Layered peaks of the Kanchenjunga massif above forested foothills in cool blue morning light.

Sikkim · 9 Days

Sikkim Grand Journey

The full circuit — Gangtok and its monasteries, the far-north valleys of Lachen and Lachung, South Sikkim's temples and tea, and Pelling for the mountains.

Day by Day

9 Days, In Full

The trip to book if Sikkim is the whole holiday. Two nights in Gangtok for Rumtek and the market. A night each in Lachen and Lachung for Gurudongmar Lake, the Yumthang Valley and Zero Point. Back through Gangtok, then south to Ravangla for the Buddha Park and the Temi tea garden, taking in the Namchi statues on the way. Two nights in Pelling for Pemayangtse, Rabdentse and the Kanchenjunga sunrise. It is the version that leaves nothing of the state out, at a pace that still allows an early night before the high days.

Gangtok

Arrive in Gangtok

The drive up from Bagdogra airport or the New Jalpaiguri railhead takes about four to five hours, climbing out of the Bengal tea plains and up the Teesta gorge into Sikkim. Foreign visitors have their Sikkim permit checked at Rangpo on the way in. You reach Gangtok in the afternoon. The evening is for MG Marg, the traffic-free central avenue, where the town comes out to walk and the cafes fill up.

Gangtok

Gangtok — the Monasteries, the Ropeway and MG Marg

A full day around the capital. Rumtek first, the largest monastery in Sikkim and the Karmapa's seat, on a hill facing the town. Then the Namgyal Institute of Tibetology, with one of the best collections of Tibetan texts and art outside Tibet, and the nearby Do-drul chorten. The afternoon takes in the Enchey monastery above the town, the ropeway across the ridge, and time on MG Marg and in the Lal Bazar market.

A winding road threading through the forested blue-green mountains of Sikkim.

Gangtok → Lachen

Gangtok to Lachen — Into North Sikkim

A long drive north, about six or seven hours, following the Teesta up a narrowing green gorge past waterfalls and the town of Mangan. The road is rough in places and the region is restricted, so a permit and a North Sikkim operator are required, and the vehicle changes to a shared arrangement here. You reach Lachen, a high village of wood-and-tin houses at two thousand seven hundred metres, by late afternoon, with an early night before the Gurudongmar start.

Prayer flags line the shore of Gurudongmar Lake in North Sikkim with snow peaks behind.

Lachen → Lachung

Gurudongmar Lake at Dawn, then Transfer to Lachung

The vehicle leaves Lachen around four in the morning, while the wind is still down, and climbs a rough road onto the plateau. Gurudongmar Lake sits at five thousand four hundred and thirty metres, one of the highest lakes in the world, held blue against snow mountains, with a part that is said never to freeze. The stop is short because of the altitude. Back to Lachen for breakfast, then a two-hour drive south to Lachung for the night.

The green meadow floor of Yumthang Valley in North Sikkim, ringed by forested mountains.

Lachung

Yumthang Valley and Zero Point

An early drive up the valley from Lachung to Yumthang, the Valley of Flowers, at three thousand five hundred metres. In spring the rhododendron sanctuary on the slopes is in bloom; in other seasons it is a wide river meadow ringed by snow. A footbridge crosses to a hot spring. If the road and the weather allow, the trip continues to Zero Point at four thousand seven hundred metres, the snowbound end of the road. Back in Lachung by early afternoon.

A deep green Himalayan valley below high mountains near Lachung, North Sikkim.

Lachung → Gangtok

Lachung Back to Gangtok

The return south is a long day, six to seven hours, back down the Teesta gorge through Chungthang and Mangan. There are stops for the Naga and Bhim Nala waterfalls and for lunch. The green deepens as the road drops. You reach Gangtok in the late afternoon, with the evening free on MG Marg after two nights in the far north.

The gold and crimson Guru Padmasambhava statue on Samdruptse Hill near Namchi, South Sikkim.

Gangtok → Ravangla

Gangtok to Ravangla, via the Namchi Statues

A drive south and west of about four hours, crossing the Teesta and climbing into South Sikkim. The stop on the way is Namchi: the forty-five-metre statue of Guru Padmasambhava on Samdruptse hill, and the Char Dham complex at Solophok, where the four corner temples of India are rebuilt at full size around a statue of Shiva. Both sit on hilltops with wide views. You reach Ravangla, on its ridge facing Kanchenjunga, by evening.

A hillside village scattered through dense forest on a ridge near Pelling, West Sikkim.

Ravangla → Pelling

Ravangla to Pelling

A drive of about three hours west along the ridges, through forest and small villages, with Kanchenjunga ahead most of the way on a clear day. There is time to stop at a viewpoint or a roadside monastery. You reach Pelling, in the far west of the state, by early afternoon, and check in with the mountains filling the windows. If the sky is clear, the sunset light on the snow from the hotel lawn is worth waiting for.

Pelling

Kanchenjunga at Sunrise from Pelling

Pelling exists for this view, and the best of it is at first light. From the hotel lawn, or from the Sangacholing ridge a little higher, the Kanchenjunga massif stands clear before the valley cloud builds, and the snow turns from grey to pink to white as the sun comes up. Kanchenjunga is the third-highest mountain in the world and sacred to the Sikkimese, who call it the five treasures of the great snow. The rest of the morning is loose: a monastery, a village walk, or simply the lawn and a pot of tea.

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