Sikkim Tour - Vehicle Hire rates required

Dear IndiaMike Members,

I am planning my honeymoon to Sikkim in May.

Given the occasion, the purpose of the visit goes without saying: is to unwind and relax .
I have shortlisted the following hotels
Yangtey - Tashigang Resort (Rs 3120/day)(3 days) - 1 day to places around and rest of the days just to relax.
Gangtok - Tashidelek (Rs 2700/day)(2 days) - Usual itinerary of Gangtok - Local Sightseeing + Nathula pass visit.
Kalimpong - Orchid Retreat (1 day) - on the way back to Airport

AS far as the travel logistics for this itinerary is concered, I am planning to make vehicle booking after landing at the airport.
Is that a good idea ? Or shall I tie up with some travels beforehand?
I also need an idea on the charges at these routes. Especially

Airport - Yangtey (Rs 2500)
Yangtey Tour - (Rs 1800)
Yangtey - Gangtok
Gangtok - Tshongu Lake + Nathula Pass
Gangtok - Kalimpong

The rates in the side are the ones I collected by referring to this forum and other places in the net.
General rates I got from a website is Sumo ( Rs 2400 for 180km/day minimum + Rs 5/km ).

Please advise for my logistics arrangements.
1) Do I hire a sumo for the entire trip or go for deals on daily basis ? A lead on good travels guy in Gangtok will be quite helpful !
2) An idea on the rates along these routes
3) Given my plan when can I get the permit required for Nathula Visit? Should I do it before landing in Sikkim or can it be arranged in a day in Gangtok?
3) Are these hotels good enough for the tariffs they charge?
4) Also the planes that leave from Bagdogra Airport generally on time? I have to book connecting flights form Kolkata.

Thanks In Advance,
Prasanna

1. I think a daily basis is the best bet and provide you the best service.
Unfortunately I had bad experiences with travel agents(esp the ones who haunt the Tenzing Norgay bus stand) so I am not going to recommend any.
If you plan to take a driver from Siliguri & return to Siliguri then you have to go with one driver and standard rates.

3. Permit is obtained just by the travel agents. Checkout the lodge/house where you will checkin.

4. Hotels are good. Hopefully you get a good view. I have no idea about these costly ones as I stayed in pretty cheap ones which were also quite good.

5. There were some demonstrations recently and the NH was blocked. Stay informed to adjust time accordingly.

> On a whole I feel that its slightly on the expensive side , so make the best out of it.

first of all, congratulations on your engagement and planned nuptials!

my own sikkim tour was long enough ago now that i don't have the costs at hand or remember them, but they're posted around here somewhere!

i easily got a taxi at bagdogra airport up to gangtok. however, for ease of planning and for the very reason that i wanted to relax and not worry about negotiating separate trips, i hired a car in advance on a per-day basis for a circuit tour of west sikkim (gangtok to darjeeling, actually, by way of pelling and yuksom).

some people will advise arranging things in advance, others will suggest waiting until you get there. i'd suggest making inquiries now, at a minimum, so that you have an idea of a fee range. i paid only per diem, with no per-km charge. it worked well and i was free to stop for photos when i wished, to change plans, make detours or spend as much or as little time as i wanted, irrespective of that "the plan" was. i realize, though, that that's not an economically feasible option for everyone.

my flight from delhi to bagdogra landed on time, but i took the train to kolkata, so i can't speak to the timeliness of other flights.

you can get your nathula permnit in gangtok. i was traveling alone and am american, so couldn't go at all, but it would have been easy enough to arrange in gangtok had i met the minimum-party-number requirement. any travel agent office can make the permit arrangements and, unless the rules have change since i was there, you need to arrange the trip with an agent anyway.

hmmm...afaid i'm not much help here, but there's a wealth of information in myriad related threads in this forum. many IM members visit sikkim often, so you should have no difficulty getting answers to all your questions well before your anticipated trip.

best of luck and, again, congratulations!

Thanks for you inputs on all queries folks...
I made few enquiries with the hotels to get an idea of rates..
Looks like it'll cost maximum 2K per day for a Sumo..

Tacita,

Can you please let me know who you used to hire a car and driver and what I may expect in costs. We (4 adults) are planning a Darjeeling/Kalimpong/Sikkim trip toward the end of May for about 10 days. I would like to see if I can make most of the arrangements myself to save some money. I'm also planning to make hotel reservations myself, how hard/easy is it? Is over-booking all too common? We are mostly planning to stay at the high-end heritage hotels. Any suggestions are appreciated.

Thank you,

travelbug73tn

Travelbug,

For my car arrangments and other things I couldn't arrange myself from the States for whatever reasons, e.g., at the Hollong Forest Lodge, I used Potala and recommend them. Most arrangements I made myself vie email. I don't hear well, so the phone wasn't an option for me. Most hotels were responsive and professional, but I was generally in higher-end places with good staff infrastructure! Here's contact info for Potala:

Mrs. Kalsang Choden
Managing Director
Potala Tours & Treks
Paljor Stadium Road. Gangtok 737101, SIKKIM
phone 0091 3592 222041, 200043, 226934
Email: slg_potala@sancharnet.in or ogenyi52@yahoo.com
website: www.sikkimhimalayas.com

Mrs. Kalsang Chodon spoke perfect English and was immediately responsive to all my inquiries. When I arrived in Gangtok, we sat down with the driver and my Sikkim "wish-list" and plotted out the best route to cover everything in a big circuit, Gangtok to Yukson to Pelling to Darkjeeling, with stops along the way for various monasteries, waterfalls, and picture-taking on my unfettered schedule. It worked really well. I'll try to find the prices, though I know they're in my posts in the Sikkim forum from some time ago. If you search the Sikkim forum for "Potala", you may find my recapitulation. Whatever I paid was low by US standards, even if not by Indian tourist standards. I was traveling alone and paying for convenience, efficiency, and time savings.

I traveled to Sikkim specifically for Losar and to see the Rumtek Chaams, so I was there in the off-season. Accordingly, I asked for, and received, substantial discounts on my hotels, most of which i made myself via email based on a number of sources of research, indiamike recommendations, guidebooks, and tripadvsor.com. I stayed at the Hotel Tibet in Gangtok (Rs. 1100reflecting a 30% discount). The Potala office was just across the street and the taxi stand was just down the street, so it was a good location.

In Darjeeling, I stayed at the Elgin (and highly recommend it). In Yuksom, the Hotel Tashi Gang (Rs. 550, reflecting a 30% discount). In Pelling, the Norbu Gang Resort (Rs. 1950, reflecting a 10% discount)(pix at the end of this thread), an excellent hotel with spectacular views at dawn, stellar service, internet access (albeit limited by the vagaries of the connections up there), a lovely restaurant, and prmpt room service, especially nice for afternoon tea.

The Tibet Hotel in Gangtok was good (their restaurant is considered by many to be the best in Gangtok), but I think you could stay quite as comfortably at other places. I met a couple staying for much less nearby, and their room seemed nicer. (My room was just so-so.) Can't recall the name. It's in a thread here somewhere, something with "cherry blossoms" in the name, maybe?

Hope this helps for now.

By the way, I just came across a receipt for a pre-paid taxi from Bagdogra to Gangtok, again, from two years a go: Rs.1390 + Rs.50 service charge.

As near as I can tell from various email exchanges with Potala which, miraculously, I seem still to have, I paid Rs 2600/day for a private jeep and driver who was with me from the time I left Gangtok at around 6am on Feb. 18, until Feb. 21, when I was depositied at the Elgin in Darjeeling.

My full itinerary for that time included:

Bon Monastery (not to be missed-the only one of its kind you'll likely ever see)

Temi Tea Gardens (closed when I passed through, as it was Losar, but worth the tour/stay, according to many on this board)

Ravangla
Ralang
arrive Yuksom
local sites in Yukson, including Dubdo Monastery, Coronation throne, etc.

Khechopalri Lake
Khanchen Dzonga Falls
Rimbi Falls
Pemayantse Monastery
arrive Pelling

Sangha Choeling Monastery
Tashiding Monastery
stay Pelling

Rabdentse Palace Ruins
Darjeeling Tea Gardens
arrive Darjeeling

Bear in mind that while the distances appear short, this is all up and down mountains, an arduous trip, and tight even with my own jeep and driver.

*Edit: I had no mileage limitations and paid no extra per-km fee. This was all-inclusive. Also, some will say not to pay for the driver's lodging and food, however, that was included in my quoted rates and seemed reasonable to me. Other may disagree. Do bear in mind again, however, that this was two years ago.

Your posts extremely helpful. Yes, we are really big on taking our time. Monasteries, history and flora & fauna are our primary interests, so we plan on taking it slowly.

I would prefer that they quote me prices that include food and lodging for the driver.

I have a tentative itinerary as follows
Siliguri-Darjeeling-Samthar-Kalimpong-Rinchenpong-Pelling-Gangtok-Darjeeling. We plan to stay at the heritage hotels or at the homestays.

I will probably bother you with more questions as I get further in this process, if that ok with you.

Thank you again,

I think the fact that they aren't means you're not expected to pay for it, or that it's included. That really has more to do with the arrangements between the travel agent and the driver. As long as you get a total price you're comfortable with, I wouldn't worry too much about the break-down. Just be sure there aren't hidden add-ons that come as a surprise.

If you need more info, I'd only be digging it out of this site to pass on, so suggest you research old threads. Also, there are a lot of people who have much more -- and more current -- information. Again, scour the Sikkim subforum.

Still, I know there's something to be said for getting a fellow American's "take", being clued in on things you need to know that a non-tourist might not think you need to be told. India is navigable, but cultural nuances, and lack of practical knowledge -- just knowing how, where and at what cost to efficiently execute things -- can slow you down and cause you to lose precious time.

I guess it's all about knowing or not knowing the "drill" of a place, something that comes only with experience. Unfortunately, on a trip of a few weeks' duration, you're leaving just as you start figuring anything out! That's where IndiaMike comes in.

Good luck!

Is it, by any chance, possible to hire cars for self-drive from Bagdogra? I want to visit Yuksom and back.

I'm sorry, I don't know the answer to that. However, I can tell you that, if you do so, you will need a jeep-type vehicle on those roads, and that it takes a lot of skill to navigate them. I am myself an excellent and generally fearless driver, but would never have attempted this myself. At some places, roads were so steep or in such poor condition that we had to get a running start. In others, portions were washed out and I even got out walked across at one point and met my driver on the other side because it seemed too dangerous to drive over. And even with an excellent and detailed road map, it was often unclear where we were. My driver knew his own routes, what the conditions were of various roads, and made adjustments along the way. Lastly, the driving was so arduous that I came to understand why he needed driving gloves!

Now, all that being said, I did not traverse the route between Bagdogra and Yuksom, having reached Yuksom from Gangtok and then on to Pelling. It's possible that the route is easier, but either confirm that first or don't take the chance.

Here's a section where a boulder had fallen down from the right and knocked out a section of road that workers were trying to stabilize with small stones. To the left was a steep ravine that simply dropped off into an abyss. In the second picture, my driver is inching his way through (with me, safely on the other side) between the boulder and the pathetic little "repaired" section.

This is the road leading up to Yuksom, and one you'd have to traverse irrespective of from which direction you came. It may well be fine now, but it's representative of what you could expect to encounter.

woah ! i guess i'll stick to a hired car.

Hi All,
I would like to update the vehicle hire rates in Sikkim at the end of my trip. Hope this is useful for others.
Things to Note:
1.It was a luxury trip so I didn't care to bargain in most of the places.
2. May month is tourist season so the rates will be on the higher side.
3. Vehicle was booked exclusively for me & my wife.
4. Always prefer a taxi driver as they know the route and are experts at maneuvering the vehicles through the ghat roads.

Period of Visit: May 2009
Details:

Bagdogra (Airport,Silliguri) - TO - Pelling - INR 2200 (Mahindra Maxx)
(Booked through the Hotel at Pelling, so was a little costlier than a normal regular Taxi )

Pelling - TO - Gangtok - INR 1600 (Mahindra Maxx/Sumo)
(These are regular Taxi serviced routes, Hire a regular taxi it'll be cheaper than the going through agent.)

Gangtok SightSeeing - 7 Points INR 800 (Maruti Van)

Nathula Pass, Tsongo Lake Visit - INR 7000 (Mahindra Maxx)
Quite an costly affair , given the fact that the pass opened 3-4 days before we went, topped with tourist demand the rates we quite high

Gangtok - Kalimpong - INR 1300 (Mahindra Maxx)

Hope this information is of use for benchmarking

Great Information . Good Pictures. I Still Would Love To Selfdrive My Own Car Or A Hired One If Get A Chance . If Anyone Have Any Idea If There Is Anyone Who Provides For Self Drive Please Let Me Know:d