Sikkim: pl. suggest.

ronn

Hi everybody! Happy New Year to U all. I plan to a tour to Gangtok - pelling - yumthung from 15th. to 21 Jan. Pl. suggest the tour programme, weather conditions, fares & also fisibility of the tour.
Thanx.

jyotirmoy

Dear ronn,
There are numerous posts on Sikkim travel. Have you read them? If not I suggest that you first read those, you will find almost all the details that you may need to know.

robin312007

Fares will come within 5000/- per head. You will get discount on Lodging. Also the Travelling Fare will too come down a lot.
Regarding weather, be prepared for a white 2008 if North Sikkim or Tsomgo Lake or Nathula. It will be Harsh Cold in Jan.
Also kindly inquire about Tsomgo lake visit too. Hope the condition there too is Accesible. But You can experience heavey snow everywhere in North Sikkim or West Sikkim.

ronn

Thanx robin & Jyotirmoy for the responses but am a bit confused still. My qs was is it b ok for us( three members ) to visit Sikkim in this time of year ie mid. of Jan.? Secondly,would u suggest the ph. nos of some reliable travel agencies so that i can contact from here or if it'll b better to contact them in Gangtok itself( regarding Yumthang visit)? Also is it possible to suggest some good but moderate hotel names in Gangtok & La chung & pelling? I'm particularly interested to know the weather condition in all these places at mid Jan. Pl. suggest.

Bhaswaran

Ronn...you live at Chandannagar. Just go to Gangtok and book for Yumthang package tour. This is off season and you can bargain and have a plenty of snow at Yumthang. There are plenty of hotels in Gangtok and Pelling, as well as travel agents. Do a hard bargain and there is no need to book from here, because you will then lose that chance.

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robin312007

yep
bhaswaran is right.
You better first call up to get a clean idea on North Sikkim right now and then you can fix your itenerary accordingly.

Good Luck

ronn

Thanx for all of ur help , Robin & Bhaswaran.

Satyaa

Located a little off the main bazaar, this guest house stands head and shoulders above others when it comes to hospitality.

I have stayed here twice in a period of 3 years.

I was there in Jan week 1 2008. I got a deluxe suite for 800 bucks.

Also Gangtok was quite warm (compared to plains enroute), no snow found anywhere, only the lakes and rivers were frozen.

Off season discount in pelling would be mentioned as 30%, bargain hard for ~60% discount as most hotels are empty

Satyaa

Nathula will be opened on Fridays as well along with the usual days

ronn

Thanx for ur reply, Satyaa.

loonypooh

hello ronn,we had our recent trip to gangtok n north sikkim.i guess u might quite get a permit to nathula late jan but make sure u go book it a day or two in advance. The way we did was, we booked yumthang and nathula, went to 2day trip to yumthang, and when we came back,the tour guy had arranged nathula for us.Yumthang was devoid of snow but zero point was totally ice clad. If u going to yumthang pay your driver lil xtra and go to zero point.The tour guy charged us Rs 700 for yumthang per head.However the accomodation in lachung is quite sad. No geyser and no heater. And we realised this is how majority of tour guys provide there. If u are looking for some xtra luxury, go to Marco polo.He said they dont provide sharing in off season ,and would charge us Rs 9100, after negotiation.So we opted him out, snce it was only me and my husband.If you are a big group, it works out for u.
We paid Rs 200 more per head, for zero point, to the driver
Nathula was a great feeling.He charged us Rs 650 per head. Again we paid the driver Rs 60 more per head to take us to Thukla. i e Rs 600 total. Thukla was snow clad.
Getting a good hotel in gangtok is a little dicey, since MG road, where most hotels are located, is chaotic,even more since the roads are being re constructed there. So we went to tibet road, and checked in Chumbi Residency. Good hotel , good food and very helpful staff. After negotiation he gave us a discounted price of Rs 2100 a day.
I have a post , updating about the pics and a travelogue in the forum.
Hope this helps

ronn

Thanx Loonypooh for sharing ur experiences. That'll be certainly of great help to us.
We r starting today & my wife & daughter r the other members excluding me! Hope I'll also share my pics with u & other members.
Wish a great day & a lovely time...

loonypooh

i read that u need number of tour guys?
we booked with Himalayan travels, on tibet road. Dont quite have his number. But it was opposite to our hotel , Chumbi residency..Theonly issue we had with himalayan was , about accomodation in yumthang. U might want to try out blue sky travels on MG marg too.Make sure u dont overpay. Dont book with the hotel travel agents, they pocket a fat commision. Good luck with ur journey . I m sure u will have a good time.

ronn

thanx ma'am for all ur helps. we've just returned with great memories. Shortly i'll post some of the pics - pl. share them
all th best wishes & hv a great time