Gangtok

Gangtok, the capital of Sikkim, is situated at an altitude of 5500 feet above sea level and on the eastern Himalayan range. Gangtok is the center of Sikkim. The name Gangtok is derived from the Tibetan word for 'hillside. Taxis are always available from Siliguri (New Jalpaiguri Railway Station or Bagdogra Airport) for the onward journey to Gangtok via Teesta Bazar, Melli, Rangpo and Ranipul. Gangtok offers much to do, there are so many sightseeing spots like Ganesh Talk, Hanuman Talk, Tashi view point, Enchey Monastery, Nathula, Tsongmo Lake, Baba Mandir. For the best views of Mt. kanchandzongha in Gangtok, visit after monsoon, in the month of October. Most tourist tend to visit April to June (when Gangtok feel fresh and spring filled), or last September to October. In winters, through the army keeps the Nathula route open, it gets uncomfortably cold and very foggy. Best time for Cherry blossom is in October. Cherry festivals also organized by Sikkim Government at the month of October.

Luxury/Non Luxury/Sedan all types of Cab available form Siliguri Town, NJP (New Jailaiguri Railway Station), Airport – Bagdogra Airport, Bus Terminus (TenjingNorgey Bus terminus) to Gangtok. Luxury vehicles are easily reached at any point of Gangtok except MG Marg but non-luxury vehicle are restricted to visit at Gangtok city.

MG Marg. Mahatma Gandhi Road is the main market area of Gangtok. No Pollution, No Vehicles even non smoking place with decorated lamp and flowers. There are large number of shops and restaurant lined up in the area. Every tourist spend couple of time in this flowery market.

Enchey Monastery, its literally high strong place of Gangtok. Spend enchanting mornings, here the monks chants their morning prayer.

Nathula, Nathula is a Himalayan pass at 14, 140 ft on the indo-china border. Most of the time Nathula has such blinding snow on the both side of the road and sometimes the road are totally closed for the snow. Nathula depend on special permit. Two photograph and an original photo Id card is needed to obtain the permit. Private vehicle are not permitted to go up to Nathula. Foreign tourist are also not allowed without permit. There are very restriction of vehicles that can visit in a day but the permit are made one day prior to visit. Nathula is closed on Monday & Tuesday for tourist. Best time to Visit Nathula is between April to June to October to November. On a clear day the entire landscape is blessed with some of the most spectacular landscapes, flora fauna rhododendron cherry making it a haven for adventure enthusiasts and naturalist .

Tsomgo Lake, on the way to Nathula looks like high altitude lakes do, capable of reflecting the human and the divine. The lake is over a kilometer long and around 50ft deep. At the time of winter the water of lakes become freeze, offers an uninhibited rendezvous with nature.

Flower Exhibition Centre in Gangtok is a paradise for plant lovers. The location is a beautiful stretch of green and is an absolute treat to the eyes. This is also the venue of the famous Sikkim Flower Show, usually held around March, when the orchids around the region are in full bloom., The flower exhibition complex is situated just below the Ridge Park and adjacent to the White Memorial Hall that draws numerous visitors during the annual flower exhibition.

Rumtek monastery is the Sikkim largest monastery. It houses a school, an aviary and a section where the monks take off to meditate in isolation, close to 300 yrs old, rumtek has magnificent thangka paintings and is one of the most important seats for Kagyupa sect of Buddhism. Midway between Gangtok and Rumtek is one of the Sikkim’s most popular orchid center – Wayside Garden and Nurseries is the other attraction. Taxis are also available to reach the spots.

Himalayan Zooalogical Park – The Gangtok Zoo, the open zoo acroos an area of 205 hectares in mountainous terrain and is a delightful place for long undistrubted walking as well as spotting some rare animals. The Himalayan bear, the snow leopard, tibetial wolves, red pandas, leopard cats and many colourful pheasants are the main attraction of the park.

A Namgyal Institute of Tibetology, in 1958 the institute established, this institute holds one of the largest collections of tibetian works in the world outside of Tibet. It has a museum that exhibits a rare collections of ancient manuscripts, statues, ritual objects.. the exhibition is dominated by a majestic silver image of Manjushri – the Bodhisattva of knowledge that was brought from Tibet and the center attraction of Gnagtok .