DAY 6
– LACHUNG MONASTERY, RUMTEK MONASTERY, HANUMAN TOK AND GANESH TOK
Rumtek
Monastery was our mission today. If we wanted to see Gangtok, today was the
only day. After having our breakfast at the hotel, we started our way back to
Gangtok at 7:00 am sharp. We had already spoken to Sher Khan (our driver) to
show us three points in Gangtok – Rumtek Monastery, Hanuman Tok and Ganesh Tok.
Though we wanted to see Enchey Monastery, Banjhakari waterfall, Lingdum
Monastery and Dro Dul Chorten also but due to time constraints we had to be
satisfied with three points.
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| Rumtek Monastery |
Lachung Monastery
It
has been 5 days that we have been in Sikkim but we had not been to a single
monastery till now. So the first thing we did was to drive to Lachung
Monastery. When we entered the monastery we were in for a delight. Today was a
special day as per Buddhist calendar and we were lucky to see a group of monks
praying, reading from their spiritual books in perfect harmony. It sounds as if
they are reading shloks together.
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| Monks praying at Lachung Monastery |
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| Lachung Monastery |
Lachung
monastery was small but beautiful. Just when you enter the main building of the
monastery you will find two huge prayer wheels on either side. The Prayer
wheels are huge and beautifully painted in red and golden. We were not allowed to take pictures inside
the monastery.
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| Prayer Wheel at Lachung Monastery |
Being
a special day today we got an opportunity to light few wax lamps in the
monastery.
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| Lightning of wax lamps |
On
our way from Lachung to Gangtok we stopped en route to see Beema waterfall.
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| Bhima Waterfall |
While
heading back to Gangtok you will see numerous waterfalls, cross beautiful
prayer flags decorated bridges, drive through the curvy roads; drive through
water streams and on rough terrains.
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| Enroute Gangtok |
We
again stopped over at the same place for lunch at 11:00 where we had lunch
enroute our way from Gangtok to Lachen.
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| HIT - Sikkim Local Beer |
The
drive from Mangan to Rumtek was charming and peaceful.
Rumtek Monastery
Around
4:00 pm we reached Rumtek Monastery which is around an hour drive from Gangtok.
Rumtek monastery is one of the most popular tourist attractions of Gangtok. The
monastery is a 1 km steep walk from the parking lot. Inside the monastery you
will find numerous books and manuscripts, few drums, big and small statues
of Buddha, beautifully decorated interior and a huge red coloured door.
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| Rumtek Monastery - Entrance |
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| Rumtek Monastery |
In
the courtyard, you will find the dormitories for the monks and various monks in
their red clothes doing their usual work.
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| Monk at Rumtek Monastery |
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| Prayer wheels at Rumtek Monastery |
Hanuman Tok & Ganesh Tok
After
the Rumtek Monastery we were on our way to Hanuman Tok. It is on the same route
which we take for Nathula Pass. Located on the top of a mountain, is a temple
dedicated to Lord Hanuman. The place is very simple and extremely neat and
tidy. Inside the temple there is a separate temple of Lord Hanuman depicted
very elaborately. Another temple here has Lord Krishna, Lord Ram, Lord Laxman,
Godess Sita, Lord Ganesh, Lord Shiva and Sai Baba.
Fog
has set in by the time we reached here and the temperature has dropped
suddenly. The view from here would have been magnificent
if there was no fog.
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| Shadows |
Our
last stop of the day was Ganesh Tok, which is not very far from Hanuman Tok. As
the name suggests it is a temple dedicated to Lord Ganesh. Nothing fancy, this
is again a temple which is very neat and tidy. You can find few stalls at the
base of the temple selling pretty looking crafts at reasonable rates. There are
also shops where you can wear traditional sikkimese dress and get yourself
clicked. By now the sun had set bringing along with it a wave of chilliness.
Post
this we headed to our hotel Nettle & Fern located at the Development Area
of Gangtok. We had booked two deluxe rooms here, but the hotel was kind enough
to upgrade us to a family suite. The family suite was on the 5th
floor (top floor) with a million dollar view. The room was warm and cozy, with
beautiful polished wooden interiors.
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| Souvenir Shop |
The
whole mountain landscape of Gangtok is filled with lights during the night.
After resting in the room for an hour and sipping in tea we headed to M.G.
Road. The walk to M.G. Road was of 15 mins. Shopping at M.G. Road is fun and
you can easily buy warm clothes at throw away prices.
After
strolling for some time we took a cab and headed to our hotel for dinner. The
dinner at the hotel was delicious and the restaurant was very warm.
Points to
remember:
- As the sun sets early here
start your day early.
- You can take a Gangtok
sightseeing trip which includes Rumtek Monastery, Enchey Monastry, Ganesh Tok,
Hanuman Tok etc. depending on the time you have at your disposal.
- For sightseeing in Gangtok,
SUVs are not compulsory.
- Although the distance between
places is not far because of the rough terrain it takes a considerable time to
go from one place to another. So plan accordingly.
- Gangtok is not very cold but
still carry warm clothes including sweater, jacket, cap, mufflers, socks and
gloves. It gets windy at Hanuman Tok and Ganesh Tok as they are located at the
top of a mountain. Wear shoes and not sandals or chappals.
- Be easy on steps and avoid
brisk walk or running at high altitudes.
- Sikkim is plastic free zone.
Please don’t litter and maintain the beauty of nature.
- Please remain quiet, maintain
the discipline and follow the rules at Monasteries and other religious places.
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