Holiday Diary Day 12 - Gangtok to Pelling

Holiday Diary Day 12 - Gangtok to Pelling

Pelling (pronounced Peeling) is in West Sikkim. We've already visited East and North Sikkim and this was our first time in West Sikkim.

Road to Pelling

As you can see from the below map, to reach W Sikkim we travelled through the South which is basically a small parcel of land wedged between East and West Sikkim. Nothing much to report about the South except for the rivers and the dams that seem to abound everywhere.

Do you notice the mountain peaks and its proximity to the places we visited?

Our transport was a shared cab that is operated very much like the non stop bus services operated between two cities in the south. They have dedicated taxi stands for each major destination and we had to go to the Pelling Stand that was luckily just 5 mins from our hotel.

Pelling Taxi Stand

Our departure was 7 am and reporting time 6:30 am. We were glad we reached at 6:30 because we could grab the middle seats which is way more comfortable than the back seats.
We started at 7 sharp with 10 passengers on board (full capacity). We were the only 4 tourists. The rest were locals for whom this is inter city bus travel.
This route is very picturesque and very safe compared to the other roads we've been on in Sikkim. We enjoyed this road since it wasn't as bumpy and as adventurous as the others.

picturesque South Sikkim Road

One of the most distinctive features of these roads and rivers are the number of hydel projects that we see enroute.

one of the numerous dams enroute on River Ranjeet

South and West Sikkim is watered by the River Rangeet which is a tributary of the Teesta river, the largest river in Sikkim. The Rangeet river originates in the Himalayan mountains in West Sikkim district and is popular among rafting enthusiasts owing to its turbulent waters. The river flows past the towns of Jorethang, Pelling and Legship. During its final few kilometres, it forms the boundary between West Bengal (Darjeeling District) and Sikkim. It joins the Teesta river at Teesta Bazaar on the border of West Bengal and Sikkim.

The Ranjeet

I've shared below some of the sights that we see enroute. The landscape is dreamy at times, raw and beautiful at others and generally enticing enough to want you to stay back here for ever.

typical rural Sikkim home

bridge over river, mountains and clouds

The journey itself was around 5 hours and we reached Pelling in time for lunch around 1 pm after a couple of short halts. The first was for a tea break, The other was a break in journey at Gayzing which was the last stop for this taxi and we had to take another taxi to reach our hotel in Pelling.
Pelling is a small town compared to Gangtok. And every hotel seemed to have a view of the Kanchenjunga.

view of kanchenjunga from Peliing

We tucked into some hot rice and dhal for lunch and spent the evening in the room. The kids spent the rest of the day there while we walked about a bit to get a feel of this quaint mountain town.