Sikkim Visit

TOURING SIKKIM

Best Season to Visit:

March to May as the temperatures are amenable and mountains are lush with alpine flowers. October to December for those loving the winter nip and the occasional snowfall.

Clothing : Summer light woollens,

Minter : Heavy woollens.

Entry Formalities :

All foreigners intending to visit Sikkim can avail a 15 day permit. Permits for restricted areas i.e Gangtok, Rumtek, Phodong, and Pemayangtse can be obtained from 24hrs in Advance from all Indian Missions abroad, Sikkim tourism offices in Delhi, Calcutta, Siliguri, Darjeeling and from the District Magistrate office, Government of West Bengal, at Darjeeling and Gangtok after furnishing proper documents.

Permits: Domestic and Foreign tourists visiting Tsomgo lake, Nathula and Yumthang require permits which are granted by the superintendent of police ( check posts division) of the Sikkim police Department, Gangtok.

First Day Tour :

1. Changu (Tsom-Go) Lake.This is a sacred lake as per belief of the local people. Tsongo lake frozen over in Winter.

Nathula Pass. TsomGo lake situated at 12400 ft, is about a Km long and 50ft deep. This is 35 Km from Gangtok and the drive is of 2.5 hrs. Climb is pretty steep and there is need for woolens even in the summers, the winds can be pretty chilly. The lake is regarded extremely holy. Nathula Pass is situated at 14.400ft and is on the silk route; expect snow even in the summers. The wind is pretty chilly so carry heavy woollens. It is situated on the ancient trade route between China and India. The same has been reopened recently to boost trade with our northern neighbour. One can see Chinese soldiers on the other side of the border outpost. The Pass is heavily guarded and photography is restricted, one can get a view of heavy Artillery and military slogans written by arranging stones on the mountainside.

 Baba Harbhajan Singh Temple:

Northern Sikkim

You will have to allocate at least 3 days best if you can add another day for leisure

·      First day : Travel from Gangtok to Lachen. Reaching Lachen in evening.

·   Second day : Early morning trip to Gurodongmar lake with a small stop for breakfast at a village called Thangu. After Gurudongmar and a brief rest travel to Lachung.

·  Third day: Travel from Lachung to Yungthang the valley of Rodohedrons. Back towards Gangtok. 

The north Sikkim trip has both the attraction snow in winter and the Rhododendrons and alpine flowers in summer.

Flip side :All the trips have to be booked in advance due to the limited facilities at Lachen and Lachung and lack of communication with the hotel owners at these places.  The only media of communication are the tour operators in Gangtok ( No telephone coverage in these areas as yet). The government office in Gangtok for tourism is also not very forthcoming with the actual conditions in Lachen and Lachung, Every bodies bread and butter is linked to tourism in Sikkim hence the truth about the climate and road conditions are a closely guarded secret. 

Lachen and Lachung are the two places at which one stays during the visit. A minimum 3 day and  2 nights trip is required, 4 days and 3 nights will make the trip more comfortable but you will have to shell out around Rs 4000/ vehicle and 1500 per hotel room per day for each day extension. ( The tourist agent will ask you to be considerate with the Local hotel owner with regards to the food made available due to the difficulty in transporting materials to these locations). But the tourist operators can become more professional by providing what they promise as the same can be managed but the operators try to fleece small amounts in the name of hardship of the locals. After the earthquake in Sikkim the road conditions are very bad and there can be landslides that throws your schedule out of gear. bargain with the tour operator as the substitute offers if such an eventuality happens( usually they will not oblige once money is in their pocket).

Lachung is situated at the height of 8600 ft and is described as the most picturesque village of Sikkim.

YumThang: Lachung provides the basic amenities for an exploration of Yumthang valley. At Yumthang situated at 11800 ft, the tree line ends but the rhododendron still blooms. It has a hot spring rich in Sulphur. The route from Yumthang from Lachung is very picturesque and is lined with rhododendron; the views are the best in May. Yumthang is itself located on a flat valley near the tree line about 135 Km from Gangtok in the Northern Sikkim.

Lachen is the sister village of Lachung and is situated at the altitude of 9000 ft and at a 6 hr drive from Gangtok . Lachen is situated on a grassy flat plain from which the pine clad mountains rise. The village has 150 houses earlier inhabited only in winter.

Gurudongmar Lake is also worth a visit in any season ( it will be covered with ice in winter and will look deep blue in summer). the Tibetian landscape and views are stupendous, though lack of oxygen at this altitude is a bother. Dont carry old and very small children to Gurudongmar . It is believed to be a blessed lake . Situated at the altitude of 17,100 ft, the lake freezes over in the winter except a one spot which the locals believe have been specially blessed. The local Buddhists and the Sikhs both have strong belief in the miraculous powers of the lake water.

Mandu can become a Unesco heritage site

Mandu brings back memories of the story of the love of the poet-prince Baz Bahadur and his beautiful wife, Rani Roopmati. It is home to India's most beautiful monuments bulit in Afghan style of Architecture. Elegant Islamic palaces, mosques and onion-domed mausoleum beside large medieval reservoirs .

Baz Bahadur, the last independent ruler of Malwa, retreated to Mandu to study music after being trounced in battle by Rani Durgavati. He fell in love with a Hindu singer named Roopmati and subsequently married her. When Akbar heard of Roopmati's beauty, he dispatched an army to Mandu to capture her and the long-coveted fort. Bahadur managed to slip away from the ensuing battle, but his bride, left behind in the palace, poisoned herself rather than fall into the clutches of the attackers.

The village group

Some of the fort's best-preserved buildings are clustered around the village. Work on the magnificent pink sandstone mosque on the west side of the main square, the Jama Masjid, commenced during the reign of Hoshang Shah and took three generations to complete. Said to be modelled on the Great Mosque at Damascus, it rests on a huge raised plinth pierced by rows of tiny arched chambers - once used as cells for visiting priests.

When to Visit :

Visiting mandu is best just after the monsoons, in August.

How To get there :

Mandu can be visited as a day trip from Indore (a distance of 98 kms), but it is a better option to spend a couple of nights there.

Tourists can be well adviced to avoid the direct buses to Mandu from Indore , one can travel to Dhar and pick up a local service to the fort from there . It is a 35 kilometer journey that takes over one hour. Direct services back to Indore run twice a day. Taxis charge around Rs.1000 per day ( rates are Rs 6/- per kilometer min 250 km /day ) you can bargain and get the above rates if you stay back in Mandu for 2 days. One can also get to Mandu by state bus from Bhopal, Ujjain and Maheshwar.

Where to Stay:

The Travelers' Lodge (Rs350-500), near the Sada barrier, has scenic views, clean rooms with attached bath and hot water. It's a one-kilometre hike from the main square where the buses pull in.

The Tourist Cottages (MP tourisms )Rs1200-1800), 2km south of the square, is Mandu's most comfortable hotel. The Tourist Cottages' pleasant semi-open-air restaurant is the best place to eat in the fort. Unlike the cafeteria in the Tourist Lodge, you don't have to order your evening meal in advance, and they serve beer in addition to the standard MPTDC menu of moderately priced Indian, Chinese and Western food.

About Mandu: Archaeological evidence suggests that the remote hill-top was first fortified around the sixth century AD, when it was known as Mandapa-Durga, or "Durga's hall of worship". Four hundred years later, the site became of strategic importance when the powerful Parmaras moved their capital from Ujjain to Dhar, 35 km north. The fort eventually fell to the Sultans of Delhi in 1305. While the Sultans were busy fending off the Mongols on their northern borders a century or so later, Malwa's Afghan governor, Dilawar Khan Ghuri established his own independent kingdom but he died after only four years on the throne, leaving his ambitious young son as the heir.

During Hoshang Shah's illustrious 27-year reign, Mandu was promoted from pleasure resort to royal capital, and acquired some of the finest Islamic monuments in Asia, including the Jama Masjid, Delhi Gate, and the Sultan's own tomb.

Mandu's monuments are from a unique school of Islamic architecture. Much admired for their elegant simplicity, the buildings are believed to have considerably influenced the Mughal architects responsible for building the famous Taj Mahal.

The Royal Enclave

Reached via the lane that leads west off the village square, the Royal Enclave is dominated by Mandu's most photographed monument, Ghiyath Shah's majestic Jahaz Mahal, or "Ship Palace". The name derives from its unusual shape, and elevated situation on a narrow strip of land between two large water tanks.A breezy rooftop terrace, crowned with four domed pavilions, looks over Munja Talao lake to the west, and the square, stone-lined Kapur Sagar in the other direction.

Hindola Mahal, or "Swing Palace":

With its distinctive sloping walls supposedly look as though they are swaying from side to side. The design is in fact, purely functional, intended to buttress the graceful but heavy stone arches that support the ceiling inside.

Sprawling over the northern shores of Munja Talao lake are the dilapidated remains of a second royal pleasure palace. The Champa Baodi boasts an ingeniously complex ventilation and water-supply system which kept its dozens of subterranean chambers, or tehkhanas, cool during the long summers.

The Hathi Pol, or "Elephant Gate", was the main entrance to the Royal Enclave. Once past its pair of colossal, elephant guardians, a track heads north to the edge of the plateau and the grand Delhi Gate. Built around the same time as Dilawara Khan's mosque, this great bastion, towering over the cobbled road in five sculpted arches, is the most imposing of the twelve that mark the battlements along the fort's 45-kilometre perimeter.

On the opposite side of the square to the Great Mosque, the Ashrafi Mahal, or "Palace of Coins", was a theological college (madarasa) that the ruler Muhammad Shah later converted into a tomb. The complex included a giant marble mausoleum and seven-storey minar, or victory tower, of which only the base survives.

Around the Sagar Talao

En route to the Rewa Kund, some more monuments are scattered around the fields east of Sagar Talao. Dating from the early fifteenth century, the Mosque of Malik Mughis is the oldest of the bunch. The main doorway has turquoise tiles with fine fine Islamic calligraphy on them.

A short way south of the mosque, is the octagonal tomb known as the Dai-ki-Chhoti Bahan-ka-Mahal. It is built on a raised plinth, still retains large strips of the blue ceramic tiles that plastered most of Mandu's beautiful Afghan domes.

A flight of steps leads up from the square to the large domed entrance porch. Beyond the ornate jali screens and bands of blue-glaze tiles that decorate the main doorway, you arrive in the Great Courtyard, enclosed by rows of pillars and small domes. The prayer hall, or Qibla, at the far end, is surmounted by three larger domes, and houses a small pulpit and some finely carved Koranic inscriptions.

Hoshang Shah's tomb (c. 1440),
Directly behind the Jama Masjid, is this group's real highlight. It stands on a low plinth at the centre of a square-walled enclosure, and is crowned by a squat central dome and four small corner cupolas. The tomb is made entirely from milky white marble - the first of its kind in the subcontinent. The Mughal emperor Shah Jahan brought his architects to admire the building before they began work on the Taj Mahal.

On the opposite side of the square to the Great Mosque, the Ashrafi Mahal, or "Palace of Coins", was a theological college (madarasa) that the ruler Muhammad Shah later converted into a tomb. The complex included a giant marble mausoleum and seven-storey minar, or victory tower, of which only the base survives.

The Rewa Kund group

The Kund nestles behind a rise further up the hill. Noted for its curative powers, the old stone-lined reservoir is popular with bus parties of locals. Water from the tank used to be pumped into the cistern in the nearby Baz Bahadur Palace.

The romantic Roopmati Pavilion, built by Bahadur for his bride-to-be, still rests on a ridge high above the Rewa Kund. Beneath its lofty terrace, the plateau plunges a 300m to the Narmada Valley. On a clear day the view is breathtaking.

NORTH SIKKIM TRIP PLAN

Visit to North Sikkim

My third visit to Sikkim , previous times i had visited Tsomgo lake and Nathula pass in east Sikkim.

This time i wanted to visit north Sikkim for Rhododendrons, Primula and many other Alpine flowers. The three day and two night trip was pretty hectic, but i felt it was better to come back to Gangtok rather than stay one more night at Lachen/Lachung. That would increase my cost by another Rs4000/ which is the per day vehicle charges. 

Itinerary:
Day-1	Arrival Bagdogra /NJP - Gangtok (O/N)
Day-2	Gangtok - Lachen (O/N)
Day-3	Lachen - Thangu - Chopta Valley - Gurudongmar Lake - Lachen - Lachung (O/N)
Day-4	Lachung - Valley of flowers ( YUMTHANG) /Katao - Lachung - Gangtok (O/N)
Day-5	After breakfast  left for Bagdogra /NJ

Day 01.:

 Pick- up from hotel at Gangtok at about 10a.m.Proceed to Lachen (120k.m.) at an altitude of 9,800 ft. On the way stop for sightseeing at Tsahi Viewpoint, Kabi Lungstok, Naga Waterfalls, the confluence of Lachen Chu and Lachung Chu at Chungthang. Lunch will be served at Namok. You are likely to reach Lachen at late afternoon/in the evening. Night halt at Lachen surrounded by fir – clad mountain peaks, overwhelming peace and solitude.

Day 02:

 After breakfast left for Gurudongmar Lake(17000ft.) via Thangu (13,000 ft.) and Chopta Valley (13,200 ft.). Thangu Valley is a broad valley at the junction of Thangu Chu, Chopta , Chu and Lassur Chu. In the spring end / summer months one is fascinated by many hues all around as Rhododendrons, Primula and many other Alpine flowers are in full bloom. In the winter months one can play in the snow or even walk over frozen rivers. The Unspoilt beauty of the area will take ones breath away. We went back to Lachen for Lunch and a nap as the trip was very tiring. Low oxygen and low temperatures can cause some problems to individuals with low blood count and heart problems. Small children and old people are advised not to overdo any thing, even running can cause you to pass out, though mountain illness room ( MI room at the military outpost is equipped with oxygen cylinder for such eventuality but one can gaurd against such untoward event. the gurudongmar lake area has a typical Tibetan landscape of a cold desert. On the way we saw the beautiful Twin Waterfalls and BhimNala Waterfalls. Reached Lachung at late afternoon /in the evening and checked into our hotel.

Day 03:

After breakfast leave for Yumthang (11,800 ft.) On the way we were to visit the famous hot spring. Yumthang is a large valley surrounded by mountains where the tree line ends. In April/ May /June the valley erupts in a riot of colours as Rhododendrons, Primula and many other Alpine Flowers are in full bloom. In the winter months Yumthang is somber with snow all around, and the snow clad mountains adding to the ethereal beauty. Return to Lachung for Lunch, afterlunch pack off your luggage then drive back to Gangtok.
Travel to Katao & Yumisamdong (0point) snow point can also be arranged subject to availability of permits/ road and weather conditions. ( normally permits are not issued , you have to bribe your way in).Vehicle charges extra.

Rate offered to us was Rs 18,000/- net for 2 adult and 1 child.

Balance  paid on arrival at Gangtok.

Hotels: Lachung: Kanchendzonga Regency.

          Lachen:Twins Peak.