Rooted stories

The present Baba Mandir was built on 11 November 1982 at the junction of the road to Kupup and the trail towards Menmecho Lake; the original shrine is his bunker further along the Silk Route side.

Harbhajan Singh served in the Army for just over three years, from 30 June 1965 until his death on 4 October 1968.

As told locally, visitors leave bottles of water at the shrine and collect them later, believing the water has been blessed; many drivers will offer you one.

Cho La, at about 4,593 m, is higher than Nathu La (4,310 m) and lies roughly 6 km north-west of it on the same ridge.

The daily cap when Cho La opened in 2025 was 25 tourist vehicles and 25 motorcycles, with only bikes of 1,400 cc or more permitted.

On the Chinese side, a border post stands at about 4,783 m, served by an access road repaved in 2016.

Enchey was badly damaged by fire in 1947 and rebuilt the following year with the support of devotees, according to Wikipedia's history of the monastery.

A survey after the 14 February 2006 earthquake, a moderate 5.7 quake, found wide cracks in Enchey's 500 mm stone walls; earlier quakes in 1980 and 1988 had also damaged it.

Besides the yearly Detor Chaam, Enchey performs a Singhe Chaam, the snow-lion dance, once every three years or so, and marks Pang Lhabsol in late summer.

Fambong Lho was declared a wildlife sanctuary in 1984 and covers about 51 sq km, from 1,524 m to 2,749 m at Tinjure.

In February 2017 a fire on Tinjure ridge inside the sanctuary burned for several days; 18 helicopters were sent to help put it out.

Birders have recorded a rare hornbill and the fire-tailed myzornis in Fambong Lho, both prized species in the eastern Himalaya.

Ganesh Tok, at about 1,980 m, is roughly 330 m higher than MG Marg, so the terrace is often noticeably cooler and windier than the town.

The red panda, which you can see in the zoo opposite Ganesh Tok, is Sikkim's state animal and is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List.

Ganesh Tok, Enchey Monastery and Hanuman Tok all sit on NH310, the road that runs from Ranipool through Gangtok towards Tsomgo and Nathu La.

The Gangtok ropeway opened on 24 December 2003. It runs about 1 km from Deorali, near the Institute of Tibetology, via Namnang to Tashiling beside the Secretariat, at about 1,890 m.

Do Drul Chorten was begun in 1945 by Trulshik Rinpoche at the invitation of the Chogyal and finished in 1946. It is ringed by 108 prayer wheels.

The Directorate of Handicrafts and Handloom began on 9 March 1957 as the Palden Thondup Cottage Industries Institute, set up to give families an income beyond farming and herding.

The temple was built in 1950 by Appaji Pant, an Indian official, over a stone already held sacred; the Indian Army later took over the land and the temple's care.

At about 2,200 m, Hanuman Tok is roughly 550 m higher than MG Marg and higher than both Ganesh Tok (about 1,980 m) and Tashi View Point (about 1,890 m).

Ganesh Tok, the Himalayan Zoological Park and Hanuman Tok all lie along NH310, the Gangtok–Nathu La road, within about 1 km of each other as the crow flies.

Kyongnosla was declared a sanctuary in 1977 and is part of WWF's Sacred Himalayan Landscape, a conservation corridor running from Nepal through Sikkim to Bhutan.

The sanctuary's dense bamboo thickets at lower altitudes are classic red panda habitat, though the animal is shy and rarely seen from the road.

Kyongnosla's ground flora includes aconites, potentilla, asters, irises, ground orchids and wild strawberries, flowering mostly from May to August.

Sikkim was declared India's first fully organic state in January 2016, after a policy shift that began in 2003; Martam's paddy and vegetables are grown under those rules.

Large cardamom, grown in Martam under the shade of alder trees, is Sikkim's main cash crop, and the state has long been one of India's largest producers.

Paddy is planted here in June–July and harvested in October–November; the terraces are greenest in August and turn gold before the harvest.

Since 2015, Nathu La has been one of the two official routes for the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra organised by India's Ministry of External Affairs; the route is motorable most of the way.

Nathu La is one of the official Border Personnel Meeting points where Indian and Chinese army officers hold scheduled meetings and ceremonies.

Border trade through Nathu La takes place only on set weekdays and only in the warmer months, roughly May to November, through the Sherathang trade mart below the pass.

NH310, the road from Gangtok to Nathu La, officially begins at Ranipool, where it leaves NH10 and climbs to the capital.

Saramsa grew ipecacuanha, a medicinal plant brought from Johor in Malaya, from around 1940 until 1970. That is why the orchid garden is still called the Ipecac Garden.

Saramsa hosted Sikkim's International Flower Show in 2008, drawing about 50,000 visitors on each of its three days.

Lingdum was completed only in 1999, which makes it one of the youngest large monasteries near Gangtok; its colours and carvings are still unusually fresh.

The Banjhakri Falls park was proposed after Chief Minister Pawan Kumar Chamling saw the waterfall on a visit to Ranka Monastery on 28 September 2004.

The park's museum hall, run by the Sikkim Rural Energy Development Agency, explains solar and other renewable energy, and the grounds are lit by solar lamps.

The main summer mask dances, the Tse-chu chaams, are held at Old Rumtek Monastery, not the big complex, on the 10th day of the 5th Tibetan month, usually in June.

Indian security forces have been stationed at Rumtek since 2003, when they removed monks from one faction to prevent violence in the Karmapa succession dispute.

Two days before Losar, Rumtek's monks hold Gutor chaam, a mask dance that ends a week of Mahakala rites meant to clear away the old year's obstacles.

Sang Monastery's formal name is Karma Dubgyu Chokhorling; it was built in 1912 and follows the Kagyu school, the same broad tradition as nearby Rumtek.

The monastery keeps two flat stones, each bearing a footprint and a handprint attributed to Phaya Lama, a teacher from Tibet who stayed in Sang for a few years.

Phaya Lama is said to have meditated in a cave in a ravine near the monastery; the path to it is steep and unmarked, so go only with a local guide.

Until 1852 Kangchenjunga was believed to be the highest mountain in the world; survey calculations then showed Everest was higher, and in 1856 Kangchenjunga was announced as the third highest.

Tashi Namgyal, after whom the viewpoint is named as told locally, reigned as Chogyal of Sikkim for nearly half a century, from 1914 to 1963.

At about 1,890 m, Tashi View Point is roughly the same height as the Tashiling end of the Gangtok ropeway, and about 240 m above MG Marg.

The lake covers about 24.5 hectares and is roughly 836 m long, 427 m wide and up to 15 m deep.

Part of the Tsomgo permit fee goes to the Tsomgo Pokhari Sangrakshan Samiti, a local committee that manages the lakeshore and its cleanliness.

The road to Tsomgo passes through Kyongnosla Alpine Sanctuary, set up in 1977 and one of the few places outside Kangchenjunga National Park where Sikkim's state bird, the blood pheasant, is regularly recorded.

Wikipedia often pairs the names as Thangu-Chopta Valley, since the Chopta meadows begin just beyond Thangu village on the Lachen river.

Chopta lies at roughly 13,000–13,100 ft (about 4,000 m), more than 1,100 m below the official altitude figure for Gurudongmar Lake.

Wikipedia describes Chopta as rich in alpine flora and rhododendrons, with rivers and grazing grounds used by herders of the Lachen valley.

Chungthang is the point where the Lachen Chu and the Lachung Chu join, and from here downstream the river is called the Teesta.

The Indian Army maintains a major forward base with a medical centre at Chungthang, which is the nearest substantial medical help for many Lachung and Lachen travellers.

Chungthang is about 28 km from Mangan and 95 km from Gangtok by the North Sikkim Highway.

Under the Chogyal-era reservation, not even a Lepcha from outside Dzongu may buy land inside it; the protection belongs to the Lepcha of Dzongu themselves.

Tholung Monastery in upper Dzongu keeps sealed boxes of relics, said to have been brought there for safety during the Gorkha invasions, shown to the public only once every three years.

In August 2025 the Border Roads Organisation opened a modular bridge over the Teesta at Sankalang, restoring a road link to Dzongu after earlier bridges were swept away.

The lake covers about 118 hectares with a shoreline of about 5.34 km, and is fed by the Gurudongmar glacier behind a moraine dam.

Tso Lhamo, about 5 km east and fed by glaciers of the Pauhunri area, is considered a source of the Teesta; Joseph Hooker called it Cholamoo in 1849.

National Highway 310C, about 100 km long, runs from Chungthang via Lachen and Thangu to the lake, one of the highest roads open to tourists in India.

The name is pronounced roughly 'Kayu sha bhi Lungchok' and is translated as 'stone erected by our blood'. Wikipedia also records the spelling Kabi Longstok.

The forest around the site is subtropical mixed broad-leaved hill forest, with trees such as Nepal alder, Castanopsis and Toona ciliata listed, and several waterfalls nearby, one known as the Seven Sisters.

Thekong Tek, the Lepcha signatory, is described in Sikkim's histories as a religious leader, and the treaty is the first bond between the Lepcha and the Bhutia in the Sikkimese narrative.

Labrang translates as 'lama's dwelling', and the monastery is also known as Palden Phuntshog Phodrang or Palden Phuntsok Monastery.

Its wooden pillars and roofing have been reinforced with steel, and the building is described as keeping its original structure while similar buildings in Sikkim have burned down.

The monastery holds a bronze statue of Karma Guru, a wrathful form of Padmasambhava, and a museum with Buddha statues, sutras and murals.

Lachen Monastery, also called Ngodrub Choling, was built in 1858 and belongs to the Nyingma school; it houses the Lachen Monastic School.

After a review by a state committee in 2001, the shrine building at Gurudongmar Lake was handed to Lachen Monastery, which keeps a lama there as caretaker.

Lachen's Dzumsa is led by the Pipon and assistants called Gyenbo, and Sikkim law has recognised it as the village's local government since the 1990s.

Joseph Dalton Hooker, the British botanist who collected rhododendrons in Sikkim in 1849, called Lachung the most picturesque village of Sikkim in his Himalayan Journals.

Lachung Monastery, a Nyingma gompa on the slope across the river, was established in 1880 and holds an annual masked dance.

Before 1950 Lachung was a trading post on routes between Sikkim and Tibet; the Indian Army now keeps a forward base in the valley.

Mangan district is the largest of Sikkim's six districts by area, according to Wikipedia, yet its headquarters town had a population of only 4,644 at the 2011 census.

Until December 2021 the district was called North Sikkim; it was renamed Mangan district after its headquarters when Sikkim reorganised from four districts to six.

In the 2011 census Lepcha was the most common first language in the district at 31.7 percent, ahead of Nepali at 23.2 percent.

The Naga Waterfall lies below the Toong check post, so visitors can stop here without a protected area permit, though crossing Toong to go on needs a permit through a registered agent.

Tourist vehicles must cross the Toong check post by 4:00 pm to go on to Chungthang, Lachung and Lachen, which is why stops near the waterfall are kept short.

The stretch beyond Mangan is the corridor that was cut off after the October 2023 flood, and parts of the road to Lachen were closed again in April 2026 after a landslide.

Phodong Monastery is one of three monasteries Wikipedia associates with the 9th Karmapa's time in Sikkim, along with Rumtek and Ralang, though the dates given by different sources vary.

Phodong's annual chaam falls on the 28th and 29th days of the 10th Tibetan month, so its Gregorian date shifts each year, usually in early to mid December.

Wikipedia records about 260 monks living at Phodong Monastery and a collection of ancient murals, though this figure may be out of date.

Wikipedia's Kabi Lungchok article says there are a number of waterfalls in the Kabi area, and that one of them is known as the Seven Sister waterfalls.

The surrounding forest is classified as subtropical mixed broad-leaved hill forest, with Nepal alder, Castanopsis, Macaranga and Toona ciliata among the trees recorded.

The Kabi area is recorded as home to birds such as the crested serpent eagle, rufous-necked hornbill and Ward's trogon, so quiet mornings near the falls are worth a look and listen.

The sanctuary was established in 1984 and covers about 43 square kilometres of the upper Lachung valley below Yumthang.

Wikipedia lists the wood snipe and the hoary-throated barwing among the birds of the sanctuary, which forms part of the Sacred Himalayan Landscape.

Joseph Hooker's Rhododendrons of Sikkim-Himalaya, based on his 1848–49 travels, introduced many Sikkim species to British gardens.

Lepcha make up nearly 80 percent of Singhik's population, according to Wikipedia, with Nepali and Bhutia families making up the rest.

Siniolchu, the sharp 6,888 m peak often seen from the Singhik area on clear days, was called the most beautiful snow mountain in the world by the explorer Douglas Freshfield; it was first climbed in 1936.

Singhik is only about 4 km from Mangan, the district headquarters, which makes it an easy add-on to a Mangan night or a Dzongu trip.

Wikipedia notes that daytime temperatures at Thangu stay around 4–12 °C even in June and July, the warmest months.

The Dokpa herders of the Lashar valley, north of Thangu, hold a festival called Drukpa Tsechi that features a local yak race.

Thangu lies about 30 km north of Lachen and roughly 30–40 km south of Gurudongmar Lake along NH310C.

Tholung follows the Nyingma school, and its site was revealed as sacred by the fourth Lhatsun, Kunzang Jigmed Gyatso, in 1760, nearly thirty years before the first monastery was built.

The monastery lies in the buffer zone of Khangchendzonga National Park, which UNESCO inscribed in 2016 as India's first mixed natural and cultural World Heritage Site.

The Kamsel was traditionally held in spring, but dates vary: the 2021 ceremony took place in late November, so always confirm the year's dates.

A forest rest house is the only permanent residence in Yumthang; there are no hotels, so every visitor sleeps in Lachung, 24 km below.

Yumthang has a hot spring near the river, long used by local people for bathing; bathing facilities and access change, so ask your driver on the day.

Skiing has been organised at times in the Yumthang area and at Phuni near Lachung, on simple slopes without lifts or a resort.

Zero Point is not a fixed spot: the place where civilian vehicles turn back moves with snow clearance and army orders, and in some weeks of winter the road is closed below it.

At about 4,660 m, Zero Point is roughly 1,100 m higher than Yumthang and nearly 2,000 m higher than Lachung, a big climb in a single morning.

The rivers draining Yumesamdong feed the Lachung Chu, which joins the Lachen Chu at Chungthang to form the Teesta, Sikkim's main river.

Darap had 1,743 residents in 2011 across about 565 hectares, making it one of the larger villages around Pelling.

Daragaon Village Retreat in Darap won silver in the community-based homestay category of Outlook Traveller's Responsible Tourism Awards in 2017.

The Limbu script was revived in the 18th century by Te-ongsi Sirijunga, who taught across Limbu areas including West Sikkim.

The Gyalshing district administration lists a rhododendron trek route that runs from Hilley or Soreng over the Barsey (Varsey) ridge and down to Dentam, then on to Pemayangtse.

Dentam gives its name to the Maneybong–Dentam assembly constituency of the Sikkim Legislative Assembly, one of the seats in Gyalshing district.

From the Kagyu monastery above Uttarey, across the gorge, the district administration notes that the Dentam peak and the river below are both visible.

Dubdi is the only one of the four monasteries built in that early period of the kingdom that still survives, according to Wikipedia.

Only one caretaker monk lives at Dubdi, and visitors are advised to let him know in advance if they want the prayer hall opened.

Dubdi is also called Yuksom Monastery and the Hermit's Cell, after its ascetic founder, Lhatsun Namkha Jigme.

Wikipedia's Goecha La article lists twelve peaks seen on the trek from Dzongri Top, Thansing and Goecha La, including Kangchenjunga (8,586 m), Kabru North (7,353 m), Simvo (6,812 m) and Pandim (6,691 m).

Camping at Samiti Lake, below the Goecha La viewpoint, is forbidden: the lake is sacred to both Bhutia and Lepcha communities, and the Forest Department enforces the rule.

The Sikkim Forest Department gives the Goecha La–Dzongri route as about 45 km long and the Goecha La viewpoint as 4,570 m, lower than the 4,940 m Wikipedia gives for the pass itself.

Gyalshing district and Soreng district were created on 13 December 2021 from the old West Sikkim district; Soreng district took the Soreng and Mangalbarey subdivisions.

The town's name appears as Geyzing, Gezing and Gyalshing on signs and maps; all refer to the same place.

The Kirateshwar Mahadev temple at Legship, a Hindu pilgrimage site on the Rangeet, lies in Gyalshing district a short drive below the town.

Wikipedia gives Sirijunga's death place as Kalej Khola in Hee-Martam, West Sikkim, around 1741–1742, and notes that the Nepal Philatelic Bureau has issued a postage stamp in his name.

The first Limbu community temple, according to Wikipedia's Hee Bermiok article, was built at Martam near Bermiok Bazar and inaugurated in 1996 by the then Chief Minister, Pawan Kumar Chamling.

Wikipedia lists Hee Bermiok in its category of mountain biking venues, alongside its better-known farming of black cardamom and oranges on the slopes.

The Gyalshing district administration's 2023 survey lists Kanchenjunga Waterfalls as non-ticketed, open 8 am to 5 pm daily, with parking, cafes and a public toilet.

Wikipedia's Pelling article places the falls about 18 km beyond the Rimbi river and about 28 km from Pelling, and says they run throughout the year.

Phamrong Falls, another tall waterfall listed by the district, lies near Tsong village, about 42 km from Gyalshing, on the Yuksom side of the district.

Wikipedia records about 550 bird species in the park and six cat species: Indian leopard, clouded leopard, snow leopard, jungle cat, Asian golden cat and leopard cat.

Camera traps have recorded the dhole, the Asiatic wild dog, in the park at elevations between about 2,500 m and 4,100 m, according to Wikipedia.

The park is part of the wider Khangchendzonga Biosphere Reserve, which is included in UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere Programme, separate from its World Heritage listing.

The lake has been a protected site under Government of Sikkim Notification 701/Home/2001, dated 20 September 2001, which is why boating, swimming and fishing are banned.

Some say the lake's outline seen from the surrounding hills resembles a footprint, described in different traditions as Tara's, the Buddha's or Shiva's.

Padmasambhava is said to have preached to sixty-four yoginis at the lake, which gives it the name 'heaven of Padmasambhava'.

The Norbugang Chorten is said to contain earth and water from across Sikkim, symbolising the kingdom united at the 1642 coronation.

Phuntsog Namgyal was 38 when he was consecrated at Norbugang in 1642, and he ruled until his son Tensung Namgyal succeeded him in 1670.

The throne's four seats are ranked: the highest for Lhatsun Chempo, the next for the king, and two lower seats for the other lamas.

Pelling's helipad, at about 2,200 m in Upper Pelling, has no regular flights but is one of the best free viewpoints in town, with a near 360-degree view of the ranges.

The Chenrezig (Avalokiteshvara) statue near Sanga Choeling stands 137 feet tall, and the glass Skywalk beside it opened in November 2018.

Pemayangtse, the monastery on the ridge just below Pelling, takes its name from words usually translated as 'perfect sublime lotus', and heads the Nyingma monasteries of Sikkim.

Pemayangtse accepts only ta-tshang, 'monks of pure lineage', who must be celibate and without physical abnormality, a rule Wikipedia says still applies.

The monastery's annual mask dances fall on the 28th and 29th days of the 12th Tibetan month, in February, closing the old year before Losar.

As the head of the Nyingma order in Sikkim, Pemayangtse is described by Wikipedia as controlling the other monasteries of that order in the state.

The Namphogang at Rabdentse is a stone throne where judgements were pronounced, a rare surviving piece of the kingdom's system of justice.

The Archaeological Survey of India declared Rabdentse a monument of national importance and has carried out conservation of its walls and chortens.

Wikipedia records that the capital moved to Tumlong in 1793 because Rabdentse was too vulnerable to attack from Nepal, across the Singalila Ridge to the west.

Sanga Choeling keeps clay statues dated to the 17th century, which survived the fires that forced the monastery to be rebuilt several times.

Its lamas hold special recitations on the tenth day of every Tibetan month, the day linked with Guru Padmasambhava.

The 137-foot Chenrezig statue and glass Skywalk at the foot of the Sanga Choeling ridge opened in November 2018.

Wikipedia gives the Singshore Bridge's length as 240 m (787 ft) and its height as more than 100 m (328 ft), and says it was built of iron and concrete.

According to Wikipedia, citing Incredible India, the Alpine Cheese Factory, which makes Gouda cheese, is located not far from the bridge.

The Gyalshing district administration's own page on Uttarey spells the bridge 'Singsor' and calls it 'said to be the second highest bridge in Asia'.

The Thong-Wa-Rang-Dol chorten at Tashiding is believed to cleanse the soul of anyone who simply looks at it.

Many of Tashiding's mani stones, carved with Om Mani Padme Hum, are attributed to the craftsman Yanchong Lodil.

Tashiding was founded in 1641, a year before the coronation at Yuksom, by Ngadak Sempa Chempo, one of the three founding lamas.

The Gyalshing district administration describes the Singshore Bridge, on the road to Uttarey, as said to be the second highest bridge in Asia, a claim also repeated on Wikipedia.

Uttarey is the end point of a rhododendron trek route listed by the district: Hilley, Barsey, Jorbutey, Kalijar, Chewabhanjang and down to Uttarey, best from March to May.

From the Kagyu monastery in the forest above Uttarey, the district administration notes, you can see the Dentam peak and the river in the valley below.

Yuksom was Sikkim's capital from 1642 to 1670, before the second Chogyal, Tensung Namgyal, moved the court to Rabdentse near Pelling.

In front of the Norbugang throne a stone under a metal cover bears what devotees believe is the footprint of Lhatsun Chempo, the senior of the three lamas.

Yuksom village covered 812 hectares and had 1,951 residents at the 2011 census, small for a place with such weight in Sikkim's history.

Ralang, 5 km back towards Ravangla, has its own hot spring, the Ralang Tsachu, also on the Rangeet and also used mainly in winter, so some families visit both in one season.

Borong lies below the Maenam ridge, protected since 1987 as Maenam Wildlife Sanctuary; with a guide, walkers can cross from Ravangla over the ridge and descend to the village in a long day.

Large cardamom, Sikkim's main cash crop, grows in the shaded gullies around Borong. Sikkim is India's largest producer of large cardamom, harvested from about August to November.

The statue is clad in about 60 tonnes of copper shaped by repoussé, hammering the metal from behind, the traditional method for large Himalayan sacred images.

The park was built within the larger religious complex of Rabong monastery, already a centuries-old place of pilgrimage before the statue was planned.

A museum inside the statue's base has a spiral gallery; walking it upward takes you through the Buddha's life in sequence.

The complex spreads over about 29 hectares on Solophok hill, which is why the four dham replicas can stand at full temple scale rather than as small models.

The seated Shiva is 108 ft tall, a number sacred in Hindu and Buddhist practice, the same count as the beads on a prayer mala.

Solophok's Shiva and Samdruptse's Guru Rinpoche, on opposite hills across Namchi, were completed seven years apart, in 2011 and 2004.

At about 300 m, Jorethang is among the lowest towns in Sikkim, a state that rises to 8,586 m at Kangchenjunga less than 100 km away.

The Rangeet, which flows past Jorethang, rises in the mountains of West Sikkim and later joins the Teesta at a confluence known as Tribeni, a popular picnic spot.

Wikipedia records Jorethang's literacy rate in the 2011 census as about 88.9 percent, above the Sikkim average of about 81.4 percent at the time.

Kewzing's homestays are allocated by an elected village body, the Kewzing Tourism Development Committee, so income is shared between families rather than concentrated in a few homes.

In Bon practice, shrines and stupas are circled anticlockwise, the opposite of the clockwise walk used at Buddhist monasteries such as nearby Ralang.

The road through Kewzing links Ravangla with Legship on the Rangeet, the usual route for cars driving between Ravangla and Pelling, about 45–50 km in all.

Kitam is the only protected area in Sikkim declared specifically as a bird sanctuary; the state's other sanctuaries are named as wildlife or rhododendron sanctuaries.

At about 6 sq km, Kitam is one of the smallest protected areas in Sikkim, yet it holds habitat, low sal forest, found almost nowhere else in the state's protected network.

eBird keeps a public hotspot for Kitam with recent sightings, a useful way to check which species birders have logged in the weeks before your visit.

The sanctuary was declared in 1987 and covers about 36.34 km², from roughly 2,300 m to the 3,263 m summit of Maenam.

Bhaleydhunga, on Maenam's south face, is the site of a proposed ropeway and skywalk; none of it is open to visitors at the time of writing.

Trekkers who cross the summit can descend the far side to Borong village instead of returning to Ravangla, a classic one-way day route.

Yuksom Breweries, which Wikipedia describes as managed by actor Danny Denzongpa and his family, has its plant on the Sikkim side of Melli and is one of the town's main employers.

Wikipedia describes the Jawaharlal Nehru Bridge at Melli as the second-longest bridge in Sikkim, after the bridge at Rangpo.

Melli lies about 7 km upstream of Teesta Bazaar, close to where the Rangeet joins the Teesta at the Tribeni confluence, so two of the region's great rivers meet just below the town.

The Mamley stromatolite site beside the garden is a National Geological Monument declared by the Geological Survey of India to protect Precambrian traces of early life.

GSI places the Mamley dolomite in the Buxa Formation of the Daling Group, of Proterozoic age, between roughly 2.5 billion and 541 million years old.

From the garden's upper viewpoints you can see Samdruptse's Guru Rinpoche above and Solophok's Shiva across the valley at the same time.

Namchi's football stadium is the Bhaichung Stadium, named after India's former captain Bhaichung Bhutia, who was born in Tinkitam in South Sikkim. Wikipedia notes it was built while he was still playing.

Just above Namchi on the Samdruptse road, Mamley exposes stromatolite-bearing dolomite of the Buxa Formation, Precambrian traces of early life, declared a National Geological Monument by the Geological Survey of India.

Samdruptse's Guru Rinpoche and Solophok's Shiva face each other across the town, so from many Namchi rooftops you can see both statues at once on a clear day.

Ralang's founding legend says the Karmapa threw grains from Tsurphu Monastery in Tibet, and the monastery was built where they landed.

The old monastery, Karma Rabtenling, was rebuilt between 1975 and 1981; the new Palchen Choeling institute was completed in 1995.

Ralang's cham calendar includes the 15th day of the 7th month, the 29th day of the 10th month, and Mahakala rituals in the 9th month.

The Tibetan settlement near Ravangla market covers seven camps on about 328.5 acres, with roughly 1,300 residents, a primary school, two monasteries and a clinic.

Ravangla hosted a temporary campus of the National Institute of Technology Sikkim, which is why you may see engineering students in the market.

Birders list the rare satyr tragopan, a crimson Himalayan pheasant, among the birds of the forests around Ravangla and Maenam.

The 14th Dalai Lama laid the statue's foundation stone on 22 October 1997; work took several years and the statue was completed in February 2004.

Height figures vary by source from about 118 to 138 ft; the most widely cited figure, used by Wikipedia, is 135 ft, roughly 41 m.

Samdruptse is Bhutia for wish-fulfilling peak; pilgrims tie prayer flags on the climb so that the wind carries their wishes.

Temi won the Tea Board of India's All India Quality Award in 1994 and 1995, a decade before it began converting to organic cultivation.

About three-quarters of Temi's tea has been sold at auction in Kolkata; the rest is packed for domestic sale under names such as Temi Tea and Sikkim Solja.

Early-20th-century Scottish mission buildings on the slope predate the estate; the government acquired them in 1954, fifteen years before the tea was planted.

Sikkim observes 8 August as a state holiday for Tendong Lho Rum Faat, the Lepcha prayer to Tendong Hill.

During the festival some Lepcha families build a small model of the holy mountain from nine stones and worship it at home.

Tendong and Maenam form the north–south ridge that divides the Teesta and Rangeet valleys through the middle of the district.

Yangang is the birthplace of Pawan Kumar Chamling, who was Chief Minister of Sikkim from 1994 to 2019, a tenure of more than 24 years.

Yangang was chosen as the site of Sikkim University's permanent campus, and the state's largest police training centre is also located in the village.

Yangang has both a Lepcha monastery and a Gurung monastery, a sign of the village's mixed communities, alongside the main Yangang Monastery.

Wikipedia's Aritar article lists Lampokhari as the only boat-ready lake in Sikkim, and Changey waterfall, about 50 m high, near the lake. It also mentions the Kali Khola falls, about 100 m high, on the Rorathang to Rongli road.

Aritar is one of the hamlets named inside Pangolakha Wildlife Sanctuary's description, a 124 km2 protected area set up in 2002 that runs from the lower hills up to about 4,390 m.

Aritar Gumpa is described as a monastery of the Kagyu order, considered among the oldest and holiest in Sikkim, with carved and painted murals and manuscripts. Opening hours and access vary, so ask locally first.

Guinness World Records lists the Yak golf course at Kupup, measured on 10 October 2006 at 3,970 m (13,025 ft), as the highest golf course in the world; it is part of an Indian Army base.

Lake Menmecho, below Kupup, is the source of the Rangpo river, which flows past Rolep, Rongli and Rorathang to join the Teesta at Rangpo; the explorer J. W. Edgar called it especially beautiful.

A moraine ridge across the Kupup valley forms part of the watershed between the Teesta and Dichu river basins, so streams a few hundred metres apart run in opposite directions.

Wikipedia names Dakline Lingtam among the hamlets of Pangolakha Wildlife Sanctuary and lists Lingtam among villages with forest eco-development committees.

Wikipedia lists Lingtam among the villages around Rongli town, alongside Padamchen, Zuluk, Rolep, Kupup and Gnathang, which shows how much of the Silk Route falls in Rongli subdivision.

Rongli sits on National Highway 717B, which Wikipedia says runs from Rhenock to Menla near Sherathang via Zuluk, so the road you take through Lingtam has a highway number.

Wikipedia gives Mankhim's height as about 6,500 ft, or roughly 1,980 m, and says it is in Maity village, also written Kheselakha, in the Aritar area.

Mankhim is one of six villages named for forest eco-development committees around Pangolakha Wildlife Sanctuary, along with Dalepchand, Lingtam, Phadamchen, Zuluk and Gnathang.

Wikipedia says the Rai assemble at Mankhim twice a year for Sakewa, with the spring gathering usually falling in April or May.

The 2011 census recorded Gnathang village as just 13 households and 60 people on 16 hectares, making it one of the smallest permanent settlements on the Silk Route.

Nathang's yaks are reared not only for milk and meat; Wikipedia notes they have been used to carry loads for border road construction, including roads towards Doka La.

On 22 May 1888 Tibetan forces attacked the British camp at Gnathang from 7 am to about 10 am; the British reported three killed and eight wounded.

Wikipedia lists Phadamchen among the hamlets inside Pangolakha Wildlife Sanctuary and among six villages where forest eco-development committees have been set up.

Pangolakha Wildlife Sanctuary spans about 1,760 to 4,390 m, so its forests change from oak and magnolia near Padamchen to alpine scrub on the ridges above Nathang.

Wikipedia's bird list for the sanctuary includes kalij pheasant, blood pheasant, white-crested laughingthrush, bar-throated minla and rufous sibia, so the forest edge here is worth an early walk.

In March 1888, during the British campaign against the Tibetan fort at Lingtu, Lt-Col Mitchell sent 200 men to hold Pakyong while the main column marched up towards Rongli and Zuluk.

Footballer Baichung Bhutia, a former India captain and Padma Shri awardee, studied at St Xavier's School in Pakyong, which Wikipedia describes as one of Sikkim's top schools in the 1990s.

Pakyong's markets trade large cardamom, broom grass and ginger in season, alongside fermented foods such as gundruk, kinema and sinki, and the hot dalle khorsani chilli grown by local farmers.

Wikipedia says Rangpo averages about 333 m above sea level, and has a sub-tropical climate.

Roads join NH10 at Rangpo from Rorathang via Kumrek, from Namchi via Namthang and from Kalimpong via Munsoong, according to Wikipedia.

Wikipedia says the nearest functioning railway stations are Sivok about 55 km, Siliguri Junction about 75 km and New Jalpaiguri about 87 km. The Rangpo station is under construction.

Wikipedia says taxis run daily from Rhenock to villages on the Kalimpong district side, such as Lingsay, Chuba, Pavak and Mulkharka, because the town lies so close to the border.

Wikipedia's Aritar article mentions a privately owned nursery and museum at Rhenock Bazar with driftwood and flower collections, and a place called Nirmal Dham about 5 km away.

SNT buses run from Rhenock to Gangtok via Pakyong and from Rhenock to Siliguri via Rorathang, Rangpo and Sevoke, according to Wikipedia.

Wikipedia lists Rolep among the villages around Rongli town, alongside Lingtam, Padamchen, Dalapchand, Chujachen and Zuluk.

Wikipedia's Rorathang article says SNT buses connect Rolep and Rongli with Gangtok via Pakyong, Rangpo and Singtam. Check current status of services before you travel.

Wikipedia says the Rangpo river rises from lakes in Rongli sub-division and meets the Teesta at Rangpo town, so Rolep is on a river system that reaches the Sikkim border.

Wikipedia lists the villages around Rongli town as including Rolep, Lingtam, Padamchen, Zuluk, Kupup and Gnathang, so the whole Silk Route falls inside Rongli sub-division.

Wikipedia says SNT buses run from Rongli to Siliguri via Rorathang, Rangpo and Sevoke, and another SNT service connects Rongli to Gangtok via Rorathang, Pakyong and Ranipool.

Two rivers, the Rangpo and the Jaldhaka, originate from lakes in Rongli sub-division, according to Wikipedia. The Rangpo flows past Rorathang to the Teesta; the Jaldhaka flows towards Bhutan.

Wikipedia says the Rangpo river meets its tributaries, the Pachey and the Reshi, at Rorathang, and that the river marks part of the Sikkim and West Bengal boundary after meeting the Reshi.

Four roads join NH717A at Rorathang, according to Wikipedia: from Rangpo via Kumrek, from Pakyong via Tareythang, from Rongli via Mulukay and from Pakyong via Taza.

Wikipedia lists the nearest working railway stations to Rorathang as Sevoke Junction about 65 km, Siliguri Junction about 86 km and New Jalpaiguri about 92 km. The Rangpo station is under construction.

Lingtu, the Tibetan fort taken by the British on 21 March 1888, stood on the ridge near Lungthung just above Thambi; the Chinese name for the 1888 campaign means 'Battle of the Longtu Mountain'.

Thambi sits at about 3,400 m, some 600 m above Zuluk, although the road distance between them is only around 6 km because of the stacked loops.

The road through Thambi is National Highway 717B, which connects Rhenock and Rongli with Menla via Zuluk on the Sikkim side of the border ridge.

Wikipedia records that traders used Zuluk as an overnight base on the Kalimpong–Tibet route, which ran through Pedong, Aritar, Zuluk and Jelep La to the Chumbi valley until the 1959 crackdown in Tibet.

Zuluk lies on the edge of the Pangolakha Wildlife Sanctuary, set up in 2002 over about 124 km², whose forests hold red panda, Himalayan black bear, blood pheasant and Himalayan monal.

The British force of 1888 knew Zuluk as Jeluk, and its first engagement of the Sikkim expedition was an attack on a Tibetan stockade here on 20 March 1888.

The sanctuary borders Nepal on its west and West Bengal on its south, across the Rambong Khola stream, which makes it one of the few protected forests in Sikkim that touches both Nepal and West Bengal.

Barsey is listed by BirdLife International as an Important Bird Area, recognising its value for Himalayan forest birds that depend on old rhododendron and oak woods.

Guras, the Nepali word in Guras Kunj, means rhododendron. The red tree rhododendron, Rhododendron arboreum, is also Nepal's national flower, known there as lali gurans.

The district administration explains Daramdin as coming from the Lepcha word dalom, meaning a place of rest or a flat land, a fitting name for one of the few broad, level farming areas in Soreng district.

Wikipedia records that the foundation of Swarga Janae Seeri, the Stairway to Heaven memorial tied to the clay-pot tower story, was laid in 1997; work stopped for years and later resumed.

Daramdin is one of the six administrative blocks of Soreng district, alongside Baiguney, Kaluk, Mangalbarey, Chumbong and Soreng, each run from its own block administrative centre.

Hilley is one of three entry points to Barsey sanctuary, with Dentam and Soreng the others. It is the most used because it is the only one where a motorable road reaches the forest edge close to the ridge.

At about 2,750 m, Hilley is higher than Gangtok by roughly 1,100 m, so even a short walk from here can bring mild altitude symptoms for people coming straight from the plains.

The Soreng district website asks visitors not to pick flowers inside the sanctuary and lists forest-department entry permits as required, issued at the Hilley checkpost.

Wikipedia describes Kaluk as one of the windiest places in Sikkim. The breeze comes up the open ridge most afternoons, which is why resort gardens here have stone walls and why you want a windproof layer.

Kaluk was part of West Sikkim until 21 December 2021, when the Sikkim (Re-organization of Districts) Act created Soreng district from Gyalshing (West) district. Old maps and guidebooks still place it in West Sikkim.

Soreng district is known for its oranges, ginger and large cardamom. In Kaluk you see household orange trees ripening from about November to January, sold in small heaps at the bazaar.

Mangalbarey is one of only two subdivisions in Soreng district, the other being Soreng itself; the district also has six blocks, of which Mangalbarey is one.

Mangalbarey takes its name from Mangalbar, the Nepali word for Tuesday. As told locally, it recalls an old weekly market day, as Sombaria recalls Monday.

The district site describes Rahula at Rahuney Cave as having a serpent's coiled lower body, nine heads, four arms and about a thousand eyes, which devotees say appear on the cave walls.

In the 2011 census, about 3.5 per cent of people in what is now Soreng district gave Sherpa as their first language, and Okhrey is one of the main Sherpa villages of the district.

Okhrey is one of the revenue circles of Soreng subdivision, so although guidebooks still call it West Sikkim, its land records and offices now fall under Soreng district.

Ugen Thondroling Monastery above the village was built in 1950 and follows the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism, reached by a long flight of steps through the village's rhododendron park.

Wikipedia's Rinchenpong article records a local account that Lepcha and Gorkha defenders poisoned the only lake on the approach with herbs, halting a British force. The site, Bikh Pokhari, is still pointed out on the monastery path.

The Rabindra Smriti Van park is named after Rabindranath Tagore. As told locally, the poet once stayed in Rinchenpong; we have not found a written record of the visit, so treat it as village tradition.

Rinchenpong Monastery is thought to have started with around 98 lamas when it was founded about 1730, a large community for a hilltop gompa in western Sikkim at the time.

Sombaria takes its name from Sombar, the Nepali word for Monday. As told locally, it points to an old weekly market day; Mangalbarey, Tuesday, is named the same way.

Indian international footballer Sanju Pradhan, a Federation Cup winner in 2009–10 and 2012, was born in Sombaria in 1989 and first learned the game watching villagers play.

Wikipedia's list of State Bank of Sikkim branches in Soreng district includes Sombaria, which makes it the last dependable place to bank before Okhrey and Hilley.

The district site lists Chuli Dara, a hilltop about 45 minutes' walk above Soreng town, as a sunrise point from which you can see much of Sikkim and the Darjeeling hills to the south.

At Jor Pokhari in Phuncheybong, between Soreng and Sribadam, people say there were once two lakes, male and female, and that the male lake moved to Khecheopalri. A temple was built there in 1999.

Payul Dechen Gaweling Monastery near Sribadam is young by Sikkim standards: the district site says it was founded in 2006 by Payul Lathul Rinpoche and follows the Nyingma school.

The district dates Sintu Pati Sen's rule to around 1600, according to local people, while Wikipedia gives 1642 for Phuntsog Namgyal's consecration as first Chogyal, so the dates in the oral account are approximate.

The meadow where, according to the local account, the Mangar raja was finally killed is still called Raja Tar, tar being the Nepali word for a flat stretch of land.

The district festival page explains Barahimizong word by word: barahi means god, mi or minaat means worship, and zong means fort, the same zong as in Mangardzong.