Monasteries & Mountain Views, 7 Nights

Met at Bagdogra and driven up the Teesta gorge to Gangtok, about four and a half hours with the Rangpo ID check where Sikkim begins. Check in, then an easy first evening on MG Marg — momos, a slow walk, early night. The driver takes ID photocopies tonight for tomorrow’s Tsomgo permit.

The local union 4x4 climbs to Tsomgo at 3,750 metres — glacial water below prayer-flag ridges, yaks in embroidered saddles on the shore — and continues to the Baba Harbhajan Singh memorial shrine whenever the army has the higher road open. Down by late afternoon; the evening is deliberately empty, because this was an altitude day.

Across the valley to Rumtek in the morning for the monks’ courtyard debate, then back through town for Enchey monastery, the Namgyal Institute of Tibetology and the Deorali ropeway. Late afternoon at the Directorate of Handicrafts for Lepcha weaves bought at fixed prices from the makers. Dinner is a table booked at one of MG Marg’s better kitchens.

A five-hour drive west with two stops worth the road: the Temi tea garden, Sikkim’s only estate, laid over a hillside like green corduroy, and the 41-metre seated Buddha at Ravangla, which you see across the valley long before you reach it. Pelling by evening, where the hotel terrace faces the closest Kanchenjunga wall in Sikkim — tomorrow starts with it at sunrise.

Pemayangtse monastery opens the day — one of Sikkim’s oldest, with the seven-tiered carved wooden palace upstairs that a single monk spent five years building. A forest path leads to the Rabdentse ruins, the abandoned second capital, its stone platforms staring straight at the massif. The afternoon takes the glass Sky Walk to the Chenrezig statue, then the Khecheopalri wishing lake, held sacred by Buddhists and Hindus alike, where leaves are said never to float on the water.

The road drops to the Rangeet river, crosses into West Bengal at Jorethang and climbs through tea country to Darjeeling — about four and a half hours. The evening belongs to Chowrasta and the Mall: the promenade, the old bookshop, the Mahakal temple bells, and a booked dinner of the town’s Raj-era comfort food. Tiger Hill vehicle and toy-train seats are confirmed tonight.

The 4 am run to Tiger Hill for first light on the Kanchenjunga massif — Everest shows on the clearest mornings — then Ghoom monastery and the Batasia Loop on the way down to breakfast. Mid-morning you board the first-class steam joyride to Ghoom and back, whistle, coal smoke and all; the ticket is included in this package. The afternoon closes with the Happy Valley factory walk and a guided five-cup tasting at a town tea boutique.

A last mountain morning, breakfast without a schedule, and the three-hour descent through the gardens to Bagdogra for the flight home. With an afternoon departure we add the Tibetan Refugee Self Help Centre and a final stop for tea bought at the source, harvest year on the tin.