Trip to GOD’s Own Country (Kerala)

We were planning for a vacation for 1 week and Kerala – “GODs Own Country” (I would rather call it “Blessed by Nature”) was shortlisted. Kerala is one of those lucky states, which has got a little bit of everything – green mountains, valleys, beaches, backwaters,  temples, churches, tea gardens, coffee and spice plantations… The very thought of visiting this state excited us.

There are so many places to see, it’srather difficult to cover all the places in a week’s time. We had 7Nights/8 days, wanted to drive and did not want to compromise on the time spent at each place. With this as the basis, we came up with the places we would enjoy spending our vacation.On our previous visits to Kerala, we had covered few places of North-West Kerala. In this trip, we wanted to visit placesthat would give us a unique and memorable experience of Kerala. The trip was planned to cover Bangalore -> Madurai -> Munnar -> Alleppey -> Thekkady -> Yercaud -> Bangalore. Because we were driving with kids, we decided to take a break at Madurai on our onward journey and at Yercaud on our return journey. It would have been very tiring for the kids, had we decided to drive from Bangalore directly to Munnar. In hindsight, I feel this was a very sensible decision. 

Temple Town of South India– Madurai

Madurai is around 440 KMs from Bangalore. NH7 is a fantastic 6 lane highway connecting Bangalore and Madurai. There are not many options to stop over for breakfast or lunch. One decent place is A2B (Adyar Anand Bhavan) closer to Krishnagiri (it will be around 1 ½ - 2 hrs from B’lore). Lunch stop can be at Dindigul, which has couple of good restaurants - popular one being Saravana Bhavan. Madurai is about 6-7 hrs drive (including 2 breaks).

Madurai is pretty hot and humid. It is recommended to book an Air Conditioned room. There are tons of places to stay in Madurai.

Important places to check out

·         Meenakshi Temple – This is a 2000 years old temple with great architecture, but very very crowded. Plan to visit the temple between 4 and 5PM (the temple timings are 5AM – 12:30PM and 4PM – 9:30PM). After 6PM, there is a wait of 3 hours for the darshan. There are express tickets available at Rs 100 per person. It is definitely worthwhile buying these tickets instead of standing in the queue for 3 hours. With the crowd and noise, one hardly gets to appreciate the temple architecture and history. The visit to temple can take anywhere from 1 hr – 4 hrs.

·         Tirumalai Nayak Palace – Only a portion of the palace remains now. The remains cover the Entrance Gate, Main Hall and the Dance Hall. This is the place where the “Kehna Hi Kya… “ song for the movie “Bombay” was shot. The palace closes at 5 PM. There is also a light and sound show in the evening – one in English and one in Tamil. The show is not very well organized and there is no story which can keep your attention. People are moving around, flashing photos. Not a very good experience. Can be skipped.

·         There are plenty of other temples.

Tirumalai Nayak Palace

Meenakshi Temple

Hills of Tea Gardens– Munnar

Our next stop was Munnar – Hills of Tea Gardens. This is around 160Kms from Madurai and it took us a good 5hr drive to reach Munnar. The roads are pretty good, but because it’s hilly road and 2 lane highway, the speed decreases. As you get closer to Munnar, you will notice endless hills of tea plantation with different shades of green. The whole drive is very scenic. There are quite a few view points and waterfalls on the way which add more beauty to the drive.

We had booked our stay at Blackberry Hills Resorts (http://www.blackberryresorts.com/). This was an excellent place with fantastic views and far from the hustle-bustle of Munnar town. The early morning views from the cottage are breathtaking. The clouds are floating over the valley and the golden rays of sunrise make them look even more beautiful. The resort has plenty of fruit and berry trees, which attracts plenty of birds. One can easily spend couple of hours just in the balcony, watching the floating clouds and colorful birds.

The cottages are quite big to accommodate 2 adults and 2 kids. Each cottage has a separate bedroom, hall and balcony. As all the cottages are facing the valley, they are at multiple levels. The reception lobby is on the top level (closer to the road) and the restaurant is at the lowest level and the cottages are in between these at different levels. Walking can be painful for senior citizens and parents with kids (especially if the kid(s) need to be carried).  The resort has a very good restaurant, indoor games, a small library, a trekking trail, and a Spa. Overall, this is an excellent place to relax and have a good time with family and friends.

Tip: Hotels/Resorts after crossing the Hydel Park dam have good views and are quieter

Places to visit in Munnar

Tea Museum – It is closed on Mondays. It will take around 2 hours to visit the Museum. At the museum one can see the tea making process in action and some old tools used in tea factory and history of tea in Munnar. Skip the 45min documentary.

Hydel Park – A small park with some open space and some flowering plants. Can be skipped. You can visit this place only if you want kill time. Beyond Hydel park, on the way to Blackberry Hill Resort, there is a view point. The views from here are quite good. However if you are staying at Blackberry Hill Resort or any other resort in this direction, such views are available from your room.

Eravikulam (Rajamalai) National Park – This is around 18kms from Munnar Town. The park opens at 7AM and is famous for Nilgiri Thars. Vehicles are allowed only till the ticket counter. After that you will be taken in a bus inside the national park. The crowd increases after 10AM. We reached the place around 10:30AM and there was a huge queue. When enquired, we got to know that the wait is for 2-3 hours. We decided to give it a skip.

Top Station: This is a point at a distance of about 32 km from Munnar and offers some of the most spectacular views of Western Ghats.It is the highest point in Kerala. The point is around 1.5 – 2 Km from the parking. This distance includes around 100-150 steps that need to climbed down to go to the view point (of course you will have to climb them up to go to the parking lot). Climb up is quite tiring - not recommended for senior citizens and for small kids.

Mattupetty, Kundala and Echo Point – All the 3 places are on the way to Top Station from Munnar.The drive from Munnar to Top Station is surrounded by rolling hills covered with tea plantations and stretching for miles. Every stop is a view point.  All 3 points (Mattupetty, Kundala and Echo Point) have excellent views and boating facility. Mattupetty and Kundala have dams and Echo Point has a lake. Boating closes by 4:30PM. Speed boat, paddle boat and row boat facilities are available. There are no restaurants in any of these places. However plenty of snack bars are available.

Tea Museum, Mattupetty, Kundala, Echo Point and Top Station can be covered in a day. Start with Tea Museum -> Mattupetty -> Echo Point -> Kundala -> Top Station

There are few view points and waterfalls around Munnar (some on the way from Munnar to Alleppey) and couple of them on the way to Munnar from Madurai. Some of them are very good. Plan to visit them based on availability of time as you would need atleast ½ a day to visit them.

Tea Gardens enroute Top Station - Munnar

View from Black Berry Resorts - Munnar

Echo Point - Munnar

Muttupetty - Munnar

View at Top Station - Munnar

Life on Backwaters– Alleppey 

Visit to Kerala is incomplete without a Houseboat Cruise. It is a completely different experience and one of its kind lifetime experience. There are thousands of houseboats available on the Vembanada Lake. You can choose to do it around Alleppey or Kumarakom. We choose to do a 1 night cruise – round trip from Alleppey. The cruise typically starts around 11:30AM- 12PM and end next day around 9:30 – 10AM. The house boat has all the facilities bed, sofa, music, kitchen, clean toilets. We booked our houseboat with Seasons Cruise http://seasonscruise.com/. It’s good idea to book an A/c house boat with complete A/c - so that you can on the A/c whenever you want. Typical A/c boats have the A/c facility only from 9PM – 6AM. This can cause discomfort after 7PM as they cover the houseboat to avoid insects from entering the boat.

The drive from Munnar to Alleppey takes around 5 hours. Though the distance is just 150KM, most of the drive is through ghats with 2 lanes. This reduces the speed. The drive from Munnar to Ernakulum is very scenic. All around you there are tea, cardamom and rubber plantations. There are quite a few water falls too.

Once we reached Alleppey, we parked our car close to the Houseboat boarding point. At the pickup point of house boat on the back waters, we got the first glimpse of this other world. All around us we could see water, green paddy fields and house boats of different sizes floating on the water.

Our journey started with welcome drink, followed by lunch. Food served was cooked on the boat and was very tasty. It was then time to sit back, relax and enjoy the journey. We took turns to steer the boat. It was fun. Around 4PM the house boat pulled over to transfer us into a small row boat. This boat was supposed to take us through the inner canals of the back waters, passing through the village. This was an hour ride and we would see how people lived around backwaters. These canals are their roads and the mode used is boats. Most houses had a parking place for their boats. We saw villagers, rowing their boats, carrying paddy, vegetables etc. This was a very unique experience. These villages are not connected by roads. The only way they can reach main land is through the boats.

It was 5PM, by the time we finished our boat ride through the canals. Hot tea and pakoras were served on the boat. We took turns to steer the boat. Kids had great fun steering. Around 6PM, the sun was setting. The water, paddy fields and sky were covered in the shades of red, orange and yellow colors. It was an amazing experience - no traffic, no noise other than chirping birds flying to their nests. We wanted this moment to just freeze. As the sun set and sky started turning dark, we had to anchor our boat. A place was identified and the boat was parked. As the sky got darker, we could see thousands of stars twinkling in the clear sky. Far off, we could also see some colorful crackers in the sky. Kids by now were busy in the room reading their Harry Potter books. Me and Pankaj spent the evening on the deck gazing the sunset and chatting. Later the helper/cook of the boat said they need to cover the boat as insects would enter. This is the time you require an A/c as you would be sitting in the bedroom or on the covered deck and it can get quite warm.

After having a tasty dinner at 8PM, we played some card games and went to bed. By 6AM, the covers of the boat were opened and it opened us to another fantastic view - sunrise. After breakfast on the deck, it was time to go back to the starting point, where we had parked our car. All of us wanted more of this experience. We promised ourselves to have another houseboat trip soon.

Sunset on House Boat - Alleyppe

House Boats - Alleyppe

Boat Ride through narrow canals - Alleyppe

Sunset from House Boat - Alleyppe

Periyar Tiger Reserve – Thekkady

With loads of memories of houseboat we started our journey to Thekkady. All through the journey we were chit-chatting our houseboat experience. The drive from Alleppey to Thekkady is about 5hrs. Roads are pretty good. Last 60-70 kms drive is very scenic. There are tons of rubber and cardamom plantations. A stop at Peerumedu is recommended. This hill station has great views. There are plenty of resorts in this place.  

We had our booking at Aranya Nivas – KDTC Resort inside the Periyar Wild Life Sanctuary. This place has good location, however it does not give the rustic jungle feeling, unlike the Jungle Lodges and Resorts in Karnataka. One advantage of staying with Aryan Nivas is that you will get the boat tickets for Safari, which otherwise is a quite a difficult task. Since entry to the Sanctuary is closed after 6PM, we cannot get out or into the sanctuary after 6PM. This leaves us with no option, but to hang out inside the resort. The resort has a decent swimming pool, which gets crowded after 5PM as tourists staying here have no other option apart from spending time in the recreation room, swimming pool or library.

Food at Aryan Nivas is north Indian buffet. If one wants to try authentic Kerala food, we need to step out of the sanctuary. One good option to stay/eat food is Spice Garden Resort. Apart from the boat safari (recommend trip is early morning or late evening safari. Ensure your tickets are booked in advance as it is quite difficult to get tickets. The tickets come with seat number. Ask for good seats on an open boat.) , other interesting places to see are some view points, plantation visit, elephant ride, water falls, Tribal Museum (this was closed during our visit) and shops for spices.

Water falls enroute Thekaddy

Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary - Thekkady

Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary - Thekkady

Lake in the forest - Yercaud

Last leg in our vacation was a stop at Yercaud. We had been planning and trying to get a reservation at Skyroca (now called GRT Nature Trails) for the last couple of years. But we had never managed to get the reservation. Luckily this time a room facing the pool was available. We just booked it. This was one of last minute bookings. Rooms facing the pool are very big and with excellent interiors. Hence are costlier than other types. But the views from this room are not that great as it faces the pool. Valley facing rooms and rooms with panoramic view have excellent views.

The resort itself is superb. An excellent place to spend a weekend, especially for Bangaloreans. The resort has view good facilities, view points, the sky walk experience is great. There are also enough options available for the kids to keep themselves busy like swimming pool, jungle gym, indoor games etc.

Yercaud is a place to relax and unwind. Like any other hill station some places to visit in here would be the lake (boating facility is available), some view points, botanical garden and water falls. The climb down to the water falls and back to the car park is quite tiring. If you are doing this with kids or elderly people, give it a skip. Though the sign board at the car park says ½ km to water falls, it is much more than that and involves climbing/descending plenty of steps. Also the falls itself is nothing extraordinary.

After a relax stay at Yercaud, it was time to head back to Bangalore.  Bangalore is about 160Kms and would take about 4hrs. The road from Yercaud to Bangalore is NH7 and is very good. The only place to break for food/refreshment is A2B (Adiyar Anand Bhavan). Keep a watch for the sign boards.

This trip truly gave us different flavors of Kerala. After a week long trip it was great to be back home – back in Bangalore.

Honey Valley Resorts - Madekari Coorg

Coorg the coffee destination of India - famous for its coffee and spice plantations, this district is a beauty all through out the year. It is more beautiful in monsoons - when it pours day and night. As far as your eyes can see, its just greenery. This is also the birthplace of river "Kaveri". You will see the river in its fullest form during monsoons. The water falls around Madekari (capital of Coorg district) are mesmerizing during the monsoons. The Iruppu and Abbey falls are a must see during the monsoons.

For us, the monsoons are incomplete without a visit to Madekari. We have been trying different home-stays in Madekari. This time, we chose a home-stay which did not have any frills & fancy - "Honey Valley Resorts" (http://honeyvalleyindia.in/ ). We found this place a prefect weekend getaway from Bangalore. The resort is little farther from the Madekari town. It is located midst of a coffee plantation. There is private waterfalls within the coffee plantation owned by the home-stay. The location of this home-stay is "Picture Perfect".

View from the room sit out

Cars needs to be parked at a parking place close the road. Once you reach, we need to call the home-stay folks. We were picked in a jeep. The roads to the home-stay are not very good for cars. SUVs will not have problem. The road to home-stay passes through the coffee plantation and a water falls. Once up, it is beautiful. You can smell the freshness in the air. Its is green all over and since it was middle of July, the monsoon were in full swing. We had a nice hot lunch. The food is basic with Vegetables, Rotis, Rice and Dal and some sweet dish made from a fruit which grows on their farm.

After lunch we had a good nap. It was peak monsoon and it was raining heavily. This is what we love in Madekari. Evening, when the rains had stopped, we went for a small trek to a view point. Here we were literally covered in clouds. The views were good. By the time we reached our room, it was dark. It started raining again. We spent the rest of the evening playing cards.

View point view

Next day, after breakfast we walked to the water falls which is within the plantation. The walk to this falls will take about 30-45 min (if you are doing it with kids). It's about 2 KMs walk. My elder daughter was not very well. Hence we took a little longer as we took multiple breaks. The water falls areas is full of leeches. Be prepared to handle them. But it is worth a visit. The site of cool, gushing water and greenery all over is very refreshing after a long walk.

Walk to the water falls

Water falls in the home-stay estate

It was lunch time by the time we returned. We had a good meal and within no time we were all curled in the room with our favorite books. This is the best part of such vacations - where you don't have any interruptions of phone calls, TV etc. Evening was spent walking playing cards in the sit out of our room with insects cricking and birds chirping. Normally they have bon fires in the late evening. Since it was raining, there was no bon-fire lit.

Before we realized it was time to return. It was one lovely weekend spent with the family.

Sikkim, Darjeeling and Kolkata - April 2011

This trip was one of the most memorable ones as it was our first encounter with Himalayas. We were all waiting to see the snow peaked mountains, loud gushing rivers, green mountains etc. My kids were hoping to play in snow (this would be their first encounter with snow). We could see the excitement in their eyes, when they heard that there is snow fall at Yumtang Valley. They were overjoyed.

All our flight, train, accommodation, permit to North Sikkim and Nathu La was booked in advance. Only means of transport within Sikkim is by road, which is mostly in the hilly terrain. This can get a little strenuous, especially for kids. On an average one would be sitting in the car for atleast 6 hours. Hence would recommend one to stay in a place for atleast 2 nights, so that you don’t get car sick.  Also note the day here starts early and ends early. For most of the trips you would be starting by 7:30am and dinner will be closed by 9PM. Most common and popular food is Vegetarian food. You can easily get Veg Momos, Chowmein, noodles, rice and dal. Don’t expect any fancy restaurants, especially in North Sikkim. Gangtok though is pretty cosmopolitan and has good eating joints.

In many parts of Sikkim, the roads are under construction/renovation. Because of this and also due to landslide, and steep, curvy roads the time taken to reach from one point to another is more. You may get stuck in a jam anytime for 45 min to 2 hours. Plan your day accordingly.
Sikkim is really a paradise on earth. With plenty of water falls, long rivers, green valleys and hills, snow capped mountains, cold deserts. Plastic is banned in whole of Sikkim. The whole state is very clean, less noisy. People here are simple, sweet, very soft spoken and neat & clean. They are disciplined and never lose their cool. You hardly see poverty here. Very contrast to what we saw in Kolkata.

Day 1 – Kolkata

We reached Kolkata around Noon. We had booked our taxi in advance. Since our train to New Jalpiguri (NJP) was in the late evening, we had 6-7 hours to do some sight seeing in Kolkata. There are plenty of trains to NJP. We had booked our journey on Darjeeling Mail which leaves Kolkata at 10PM and reaches NJP around 8:30. One can also take a flight to Bagdogra from Kolkata.

Park Street and Chowrangiee  street have plenty of eateries. We stopped for a quick lunch at Halidrams and left to Victoria Memorial Hall. http://www.indfy.com/kolkata/places-to-see-in-kolkata/ site has all the details of the places to see in Kolkata, timings and other details. Visit to Victoria memorial hall and the museum would take around 1- 1 ½ hours. They also have a light and sound show in the evening. It was not running when we visited Kolkata. From here we went to Belur Math. This complex is really beautiful. Must see places here are the Ramakrishna Museum, the main temple and Swami Vivekanand  temple. Photography is not allowed in this complex . From here we took a ferry to Dakshineshwar and asked our taxi driver to meet us as Dakshineshwar temple. It was around 6PM when we got into the ferry, the sun was setting and Belur Math looked beautiful from the ferry. 30 min ferry ride in the evening on river Hoogli was really refreshing.

Since the kids were tired, did not want to explore any new place for dinner. We had our dinner at Haldiram’s (as it was tried and tested in the morning). The misti dohi, lassi, dhoklas were awesome. We left to Sealdha station to catch our train to NJP.

Bridge over river Hoogli

Victoria Memorial Hall

Belur Math

Day 2 – Darjeeling

We reached NJP around 9AM. NJP has nothing to see. It is a stopover for travelers going to North East especially Darjeeling and Sikkim, since there is no direct train/flight to these places. NJP has small hotels/lodges and travel & tours shops. We booked a cab to Darjeeling at Holiday Planner a small tourist shop opposite NJP station. Darjeeling is about 4-5 hours drive from NJP. Hence we checked into a small hotel called Hilltop (opposite railway station) to freshen up. By default, rooms don’t come attached with a bath and hot water. Please specify this before checking into the room. You will not find any good hotels here for breakfast. However you will find plenty of shops selling snacks, cool drinks etc. Our driver suggested he would stop at some place on the way. 

We started to Darjeeling around 10:30AM. Around 11:30AM, we stopped for breakfast. This was small joint. Only options available were Chowmein, Maggie and Rice & Dal. Kids were thrilled as they got to eat Maggie for Breakfast (which they would usually not get at home for breakfast). But little did they know that for the next 1 week they would be eating Maggie more often they thought - for Breakfast, lunch and snacks...
Road from NJP to Darjeeling is quite winding and steep. You will not find many shops. Though shops selling chips and soft drinks are plenty, recommend you to carry eatables if travelling with kids. We always had some fruits, bread, Nutella and some dry chutney powder. These came very handy during our long drives in Sikkim too.

We reached Darjeeling around 3PM. We had booked our stay at Dekeling Hotel http://www.dekeling.com/ . This is at very good location – center of the town and the room we stayed has very good views of the Khangchendzonga mountain ranges (especially in the late morning).  Most of the tourist spots close by 5PM. So you need to plan your day in advance.

We went to the Observatory Hills, Chourasta and did some warm clothes shopping. Had our dinner at hotel called Shangri La. We booked our trip for “Sunrise at Tiger Hills” for the next day.

Chourasta - Darjeeling

View from Observatory Hill

View from Observatory Hill

Day 3 – Darjeeling

Trip to Tiger Hills starts at 4:30AM. We were all up and ready to leave by 4:15AM. The sunrise is around 5:30AM. At this point, one gets to Khangchendzonga mountain ranges being painted with the colors of rising sun. The view is breath taking. This is was our first encounter with the Himalayas and we were spell bound. It is freezing cold up their on the Tiger Hills. Don’t forget to carry enough warm clothes. You will see hundreds of people at the view point. Complimentary tea is served as part of the entry ticket to the view point.

After the sunrise, we visited the Ghoom Monastery and from there we went to Batasia Loop. Here there is a war memorial and also a view point to get a closer look at the Himalayas. View of the mountains is clear only during the mornings. Post noon, it is all covered in fog and clouds. We had our breakfast at Glenery’s Café. This place serves good continental breakfast and also has some awesome bakery stuff.

Post breakfast we visited the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute’s Museum and Himalayan Zoological Park. The Mountaineering Museum is a must see and has very good information and collection. The Zoo too has very good collection of Himalayan animals like Red Pandas, Snow Leopard, Snow wolfs etc.

We wanted to take a ride on the Darjeeling Toy train, but were not able to get tickets. Please do advance bookings, preferably do it while booking your accommodation. It has 3 rides – one at 10:40 AM which is the best, another at 1:30PM and one more 4PM. The 4PM one is waste as it is slightly dark by then and one does not get to see much. Some how we managed to get tickets for the next day 10AM trip. We ended up paying almost double the actual cost. Most of these trips are booked in advance.

One more tip – cab charges/booking is based on the points covered and not on whole day/KMs basis. Please clarify this before booking the cab.

Batasia Loop and War Memorial

Sunrise at Tiger Hills

Sunrise at Tiger Hills

Ghoom Monastry

Red Panda - Himalayan Zoological Park

Day 4 – Darjeeling, Pelling

Other places we visited in Darjeeling were Japanese Temple and peace Pagoda, rock garden. Since we had to leave to Pelling, we decided to take only a one way trip on toy train i.e. from Darjeeling station to Ghoom Station. The ride in itself is nothing great, but because the train is running with a 200 year old engine, the whole experience is great. The railway museum at Ghoom is quite informative. Our cab picked us up from Ghoom, and we were all set to go to Pelling.

It’s a 5 hour drive from Darjeeling to Pelling. The road condition is not very great. Also you will not find any eatery shops. So plan accordingly. We reached Pelling around 5PM.  This is a very small town. Except for the hotel/resorts you will not find much here. We had booked Norbu Ghang Resort http://www.norbughangresort.com/main/norbughangresort.html. I think this is the best place to stay. All the rooms have very good views of the Khangchendzonga ranges. Unfortunately the day we went, it was very cloudy. We could not get good views. There is nice view points (helipad point), which gives very good views.  The evening was spent at the helipad. Since it was a full moon day, the view was great. The resort also has a very good restaurant.

Toy Train - Darjeeling

Rock Garden

Japanese Peace Pagoda

Giri Dham Mandir

Day 5 – Pelling and drive to Gangtok

We got up at 5am, hoping to see a good sunrise. But unfortunately it was raining. Pelling is known for good views of the Khangchendzonga mountain ranges. Must see places in and around pelling – Oldest Monastery – Pemayangtse Gompa, ruins of royal capital of Sikkim- Rabdentse – This requires a 1KM walk from the main gate. The walk and the ruins are worth the visit. The place is maintained by ASI (Archeological Survey of India) and is very clean and green. We visited these two places before the breakfast and started to Gangtok.
Our plan was to visit the remaining places around Pelling on the way to Gangtok. Please note, this will mean longer drive time. Also there are multiple routes to Gangtok. The one enroute Ravangal is the most scenic one. We took this route, though it is a little longer. Around Pelling (on the way to Gangtok), we visited few waterfalls – Phamrong, Khangchendzonga, Rimbi and a lake called Khecheopalri and a rock garden. This lake is surrounded by green mountains, which makes it very scenic.

The only way to go from West Sikkim (Pelling) to East Sikkim (Gangtok) is through South Sikkim. The drive enroute Ravangal was very beautiful. This is only place in Sikkim where you have tea estates. All through the drive from Pelling to South Sikkim you will see the Khangchendzonga mountain ranges on your left. The roads too are in very good condition. We also saw snow fall here.

We reached Gangtok around 7:30PM. We had booked our stay at Hidden Forest Retreat http://www.hiddenforestretreat.org/. This is THE best place to stay in Gangtok. This is about 2KM from Gangtok city, an extremely beautiful family run resort. Taxi’s may charge 50 to 150Rs from MG Road. Since we were supposed to leave to North Sikkim the next day, we could not spend much time in the resort. However we had booked one more night at this place on our return from North Sikkim. We promised ourselves, to spend more time then.

View from Norbu Ghang Resort

Pemayangtse Gompa

Rabdentse - Ancient Capital of Sikkim

Khecheopalri Lake

Day 6 – Lachen

We were all set for our must awaited trip to North Sikkim. Since trip to North Sikkim require special permits, it is advisable to go through some tourist agents. We booked our north Sikkim trip through Brother’s http://www.brothers.org.in/contact_us.html . Since there are limited permits and places to stay in North Sikkim (Lachen and Lachung), it is advisable to plan for the trip atleast a month in advance. Also the trip to North Sikkim is expensive. 2N/3D trip for our family with independent jeep cost us 23,000 Rs. This did not include visit to Gurudongmar Lake, Zero point, Katuo point.

We started from Gangtok around 9:30AM and reached Lachen around 4PM. On our way from Gangtok, we stopped at Tashi View point, Seven sister water falls, Singhik view point and Phensang monastery. All through our journey, we saw hundreds of water falls on our way and the flowing Teesta river. It was freezing when we reached Lachen. All of us were tried. The kids were tired of sitting in the car. Lachen is a small place in North Sikkim. You may find a max of 100-200 houses. There are few shops which stock everything a pampered city man needs. Another surprising thing was, even at this remote place all shops sold the goods at MRP. I was really impressed by this. Because of tax exemption, alcohol is very cheap here. For Rs 30, you get a peg of scotch 

We were staying in a small place called SINOLCHU,CHOLHAMU. The place had clean rooms with attached bath with geyser. Do not expect any luxuries. There was no TV or room heater. However enough warm blankets were given to keep us warm. The food available is also healthy Vegetarian food – Rice, Dal, Salad and Sabjji. Our evening was spent trekking to the Gompa. Lachen has a huge Gompa (some how all the monasteries/gompas are on hill tops).  There is nothing much to do in Lachen. This is just a stop over place for tourists going further north (Gurudongmar Lake, Chopta Valley etc).

We had our dinner early and went to bed as next day we were required to start at 4AM, as we were planning to visit Gurudongmar Lake and Chopta Valley.  I did not have very good sleep, as I was worried whether we could make it to Gurudongmar Lake, as I had read a lot of stuff on how the terrain was and people getting nausea and breathless. Since we were going there with kids, I was a little worried.

Teesta River

Lachen Monastery

View from our Hotel

View from our hotel

Day 7 – Gurudongmar Lake, Chopta and Thangu Valley

The much awaited day had arrived. We were given wakeup call with tea at 3:30AM. All of us were ready to leave by 4AM. Since it was freezing cold and we were going further north (17000ft above sea level), kids wore two layers of dresses and jackets. This was going to be a minimum of 4 hour drive- one way to the lake. We started at around 4:30Am and reached Thangu Village by 7AM. This is at 14000 ft above sea level and last place were you would find civilians. Beyond this point you will only find Military personnel. Here we were given Noodles for breakfast and hot tea. This was a great relief in freezing cold.

Upto this point, you will see green mountains and lots of trees. Beyond this point, the whole terrain changes. Suddenly one can only see some small bushes, rocky mountains with snow, river flowing and nobody around except few military personnel at some camps. Around 8:30AM we reached the world’s highest café managed by the Military. This is at 15000ft above sea level. We chat up with the military folks, have tea and start our last lap to the lake. All of us eagerly waiting as we are quite tired. But the view is so spectacular; we don’t feel like closing our eyes even for a minute. The terrain again changes from this point. One side of the road you have huge dunes of sand and on the other side of the road you have snow peaked rocky mountains. Not a single green tree here. One can feel the difference in the air pressure.

We reached Gurudongmar lake around 9:15AM. The view was just breathtaking. It was worth all the tiresome journey. My elder daughter was feeling a little bit of nausea. She saw the lake, went and slept in the car. My younger daughter walked with us down to the lake (there are about 20-25 steps to reach the lake). 3/4th of the lake was frozen. On the right side of the lake you see snow peaked mountains and on the left side you see mountains similar to sand dunes. This lake is at 17100ft above sea level. At this altitude the oxygen in the air is less, hence one may experience breathlessness and nausea. There is a small temple next to the lake. One can at the most spend 30-40 min here. Also it is recommended to leave this place by 11AM. Around noon, the wind gets very strong and all the pebbles start flying because of the strong winds. When we were climbing the steps to reach our car, is when Shrishti (my younger daughter) felt breathless and could not walk. We had to carry her. We gave her some jellies to chew after that she was fine.  From my experience, I recommend one to carry enough jellies to chew, nimbu goli etc. Avoid eating pop corn (though lot of them recommend to eat pop corn to beat the nausea). Stay calm, walk slowly, breath slowly. Don’t forget to carry/wear sunglasses (the sun and wind are very strong), gloves, cap, jacket and shoes. Carry enough eatables (though most of the time on this drive you will not feel hungry) as there are no shops after Thangu Village.

We left the lake around 9:45AM with a most exciting experience of Sikkim. This is one of the must see places of Sikkim and you can go there with kids above 5 years. On our way back to Lachen, we visited the Chopta Valley. This was around noon. I cannot forget the experience here. We got out of the car and just could not walk. It was a great effort to keep the eyes open without the glasses. The wind was very very strong. At one point I felt, the wind could easily swipe us away. The valley surrounded by snow peaked mountains just looks superb. On our way to Lachen we saw herds of Yaks. By the time we reached Lachen it was 2PM and we were dead tired. The kids were feeling nausea due to long drive at different altitudes.

We rested for some time, had our lunch and had to leave for Lathung (base for visiting Yumtang Valley which was planned for the next day).  We took at 2N/3D package for North Sikkim. But it is recommended to do a 3N/4D package if you want to cover Gurudognmar Lake. It can get tiring especially for Kids. Drive to Lathung from Lachen was about 2-2 ½ hours.  We were put up in Modern Residency in Lathung. This is the best and beautiful place to stay. The hotel looks like a monastery and the views from the terrace are beautiful. The evening was spent relaxing in the hotel. At last the kids got to watch TV (it was like somebody getting a glass of water after a safari in desert). The restaurant is decorated in traditional Tibetan style. The dinner was good. We had an early dinner and slept.

Gurudognmar Lake

Gurudognmar Lake

Gurudognmar Lake

Chopta Valley

Herd of Yaks - On the way to Gurudognmar Lake

Thangu Valley

On the way to Gurudognmar Lake

Day 8 – Yumtang and Valley of Flowers

Another must see point in North Sikkim is Yumtang Valley. The drive from Lathung to Yumtang Valley is around 1 ½ hours. The drive is very scenic. All along the road one will see various colours of Rhododendron flowers. These flowers typically bloom from March to May. We had planned our trip mid April assuming the flowers would be in full bloom. But since the winters lasted late this year, we saw fewer flowers than expected. The valley has around 36 colours of thess Rhododendrons. We saw around 10-15 colours. This is itself was very picturesque. 2-3 days prior to our visit there was heavy snow fall in Yumtang. Hence there was lots of snow still on the road side. Kids has fun playing in the snow.

At Yumtang Valley you get 360 degree panoramic view of the Himalayas. There is also a hot water spring. One can further drive up for 1-2 hours to go to Yumesdong (zero point). This is a place where you get snow in all seasons. Since we experienced snow in Yumtang, we opted out of going to Yumesdong. Visit to Gurudognmar Lake, Yumesdong and Katuo are typically not covered in the package cost. Please confirm with your travel agent in advance.

It was now time to pack our bags and return to Gangtok. Another long drive… By now all of us had got used to the long drives on these curvy mountains. No place can be reached in 1-2 hours. You need atleast 5 hours to go from one tourist place to another. Here you learn, you should not look at the KMs to be covered, but the hours to travel. The average speed you travel is 20KM/Hr.

We reached Gangtok late evening. It was around 7PM and we were put up at Mintokling Guest House. This is a nice place and close to the CBD of Gangtok. MG Road is about 10-15min walk. We decided to hangout and have dinner at MG Road. Gangtok’s MG Road is an experience in itself. Here you don’t feel you are in India. The road is closed for vehicles. It has fountains, lots of plants, very clean with benches all along. It’s a shopping hub. We loved this place and decided to come over again the next evening.

View from Modern Residency - Lachung

Yumtang Valley

360 degree mountain view - Yumtang Valley

Rhodendrones - Valley of flowers

Modern Residency - Lachung

Day 9 – Nathu La, Baba Mandir, Tsomgo/Changu Lake

Trip to Sikkim is incomplete without the visit to Nathu La. The visit requires permits and hence needs to be planned in advance. Also note Nathu La is closed on Wednesday and Thursday (this was the scheduled when we visited). Please check before planning your visit to Sikkim. At this point you see the wall which divides China and India. You also get to see the Indian army and Chinese army patrolling this border. 2 days prior to our visit, there was heavy snow fall in Nathu La. We had a blast playing with snow and sliding on snow.  It takes about 3 hours from Gangtok to reach Nathu La. All through the drive you will see plenty of military camps as this

On our way back we stopped at Baba Mandir which is a temple constructed in memory of a solider. Then we stopped a Chunga Lake. This is a huge scenic lake. You will also see a lot of Yak’s here. A small ride will cost around Rs150/yak. We took a yak ride. This place also has plenty of food stalls and shops which rent warm clothes before you go to Nathu La. We had our lunch here are headed back to Gangtok.

On your way you can also stop at Hanuman Tok and Ganesh Tok. These are just view points. I find each point in Sikkim is a view point. The whole state is very rich is natural resources and is very very scenic.
Our booking was again at Hidden Forest Retreat. Since we could not spend enough time earlier, we wanted to spend all our remaining time at this beautiful resort.

Nathu La

Changu Lake

Nathu La

Nathu La

MG Road Gangtok

Day 10 – Gangtok, Rumtek

It was time to pack our bags. One more thing left for us was to visit the Rumtek Monastery. We decided to cover this on our way to NJP. Our train to Kolkata from NJP was at 8:30PM. Gangtok to NJP takes about 4 hours.  Hence we started our day around 10AM.

We first visited the Institute of Tibetology. This is good place to understand Buddha and Buddhism. From here we went to Rumtek Monastery. This is the 2nd largest monastery in Asia and worth a visit. Guides are available to explain the details of the monastery.

After completing the Rumtek monastery we were done with our Sikkim trip. On our drive to NJP we were recollecting our last 10 days of vacation. We had seen and experienced many things and thinking about them was touching as we knew we may not be able to visit Sikkim again for some time and by our next visit we knew lot of things would have changed.

Rumtek Monastery

Day 11 - Kolkata

We reached Kolkata in the morning and finding a place to check in to a hotel was a struggle. It is difficult to find a place to stay without prior booking. By now we were all longing to get back to Bangalore. After being in Sikkim for 1 week, Kolkata seemed very unclean, poor and to add to this the weather was hot and humid.
We had our flight at 8PM. Spent the day checking out the Indian Museum, Marble Palace and Jain Temples before we completed our summer vacation.

Rabindranath Tagore Museum - Kolkata

Jain Temple - Kolkata