A Winter Sojourn at Pelling & Ravangla

Sunrise on Kanchendzonga Range - From Pelling

Winter is the best time to enjoy the mountains. The clear sky and abundant sunshine create a great visibility of the Himalayan Snow peaks. This year during the New year break we visited Pelling and its surroundings. Pelling, once a small hamlet in Western Sikkim, is a popular hill resort nowadays. However, it has still retained its natural beauty and pristine charm.

Reaching Pelling

Our journey started from Kurseong. From Kurseong we travelled through a beautifully scenic route through the Tukvar tea gardens, to reach Jorethang. 

The route even though lesser known, provides some breathtaking view of the tea gardens and Mount Kanchendzonga on the same frame. 

From Jorethang to Legship the road moves by the side of the cascading Rangit river. From Legship we once again started climbing uphill till we reached our destination – Elgin Mount Pandim resort.

Himalaya from Elgin Mount Pandim Lawn

The resort location is on the same hill where the famous Pemayangtse Monastery is located. 
The location of the resort is absolutely breathtaking. From its sprawling lawn and from most of the rooms you get an unobstructed view of the Kanchendzonga Range , starting from Koktang in the left, A massive Mount Kabru, Mount Kanchendzonga, Mt Pandim and ending with Mt Narsing at the right.

The peaks are so close you can visually feel the ruggedness of the massive stone walls, each and every curve of the mountains, and the snow on top of them. 
The entire location is completely free of noise and pollution, which enhances the experience.

We were greeted in traditional Sikkimese style with silk scarves and a shot of Chilly Brandy – a specialty of the region.

Mount Kabru & Kanchendzonga view from Elgin

When you are in such a scenic location, being outdoors is what you want. So, we quickly freshened up and immediately came to the lush green lawn. 

The lawn of the resort is the most beautiful place. With well-manicured grass, colorful plants and beautifully decorated gazebos, you can sit here enjoying the sweet breeze coming from the mountains. 
Just come with your favorite book, or have your iPod loaded with your favorite music, sit there and enjoy the sunshine for hours. We did exactly the same.

Next Day – Sky Walk & Sangachoelling Monastery

Next day we opted for visiting the local attractions. We started with the Sky Walk. Built recently this is currently the main attraction of Pelling. 

The sky walk is situated 3 km outside Pelling, on a high hill which provides a breathtaking view of the mountains. 

On top of the hill a large statue of Guru Padmasambhaba has been erected. To climb the hill, you will have to go through a bridge which has glass on its bottom surface. 
It literally gives you a feeling of walking in the sky, specially when you look down through the glass bottom surface. 

Those who have acrophobia, might find it uncomfortable, but we thoroughly enjoyed it. The statue is giant, beautifully decorated and celebrates the Buddhist heritage of the region.

Pelling Skywalk with the Kanchendzonga

After visiting Sky walk we hiked few yards more on the same hill, to reach Sangachoelling Monastery.

Built in 17^th century, this monastery is one of the oldest in Sikkim. The location of the Monastery is so scenic, that it automatically inspire a sense of divinity in you. 

The monastery ground seems to be a popular spot for the local kids. We saw a group of kids enjoying the lovely sunshine on the monastery ground. Their simple smiles made a perfect start for our day.

Kids at Sangachoelling - Simplicity of the hills

Pelling Helipad

Pelling Helipad is another place from where you can enjoy an unobstructed view of the Kanchendzonga range. 
The Helipad is occasionally used, so most of the time, it remains open to the visitors. It’s a flat land on the top of Upper Pelling area.

View of Kanchendzonga from Pelling Helipad

Now mostly used as a playground for local kids, this is possibly the best view point, which you can access by short walk, when you are staying in a hotel in lower or upper Pelling. Just take a hike for 5 to 10 minutes depending on your location and you will come to the helipad. The 360 degree view of surrounding mountains make it a special place.

Rimbi River & Orange Garden

From Pelling Helipad, our car started climbing downhill, towards Yuksom. The vegetation in the hills were beautiful, with mostly dominated by bamboo trees. 

Within half an hour we came to the banks of Rimbi river- a cascading rivulet, which joins Rangeet somewhere in the hills. The valley through which rimbi river flows has been used as orange orchards.

Oranges at Rimbi - Pelling

Winter is the Orange harvesting season, so we were lucky enough to see the trees full of luscious oranges. 
Most of the tree branches were laden with the tangerine fruit and looked beautiful. You can get oranges in very reasonable rate in these gardens. 
They are similar to the Darjeeling oranges- sweet and small. We also packed few of them for our families back in Kolkata.

Khecheopalri Lake

From the orange Garden, we once again started climbing uphill, towards Khecheopalri lake.

The road up to Khecheopalri lake is now in smooth condition. I could remember almost 4 years back I visited the same place, and at that time, the roads were not that great.

The lake is sacred for both Hindus and Buddhist people and is believed to be a wish fulfilling lake. The surroundings of the lake is extremely beautiful. 

From the parking area you have to walk for at least 15 minutes through a thick foliage to reach the lake. 

Chortens & Prayer Flags Enroute the Lake

The ambiance is peaceful, and the colorful Buddhist prayer flags fluttering on the wind make it even more divine. 

The silvery waters glittering on the clear sunny day, looked absolutely ethereal. The place is frequented by devotees - their chants & the chimes of the bells creates a perfect symphony with the nature.

Silvery Waters of Khecheopalri Lake

There is a short hike, which takes you on top of a hillock, from where, you get a beautiful birds eye view of the lake, amidst the thick forest. It looked absolutely enticing.

The forest path which takes you till Kheocheopalri, is full of mini chortens created by the devotees and the tourists. 

The mini chortens, created by loosely placing pieces of stones one after another looks interesting. We also created one wishing our new year resolution to come true.

Wishing Stones at Khecheopalri

On our way back – Rabdantsey

From Kehcheopalri on our way back to Pelling, we visited Rabdantsey – the most beautiful place in the entire trip.

Rabdantsey was the ancient capital of Sikkim from 1670 to 1814. It is the second capital of Kingdom of Sikkim, when the capital was shifted from Yuksom , by the Sikkim royal family.

Rabdantsey is situated on top of a hill providing a panoramic view of the Himalayan mountains. 

The view of entire Kanchendzonga range from the place is breathtaking. Though mostly in ruins, the remains of the erstwhile capital still make you realize the grandeur of the place.

Rabdantsey Ruins - Kings Palace

To reach Rabdantsey you have to hike at least half an hour, through a thick forest, which also has a rich bird life. Once you reach the hilltop, the palace complex and the view of the mountains are bound to make you speechless.

There are two main structures within the complex – now beautifully maintained by ASI. The northern wing was the palace complex where the royal family resided. 

Remains of their private worship area still can be seen. Three beautifully erected Chortens in the backdrop of Kanchendzonga looks absolutely magical here.

Rabdantsey Chortens and Mountains

The southern wing was for the common people who were given an audience by the king. From here also you get to realize the vastness of the complex and the grandeur of the bygone era.

When we reached Rabdantsey it was already almost 4 p.m. So, we waited till sunset to watch the magical colors in the Kanchendzonga range, in the backdrop of Sikkim’s ancient capital. The peaks as usual turned golden, and then bright orange, before once again fading into the horizon. 

As the sun set Sikkim’s ancient capital also got lost in the darkness, but certainly not into oblivion. This beautifully maintained ruins definitely boast of Sikkim’s rich history & legacy. 

Sunset at Rabdantsey

The Next Day - Ravangla.

Next day we went for Ravangla and Temi Tea garden. The primary objective was to visit the Buddha Park situated in Ravangla.

For reaching Rabangla we drove down to Legship and from Legship we once again started our climb uphill. 

As you cross Legship you will enter into South Sikkim. The roads in south Sikkim are silky smooth and the Legship-Ravangla road is no different. The route is really fascinating. 

As we drove towards Rabangla, the mountainscapes also changed. In this route Mt. Narsing is the most prominent snow peak, which looks absolutely stunning. Mount Kabru and Kanchendzonga gets a bit obstructed by the massive presence of Narsing, but the rugged presence of Mt Narsing provides a different beauty.

 

Buddha Park Ravangla

Within one and half hours we reached Ravangla market. The small little market in the lap of Himalayas look pretty. Buddha Park is another couple of kilometers from Ravangla bazaar towards Borong village.

The moment we reached Buddha Park we were completely awestruck by the surreal beauty of the place. A giant statue of Lord Buddha is facing you with a smile in his face. 

Just behind the Buddha statue Mt Narsing is appearing as a Guardian of the deity. With colorful Buddhist mantra painted in the hill slopes, the fluttering prayer flags and the om mani padme hum chant reverberating from the mountains the place looked heavenly.

Divine Lord Buddha with Majestic Mt Narsing at the background 

We entered the main compound and walked towards the giant statue. The platform in which Lord Buddha sits, is beautifully decorated with Buddhist religious motifs and painting. Lord Buddha has both of his hands raised at chest level as if he is giving his blessings to the visitors.

Buddha Park is a place which has a magic in it. It's very difficult to leave such a place. We spend almost a couple of hours, enjoying the beauty and the divine atmosphere of the place and then started for Temi Tea garden.

A Cursory Visit to Temi ..

If you ask me what's the most scenic route in the entire Sikkim , it has to be the road between Ravangla to Temi. 

The road is thickly covered with conifers and provides an out of the world view of a vast range of Himalayan snow peaks. 

We drove almost 20 km from Rabangla to Damthang enjoying the views. At Damthang you need to take a left turn towards the road which goes to Tarku. Driving 5 kilometer on that road will take you to Temi tea garden view point.

Picture Perfect Temi Tea Garden

Temi is possibly one of the very few spots in Himalaya where you can see Teesta river and Kanchendzonga in the same frame. We thoroughly enjoyed this view from the vantage point. 

Temi is the only tea garden in Sikkim, however the tea here is highly acclaimed all over the world and produced in a completely organic way.

Himalaya at Temi

The garden is huge, sprawling in acres and gradually climbs down towards the Teesta valley. We had our lunch with some sumptuous mono in a road side kiosk at Temi and then started our return journey towards Pelling.

Last Morning - A Sunrise to Remember

We had our flight that day on the afternoon. So, we decided to start early by 7 a.m. However before leaving Pelling we wanted to experience the ethereal sunrise at Pelling for one last time. Even on sub zero temperature we came down to the lawn, under the open skies. 

First Sunrays at Kanchendzonga

The first rays of light that paints the top of Mt Kanchendzonga in pinkish red, is one of the most beautiful sight to behold in the Himalayas. 

Slowly the snow peaks turned from pink to orange to gold, and then the whole range came out in its dazzling white attire. This possibly was the best way to end three beautiful days in the lap of Himalayas.

Celebrating Buddhist Heritage at West Sikkim

As we were driving back to Bagdogra I was thinking, with all the beautiful monasteries, Giant Statues, fluttering prayer flags and magnificent chortens, Sikkim celebrates Buddhism from its heart.

For a state which is Hindu majority (58% following Hinduism, and 27% Buddhism) -the way Hinduism & Buddhism are in complete harmony and celebrates each other’s heritage , it really is a role model for the entire world.

Travel Tips

1. Darjeeling to Pelling reserved jeep fare would cost around 4000 rupees in season.

2. There is share jeep service from Darjeeling to Jorethang, at 100 rupees each. From Jorethang you can take share jeep/reserved jeep to Pelling. Reserved car will cost around 2500 rupees.

3. Rabdantsey is a 1 hour climb through a beautiful forest, and absolutely worth it, so its absolutely recommended.

4. Entry fee for Pelling skywalk is 100 rupees per person.

5. A full day sightscene of Pelling generally takes rupees 2000 to 2500.

6. Pelling to Temi and Ravangla sight scene will cost you around rupees 3000.

7. Pelling to Bagdogra dropping takes roughly rupees 4500, its a 5 hour journey, road condition is moderate.

8. Sangachoelling Monastery is a 15 minutes hike from Pelling Sky walk, in a very scenic location.