Pelling – Hike in Rabdentse Ruins – Pemyangtse Monastery – Darap Village – Rimbi Falls – Khecheoparli Lake – Kanchenjunga water falls – Yuksom
Where is Pelling located?
It is a beautiful town located in the West of Sikkim, a state in India.
How to reach here?
The best way to travel to Pelling is by road, National Highway NH31A. The nearest Airport is “Bagdogra” and the nearest railway station is Siliguri/ New Jalpaiguri, both are well connected with all other states of India.
- Okhrey Altitude 6800 ft
- Distance from Bagdogra airport, West Bengal – 160 km
- Distance from NJP railway station, West Bengal – 152 km
- Distance from Siliguri station, West Bengal – 130 km
- Helipcopter service from Bagdogra airport to Gangtok (5 seater service operated by Sikkim Tourism).
Sikkim also has its own airport, Pakyong Airport. It is a greenfield RCS airport at Pakyong town, 35 km south of Gangtok, the state capital of Sikkim, India.
Best time to visit
The highest temperature of Pelling in summers is 25 deg C, whereas the lowest temperature in winters is 1 deg C. Any time of the year is a good time to visit Pelling, however, avoid the monsoons.
Our experience
Pelling is one of those dream holiday locations with a stunning view of the majestic Kanchenjunga (or Khangchendzonga in the local language).
Early in the morning, just before sunrise, I hear Hiren waking me up, “Get up and see Kanchenjunga”. All my irritation at this abrupt morning call fades away when I see the heavenly sight of golden peaks of Kanchenjunga right out of our window. A great big thank you to Hiren for consistently waking us sleepyheads up at 5.30 am every day throughout the trip. We could have missed a lot of beautiful sights if not for his wake-up calls. Excited, we go out for a walk to further explore the beauty of Pelling mornings. We go for a small trek that goes into the village. But we return from halfway as we realize leeches were getting onto our feet.
Rabdentse Ruins
Morning breakfast is as usual scrumptious with Aloo parathas, Cabbage Sabji, and of course momos. We check out at 9 am and head towards Rabdentse Ruins. Rabdentse was the second capital of the former kingdom of Sikkim. It was destroyed by the invading Gurkha army from Nepal and now only the ruins remain. There is a ticket window at the entry gate that charges Rs 20 for entry to the Bird Park. Actually, Rabdentse ruins is free of charge but unaware of this all tourists buy an entry ticket. The bird park is just a 5-minute walk from the gate and at the time we visit, there are no exotic birds to be seen as being promoted. It is absolutely of no use to buy tickets and waste 10 minutes walking around the bird park, so might as well first get current reviews and then only buy tickets. the entry ticket has to be submitted here at the security and then one can proceed for the ruins. So, if you do not intend to visit the bird park, avoid purchasing the tickets
The way to Rabdentse Ruins is a short 20-minute hike to the ruins, a well-maintained trail with trees all around. it feels like a different world altogether in the middle of the ruins. It would have been a beautiful palace on top of the hill with a mesmerizing view of Kanchenjunga as well as the valley below. A palace apt for royalty, my mind starts imagining scenes from what their life would have been then. Very well maintained by the archeological department. So, a good visit for tourists like me who love history and love to visualize the life of the yesteryears.
Pemyangtse Monastery
The next stop is the Pemyangtse monastery. It is a beautiful and one of the oldest Buddhist monasteries, meaning ‘perfect Lotus’. The monks of this monastery are normally chosen from the Bhutias of Sikkim. Our driver is a Bhutia and spends some time praying here. The legend goes that Chador Namgyal, the king of Rabdentse had decreed that the second of every three sons be ordained as a monk with this monastery. Tashi’s (our driver) elder brother is a monk here.
We leave from here and are on our way to Yuksom. For some reason, I was very keen on staying at Yuksom, an off-beat location. Although people have advised me to visit Pelling followed by Gangtok, instead of Yusom; I stood firm and Hiren had to give in to my wishes, as usual. We are glad we decided to stay in Yuksom On our way we pass through Darap village, which is promoted by Sikkim Tourism for homestay options. So, if a homestay is what one is looking for then Darap is a better option than Pelling. Personally, I found Pelling is good only for a night as transit from west to east, nothing too amazing here. Darap is fast developing as a popular destination for village tourism, marketed by its educated residents. Apparently, there is a 200-year old home which we were not aware of earlier or we would have visited it. But I would urge tourists to spend some time here. We simply pass by Rimbi waterfalls and Rimbi river without stopping as we still have a few more places to cover. They are beautiful and it would have been great to spend some time at the banks of the river. We stop by at a roadside stall for some Maggi as lunch.
Khecheopalri Lake / Kanchenjunga Waterfalls
So, we hop in the car and reach Khechopalri Lake (which means the heaven of Padmasambhava). There are small shops where we park our car and start the walk through the beautiful tropical forests. After 15 minutes we reach a jetty leading and a boardwalk that leads to the form of the gate where prayers are offered. Tashi had gotten biscuits for the fish of the lake. It’s a beautiful lake and we spend 20 mins here. This sacred lake is also known as a “wish-fulfilling” lake that has several legends associated with it.
Finally, we reach the Kanchenjunga waterfalls, at around 2 pm. Right on the road, we see these massive waterfalls. We buy a Rs 20 ticket for entry here as well, which was absolutely unnecessary, I think he was a fake. We spend 15 minutes here, taking pictures and Tashi insists that North Sikkim has much better waterfalls than this one so don’t waste too much time here. I would however recommend tourists to spend some time at the Rimbi river and waterfalls rather than Kanchenjunga waterfalls.
On our way to our car, we are filled with more stories from Tashi about his monk brother and their childhood. This is the last sightseeing stop for the day and we are now headed to Yuksom where we have booked “The Red Palace” hotel. This hotel belongs to Tashi’s paternal aunt (father’s sister) who is an MLA now. The location is definitely a plus point, situated in between the woods and a beautiful view of the valley and the mountains from the room. The main village is just a 10 min walk from here. We reach here by 6 pm, it’s already dusk time by now. We explore the hotel property and then go out for a little walk in the village waiting for our dinner to be ready at 8 pm. Here we speak to a guy who organizes long treks, he gives us a local map of Yuksom and suggests a few trek trails for amateurs like us.
And I am really glad we chose to stay at Yuksom compared to Pelling. The rooms here are good with clean bathrooms and friendly staff. The hotels at Pelling didn’t appear very attractive, and that is the main reason why I recommend homestays at the outskirts of Pelling like Naku (where we stayed), or Darap or Yuksom. Yuksom is at an altitude of 5,800 ft and is the base camp for several long treks in the Kanchenjunga National Park. The main reason for including West Sikkim in our itinerary was the several trekking and hiking options here. So, as we chart a mental plan for our Yuksom trekking adventure tomorrow, we doze off.
- Summary
- Yuksom altitude – 5840 ft,
- Distance covered today -65 kms
Homestay review – Hotel Red Palace Yuksom.
- Rooms – Highly recommended – We had booked 2 separate rooms, good clean spacious room. comfortable bedding and blankets, a little armoire for clothes, TV in the room, A big outdoor garden with swing, tables, barbeque (camp fire) area. Restaurant in house. Excellent property. It’s a hotel, and the owners stay in a bungalow adjoining the hotel building. A little old property but very good condition. Gives the feel of yesteryears. All properties in Yuksom exude the old-world charm.
- Food – Very good, package included only breakfast (Aloo Paratha, bhaji, tea, coffee – Local breakfast. Cutlet, Bread butter jam tea, coffee – Continental breakfast).
- Location – Excellent, at a height, away from the town, in middle of forest, direct view of mountains and valley.
- Contact person – Ms. Sonam Bhutia