The bright and not-so-bright spots:
-- Tiger hill view point - Where you get to see a magnificent view of Mt.Kanchenjunga and the entire Eastern Himalayan Range, also Mt.Everest, at sunrise. It does come at a cost though - waking up at 4.15 and enduring the cold. Unluckily, there was mist covering the entire place and we could barely see 10ft ahead of us! To catch a glimpse of the mountain range, best time is after October.
-- Ghoom monastery - well.. i do have a soft-corner for monasteries, so it will be on my must-watch/best enjoyed list any day (yeah..even at 5.30 am!) The rows of hawkers trying to sell their merchandise around the place was not impressive (you would probably find them around all popular tourist centers)
-- Himalayan Mountaineering Institute - One word: Awesome!!! and that also would be an understatement. A visit to this place is a must and is truly a very humbling experience. The Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological park, near this Institute, can be avoided.
-- Japanese Peace Pagoda - Pleasing. The temple's architecture, prayers, instruments (for the lack of a better word) used are quite unique.
-- Tibetian Self-help Center - Nothing much to see except a museum which contains some nice facts about Tibet's rulers and their family; a shop with tibetian clothes, paintings, purses, bags etc. The handloom center was nice, with weaving machines and women actually knitting!
-- Ava art gallery - Quite nondescript gallery of paintings by the late Ava Devi. But after the initial resistance, once you enter the place, its a world of its own! Mind-blowing paintings ( very different styles) and the human profile pictures are just too good.
-- Bhatasia loop - A train track or loop surrounding a War memorial. Best avoided if the crowd is too much. Add to that, the hawkers comfortably settled on the loop itself. Very chaotic.
More snaps:
8 comments:
hmmm .. the overall impression i gather from the post is that hawkers (and crowd) are ruining an otherwise nice place .. huh ??
@shekar: yeah.. but i guess its pretty much the same with popular tourist places.. although sikkim is very clean and well-maintained!
In three words "Reliving the moments"
:) sometimes I wonder .. how sheer unavailability of food (specially for the veggies and even gas at places) and other stuff in national parks here contrasts with it although the place is lot more peaceful and serene!
@pras: :-D.. 3 more words "found some time"
@shekhar: hmmm..ya.. but as you said that would be a lot more peaceful.
this indeed is a beautiful place. I had been there 12 years back and I really dont have much recollection except for a few like the kanchanjunga peak,some 7 hills trekking spot and a toy train to reach darjeeling. :) ya. true. we couldnt see 10 feet ahead of us and we had some really horrifying experiences there. :)
nice images. The image of old lady sewing shows the leisurely pace of things around :)
@suraj: things mite hav changed a lot now.. the place would have been more beautiful, serene and neat then i think.
@mahesh: thanks :-)
Post a Comment