After spending 2 days in Darjeeling, we drove to Gangtok, the capital of Sikkim.
Along the way, we saw a peaceful student protest. I think it was for free education or something. The local police were directing the traffic and not trying to arrest everyone.
We visited the Buddha Park, which was built in commemoration of the 2550th Birth Anniversary of the Gautama Buddha. It was quite cloudy that day, if not we would have been able to see the spectacular mountain ranges behind the Buddha statue.
We dropped by a small village farm en route to Gangtok - these are cardamon plants.
The scenery along the way - lots of plants and hills and clean, fresh air.
We stayed in the Chumbi Mountain Spa retreat for 2 nights. Chumbi has a spectacular view of the scenery. The next day, we got up at 5am to see the sunrise (at 530am) at the Helipad near our hotel.
We tried doing some jump shots with the mountain range behind us. These 3 Indian tourists also wanted to follow us. Many jumps later, they finally managed to get a good shot.
We dropped by Hotel Garuda for breakfast - they had a small display of traditional Sikkimese clothing.
The magnificent Kangchenjanga waterfall, which had many many tourists. It involves hopping over some rocks and climbing up quite a few steps.
We spotted a herd of domestic yaks coming down from the mountain. Yaks have lots of insects and flies on them.
Dropped by a small village school which has 5 classes and 3 teachers. The lessons are all conducted in English. The kids are ultra well behaved.
Pinky, the resident dog at Hotel Garuda. She's being photobombed by a cat. She has to be the cutest dog ever! Her legs are incredibly stubby and she's very well fed, and has a really good temperament.
You can read more about my trip here.
Part 1
Part 4
Part 5
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