So I went to Sikkim! ❤️

---

Visiting Sikkim turned out to be one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.

What I remember

Honestly, I’m writing this after a long time, so I don’t remember everything 🙃.

But I’m sharing some fun memories from a trip that still makes me smile whenever I think about it.

The planning 🗺️

So Abhay, one of my college friend, called me one day and asked if I wanted to go to Sikkim with him and Fazil (he’s also from my college). I was like, “Sure, why not?”

We planned to go in the month of May, booked our tickets, made the itinerary, and sorted everything out.

The Journey 📍

We started our journey from Kochi, we took a train to Bengaluru, then flew to Guwahati.

The plan was to spend a day in Guwahati and then take a train onward, since the train was late and we wanted to make the most of the time we had there.

Some good memories from Guwahati 👇

The next day, we took a train to Siliguri. Abhay's parents were there to pick us up. And the next day, we took a shared taxi to Gangtok ⛰️.

We had already booked a dormitory in Gangtok, so the check-in was smooth. I think instead of booking a hotel you should go for a dormitory, it's much cheaper + you get to meet new people.

The next day, we went to Nathula Pass. We were praying the night before for the road to be clear.

We got a message from Vodafone China saying “Welcome to China” lol 😆.

The place was fully covered in snow. It was my first time seeing snow, it was beautiful but cold 😆. There were some military personnel there, they were very friendly and gave us some hot tea. Oh my god, it was so good!

The next day, we took a shared taxi to North Sikkim. It was a 3-day journey I believe, with pit stops along the way.

There was a newly married couple, a family of three with a kid, the kid was about 9-10 years old I think, he was jumping around throughout the journey 😆.

By the time we reached, we were friends with the others in the taxi.

Day 1 was crazy.

We were late on schedule. It was pouring heavily, landslides were everywhere, rocks were scattered across the road 🙂 and there was NO SIGNAL.

On one side was the mountain, with rocks ready to fall, and on the other... nothing. Below us, the Lachen River was raging with water.

We were at the edge of our seats. Puff... 😮‍💨.

Gurudongmar Lake was amazing. The view was breathtaking. It’s one of the landscapes that you always remember. The view of the snow-covered mountains and the clear blue lake was just amazing.

But the cold was unbearable, and the altitude was around 17,800 ft.

This was the first time I’d ever experienced such intense cold. Don’t get fooled by the view, the wind is unbearable 😆.

The altitude and the cold drained us completely, on the way back, we slept in the taxi, too tired to even talk.

Then the driver stopped at a local shop to refresh, we ate some hot noodles, and honestly, after all that cold, those noodles felt unbelievably comforting.

After that, we headed to Darjeeling, the "Queen of Hills".

We were hoping to see a view of Kanchenjunga, but the visibility was not good 🙂

I lost most of the photos of Darjeeling, but I still have some good memories.

Our flight back home was from Kolkata, so we had some time to kill there. We went to a few nearby places and then flew back home.

End

I think going on this trip made me want more.

It sparked the little child in me ✨. Seeing the mighty snowy mountains, beautiful landscapes, people, and different cultures made me want more and more.