Gangtok, a tiny little town of Sikkim with the human population approximately 98,658. No industries, no high rises and no factories with the giant smoke developer. Surrounded by mighty mountains, lies the safeguarded town of north-east Sikkim.
That’s all I heard about before stepping into the town.
My flight landed at Bagdogra airport at 10:20 a.m. From the airport, we hired a cab to Gangtok. It was a two hours journey approximately.
The roads were smooth and the edges were breathtaking. In no time we were accompanied by River Teesta.
The turquoise colour water and the flow of it through the rocky paths, flanked by the high rises of the mountains was enough to eradicate all my tiredness.
Driving side by side with Teesta, our cab reached the entrance of Sikkim. We were verified by our id-proofs and then we were allowed to move forward.
We lodged in a hotel of Paljore Stadium Road. Dropped down our luggage on our apartment floor, took a fresh shower, did our lunch and stepped out of our room.
Who on earth wishes to stay in when there was such a beautiful captivating climate outside?
Though the atmosphere in Gangtok was very energetic still we were little dozed off due to our journey.
We decided to see the local market of Gangtok. The most important and the hub of gathering for the localites is The M.G.Market.
Welcome to M.G.Marg
I’m making a confession, that I’m not an alcoholic but definetly a shopaholic. I’m a shopping geek. So, M.G.Market was positioned at the top of my bucket list.
M. G. Marg
M.G.Market is named after Mohandas Karam Chand Gandhi. And, the main motto of the market is “Cleanliness”.
The first thing that caught my eyesight was the tidiness of the market. The roads were paved with black and brownstones.
Attractive shops on both the sides with attractive cloths peeping out from the glass window.
Well, I did a lot of shopping for woollen garments.
The market starts depleting near about 8 o’clock as the temperature falls drastically. The shutters drop down and the whole town gets camouflaged by the sheet of chillness.
The very next day we headed for the Paljore Stadium. Every morning, the footballers come for there workout session which was enthusiastic for us to watch. It was 10 mins walk from our hotel to the stadium.
Paljore Stadium
So we covered it up during our morning walk. Because, the stadium remains open for the visitors only during the early times of the day, the other time, we had to book tickets as matches get scheduled.
Around 7o’clock we returned to our hotel rooms, did our breakfast and went off for our local sightseeing.
Rumtek Monastry
The calm and serene atmosphere of the monastry is a total getaway from the hustle and bustle of the city life. It’s quite sure that the secret of happiness in the face of the students lies in this place only. This holy place assures that no complications touch their children.
I stayed there for quite a long time and the air gave me a mysterious satisfaction and blew me to some other world away from the hitches of daily life.
Shanti View Point
One of the famous points of Gangtok where one can get a glimpse of the greenhouses arranged coherently one after the other.
Ban Jhakri Falls
The sound of the water is hearable few kilometres apart. It’s a short way walk from the parking to The Jhakri falls.
Located at a distance of 7 km from Gangtok is a popular tourist attraction.
The park’s statuary and others display a document on the traditional shamanic healer who worships spirits living in caves and around a forest. The name BanJhakri was derived from the Nepali language where ban means forest and jhakri means healer.
The fall was hidden behind a forest land and now it’s cleared and received the honour to be one of the theme parks and also to imbibe the history of shamanic traditions.
The place can be enjoyed best around 1o’clock to 2o’clock in the afternoon because the inclination of the sun at a certain angle invokes the formation of an enchanting water rainbow.
The origination the rainbow is vague but it terminates clearly into green water of the fall.
It was almost late when we returned after sightseeing, and that all for Day 2 in Gangtok.
The next day we headed for famous Tsogmo Lake and Baba Mandir
Tsogmo lake
Guarded by high mountains from all the sides, lay the pristine lake at an altitude of 3,753 meters and it is 40 km from the capital Gangtok. The temperature ranges from 4 degrees Celcius to 3 degrees Celcius.
Baba mandir
Located between Nathula and Jelepla pass is a holy place to visit for tourist as well as for the soldiers.It is named after famous soldier Baba Harbhajan Singh as Baba Harbhajan Singh Temple
Landscape of Baba Mandir from the Maha Shiv idol
Ice slides of Baba Mandir
After covering these two famous spots we returned around 3o’clock in the afternoon. And, we had enough time for spending our last evening in this beautiful town of Sikkim.
As we’ve travelled a lot, so we decided to halt into mouth licking Tibetan dishes. The famous local food of Gangtok is nothing but Very special — MOMOs—THUKPA
The final farewell from the wonderful town
Every year at the end of October, the government of Sikkim organises a cultural festival which continues for 2-3 days. The festival was a collab of varieties dances, songs of various northern states of India. Showcasing their culture, activities and the history of their state. The program was enough to lure someone to their states. The participants belonged to various schools of northern states.
Dance program Of the cultural festival of Gangtok
That was how we wrapped up for Day 3.
the final goodbye……
As all good things come to an end. so as our stays in this wonderful escaped.
Hills, mountains, and me three of us never blended well but to my surprise, Gangtok did something to me that she was pulling me towards her. Caressed by mother nature, this tiny town is a perfect break. Gangtok gave me truckloads of memories and hundreds of them are captured in my camera.
Not willing to return but we had to. Well, it’s a goodbye for a short time, I’ll return again.
