The Sleeping Buddha of Sikkim- ‘Mt.Kanchendzonga’!

24 Feb The Sleeping Buddha of Sikkim- ‘Mt.Kanchendzonga’!

Welcome to my first post of ‘Dailywalk Travelgram’.

North-East had been on my Bucket list for many years. After a lot of struggle to manage one week off from a corporate job, this finally happened. This trip will always be a piece of my heart, and my first-ever rendezvous with the North-East, specifically Sikkim.

The Mt. Kanchendzonga!

After landing at Bagdogra airport, it was a 5-hour-long and beautiful journey to Pelling, a small town in Sikkim, famous for its serene and unadulterated soul. By evening, we made it to our hotel, ‘alive’. Yes, as beautiful as the journey was, the sharp turns and sleek mountain roads made me pray hard to God to keep us alive by the end of this journey. And God did answer my prayers, else I would have been telling this story to Angels in Heaven (I am an Optimist).
The super-powered driver we had with us was merely 23 years old, and initially, we were not very confident of his driving skills, but he turned out to be super skilled and comforting throughout the stay.

On the way, we saw a lot of women doing masonry work and running shops. On asking our driver, we came to know that the women do all the household jobs, not just inside the house but outside as well. The young and judgmental me started imagining how men would be having leisure drinking and playing cards, but we were told that men are mostly in driving jobs, accompanying tourists on their trips and are gone for days in a row. So, women have to take over, and it was much safer to travel for daily chores. We got to see the real meaning of Gender Equality there.

Keeping to one highlight of the trip at a time, at check-in, we enquired about the view of Mt. Kanchendzonga (‘Mt. Kanchanjunga’ as read in books), the manager told us that if we are lucky, we might get to see it early morning, but since the monsoon has already stepped in, chances are very bleak. Disappointed but putting our hope-hat on, we waited for the next morning for a glimpse of the great giant.

Being from Mumbai, our mornings start earliest at 6, so we were relaxed. But this was far East, the whole hotel gathered on the lawn at 4:45 am, and the enthusiasm could be felt in the air. The sky was already bright and alive at this early hour, and my body clock was confused. We sat there, in the cold breeze, woollens on, sipping tea.
We saw it. It came from behind the green mountains, with his assistants peeking in first, like a king and stood tallest of them all. There was this beautiful sunrise from the opposite direction, and when the sun started rising, the snowy white, grand king started turning into splendid molten gold at the top. We stood there, mesmerised, speechless, breathing in the beauty of the view.
The fact that we were watching it in person, the authenticity of it, was overwhelming. (As the sun rose higher) It turned into different shades of gold, then yellow. We just stood there watching nature in action, embossing this exact picture in our hearts and minds, preserving and cherishing it forever.
It came like a celebrity, waving to its fans, stayed there for a few minutes and went behind clouds, leaving us longing for a closer tryst- ‘Mount Kanchendzonga’.
Though we were in the town of Pelling for 2 days and then went to our next destination – Darjeeling, which is another story and place to reminisce, this encounter with the third-highest peak of the world and the highest peak in India was my ‘take home’ from this trip to breathtaking Sikkim.
P.S. Not to forget the super hospitable and friendly people and their warm smiles.

Which was your most memorable trip? A beach vacation, a mountain stay or a short trip with family/friends? What made it so special?

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Happy Reading! Happy Travelling!