems of Milarepa, the
12th century Tibetan poet, I picked up the Dalai Lama’s compelling Voice
for the Voiceless: Over Seven Decades of Struggle with China for My Land and My
People published this year.
Female folk singers on MG road sang bailini –
songs for blessings – in shops during Diwali. Their music reached our service
apartment from the valley below.
One adventure that tested our endurance was our
scaling Nathu La in East Sikkim. The ascent is beautiful with the Kanchenjunga
range playing hide and seek. Perched at 14,140 feet in high-altitude terrain it
looks over the international border between India and China. On the way back we stopped for a yak ride at
the beautiful Tsomgo lake.
Tip: Don’t forget to
collect your certificate from the army store to the left on your way down. It
says you were at Nathu La. We also picked up T-shirts with 'I WAS @NATU LA' on it.
After 4 eventful nights in Gangtok we made our way
back from Gangtok to Darjeeling via Kalimpong - a distance of 95 kms. At
Kalimpong we sampled a Gorkha thali at The Melting Pot Bistro.
Tip: On your return from
Gangtok to Bagdogra, break journey at Darjeeling (69 kms. away from Bagdogra)
rather than do the entire journey at one go.
DARJEELING: Queen of the Hills
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| Himalayan Zoological Park |
Darjeeling (Elevation 6709 feet) is colder than Gangtok. Braving a pick-up at 4 a.m. from our hotel in the town, we ventured to see the sun kiss the snow-capped mountains of the Kanchenjunga range. We beheld this spectacle from Tiger Hill viewing point at Darjeeling (North Bengal). It was a humbling experience.
Tip: Tiger Hill at 5 a.m.
is very cold. (Around 6˚C) Wear maximum warm clothes. It gets overcrowded. Stay
alert for stampede. Exit routes are few, narrow and winding.
Darjeeling beckoned with Glenary’s Bakery, near
the Clock Tower and the little book shop nearby, which had a collection of
local short stories from Darjeeling by Sonia Thapa titled Memories of
Muglan. I also picked up Kailash Limbu’s The Gurkha Mindset: 10 Lessons
in Courage and Resilience.
The resilience and bonhomie of the people on
Mall Road showed they had got past the battering of the heavy rains and
landslides of 4-5 October 2025.
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| Ghum station on the Himalayan Railway. |
Tip: Leave ample time for
a leisurely stroll across the Mall. Relax take in the fresh bracing air of the
hills and feel alive.
At the peace pagoda in Darjeeling we were able to see
the obeisance of King Bimbisara to Lord Buddha carved on its outer panel. The
Himalayan Zoological park in Darjeeling boasted of animals like the red panda,
the Himalayan Goral and the snow leopard. It also houses the Himalayan
Mountaineering Institute and a memorial to Sherpa Tenzing Norgay. There is a
museum dedicated to all the mountaineers who attempted to climb Mount Everest. You
can buy varieties of teas at the tea gardens.
Tip: The pagoda and the park involve a lot of climbing. Only do it if you are fit.
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| Tibetan Refugee Centre. |
We had the time of our lives on the train of the Himalayan Railway at Darjeeling. The journey takes you from Darjeeling station
to Ghum – the highest heritage railway station in India at 7407 feet. On the
way it halts at the Gorkha war memorial at Batasia.
There are several things to pick up from the Tibetan
Refugee Centre in Darjeeling - gongs for meditation, sweaters made of yak wool,
shawls, and wall hangings.
We stayed 4 nights in Gangtok and 2 in Darjeeling. The
road from Darjeeling to Bagdogra - with hairpin bend turns at Kurseong - was
covered in mist. But the Innova Crysta executed them with panache. We reached
the airport well in time We were back in Goa by around 7 p.m.
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Article published in 'Panorama' in Navhind Times, Panaji, Goa on Sunday, 30 November 2025. (Approx. 1308 words). Special thanks to Naveen and Celia for motivating me to make this trip. Their advice throughout the trip was invaluable.
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