I always believed solo tripping helps discover oneself. Exploring places, its tradition, culture, food and people brings out a sense of rejuvenation. I had always wanted to solo travel since my teenage days. But my financial conditioning and strict upbringing always kept me from taking the step. I had started working after a year and a half of completing my graduation and I saved up enough for my first solo trip in 2017.
This happened unexpectedly. I happened to come across a girl on social media who had similar interests in travel. She mentioned the fact that she was going for further studies and her university happened to be close to Sikkim. I subconsciously googled Sikkim and the images of beautiful landscape, food and people blew my mind away. I decided Sikkim was to be the first destination for my solo travel diaries. I put down an application for leave for a few days, booked my tickets and packed my bags for Sikkim.
There is no direct flight from Hyderabad to Sikkim. I boarded the Hyderabad-New Delhi-Siliguri flight to reach the Bag Dogra Airport in Siliguri, West Bengal. I stayed at a hotel for two days exploring various options to reach Sikkim from Siliguri. I found out from a local that the best way to make the most of the trip to Sikkim was to hire a motor bike, preferably the Royal Enfield and take a road trip to Gangtok, capital of Sikkim. Unfortunately I never cared to learn to ride a motor bike so I missed out on this amazing opportunity. Instead I booked a jeep to take me to the capital of Sikkim. This turned out to be the best road trip of my life, not that I had any other trips in the past or future to it compare with.
Beautiful landscapes, lush forest and the Teesta river flowing in full strength due to monsoons. On one side the Teesta river was unforgiving and cutting through the forest like a snake and on the other side, stream of fresh water was seeping down from top of the mountains like water falls on to the roads. Occasionally the drivers stopped by the side of the road to fill their bottles with fresh water for the rest of their journey. Finally after 3 hours we reached the border of Sikkim where we were needed to provide our identification to pass through and from there another half an hour to reach Gangtok.
The name Gangtok means “hillside”. It is a bustling, friendly hill station and by the time I reached the heart of the city at the top, I was ready to puke my guts out. This feeling was short lived when the view from the top took my breath away.
I sat on the edge of the road gawking, feeling a sense of relief of making the right decision. I quickly checked into an OYO hotel room I pre booked, freshened up and made my way to the famous Mahatma Gandhi Marg, the shopping center of Sikkim.
I loved the vibe of this place with its street lights running through the middle of the road, bustling with people, the farmers market selling the local cheese, vegetables, fruits, branded shoes and clothes; it had everything.
Food is another reason I travel for. I love exploring local food culture of different regions. I made my way to the famous local food joint “Taste of Tibet”. There were other famous food joints too but I had read good reviews about this place and wanted to try their famous “Meat Yemmein”, "Meat fried rice", "Chicken Thukpa", "Momos" and "Chicken Shyaphale".
It was heaven. Tasting these local delicacies made my day. I continued visiting this place for lunch and dinner for the rest of my stay in Gangtok and covered almost all the dishes from their menu in those few days of staying there.
Over the next few days I tried to cover as many places as possible by hiring a car for almost 4k for two days. The places I could cover were:
Rumtak Monastery- The largest one in Sikkim. It is famous for the Golden Stupa and relics of the 16th Karmapa. Out of respect for the monks I did not click any pics of this place except for a small flower sticking out from the moss from one of the walls.
Enchey Monastery- I was always fascinated with Buddhist culture. I found tranquility at the monasteries. The young Buddhist monks dedicating their lives for spiritual practice governed by a set of rules.
Ganesh Tok- I wanted a glimpse of the mountain Mt.Kanchenjunga and other peaks of the Himalayan range from this hill top. Unfortunately all I could see was thick heavy fog because of the monsoon.
Hanuman Tok- Again the fog played a spoil sport blocking the view of the Himalayan ranges. The temple itself was beautiful and is dedicated to Lord Hanuman.
Ban Jhakri Falls- Perfectly placed between the lush green forests, this water fall is a scenic beauty which depicts the theme of the local Sikkimese culture.
Aritar Valley- Trekking in the beautiful valleys of Aritar Valley with its tea gardens, lush green forests and waterfalls. Key points I visited:
The main reason for my visit to Sikkim was to explore West Sikkim, North Sikkim and South Sikkim. The famous Nathu La pass, lachen and Lachung, Zero Point, Yumthang, Tsomgo chho, the city of Pelling, I missed out on visiting all these places.
One reason for this was my timing for planning this trip during the monsoons. My trek to Aritar was cut short as my car missed a major disaster as a boulder came crashing down the road, right in front of my car. We were not allowed to explore more due to the constant land slides.
The other reason was the tension between India and China. I had applied for a permission from Indian Army to visit the above mentioned places 24 hours prior to my visit. But it was rejected as the tensions between the two countries had escalated.
This was a major set back as my trip was planned around these places.
But this gave me the chance to explore Gangtok and East Sikkim thoroughly, meet new people, shop for souvenirs for friends and family and eat at "Taste of Tibet" for the rest of my stay.
My last day at Gangtok I spent time just walking through the small streets soaking in the beauty of this place. There was satisfaction and also sadness that my trip to this beautiful "hillside" heaven had come to an end. I made a promise to myself that day “I would definitely visit this heaven again”.
