My daughter gets excited whenever I am telling the directions to our place on phone and I say the name of our building. Most of the time it’s for booking a cab for going to office. But when she is also dressed up and sees her little baby bag ready, she knows that she is also going out.
This time two of her bags were there which was making her super excited and this little one was trying to carry both by herself. We reached the airport. Check in counter had balloons hanging over the seats there which initially made her happy and she added one more word balloon to her list of words she is learning. Finally boarded the flight and was hoping that she will sleep off like our earlier flights, in this little longer 3 hour flight. But she didn’t. Her worst enemy was the infant seat belt and the curtain just ahead of our seat.
We landed Bagdogra Airport and after having lunch started our road trip to Baiguney. It took us some 4.5 hours to reach Club Mahindra Baiguney including half hour of tea and snacks (steaming Momo’s) break which we took.
The view from the room which was on third floor, took away all our tiredness. And for the little one she was excited to run around the new room she was into and exploring the new furniture.
Next day we spent our day around resort and river Teesta, some at garden where she watched other kid playing football, funzone which although had limited options for infants but she got company of another kid of similar age and mini library inside the resort. We had ordered traditional Nepali Thali for evening which you need pre-order. I must say the green vegetable, potato bhaji and the sweet dish was delicious.
We started next day morning around 10.30 for Gangtok via Namchi. We visited the the world’s largest statue (at 118/120 feet) of the Shri Padmasambhava, also known as Guru Rinpoche. You have to walk around half a km from the point till where car goes, to reach this point. There is also a hotel situated inside the premises which would be a great stay to experience this structure and enjoy the view of surrounding hills and habitations. It took us around an hour to explore this place. If you have time there is lot more to explore if you are fine with climbing the stairs which takes you to much higher viewing points. My right leg was not in good shape and it would have been too much for the little one, so we avoided it.
We reached Gangtok at around 4.00 pm. Few kms before you enter this city the colourful buildings made on this hilly landscape and river in between welcomes you. But mind it 4.00 pm is also the time when schools and lots of offices get closed, so it’s all traffic. Our hotel Mount Sincholu was near Einchey Monastery which is on VIP Road. This place is around 3 kms from the MG Road which is the main market and eating joint in Gangtok. We chose this hotel specifically for the view it offers of the hills and the city and this was met.
We left for MG Road around 6.30. The area was bustling with tourists and locals. We first went to The Coffee House where we enjoyed nice Hazelnut Coffee with starter and Garlic Bread. Once we stepped out it started raining. Another reason for us to go and explore the other famous eatery- Taste of Tibet which is on first floor. Momo’s outer crust was altogether different and nicely fluffy here. But more than that the lady who was in charge of this place was amazing. My little one was very tired and cranky. My husband took her down the restaurant as she was continuously crying. We tried everything but it was not working. I asked the waiter to bring a bowl of hot water to warm her milk. The waiter couldn’t understand but she did and instructed him.
Next day was our day to explore the city. Started with visit to Hanuman Tonk and Ganesh Tonk which gives you spectacular view of the surroundings. Couple of other points we visited which I didn’t find much interesting though. Had one of our best lunch at Café loud. If you are with children just make sure whether you are okay with people using Hukkah around, else great food- Thukpa and Momos.
We ended our trip with visit to Namgyal Institute of Tibetology and Do Drul Chorten Stupa which was 10 minute steep walk from the institute but worth it to see 108 prayer wheels all of which have mantras inscribed on them in Tibetan.
Time to say good bye to Sikkim at this time. Next time when the little ones grows older, we will visit the beautiful snow clad mountain- the very famous Natula pass and Tsomgo Lake.
MAKE THE BEST OF THIS JOURNEY 