Tour Guide

We organize conducted tours covering the following places of interest in the Darjeeling Hills and Sikkim:

Darjeeling

• View of sunrise from Tiger Hill
• Yiga Choling Monastery at Ghoom
• Batasia Railway Loop
• War Memorial
• Himalayan Mountaineering Institute
• Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park
• Happy Valley Tea Estate
• Tenzing and Gombu Rock
• Tibetan Self-help Centre
• Observatory Hill and the Mahakala Mandir
• The Mall
• Ava Art Gallery
• Natural History Museum
• Nipponzan Myohoji Pagoda or Japanese Peace Pagoda
• Lloyds Botanical Garden
• The Shrubbery Park
• Step Aside
• Rangeet Valley Ropeway
• Lebong Race Course
• Barbotey Rock Garden
• Bhutia Busty Monastery
• Drukpa Kargyud Monastery (Dali Monastery)
• Shopping at Chowrastra & Darjeeling Bazaar
• And Trekking involving 6 to 7days

Darjeeling is connected to Bagdogra airport, and is at a distance of a 4 and a half hours drive by road and 8 hours ride by the Heritage Toy Train from Siliguri. It is roughly 4 hours by road from Siliguri. The best season to visit the Darjeeling hills is from February to May and October to mid-December. Light woolen/cotton clothes in summer and thick woolen in winter are recommended.

Mirik

• Sumendu Lake
• Rameetay Dara (view points)
• Deosi Dara (view points)
• Tea Gardens

Kalimpong

• Zongduphalri Monastery at Durpindara
• Pine View Nursery (house of cactai)
• Dr.Graham’s Homes
• Deolo Hill
• View Point
• Jhangsa Gompa (monastery 1692 AD)
• Kalimpong Art & Craft Centre
• White water rafting in the Teesta River
• Trekking
• Bird Watching in Lolay Goan Heritage Forest Sanctuary

Lolay Goan

View of Sunrise and Lolay Goan Heritage forest sanctuary.

Pedong

Sangchen Dorji Monastery (oldest monastery in Kalimpong) and we pay homage to the mortal remains of His Holiness Shapdrung Rimpochi of the Drukpa Khargud sect, the Tse Tsu festival (Masked Dances) are during the 1st Week of April for 3 days. Pedong is at a distance of 40 minutes drive from Kalimpong. Kalimpong is 3 hours drive from Bagdogra airport, 3 hours drive from Darjeeling and 2 hours drive from Siliguri.

Dejum Rimpochi’s Eunay Gomba (meditation centre) newly established.

Captain Tobgay’s Retreat, located in the vicinity of Pedong town set in village, having double bedded rooms with standard fittings. This retreat is meant for city dwellers wanting peace and rest in pollution free green environment with reasonable tariff.

Other places of interest:-

1. Kargu Choling Gomba of Brahma Kargu sect
2. Donka Gomba of Gelukpa sect
3. Menchu Lepcha Gomba of Drukpa Kargu sect
4. Kasing Lepcha Gomba of Drukpa Kargu sect
5. Damsung Garhi old fortress in ruins involving about half-hour trek

Gangtok

• Research Institute of Tibetology
• Phurba Chorten Monastery of the Nyingma Sect at Deorali
• Himalayan Zoological Park & Hanuman Tok
• Chogyels Palace
• Enchey Monastery
• Government Institute of Cottage Industries
• Tso-mgo Lake (Changu Lake) at an altitude of 12310 ft
• Dharma Chakra Centre, seat of His Holiness Gyalwa Karmapa at Rhumtek
• The Nehru Botanical Garden at Rhumtek
• The Ipecac Garden
• MG Marg & Lal Bazar for shopping

Gangtok is connected to Bagdogra airport by Helicopter service (five Persons only), by road from Bagdogra is a 4 hours drive, by road from New Jalpaiguri Railway station is 4 ½ hours, 3 and a half hours from Darjeeling and 2 and a half hours from Kalimpong

Lachung

Lachung is 8610 ft halting point for Yumthang, with beautiful waterfalls along the way which amounts to 113 kms from Gangtok.

Yumthang

Yumthang valley of flowers (also known locally as the Switzerland of the East) at an altitude of 12000 ft, and 24 kms from Lachung is a hidden valley with a typical village of the Lachungpas.

Lachen

At 8970 ft, Scenic beauty surrounded by snow peaked mountains about 27 kms from Chungthang.

Pelling

• Pemayantse Monastery
• Close-up view of Mount Kanchanjunga
• Kecheopalri (Wishing Lake)
• Rapdentse (second capital now in ruins)
• Kanchenjunga Falls
• Sanga Choling Monastery (20 minutes trek from the hotel.)

Biksithang

Bliss Resort 2 and a half hours drive from Gangtok, located inside a village ideal for honeymooners/business executives requiring absolute peaceful and pollution free environment.

Varsey

Paradise of rhododendron forest, requires 2 hours trek, best season March to May when as much as 36 varieties of rododendrons is in blossom with beautiful flowers and butterflies all around. It is about 2 and a half hours drive from Pelling. It is also good for bird watching.

Tour of Sikkim

Tour of Darjeeling

Tour of Darjeeling & Sikkim

Birdwatching at Lolay Goan

Angling in Teesta & North Sikkim

Tashiding Bumchu

Tashiding is the epicenter of the Nyingma Sect of Buddhism in Sikkim. Every year, in the month of February or March, a festival known as the Tashiding Bumchu is held at the Tashiding Monastery. During this festival, a sealed pot containing holy water is opened by the monks in the presence of a Senior Government Official. If the pot is full of water then, it foretells a year of bloodshed and calamity. An almost empty vessel indicates famine and a half full pot indicates a year of peace and prosperity. The pot is once again filled and sealed and stored away ready to be opened the next year around. This festival attracts a large number of devotees from Sikkim, Bhutan, Nepal and the neighbouring Darjeeling district.

Pang Lhabsol

This festival is held sometime in the month of August, to commemorate the signing of the treaty between the Khye Bhumsa and the Lepcha King Thekong Tek with the local deities being invoked as witnesses. This episode is presented in the form of a masked dance (performed by Lamas) depicting the guardian deity with a fiery red face and a crown made of five skulls astride a snow lion. The masked dances are highly religious and symbolic in nature but the clown also known as the Atsara is the one who breaks the monotony of the deeply religious dances by poking fun at people and making the crowds laugh, moreover, the clown/ Atsara is the only one who is sanctioned the right to make a mockery during such a religious event.

Rumtek Cham

This masked dance is held sometime in June, during the Tse Tsu celebrations or on the 10th day of the lunar calendar. Once again monks are adorned in masks and religious costumes and this time around the masked monks represent the Eight Manifestations (the Guru Tshen Ghey) of Guru Rimpochi/ Guru Padma Sambhava who is also regarded as the Second Buddha. This festival is also very popular.

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