Sikkim

Sikkim (Nepali: सिक्किम; Sikkimese: སུ་ཁྱིམ་) in East India, is a mountainous border state in the Himalayan foothills. It is bounded by China (Tibet), Nepal and Bhutan to its north, west and east respectively, with West Bengal forming its southern border. It is a place of great natural beauty. The steep, snow-capped mountains will take your breath away, not just figuratively because of the view, but also literally due to their altitude. Through its deep valleys flow two important rivers, rapidly in the north, getting somewhat sluggish in the south. Streams and waterfalls that will have you reaching out to your camera can be found at every turn of the winding ghat roads. Apart from its natural beauty, Sikkim has much to offer. Monasteries offer you a glimpse of Tibetan Buddhist culture. The food, reflecting Tibetan and Nepali cultures, is great. The name Sikkim is said to have been derived from su him, meaning "beautiful home", which makes sense as it is beautiful and the people will make you feel at home. Getting to this place is a bit of a challenge though, due to poor connectivity and because it borders China. Non-Indians get a free permit on arrival in Sikkim, while Indians don't need this. However, both Indians and foreigners must obtain an additional permit for visiting the north and trekking. Sikkim is home to the only open border crossing between India and China, though this crossing is only open to traders and not to tourists.

Regions
Till December 2021, Sikkim was divided into 4 administrative districts, rather imaginatively called North, South, East and West.

The last two have been sub-divided since, forming two new districts. The official names of the original ones have been changed; now they are called by the names of the town where the district headquarters are. This guide continues to use the previous sub-division, as it is more relevant for the traveler.

Towns

 * &mdash; a bustling, friendly hill station, and the capital of Sikkim, is a popular place with tourists heading on treks


 * &mdash; near the ancient town of Yuksom, the town is the base for trekking in the Himalayas and professional expeditions to Mount Kanchenjunga


 * &mdash; a town on the Tibetan Plateau


 * &mdash; is more quiet and local in character than touristy Gangtok


 * &mdash; focused on the development of sustainable tourism, it offers great views of snow covered Kanchenjunga


 * &mdash; a small picturesque town that is one of the few places in Sikkim to offer undisturbed views of the Greater Himalayas


 * &mdash; it serves as the starting point of the Dzongri—Goechala Trek, and is very calm, a real get-away for those who want to avoid the tourist crowd

Other destinations

 * &mdash; there are many glaciers located in this . Animals such as musk deer and snow leopard make there homes here


 * &mdash; a region reserved for the indigenous Lepcha people in North Sikkim


 * &mdash; A high altitude road trip in East Sikkim district. The road meanders past high altitudes lakes and passes offering great views of snow covered Kanchenjunga

Understand
Sikkim covers an area of about 7,300 km², nearly 40% of which is forested. Kanchenjunga (8,586 m) is the third-highest mountain on earth. The mountain is venerated as seat of the Gods. Sikkim is renowned for wide rhododendron woods with 450 different kinds of orchids. The orchids blossom from March to May.

History
For a long time, Sikkim was a Buddhist kingdom, isolated in the Himalayas, populated by Lepchas and Bhotia, two tribes of Tibetan origin, and governed by the Namgyal Dynasty from Tibet. Sikkim was declared a British protectorate in 1861. The British government encouraged the immigration of Nepalese workers, and today about 75% of the population is Nepalese. Sikkim was an Indian protectorate from 1947 until 1975, when after a couple of years of unrest, a referendum criticized by some resulted in overwhelming approval of a proposal to abolish the monarchy (which had continued to rule during Sikkim's years as a protectorate), and Sikkim later that year became the 22nd federal state of India.

Though it had long been the subject of a territorial dispute between China and India, in 2003, China agreed to recognise Indian sovereignty over Sikkim in return for Indian recognition of Chinese sovereignty over Tibet.

Talk
The official language and lingua franca of Sikkim is Nepali, though Sikkimese is the most common native language of locals. Many other languages such as Dzongkha and Tibetan are also spoken by smaller numbers. However, Hindi is also widely spoken as a second language, and all educated people are able to speak English.

Entry permits to Sikkim
An Inner Line Permit (ILP) is required and provided upon arrival for foreigners. Upon arrival, have your passport, a photocopy of it, of your visa to India and passport photos ready at the check post. When entering and exiting Sikkim, your passport will be stamped much in the same manner as when crossing national borders. Obtaining a permit is a pure bureaucratic formality and usually takes a few minutes. You will need to fill in an application form and provide a few passport photos (3 to visit tsomgo Lake in East and 3 to visit North Sikkim). If only visiting West Sikkim, 2 passport photos are required.

The permit can be obtained when crossing the Sikkim state border by road in Rangpo or Meili and from the Sikkim Tourism Centre in Siliguri located at the S.N.T. bus stand (the place from which government buses depart for Sikkim: S.N.T. means "Sikkim Nationalized Transport") in the vicinity of Siliguri Junction railway station (different from New Jalpaiguri station, and reachable from there by taxi/public shared taxi). The website of Ministry of Home Affairs states that permits can also be obtained at large international airports (Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata), but locating the relevant facilities has proven difficult for some travellers, due to incompetence of personnel. Permits can also be applied for at the time of Indian visa application, or at 14 Panchsheel Marg, New Delhi 110021 and 4/1 Middleton Street, Kolkata 700071. Within India Inner Line Permits may be issued by:
 * Sikkim House, 12-14 Panchsheet Marg, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi ,
 * Sikkim Tourist Centre, SNTC Bus Stand, Hill Cart Road, Silguri ,
 * Sikkim Tourist Information Centre, Sikkim House, 4/1 Middleton St., Kolkata
 * Foreign Regional Registration Office in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Darjeeling.

The permit is valid for 2 weeks from the border entry to Sikkim. It can by extended for 2 additional weeks at the Foreigners' Registration Office, Kazi Road, Gangtok (Tel. 03592-223041) or from the police station at Mangan, Gyalshing or Namchi The Inner Line Permit allows travels in Southern Sikkim and great parts of Eastern and Western Sikkim with the exception of treks in high mountain areas.

For the border regions, e.g. Tsomgo Lake in East Sikkim, most parts of North Sikkim and treks into high mountain regions, including Dzongri and Singalila Ridge a Protected Area Permit (PAP) is required. Foreigners must visit these regions in groups of at least 2 persons accompanied by a representative of an officially acknowledged tour operator. The agency will also apply for the Protected Area Permits.

Certain regions, e.g. Nathu La in East Sikkim or Gurudongmar Lake in North Sikkim, cannot be visited by foreigners.

By plane
Sikkim's first airport at Pakyong has been opened, with SpiceJet flying from Kolkata and Delhi to Pakyong airport in East Sikkim and Guwahati In Assam and return flight to Pakyong and then to Kolkata (daily flights). There are plans for international service to Paro via Druk Air.

The nearest airport outside Sikkim is Bagdogra in Siliguri in North Bengal, which is 124 km and approximately four hours drive from Gangtok. Air India, SpiceJet and Go Air service Bagdogra linking it with other major airports in India (including Guwahati). Druk Air flies twice weekly from Bangkok, stopping in Bagdogra before continuing to Paro in Bhutan.

Sikkim is linked to Bagdogra airport by a daily helicopter service to Gangtok that operates only once a day and carries four passengers


 * Air India offers daily flights from Delhi to Bagdogra, departure 11:15AM from Delhi, arrival 1:30PM at Bagdogra, and flights from Kolkata (CCU) daily except F departure from Kolkata 2:10PM, arrival at Bagdogra at 3:10PM. The return flight from Bagdogra to Delhi leave at 2:05PM and arrives in Delhi at 4:10PM, return flights to Kolkata depart from Bagdogra at 3:40PM and arrive in Kolkata at 4:40PM.
 * Druk Air (Royal Bhutan Airlines) has flights from Bangkok (Thailand) and Paro (Bhutan) to Bagdogra. Flights from Bangkok leave on M and Th 8:55AM and arrive at 10:30AM at Bagdogra, flights to Bangkok leave Bagdogra on Sa and Tu at noon and arrive in Bangkok at 4:30PM. Flights from Paro leave on Sa and Tu at 11:30AM and arrive at Bagdogra at 11:30AM, flights to Paro leave Bagdogra on Su and W at 11AM and arrive at Paro at 11:55AM.
 * GoAir connects Bagdogra with Delhi and Guwahati on M W F and Su. Flights from Delhi go via Guwahati, they leave Delhi daily at 11AM. Flights from Guwahati leave Guwahati at 1:40PM and arrive at Bagdogra at 2:40PM. The return flight goes directly to Delhi and departs at Bagdogra at 3:05PM and arrives in Delhi at 5:20PM.
 * SpiceJet Airlines has daily flights from Delhi to Bagdogra, Flights leave Delhi at 11:15AM and arrive at Bagdogra at 1:25PM, return flights leave Bagdogra at 10:40AM and arrive in Delhi at 12:50PM.
 * IndiGo has daily flights to Kolkata, Delhi, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Chennai.

By train
Construction of a 50-km rail link from Sevoke, West Bengal to Rangpo, Sikkim started in 2009, but is not expected to be ready until 2019, and it'll take another few years until it reaches another 40 km to Gangtok.

As of January 2021, the nearest railway station is New Jalpaiguri (NJP) in Siliguri, which is a major station with connections to major cities throughout and north and central India. The distance from Delhi to New Jalpaiguri by train is 1,970 km, and 580 km from Kolkata to New Jalpaiguri.
 * 12502 Poorvottar Sampark Kranti Express to Guwahati leaves New Delhi Station on W Th and Su at 11:55PM and arrives at New Jalpaiguri 2 days later at 12:05AM.
 * 12501 Poorvottar Sampark Kranti Express leaves New Jalpaiguri on Tu W and Sa at 1:30PM and arrives in New Delhi Station next day at 1PM.
 * 12424 Dibrugarh Rajdhani Express to Dibrugarh Town leaves New Delhi Station daily at 2PM and arrives at New Jalpaiguri next day at 10:45AM.
 * 12423 Dibrugarh Rajdhani Express leaves New Jalpaiguri daily at 1:15PM and arrives at New Delhi Station at 10:10AM next morning.

For details see the train schedule information of Indian Railways

You should be able to get pre-paid, shared taxis to Gangtok outside the railway stations easily.

By bus
The Sikkim government has fixed rate (and fixed schedule) buses plying between Siliguri and Gangtok.


 * There is a daily service from Darjeeling to Gantok and vice versa, operated by Sikkim National Transport (SNT). The distance between Darjeeling and Gangtok is about 120 km. Departure from both places at 8:30AM. Travel time 6 hr 30 min.
 * Services from Siliguri to Gangtok and v.v. are operated by Sikkim National Transport (SNT) and North Bengal Transport (NBT). Buses leave Siliguri at 6 (NBT), 7, 9AM and 1PM (SNT), and Gangtok at 7 and 8AM (SNT), 12:30PM (NBT), 1PM (SNT). Travel time is 6 hrs.

The SNT bus stand at Gangtok is in Pajor Stadium Road. In many cases it is, however, more convenient to get off at MG Marg. The private bus stand is on National Highway NH-31A, about 2 km south of the city centre.

After 44 years of closure, the Nathu La pass to Tibet, China – a part of the historic Silk Road – opened again in July 2006. At the moment, only local traders are permitted to cross the border here, and it is not open to tourists. Indian citizens require a permit to visit the Indian side of the pass, while foreigners are not permitted to visit.

Get around
Most travel in Sikkim is done by bus or jeep on road. Trekking is also a popular option.

Do
There are many adventure activities possible to do in Sikkim. Tourists can go for trekking, rafting and kayaking, mountain biking, mountaineering Para Gliding and yak safaris.

Trekking
Trekking is a popular adventure activity in Sikkim. Some of the popular trek routes are:
 * Dzongri - Gechala Trek: The 8 - 9 day trek leads to the base of Kanchenjunga, the third highest peak in the world. The route passes through alpine forest, lush green meadows and past glacial lakes. People with lesser time can opt for the Dzongri trek (5 days) which provides great panoramic views of Kanchenjunga and its surrounding peaks.
 * Maenam Hill Trek:Maenam (10,500 ft) is a hill towering above the town of Rabangla offering a great panoramic views of Kanchenjunga and its surrounding peaks. It is 3 - 4 hr (one way) hike from Ravangla. Spending a night atop Maenam hill is a thrilling experience with a spectacular sunrise in the morning. There are no places to stay in Maenam Hilltop, so tents and food need to be carried.

White water rafting
Large stretches of the two major rivers of Sikkim, Teesta and Rangit are suitable for rafting.

Mountain biking
The experience of dangerous, yet exciting, sports like mountain biking is an enormous attraction for visitors who come to Sikkim to spend some days of relaxation in the touch of nature. So undoubtedly a place like Sikkim, where mountains are a prime part of the landscape, an off-road cycle ride through the uneven hills, jungles and water bodies works like a magnet for all who are obsessed with exploring new thrills.

Eat
Delicious momos stuffed with meat (also known as 'Dumpling'). For vegetarians, veg momos are also available along with Thukpas (noodle soup). Phagshapa is a strip of pork fat stewed with radishes and dried chillies.

Drink

 * Chhang/thumba/tongba/chee - Locally brewed mildly intoxicating millet beer, sometimes served in a bamboo glass with a wooden straw.
 * HIT Beer - A local favourite manufactured by a brewery owned by the Bollywood actor Danny Denzongpa.
 * Liquor - Whisky, brandy and rum are very cheap in Sikkim as compared to other parts of India.

Go next

 * Bhutan
 * Darjeeling
 * Kalimpong
 * Nepal
 * Siliguri