Trekking in Darjeeling & Sikkim (India)

DARJEELING - There is nowhere quite a place like Darjeeling "Queen of hills" which nature has chosen with care and blessed it with beauty and lush greenery of the tea garden. It is far from the maddening crowds of the metros. There is no finer place than Darjeeling to steep yourself in the grandeur and beauty of the towering snow-capped mountains. It’s a fascinating place where you can see Buddhist monasteries, visit a tea plantation and see how the tea is processed, spend days for bargains in colorful markets and handicraft shops or go trekking to high altitude spots near the border with Sikkim. Darjeeling has been very popular hill station since the British established it as an R & R Center for their troops in the mid eighteen hundreds. It also has Himalayan Mountaineering Institute, where Tenzin Norgey was a Field Director of this institute. In HMI museum you can see the original flag of Union that was hosted by Tenzin Norgey and Sir Hillary during the first ever ascent of Mt. Everest on May 29, 1953.

SIKKIM: Known in Tibetan lore as a hidden land of ultimate serenity (a beyul), Sikkim retains the heavenly enchantment of the Himalayan Kingdom. Until the mid-1970’s, the Chogyal (king) ruled Sikkim with his American quest Hope Cooke. The tiny enclave is now a state of India, sandwiched between Nepal, Bhutan, and Tibet. Mount Kanchenjunga third highest peak in the world (8588m) stands guardian to Sikkim and its peoples. No one is allowed to steep on its summit, where five holy treasures are said to be hidden. Sikkim though tiny has varied topographical features the majestic mountains, passes, glaciers and innumerable snow fed lakes and rivers which tend to provide different climatic zones, which range from, the tropical climates to chilling artic areas. Most part of Northern Sikkim, eastern and western Sikkim is covered with snow almost throughout the year, whereas the southern border teems with tropical forests.