Gangtok - Soulful, Serene and Simple

The moment I imagined Gangtok - the first picture that came to my mind was a beautiful monastery amidst hills enveloped with a layer of clouds. I couldn't wait to get there and Oh Mi!! I was in for a surprise...in a good way :) The city had much more to offer and had a certain character about it which makes you feel like you've been a part of it forever.

We landed at Bagdogra and hailed a cab for Gangtok -  you can hire a cab from the airport - they have fixed rates and since most of the people there are heading for either Darjeeling or Gangtok - they have pretty fair prices so nothing to wrack your brains - just sit back in the car and enjoy the ride. It's a good 5 hour long journey  - very narrow and bumpy roads - but the view is to kill for and it makes up for all the discomfort you may feel on your way overlooking the bends of the beautiful Teesta river.

To reach Gangtok from Delhi usually takes up the whole day  - 2 hour flight + 5 hours journey by road - so its best to take rest and start exploring the place the next day. That's exactly what we did - a good night's sleep had rejuvenated our depleted energy levels and we were all set to explore this hidden gem of a place. 

We just had two days in hand so we couldn't have covered all the places and the two most popular attractions - Nathula Pass and Tsomgo Lake were closed around that time. So, we decided to explore the city at our own pace - not rushing to cover everything but check out all the places we thought we would enjoy going to.

We started with Do Drul Chorten - now this Stupa has some history which goes like this - It is believed that this entire place was once haunted by evil spirits and many people who wandered around this place became victims and died. Later a very respected Lama of Tibet Trulshig Rinpoche came to this place for hermitage. He built this Stupa to drive away the spirits and it worked is what the natives say. Surrounded by 108 prayer wheels this a sight to watch out.

Then they have this cable car - which gives you a fantastic view of the city and the lovely butterfly bridge - I almost fell in love with it - the top most point is where you can see nature casting its magical spell...a must try!!

 Next on our list was Banjhakri falls - the moment you enter the area you see a couple of small shops which cater to your hunger pangs - it was the first time I actually enjoyed eating "wai-wai" cos thats all you get - no Maggi!! But wai wai along with a cutting chai is a good combination to refresh and start again. So here we were - lush green surroundings - pretty maintained I must say - a small pool of fresh water and a beautiful waterfall - I could have just dived into the water but it was freezing cold and I had still a couple of trips to make before I die - so no diving :P

Not to miss - the most common road in India - MG road - one of my favorite places to walk around in Gangtok. They have these colonial style lamps and benches everywhere with a series of restaurants and shops. To add on to this it was drizzling and people were walking around with umbrellas. It was like a scene from a postcard. 

Talking about restaurants - Food - the best place to eat if you are a coffee and pancake lover is "Baker's cafe" - I just loved the ambience, food and their service was great!! You may find some waiting here as it seems to be quite popular with the locals too. 

Other than this we also tried ":The Square", "Tripti's" and "Chopstick" - all of them were good but Baker's cafe just stole my heart.

Its extremely easy to move around here - you get cabs from fixed points and they charge you like 20 bucks per person to drop you to a point. You can also hire a full day cab. 

Looking back at this trip still brings a big smile on my face - it was nothing what I expected but better - I didn't feel I am in some typical hill station - this city has a strong culture and the people were very helpful. So you may want to just go there and enjoy this place - as is - the soulful city of Gangtok!