Snow-Capped Mountains and Monasteries

Bite-sized trip

Itinerary:
Darjeeling - Gangtok - Kalimpong
Duration:
4 days / 3 nights (flexible)
Price:
from £ 449.- per person (excluding flights)

Get a glimpse into the gentle Tibetan culture of hilltop Sikkim. Visit rainbow-coloured monasteries, spin prayer wheels and hear monks chanting across the mountains. Cross green meadows, watch prayer flags flutter, wander through pine forests and feel the calming peace of the Himalayan foothills. Sikkim is a restful green region divided from Bhutan and Nepal by a ridge of snowy peaks. Rarely visited by tourists, it’s rich in culture and natural beauty. During this trip, you’ll spend four days exploring the monasteries and market towns of Sikkim, stopping to meet the locals and listen to softly singing monks.

Day 1 – Arrival in Gangtok

Today, you’ll leave Darjeeling (or Yuksom) and hit the road for Gangtok, travelling north over twisting roads. Kanchenjunga, the third highest mountain in the world, towers over all of the scenery, dwarfing the pine forests and flower-filled valleys. At the end of the day, you’ll arrive in Gangtok, the capital of Sikkim. This enchanting city, perched high on a mountain ridge, is home to a large population of Buddhist Indians. Your comfortable family hotel is beautiful, restful place, with birds chattering throughout the lush garden.

Day 2 – Monastery tour

The monasteries close to Gangtok are rarely visited by tourists and packed with original character. Today, you’ll follow a bumpy road to Phodang and Labrang, brightly decorated monasteries full of rainbow colours and dragons motifs – far more flamboyant than anything you’ll find in Ladakh or Tibet. Each monastery will give you sweeping views over snow-capped Mount Kanchenjunga, looming large above you. At the end of the afternoon, you’ll head back to your hotel in Gangtok.

Day 3-4 Kalimpong & departure

Today, you’ll head for Rumtek monastery, arguably the most beautiful monastery in the area. Every last inch of its interior is covered with brightly coloured murals and fine wood carvings. You can listen to the monks mystical choral chanting whilst enjoying (or attempting to keep down) a cup of Po Cha – salt yak butter tea. In the afternoon, you’ll continue to the market town of Kalimpong. Conquered and colonised by Bhutan for over 100 years, it’s home to a traditional Bhutanese monastery. Here, you’ll stay in a family run guesthouse set in two acres of orchid farm and botanical garden.

You’ll leave Kalimpong the next day.