Sikkim — Shortcut to Swiss!

10 min readDec 18, 2021

Sikkim: Full of natural wonders and picturesque beauty.

If you have Swiss on your travel bucket list and it is not within your budget, you can consider North Sikkim instead. When I visited the Alps in Switzerland in 2016, one traveler asked me, “You have the Mother of Mountains. Why the Alps?”. His question made me muse about it. Certainly, Swiss is a product that is marketed well while the Himalayas is an uncommon hidden treasure. Finally, I got a chance to visit North Sikkim with my wife in November 2021. Here, I am writing this blog describing our travel to Gangtok, Lachen, Kalapathar, Gurudongmar Lake, Lachung, Yumthang valley, Nathula Pass, Zero point in the northern part of Sikkim.

All the details that are mentioned in this blog corresponds to the time of our travel, i.e., November end 2021 during covid-19 pandemic. All the pictures used in this blog are captured by me. source

Bengaluru -Gangtok:

At Bengaluru Airport:

After meeting our friends, we departed from Bengaluru. We had booked Indigo flights to Bagdogra, the nearest airport to Sikkim accessible at that time. FYI, Pakyong Airport was not operational during our time of booking. Web check-in is mandatory. You can use the soft copy of the boarding pass during your flight. Good news for people like me who fail to keep their boarding passes safely till they reach the departure gates.
I strongly advise you to reach the airport at least 3 hours before. We had our flight at 5:50 AM. But, we missed it due to long queues at the airport entrance check, airlines check-in counter, and security check. I am not sure if the situation is the same throughout the day. Since we missed our flight, we booked another available one via Kolkata. We rescheduled the flight with an additional fee of INR 3600 at the Indigo reservation counter.
Another piece of advice: If you are carrying your drone, please ensure that you keep it inside your check-in baggage. We were not allowed to take our drone in the cabin baggage at the security check. We left it at the airport and boarded the flight without it. I didn’t know the exact rule. I took the drone in the cabin baggage from Singapore to Male, Male to Chennai, and Chennai to Bengaluru. And there were no issues. Bad luck! I couldn’t take the drone to the most beautiful place on the Earth. Anyways, I got back my drone from the Lost&Found department at Bengaluru Airport. So, If you are taking it, you need to get Indian Army permission to operate your drone in most parts of Sikkim.

At Kolkata Airport:

Transiting at Kolkata airport was simple. There are some cheap restaurants to eat at in the airport. There was not much crowd at Kolkata airport around 11 AM.

At Bagdogra Airport:

It is a small airport and you can get your baggage quickly after landing. The restaurants inside the terminal were closed. We called our driver and he picked us. All our transport and stay from now on were arranged by TourOn. They did an excellent job in customizing our travel plan and also ensured smooth travel experience even though we missed our flight and departed late from Bengaluru.

To Gangtok on road:

The condition of the road from Bagdogra to Gangtok is bad. So, it is better to prepare yourself for a few hours of a humpy roller coaster ride. He stopped for a late lunch somewhere on the way. Though the restaurant looked good, the food was ok. It was expensive. So, you better search in google and suggest someplace to the driver. There is nothing on the way for sightseeing and you can take a nap if you are tired. It took 5 hours to reach Gangtok. It was more than the expected time because of 1.5 hours delay due to landslides.

In Sikkim:

Gangtok-Lachen:

We stayed at The Cosmos Hotel. It was a good hotel and had decent service. The breakfast includes poori, potato wedges, poha, sandwiches, and vada. We recommend you avoid oily food since you will be traveling again for long hours.
The weather is pleasant. Gangtok is not very cold. You will not find snow there.
Sightseeing points: there are 2 waterfalls and one river viewpoint on the way. The waterfalls were good but the view along the river Teesta was stunning. It was amazing to sit and enjoy along the river banks in the evening. Here is a glimpse of that fantastic view!
Finally, we reached our hotel, Summit Panghen Metok Hotel. It was a very nice and clean hotel. The dinner buffet was excellent.

Kalapathar & Gurudongmar Lake:

On the next day, we visited Kalapathar. Most of the places in north Sikkim require army permits to enter. But, Don’t worry, the transportation team of TourOn will take care. I liked the place very much because the snow-covered mountains had less crowd and good sunshine. It was perfect for taking nice clicks.

Gurudongmar Lake is one of the highest lakes in the world and in India, located at an altitude of 5,425 m (17,800 ft)

After Kalapathar, we were on the way to Gurudongmar Lake. Forgot to mention one important note, just after you leave the hotel, drive to some medical shop and buy an oxygen spray cylinder for INR 700 for each traveler. Please don’t ignore this. If you know that you are sensitive to a drop in atmospheric oxygen or you are not sure about it, then better buy it.
Here is how my body reacted to the drop in atmospheric oxygen. My SpO2 dropped to as low as 75% when I reached the lake. The spray helped me to stay active and enjoy the beauty at least for some time. It was very cold. The temperature was around -5 degrees. So, just your jacket won’t be enough. Ensure that you wear your thermals and woolen socks before you leave the hotel.
Oh ya, the road is very bad during this journey. But it is worth all the struggle to admire nature. You can find snow there but it was less comfortable to enjoy it because of the oxygen drop. So, better take nice snow pics in Kalapathar.
The river along the road is so pure and clean. We collected some river water in our reusable bottles (packed water bottles are banned in North Sikkim and so you need to bring your bottle to refill and use ) and drank it. We hoped that we consumed some essential Himalayan minerals.
Later, we stopped for lunch around 3 pm. Knowing the environmental conditions and intentions to preserve the natural resources, we didn’t expect a great hotel to provide us a hygienic food and a clean ambiance. So We were mentally prepared. Not to my surprise, I found a fly-like insect in the rice that was served to me. It is ok and I just asked to replace it. “Get along with nature”. To ensure good hygiene, it is better to take Maggi noodles or Momos. Maggi’s cost is INR 40–60. Momos’ cost is — INR 90 per plate (8 pieces).
The final stop was our next resort, Summit Khangri Karpo Retreat & Spa.

Yumthang valley & Zero point:

We got our breakfast packed and vacated the hotel. We were on the way to the zero-point. Luckily, we could see snowfall. On the way to the zero-point, Yumthang valley is situated. The valley is supposed to be covered with colorful flowers and plants during spring. But in November, we could see the other version of the valley. The amazing red rocks are all around you! Imagine foggy mountains, red-colored rocks covered with algae of different colors, and above all, it was just snowing! Excellent spot to stop by and take nice pics.
Since the zero-point has some time limits to enter and leave, we visited it first. If you plan to walk in the snow and play, better get your boots. Else you can rent rubber boots. But these are not well enclosed. Since we enjoyed the snow enough on the day before, we relaxed and ate hot veg momos (8 pieces) for INR 100.
While returning, we stopped to enjoy the clean river flowing along the valley. It was very chill and breezy. Again, it is a beautiful place to take some videos like this.
As we descended the mountains, we stopped for snacks beside a waterfall, known as Amithab Batchan waterfalls (maybe named because of its height). Pakora was only available at that place and it didn’t taste good. You can get your water bottles refilled here.
Late evening, we reached Gangtok and checked in the same hotel which stayed last time. We rested for some time and had time to view our emails and our social media accounts.
For dinner, We went to a restaurant called Nimto in Mg marg road. We tried the authentic Nepalese and Sikkimese thali. The meal was tasty and spicy. There were many shops and the road was too crowded. In my view, One cannot include that in your list of things to see in Sikkim. Just a shopping place!

Nathula pass, Tsomgo lake, Baba mandir

Like most locations in Sikkim, Nathula pass, the Indo-Chinese border also had some timing restrictions. So, we were set to visit Nathula pass first. It was snowing in Nathula pass and it was extremely cold. Since we need to change to another car, we were waiting at the entrance of the pass. Not all cars can just enter as we need a permit for the vehicles to enter. Our car got stuck somewhere and it was snowing heavily that the army stopped issuing the permit after some point of time. We somehow managed to get into a car which can take us inside. There was too much fog that it was difficult to see and the wheels were skidding. The temperature would be close to -10 degrees. We stayed there for some time as our driver instructed us to return quickly before it gets harder to drive. The place was flooded with tourists. We couldn’t enjoy the view much.
Baba mandir is not a scenic place. It is just a monument to show respect for a soldier who died while serving his duty for India. If you are a just natural lover, You can skip this location. We halted just for 5 mins.
Tsomgo lake is a typical Indian tourist spot with a huge crowd and some shops. They offer yak rides. We don’t like such crowded places. So we skipped it. Here is how it looks.
Yes, we were done for the day and returned to the hotel. We had dinner again at the square restaurant in Gangtok. They offered excellent service and good food.

Gangtok-Chennai:

We started at 6:30 AM for our 4:30 PM flight to Chennai from Bagdogra. We started very early because we were not sure whether there would be any delay due to landslides. We informed the hotel to give us the packed breakfast.
There was less traffic on the roads and we reached the airport by 12:30 PM. As we expected long queues due to covid rules, we waited for 30 mins to enter the airport.
Although we reached early, we had to wait to screen the baggage and check-in. The counters were opening only a few hours before the departure time. It was very crowded as it was a very small airport to house so many passengers. There were very long queues at the security check and everyone boarded the flights only during their final call. So, reaching the airport early didn’t help us much but still, we didn’t miss the flight. ALREADY A LESSON LEARNT. We don’t want to take chances. Just be mentally prepared and manage your meal timings. There are shops where you can get sandwiches, rolls, etc.
Transit at Delhi: After landing, we had only one hour to catch the connecting flight and so we had to rush to the gate. However, the airport staff helped us reach the gate on time by giving us a ride on the airport cart. We were the last to board the aircraft. Back to Chennai!

Takeaways:

Language, No worries!

If you don’t know the local language, you don’t have to worry. The local drivers and hotel staffs speak Hindi. Even if you don’t know Hindi like me, they speak basic English. The drivers, who drove in Lachen and Lachung, are very disciplined and have good road sense.

Food, No worries!

You can get good food in Gangtok and in the resorts of Lachen and Lachung. Whenever you are visiting the pass or valley, you will get the hot authentic Momos and fried rice. Maggi is also available. Also, you can ask the restaurants to refill the bottle with hot water. There are shops on the way selling you processed foods.

Cleanliness, No worries!

The resorts in which we stayed had clean bathrooms and beds. We felt safe and secured there. The tourist places are also relatively more clean compared to the usual tourist spots in India. We prefer to use nature to attend nature’s call to avoid public bathrooms. Go behind the mighty rocks! Be a roman when you are in Rome.

Safe, no worries!

We felt the drivers or the hotel staff didn’t cheat us. People are honest and genuine. We didn’t face any trouble during our trip.

Worth, Absolutely!

It is totally worth the money and the effort taken to travel to Sikkim. The trip cost for 2 people is around INR 100000 excluding the lunch and snacks. If you are going in a group of 4 or more, then you can save a lot of money.
Choose off-season time to enjoy nature with less crowd around you. I recommend November end or December start. You can experience the harsh winter in the snow-covered mountains of North Sikkim but be prepared for the roadblocks and consider the delays in your plan. I recommend TourOn if you are planning your trip to Sikkim.