Sikkim is a tiny state located in the north-eastern India, right in the lap of the great Himalayas. It is the state where dwells the great Kanchenjunga, world’s third highest and India’s highest mountain peak. No matter how small it is, Sikkim still is one of the most beautiful destinations and one of our favourites. Special not only for its captivating sceneries with huge mountains and numerous dreamy streams and waterfalls but also because of its people, who are exceptionally friendly, humble and environmentally aware.

Over the past 10 years, the government and the people of Sikkim worked really hard to convert the entire state to a complete organic land – agriculturally. As per the locals, they are going to be fully plastic-free in the next 5-8 years. They are pretty aggressive with their fight against plastic pollution. A lot of places, especially in North Sikkim the tourists are not allowed to enter with plastic water bottles or any sort of disposable polythene substances. There are check-posts where the tourist vehicles are monitored, and we love Sikkim for that!

Dreamy waterfalls are common sight in Sikkim, ©lifeofhoi

The four parts:

The state of Sikkim is divided into total 4 regions – North, South, East and West. The capital city is Gangtok which falls under East Sikkim. Gangtok is a happening city and a hub to transfer to different parts of Sikkim. When in Gangtok, a visit to the MG Marg is a must to enjoy the happy and colourful shopping streets, lot of good food and some vibrant live music.

There are topographical variations in every regions of Sikkim and undoubtedly each of these parts are extremely beautiful. The colours of the mountains keep changing based on the altitude.

I’ll give an example. Dzongu and Lachung – both are in North Sikkim, but the mountains in Dzongu are much greener due to low altitude. It is also the best place to get the glimpse of three h-u-g-e peaks of Kanchanjunga!

Lachung on the other hand is about 9000 feet high from the sea level and is surrounded by a set of surreally high snow-capped mountains. The colours of the land and vegetation are completely different here. Whereas Dzongu had more tropical vegetation, Lachung mostly had tall Pine forests.

The snow-capped mountains in Yumthang, North Sikkim, ©lifeofhoi

Language, currency and religion:

The locals in Sikkim speak Nepali, but they also speak very good Hindi and English. It’s an Indian state so the currency used is Indian Rupees. There are banks to exchange foreign currencies in Gangtok.

Most of the locals are either Buddhist or Hindu in Sikkim. There are quite a few important and beautiful Buddhist monasteries in Sikkim which are must visits.

Best time to visit:

From March-end to mid-May the weather is gorgeous, when the snows melt down and the valleys are picturesque and in full bloom with colourful Rhododendron flowers everywhere. In some high-altitude places like Yumthang in North Sikkim, about 16  different colours of Rhododendron flowers adorn the white snow covered valleys. Must be an amazing view which we want to experience the next time 🙂

Another great time to visit Sikkim is mid-October to mid-December, when the sky is almost always clear and the view of Kanchenjunga and the other snow-capped mountain peaks are majestic. This is also the best time for trekking.

Sikkim gets heavy rainfall from May to mid-October. Better to avoid visiting during rainy season because the roads sometimes get blocked due to land slide. Winter is also harsh in Sikkim when many connecting roads remain closed due to heavy snowfall.

Infrastructures:

In recent times Sikkim has developed its roads to a great extent, thus connectivity is now quite smooth. However, we are talking about high-altitude mountain roads, which are most of the times narrow, 2-way drives with extensive sharp u-bends. Land-slides are very common here in the mountains, that could happen because of heavy rainfall or even slight tremors. Such land-slides often block the roads and in such cases every cars line up to wait for hours. So it is very important to keep in mind that “anything can happen in the mountains”, and plan your travel schedules accordingly. If you have to catch a flight or train, then always keep some extra time on hand and don’t rush.

Even if one is a very good driver, it is not advisable to drive 4 wheelers up in these high-altitude, circling mountain roads. The local Sikkimese drivers are exceptionally good, and it is best to book private or shared cars locally. Shared cars are budget friendly but they are shared between other tourists or groups. If you don’t like that, you can always book private transfers which costs about INR 3000 to 4000 per day depending upon the distance covered or high/low tourist season.

MG Marg, Gangtok, East Sikkim, ©lifeofhoi

Permits:

Quite a few places in Sikkim fall under “restricted zones” mostly because they are border areas (Tibet/China, Nepal and Bhutan). Such as Yumthang Valley, Zero Point, Nathula pass, Dzongmo lake, Gurudongmar lake etc. For visiting these areas one need visit permits (even Indian nationals). For domestic travellers these permits are arranged by local travel agencies, but foreign travellers must apply for the “Inner Line Permit” at the Sikkim tourist offices in Kolkata, Delhi, Siliguri or from the Rangpo check post (while entering Sikkim). Foreigners need this permit even for visiting Gangtok. A detailed information can be found in this website sikkimtourism.gov.in/

Up high in North or East Sikkim, the small cars are not permitted in most of the places. All the tourists vehicles are generally heavy duty jeeps or SUVs. A lot of adventure lovers opt for motorcycle trips to North and East Sikkim too. There are separate permits for 2 wheelers and 4 wheelers. It is advisable to do a thorough research and talk to the local travel agencies to know more.

A grand view of circular mountain roads and Teesta River dam, North Sikkim, ©lifeofhoi

Our Itinerary:

Day 1 – Gangtok (East Sikkim)

Day 2 – Dzongu (North Sikkim)

Day 3 – Lachung (North Sikkim)

Day 4 – Yumthang Valley & Zero Point (North Sikkim)

Day 5 – Lachung to Gangtok and back to Siliguri

We initially planned a motorcycle ride through North Sikkim, but later changed the plan because we generally travel with a hell lot of gadgets, tripods, cameras and instruments and shoot videos like freaks :). We decided that riding motorcycle in those steep roads with two large backpacks wont be a very good idea. So we booked a private car for 4 complete days.

We booked our car from cabinsikkim.com and were very happy with their support. Hemant was our driver and companion for this trip, and he was so very supportive, friendly and patient! He stopped as many times as we wanted to, for shooting  videos on the way to everywhere we went, took us to food joints for hot meals and tea whenever we were hungry and introduced us to quite a few new Nepali songs which were quite fun 🙂

We’ll come back with blogs about detailed information on the magnificent Dzongu and the surreally beautiful  Lachung, Yumthang and Zero point soon. Till then please do check out our latest travel vlog on Gangtok 🙂