Sikkim experiences
Culture
Palaces, institutes, bazaars and the people who keep them
Photo: Rangan Datta Wiki · CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Walks through Sikkim's history with people who live it: the Chogyal era, the old trade towns and the communities behind each valley. 66 experiences below, each with its time, cost and the best hour to go.
Culture
The old Baba Mandir bunker on the Silk Route
On the Old Silk Route side, beyond the new shrine, stands the original Baba Mandir, built at Harbhajan Singh's bunker. It is …
Culture
Escorted visit to the Cho La battlefield
Drive up from your Silk Route homestay with an escort from Kupup to Cho La at about 4,593 m, the site of …
Culture
Watching the Detor Chaam at Enchey
Each winter Enchey's monks perform the Detor Chaam, two days of masked dances in the courtyard before the Tibetan new year. Gangtok …
Culture
Namgyal Institute and Do Drul Chorten
A morning at Deorali seeing the Namgyal Institute of Tibetology, opened by Nehru in 1958, and the white Do Drul Chorten above …
Culture
Gangtok's three-point morning by taxi
The classic early taxi round of Tashi View Point, Hanuman Tok and Ganesh Tok, three hill-top viewpoints around Gangtok, with a stop …
Culture
Sherathang and the reopened trade route
A short roadside stop at Sherathang, the Indian trade mart below Nathu La that opened when border trade resumed in July 2006 …
Culture
The Ipecac Garden's story, told on site
Walk Saramsa with its history in mind: a 1922 Forest Department orchard that grew pineapples, guavas, oranges and lychees for the British …
Culture
Sikkim Science Centre at Ranipool
A hands-on science centre at Ranipool, 12 km below Gangtok, with interactive exhibits and shows for children. A useful indoor option for …
Culture
Banjhakri Falls and the forest shaman
Walk the paths of Banjhakri Falls and Energy Park, a landscaped park around a 30 m waterfall that tells the story of …
Culture
Lingdum and Rumtek in one half day
Cross the valley from Gangtok for Sikkim's two great Kagyu monasteries in one trip: Rumtek, seat of the Karma Kagyu in exile, …
Culture
Old Rumtek, the quieter monastery below
A short stop at the smaller Old Rumtek Monastery, about 2 km below the main complex. Brightly painted, seldom crowded and home …
Culture
Gutor chaam before Losar at Rumtek
Watch Rumtek's monks perform the Gutor chaam, the masked dance that closes a week of Mahakala rites just before Losar, the Tibetan …
Culture
Tashi View Point and Kabi Lungchok half day
Combine the Kangchenjunga view with a drive 9 km further up the North Sikkim Highway to Kabi Lungchok, where Sikkimese tradition places …
Culture
In Hooker's footsteps up the Lachen valley
In 1849 the botanist Joseph Hooker walked up this valley past Thangu towards the Tibetan passes, describing the herders, meadows and plants …
Culture
Understanding the 2023 Teesta flood
At Chungthang you can see where the October 2023 glacial lake outburst destroyed the Teesta Stage III dam. A short, sober stop …
Culture
Standing at the blood-brotherhood stones
Spend half an hour among the stone pillars and statues at Kabi Lungchok, where Sikkim's histories place the oath between the Lepcha …
Culture
Telling the oath story to children
A simple way to bring Sikkim's founding story to life for children: read a short summary in the car, stand at the …
Culture
Gangtok to Phodong day loop by car
Hire a small car for a day loop up the North Sikkim Highway: Tashi View Point, Kabi Lungchok, the Seven Sisters Waterfall, …
Culture
Looking at Labrang's statues, texts and murals
Spend time in Labrang's museum and prayer hall, where Wikipedia records a large collection of Buddha statues, sutras and murals, and a …
Culture
Two monasteries in one morning
Visit Phodong Monastery, a Karma Kagyu house credited to 1740, and Labrang, a Nyingma monastery built 1826 to 1843, in one outing. …
Culture
The hermit of Lachen and Alexandra David-Néel
Hear the story of the French scholar who studied with the Lachen Gomchen from 1912, lived in a cave hermitage above the …
Culture
Yaks, herders and the high pastures
North of Lachen, herders keep yak and sheep on the pastures of Thangu, Chopta, Lashar and Lhonak. Learn from a Lachenpa host …
Culture
Orchards and lanes of old Lachung
Walk the lanes between old wooden houses, apple orchards and potato fields with a local guide, and see how a high village …
Culture
A slow stop in Mangan bazaar
Use your Mangan stop well: collect a Dzongu permit, draw cash, buy local produce and eat lunch in the bazaar of the …
Culture
A December day at the Phodong chaam
Watch the annual chaam at Phodong Monastery on the 28th and 29th days of the 10th Tibetan month, usually in December. Monks …
Culture
On Hooker's trail: rhododendrons of Sikkim
In 1849 Joseph Hooker collected rhododendrons in this valley that changed British gardening. Learn to recognise a few species on the drive …
Culture
Reading Dzongu from the Singhik viewpoint
Use the Singhik viewpoint to read the Lepcha reserve of Dzongu laid out across the Teesta: villages, roads, cardamom forest and the …
Culture
The Dokpa and the yak race of Lashar
Thangu is the doorway to the pastures of the Dokpa, herders of the high valleys north of Lachen, who still keep yak …
Culture
Visiting Tholung with respect
Tholung is one of Sikkim's most sacred monasteries, and its treasures belong to the whole Buddhist community. Learn what to expect when …
Culture
Dubdi, Norbugang and Kathok in one morning
Link the three sites of Sikkim's founding on foot: climb to Dubdi at dawn, walk down to Norbugang's coronation throne and finish …
Culture
Martam and the story of Sirijunga
Visit Martam near Bermiok Bazar, linked with the 18th-century Limbu scholar Te-ongsi Sirijunga and home to a Limbu community temple, with a …
Culture
Pelling to Yuksom day tour via the falls
The classic full-day tour from Pelling: Rimbi waterfall, Khecheopalri Lake, Kanchenjunga Falls and Yuksom's Norbugang throne and Kathok Lake, by private car, …
Culture
Prayer wheels and a quiet wish at the lake
Walk the short path past the row of prayer wheels to the lake, make a silent wish as pilgrims do, and learn …
Culture
The founding of Sikkim, told at the throne
Sit near the Norbugang throne with a Yuksom guide and hear how three lamas, a search across Sikkim and a stone platform …
Culture
Pemayangtse to Rabdentse heritage walk
A morning on foot from Pemayangtse Monastery to the forest ruins of Rabdentse, the royal capital from 1670, tracing the second chapter …
Culture
Reading the Zangdok Palri model tier by tier
Spend a proper hour on Pemayangtse's top floor with the seven-tiered wooden model of Guru Padmasambhava's celestial palace, ideally with a monk …
Culture
Watching the February mask dances
Time your Pelling trip for the last two days of the Tibetan year, when Pemayangtse's monks dance in masks and brocade in …
Culture
Rabdentse history walk with a local guide
Walk the forest path and ruins of Rabdentse with a guide who explains the palace wings, chortens and Namphogang throne, and the …
Culture
Walk the glass Skywalk beside Chenrezig
Step out on the glass-floored Skywalk facing the 137-foot Chenrezig statue, opened in 2018, one of West Sikkim's newest landmarks and an …
Culture
The night the Bumchu vase is opened
Join the pilgrims at Tashiding for Bumchu, when lamas open the sacred vase and read the coming year's fortune in its water, …
Culture
Norbugang and Kathok Lake heritage walk
Walk from Yuksom bazaar to Kathok Lake and up to the Norbugang throne and chorten, where Sikkim's first Chogyal was consecrated in …
Culture
The Buddha's life in the spiral museum
Inside the statue's base, a museum's spiral gallery tells the Buddha's life in sequence, from birth at Lumbini to enlightenment and final …
Culture
A day at Jorethang's Maghe Sankranti mela
Join thousands of families on the Rangeet riverbank for Jorethang's Maghe Sankranti fair, held since 1961: a morning dip for the devout, …
Walk across the Teesta from Bengal into Sikkim
A short walk over the bridge that joins Melli Bazaar in West Bengal to Melli in Sikkim, with the Teesta below and …
Culture
Walk to old Ralang, Karma Rabtenling
Most visitors stop at the big new monastery and leave. Walk on to Karma Rabtenling, the original Ralang monastery founded in 1768 …
Culture
Pang Lhabsol cham at Ralang
On Pang Lhabsol, the day Sikkim honours Kangchenjunga as its guardian, Ralang's monks perform masked cham dances in the courtyard. Warriors, protectors …
Culture
Ralang's winter cham in the 10th month
Ralang's second great dance falls on the 29th day of the 10th Tibetan month, usually in December. Clear winter skies, fewer tourists …
Culture
A morning walk through the Tibetan settlement
Walk from the market to the Tibetan refugee settlement about a kilometre away: prayer flags, a small monastery, a school and homes …
Culture
Hang prayer flags on Samdruptse
Buy a string of lungta flags in Namchi market and hang them on the windy ridge at Samdruptse, as Sikkimese families do …
Culture
Cherry blossom and the Cherry Tea Festival
In November, wild Himalayan cherry trees along Temi's estate road flower pink against the green tea and the snow peaks. The state …
Culture
Tendong Lho Rum Faat on the summit, 8 August
Join the walk up Tendong on the Lepcha festival day, when community groups climb to pray to the hill that saved their …
Culture
Lepcha, Gurung and Yangang monasteries on foot
A half-day walk linking three of Yangang's monasteries, each tied to a different community in this mixed village. A gentle introduction to …
Culture
Aritar Gumpa and Ari Bangla heritage walk
A slow walk to Aritar Gumpa, a Kagyu monastery, and the 1895 Ari Bangla dak bungalow nearby, with the trade-road history explained …
Culture
Permit morning and Rongli bazaar stop
A relaxed start at Rongli: finish your Silk Route permit with a host or agent, then walk the bazaar, the oldest market …
Culture
Visiting Sakewa as a guest
A respectful visit to Mankhim during Sakewa, when the Rai gather for the earth festival. You watch dance and listen to recitation …
Culture
Visit the Nathang war memorial
A short stop at the memorial near Gnathang that remembers men who died during the British occupation of the valley after the …
Culture
Maghe Sankranti on the Rangpo riverbank
On the first day of Magh, families gather at river confluences to bathe and share winter foods. Rangpo's riverbanks are one of …
Culture
Permit morning and bazaar stroll
A first stop on the Silk Route: get the protected-area permit sorted, then walk the old market for tea, supplies and a …
Culture
Trade-route history walk in Rongli
A short self-guided walk with a story: Rongli as the lower market on the Kalimpong to Jelep La trade road, using what …
Culture
Read the 1888 battlefield from the road
Stop between Thambi and Lungthung and trace the 1888 campaign on the ground: the stockade at Jeluk below, the Tibetan fort of …
Culture
Walk through the old caravan village
A slow walk along Zuluk's single street and its side paths, with your homestay host pointing out where the trade path ran, …
Culture
The clay-pot tower story at Stairway to Heaven
Visit Swarga Janae Seeri, the Stairway to Heaven site in Daramdin, and hear the Lepcha story of villagers who built a tower …
Culture
Walk to Bikh Pokhari, the Poison Lake
A short walk to the small pond that Rinchenpong remembers as the Poison Lake, where, as told locally and recorded on Wikipedia, …
Culture
Sribadam monasteries and Jor Pokhari half-day
A half-day drive north of Soreng to the Jor Pokhari pond and temple at Phuncheybong, the old Kagyu monastery of Phuntsok Choeling …
Mangardzong and the story of the Mangar raja
Visit the Mangardzong site in Tharpu with a local guide and hear how Sintu Pati Sen, a Mangar raja, is remembered as …
Lower Soreng loop: Soreng, Tharpu and Daramdin
A half-day drive from Soreng down to Tharpu's Mangardzong site and up to Daramdin's Stairway to Heaven, with a stop at the …
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