Wandering Through Namchi – Ravangla – Yuksom

Though I have been to Ravangla before, for a touch & go sightseeing while going from Pelling to Borong on our last trip to South & West Sikkim. But I never thought I’d be coming here again, and that also for a night halt. I was completely un-aware about what Ravangla has to offer and I would have not ever known, if I wouldn’t have stayed here, or should I say if Dipankar Da didn’t insisted us on staying at Ravangla? We already had plans to explore Namchi too on our last visit to South & West Sikkim, but as one of our friends fell sick We couldn’t materialize it.

This Trip Report is a continuation from Trip To Old Silk Route – Zuluk – East Sikkim

Below is the full itinerary again for your reference…
Day 1 : NJP – Reshikhola
Day 2 : Reshikhola – Mankhim
Day 3 : Mankhim – Zuluk (Dzuluk)
Day 4 : Zuluk (Dzuluk) – Nathang (Gnathang)
Day 5 : Nathang (Gnathang) – Gangtok
Day 6 : Gangtok – Ravangla via Namchi
Day 7 : Ravangla – Yuksom via Tashiding
Day 8 : Yuksom – Pelling via Pelling Sightseeing
Day 9 : Pelling – Hee Gaon (Hee Patal) via Singhore, Uttarey, Dentam
Day 10 : Hee Gaon (Hee Patal) – NJP

12th October : Day 5 : Nathang (Gnathang) – Gangtok [Continued…]

After Arpan dropped us at Vajra Stand, Gangtok, we hailed two taxi’s for Rs. 150/- each to reach our hotel, Hotel Silver Line in Tibet Road. Tibet Road is just 5 minutes uphill walk from M.G.Marg. Being aware of Gangtok, I booked hotel in Tibet Road this time, as we’d be staying just for one night, so easy accessibility to M.G.Marg mattered to us, instead of staying at Development Area like last time.

It took us few minutes to check in. Post checkin, we ordered our lunch in the hotel only, as it was still raining badly and we were really not in mood to go out, because of such headache due to bad weather in Gnathang. Post lunch, we simply hit the bed to take a afternoon nap!!

When we woke up, it as already evening by then, upon peeping out of the window, we noticed that it was not raining though, but still drizzling. So we planned to go out to M.G.Marg. One of my colleague was also there with his family. So I called him up to check if he would be able to meet us at M.G.Marg. He asked us to proceed and told that he will join us in few minutes.

Our first task was to take out some cash for the next leg of our trip, but after standing in long queue at all the ATM’s in and around M.G.Marg, we couldn’t manage it, as all of them went out of cash. Next important task was to stock up few important medicines, as somewhere around Silk Route, we forgot the whole medicine bag which we always carry on our trip.

It stopped drizzling by then and soon Abhjit (my colleague) and his wife joined us, and we roamed around here and there a bit. Finally I called up Gopi, our driving partner for the remaining leg of our trip, who was about to arrive today, to check his whereabouts. He said, he’s in Ranipool and would soon be joining us. Gopi became one of us, since we travelled with him last time. We used to call each other since then occasionally.

Avijit moved along with his plans, and Me with my wife Suparna and my cousin Akash, went to our hotel to check out Cafe Live & Loud. Cafe Live & Loud is one of the famous music club in Ganagtok and was exact opposite of our hotel. Upon reaching there, we found it closed due to Dusshera. Nearby shopkeepers informed that, “kal aiye, kal khula milega” (Come tomorrow, it’ll be open tomorrow), but we knew, there’ll no tomorrow for us, as we won’t be here to experience it.

The day 12th October 2016, seemed to be most disastrous day of our tour. We already missed everything we had to see in Gnathang due to the rain, and then also in Gangtok, things were not falling in places. Akash took the charge and suggested me to not to loose hope and wait for Gopi to arrive and then we can go to some pocket friendly bar in M.G.Marg. We again went back to M.G.Marg and started checking out some bars which we can hop into after Gopi arrives.

Gopi arrived at around 8:30 PM. We hugged each other and introduced my cousin Akash, as he was new to him. But by then most of the the bars and restaurants including the ones we shortlisted, started closing. In the end, we found a bar just beside the entrace of Hotel Doma Residency. We spent the rest of the evening there enjoying our drinks and discussing the mess of the day. He too shared his part of story, of several drivers getting stuck at Jorethang due to the road getting washed away which lead to highly inflated prices for cabs and headaches of several Kolkata based tour operators. He further went on saying that the vehicles which were about to pickup guests from NJP, and then move to Pelling with another guests after dropping them at Gangtok, didn’t even reached NJP in the first place. And that lead to chaos among guests everywhere. He shared, how Kolkata based tour operators have gone mad with too many phone calls for such natural disaster.

Due to the rush season, everyone, specially the tour operators, planned things back to back, but due to this unexpected rain which lead to landslide, ultimately lead into a real chaotic situations amongst the guests, hoteliers as well as tour operators. Due to several drivers being stuck at Jorethang, the charge of vehicles increased like hell. He further informed me that guests travelled between Gangtok and Pelling for Rs. 7000/- instead of general fare of Rs. 3000/- – Rs. 3500/-.

Later Gopi, walked us to the hotel and informed us that he’d be picking us up before 7:30 AM next day, otherwise he’ll not be allowed to enter Tibet Road post 7:30 AM, as it’d turn to one way by then. But by then, I already had committed to meet Miss Binita Lama from Lama Tour & Travels, with whom I travelled to North Sikkim and Nathulla last time when I came to Gangtok. We were constantly in touch through WhatsApp since then. She informed me to meet her atleast once if I come to Gangtok again, because of several tourist she got due to my recommendation on my blog. She was about to meet me today only, but due to heavy rain and rush of guests she called me up and informed that she’s very busy and it won’t be possible today. But assured me to meet me at M.G.Marg tomorrow and requested me not to leave before 8:00 AM. Thus Gopi informed us, in that case we’d have to go to South Sikkim stand on our own, to which we agreed as we didn’t had any other options other than turning down Miss Lama which I didn’t wanted to. We took our dinner in hotel only and soon hit the bed.

13th October : Day 6 : Gangtok – Ravangla via Namchi
Today our plan was to move to Ravangla via Namchi. I was happy that I got another chance to explore Namchi which we had missed last time. I called up Miss Binita Lama, but somehow it didn’t materialize, as she was too busy managing guests in her hotel, that she couldn’t even came to M.G.Marg to open his shop.

So at around 8:30 AM we hired two taxi’s for Rs. 150/- and started for South Sikkim stand. Gopi was already there, waiting for us. We quickly loaded the luggage after introducing him to my parents, we started our journey for the day at around 9:00 AM. We narrated the story of ATM we had last night, he assured us he’d give us a stopover at Singtam where we’d easily get cash. We reached Singtam at around 10:15 AM. We had a stopover there, and as Gopi assured us, we got cash on our first chance. Singtam being out of tourist areas, doesn’t have much rush, and thus it’s easy to get cash in ATM’s here than in Gangtok. We took all that we needed for the rest of the trip. He gave us a stopover again after 15 minutes for breakfast at a river side restaurant nearby.

Post brekafast, it took us around 1 hour to reach Temi Tea Garden. In the meanwhile, it started raining again and things went foggy. We were really upset now and thought, the rest of the tour was going to be an awful experience. Gopi parked at a Tea Center. Gopi told us that in March – April, this looks heavenly, due to the cherry trees, as it looks lush green with reds in the middle.

Though we didn’t bought any packets because of bad experience previously at Darjeeling, we only restricted ourselves to taste flavored Black Tea. There were many people who were having Green Tea!!

Previously once in Darjeeling, we bought one packet after tasting the same, but then later found that, the one they sell and the one they keep for showcasing and tasting are of different quality, though both of them being of same packaging. Gopi assured us that, Temi being only such establishment in Sikkim and much smaller than that of Darjeeling and Assam, such practice doesn’t exists here. Even locals buy from these shops. But still, we were not in mood to buy one.

Thus we started proceeding towards Samdruptse. One have to buy tickets and pay the parking fee, to enter Samdruptse. It was raining and full of fog, such that the Buddha statue was barely visible.

We spent around an hour there and started proceeding towards Chardham at around 2:30 PM. It took us around 30 minutes to reach Chardham. Generally Puri, Dwarka, Badrinath and Rameshwaram is considered as Char Dham which is highly sacred destinations among Hindu’s, which they like to visit in their lifetime. The parking is paid parking, and one have to pay Rs. 50/- for that. While walking towards the entrance from parking area, we noticed a nice budget hotel, Yatri Niwas, if anyone like / plan to stay a couple of days there.

Even being rush season, there was no queue at all at entry ticket counter, may be due to the rain or is it like much tourist doesn’t consider Namchi? Whatever it is, Gopi already informed us that the complex is really big and is known as Siddheswar Dham and that it’s going to take some time, so not to hurry. I already knew that in a corner of my heart, Chardham being a religious destination, my mom and dad was surely going to take time.

Luckily the rain have stopped by then allowing us to explore Chardham, but due to the fog things were barely visible. It almost took us around 1.5 hours to explore the whole complex. Finally we started proceeding at around 4:44 PM. We almost forgot that we skipped our lunch, thus Gopi gave us a stopover at nearby shop. They also have a hotel attached to the shop, at such an exotic location. One may choose to stay there too!!

After having some snacks we proceeded towards Ravangla. By the time we crossed Damthang, it started raining again, and it was raining like cats and dogs. Finally we reached Hotel Zumthang, our shelter for the day at Ravangla, at around 7:30 PM. They asked us to go to the new building which was just beside the main / old building. It was raining heavily, thus they shared us there umbrella to get off from the car. We were the only tourist staying there in the new building. Gopi stayed with us there only on a seperate room.

Soon Mrs. Pema, the owner, came and welcomed us warmly. While in Namchi, we called her to inform that we’d be bit late and thus she asked us for dinner order over phone only. She told us, why we made such plan to stay only for one night. Being unaware of what was waiting for us, we told her that we had short number of days and also had plans to explore Yuksom. At one room, there was no bed, and thus she arranged things on the floor only as she couldn’t arrange bed for that room. She felt sorry for that and asked us whether it’d fine with us. But we really felt at home, and thus let our parents take the room with bed, we took the one without bed.

Dipankar Da already informed us about her that, even being a hotel, they offer homestay experience to guests with warm hospitality and homely atmosphere. So it was absolutely fine for us. The rooms were highly clean and new and thus Mrs. Pema asked us to keep the shows outside the door only and asked us to use the provided sleepers in the room. Mrs. Pema went on explaining that the floor mat is of different kind and it doesn’t gets cold in winter and stays warm. It was warm indeed. Soon two girls who helped us getting off the car by sharing us their umbrella came up with Tea.

We all sat together and chit-chat for sometime. They were like completely mingled with us, and were joking and having fun together. It was like they were referring dad as “Pitaji”, mom as “Mataji”. We never felt so homely anywhere before. Gopi knew them already, being a regular in this hotel with guests. Mrs. Pema excused us as she had to arrange the dinner for us. She informed us that the order we placed might be more than what we needed, so she arranged it on her own, according to the quantity.

The girls too left after sometime, showing us the lock of the main door and asked us to keep the door lock and only open when they press the bell. We being the only guest in the whole building, got assigned to this responsibility automatically. As they say “With great power comes great responsibility” and I can safely add “and freedom” 😛

At around 9:30 PM, they all came up with dinner and told us they would serve us here only and we don’t need to go there in the main building. We felt overwhelmed. Another girl came up with whole new packed blankets for all of us. When asked they said, we were the first guest in this new building and thus they don’t have arrangements for the rooms in this building. We were like Wow!!

Though Mrs. Pema asked us to have dinner in the bed only with some spare newspaper to protect the bed sheet, but we don’t like having food at bed that also when everything is damn new. Also we already knew how strict she’s about cleanliness, and thus we choose to have dinner in the floor. It was warm enough anyway, but still we choosed to use the newspaper so that they don’t need to clean things again at such odd hours. Some people, reading this might raise their eyebrows, what’s the point in explaining all these and why we were so concious about cleanliness of a hotel? It’s because, of two reason, firstly, who don’t like it clean? Even as a guest we look for clean rooms, so isn’t it our part of duty to keep it clean? Is this how we’d have done while at our homes? No I believe. Secondly, we being the first guest, and unavailability of bed, it’s our duty to keep it clean too, else we’d be the one who will have to suffer.

Anwyay, the food was really nice and homely. While serving she told us “Aj pema didi ka haat ka khana kha lo, kal to kaha honge nahi pata” (Have my own cooked food today, god knows where you’ll be tomorrow) made us felt bad. This was specially because of the homely and friendly atmosphere she gave us. Even though we ordered her everything 6 plates while on call, but she informed us, she made it everything as 3 plate and rice as 1.5 plate as otherwise it’d have been highly excessive considering the quantity they serves. She was damn right, everything was just perfect. I thought what if she was not so nice person and have just prepared whatever we had ordered? Everything used to go into waste-bin. We requested them, to have their dinner with us only, but they told, they have to serve guests in the main building too. Post dinner they left wishing us Good Night and asked us to open the door for them next morning, for Tea.

Though our parents went to bed, but Me, Suparna, Akash and Gopi went to our room and gathered for a drink. But while chit-chatting and drinking we never noticed how time passed by. It was already 2 o’ clock in the morning. And then we choose hit the bed too.

13th October : Day 7 : Ravangla – Yuksom via Tashiding
Last night Mrs. Pema already informed us that on a clear day, we’d be able to view Mt. K from our window only. So we slept by setting alarm at 6 o’ clock. But when I woke up, it was all cloudy, and Mt. K was not yet visible. But still the view touched my heart. We waited for a long time, but still the clouds didn’t got cleared. The Buddha statue of Buddha Park was visible from another window of our room. It was then when we realized, why Dipankar Da was insisting so mcuh to stay at Ravangla specially at this Hotel. And being on the new building, which being the last building on the cliff, there was no obstruction at all.

We simply went crazy, by realizing what the view this hotel could have offered, if the weather was clear. Add the homely and friendly atmosphere of Mrs. Pema and her staffs on top of that. Soon one of the girl arrived and rang the bell. We knew Tea was here. So we rushed to open the door!!

Dipankar Da, already informed us to try the awesome Tibetan Bread, that she prepares, at breakfast. So we already requested her last night about the same and she assured that she’ll serve us the same at breakfast. The girl left after we all finished our tea and asked us to go to restaurant in main building for breakfast. Suddenly mom noticed that dad was bleeding from ankle. It was then he noticed a leech caught him when he went outside to get seeds of flowers. He applied some antiseptic and covered it with a band-aid. We started panicking, thinking what if more leech might have come along with his shoe and all. We started checking them immediately but found nothing.

We took some time to enjoy the view and then quickly got ready and went to main building for breakfast and check out process. The Tibetan Bread was awesome and was served with “Ghugni” and “Alur Dum”. My mom and aunt impressed with her preparation, went straight into the kitchen to learn the preparation and we went to check out her shop in 1st floor with Gopi. Gopi had to buy vest for son of his sister-in-law and a bag and jeans for him. Gopi asked us to check out if we needed anything, as we’ll get it much cheaper here than at shops outside in the market. But we generally don’t do shopping while on tour, we simply just don’t carry enough cash to spend on shopping and all.

After paying all the bills, I called up my parents to check the shop. It was then I discovered that a leech caught my ankle too. Suparna panicked like hell!! But she offered me a cotton to clear the area and asked me to apply boroline and gave a bandaid. I must say after this incident, I really am no more afraid of leeches.

While bidding goodbye to Mrs. Pema she hugged my mother and aunt and told me “App to yahan sone keliye aya sirf” (You came here to sleep only) made me feel bad and realize that this exotic destination needs atleast 2 night stay. Though one cannot judge Ravangla’s true beauty by just passing through Buddha Park and Ralong Monastery, one must stay at Zumthang to fell in love with this small and calm hill town. It was really injustice to plan a one night stay here.

But as per our plans, we had to bid good bye to Mrs. Pema and the girls and we started for our today’s destination, Yuksom at around 10:15 AM. Our first stop was Ralong Monastery. It took us around 30 minutes to reach Ralong. Although we have been to Ralong on our last trip to South & West Sikkim, so we waited outside and asked them to check out the same. But later I went ahead along with them to click some pictures.

Luckily, it was bright and sunny today. Post Ralong we came to market, as my aunt was looking for a Tibetan wind charm of a specific kind. So we asked her to check out the shops and we went ahead to pickup another bottle of whisky for the remaining days of our trip. After spending sometime around in the market we started again at 12:12 PM.

Last day while travelling to Ravangla from Gangtok, we asked Gopi to take us to his home this time. Because last time, he couldn’t take us to his home due to shortage of time. Gopi stays in Dentam in West Sikkim. He showed us his village on the way from Singshore to Uttarey last time. But he said that his wife is not at home now, as his sister-in-law passed away, so she has gone to her home now which is in Tashiding. He further told us about how hard it has become to manage her son, who being so young doesn’t even aware of what happened. So Gopi and his wife keeps him busy all the time so that it doesn’t makes him remember about his mother.

Gopi further went on saying, how he loves sitting on his car and keeps calling him now and then asking him when he’ll return. He also shared a part of story, when one day he went out with the kid and one shopkeeper asked him like “is this the kid whose mother passed away?” and it was then Gopi noticing his face went pale, got angry and told the shopkeeper in Hindi not to ask such questions in front of the kid. The kid being too young, doesn’t understand much Hindi. And then to handle the situation, he had to say the shopkeeper in Nepali that “no this is not the kid, it might be someone else” to make him calm down. We all stood by him, how can a person ask something like that in front of a kid? Nowadays it seems, people are loosing some very common and basic sense.

The main road being blocked due to rains, we had to take different route. In the meanwhile, it was already past 1:00 PM and thus we asked Gopi, if we can get a stopover for lunch break as well as our all-time ciggy break 😛 Gopi being a smoker same as like me, we always get stopovers every now and then and one don’t need to deliberately ask for it. Gopi informed us that we won’t be having lunch today at road. I doubting something from his smile, asked him where were we heading towards to? He said Tashiding. Ahhh, now I remember, he told me that his wife and son is at his in-laws house and he planned that. My mom too smiled and then I realized ohh my god!! She knows Nepali too, then how come she missed it? She confirmed that she already knew about this but choose to keep quite as Gopi told her not to say anything about this to us.

We felt ashamed of forcing him to take his home, but we felt overwhelmed and honoured too at same time. When I asked him if he’d have problem at his in-laws for taking us there, he hugged me and said “Are aapke sath aisa relation hai kya?” (Don’t worry, do we have such relationship among us? That you are feeling ashamed?). He stopped over for a ciggy break and informed his wife that we are nearby and would be reaching there within some time. He further said that he had planned to go to his in-laws house today after dropping us at Yuksom, but then he thought as we’d be passing by the same road, he’ll serve both the purpose at same time, so that he can stay with us!!

We were glad that he’d be staying with us. We wanted to visit Tashiding Monastery, due to it’s religious importance, of being a part of the religious pilgrimage circuit in Sikkim, which consists of Dubdi Monastery, Norbugang at Yuksom and Pemyangtse Monastery, Rabdentse Ruins, Khecheopalri Lake and Sanga Choeling Monastery in Pelling. There are two ways to reach Tashiding Monastery, one which locals use, which is a steep uphill road and another one where car can go up to a point, but that road being washed off due to rain, Gopi couldn’t proceed further. I wished to walk to the monastery using the steep uphill path used by locals, but then no one agreed, due to the condition of the road and specially due to the time it’d require to reach the monastery and come back.

We reached Gopi’s in-laws house at Tashiding at around 2:20 PM. His wife, mother-in-law, along with other family members welcomed us warmly. His son and son of his sister-in-law rushed away inside a room by noticing us. We tried giving them the chocolates and fuity’s that we bought from nearby shop, but they kept hiding from us. We were shown their fertile lands and various fruit and vegetable plantation which belonged to them. We spent a lot of time chit-chatting on various things. And I must say, we were literally struggling to have all that they have prepared for us. We felt really honored that they allowed us to be one of them and specially to Gopi to give us this honor by taking us to his family. We loved discussing and knowing more about the life that locals lead on day to day basis.

While leaving they gave us a packet of Guava. Even though we were hesitating at the beginning, but Gopi indicated us to accept it and said us that this is 100% natural and pesticide free. We knew that, and we also knew that we won’t get such pesticide free vegetables and fruits in our market back at Kolkata. Everything is so fresh here, 100% natural. We bid goodbye to everyone and started for Yuksom at 4:06 PM and had a stopover at Gerethang at around 4:48 PM.

After a short break at Gerethang our upcoming destination was Phamrong Falls which we reached within next 15 minutes.

And finally we reached, Limboo’s Homestay, our shelter for the day at around 5:45 PM. Upon noticing us, Mr. D. S. Limboo came forward and welcomed us with a warm smile and showed us our rooms. Same as like Ravangla, he requested us to keep the shows outside the room and use the provided sleepers instead. Soon his ever smiling and cure, youngest daughter came up with Tea and some snacks. It was first time I met such a young kid like her. At this very young age, she knows how to handle and behave with guests. It can’t be described in words unless you go and meet her.

Mr. Limboo informed us that they are complete vegetarian, and to have our dinner outside at Gupta Restaurant, if we’d like to have non-veg instead. But we were already full after visiting Gopi’s in-laws house. And Yuksom being very remote and world of trekkers, things close by around 8PM. So we told Mr. Limboo that we’d like to have our dinner here only. Yuksom had different charm that can’t be put in words. It was a small and calm hill town. People here generally hits the bed by 8 PM, due to the lifestyle. Being a trekking destination, things starts very early in the morning.

After having Tea, Me and Akash went out to get some beers for the night. We took a seat at a restaurant beside Gupta’s Restaurant and ordered a beer with momo. Met few trekkers out there who were enjoying among themselves and was about to start their Dzongri – Goechala next day. We chit-chatted for a while and left to explore the market after finishing our drink. While returning, I spotted the office of Red Panda Tour & Travels, of which I have heard a lot. So I went in, Mr. Dhanraj Gurung, welcomed us warmly and even after knowing, we just went to enquire and had no plans to trek, he requested us to sit, and offered tea and chit-chatted for a while. I must say, he’s a very busy person, as within that 20 minutes of time-frame he got 100’s of calls.

We called off the day, after having our dinner early at around 8:00 PM and post dinner enjoying ourselves with the drink and beer we had.

The next leg of the Trip Report is continued at Travelling Across Pelling – Hee Gaon

Hotels Reviews :

Hotel Silver Line, Gangtok : It was a very basic, clean and budget hotel situated at Tibet Road (just 3-5 minutes uphill walking distance from M.G.Marg) opposite the famous Cafe Loud & Live. The rooms were a bit small, but then we can’t complain, as we opted for Budget Rooms. They have other type of rooms too if someone is looking for bigger rooms. Everything else was very satisfying for us considering the amount we paid. The amenities were that of a 3* hotel. They provided Toothpaste, Vaseline and some other basic day to day items as a welcome pack. The washrooms were equipped with Dettol hand wash which is not so common even in 3* hotels. Even in 3* hotels, one have to ask for providing water, but here they provided a flask of hot water and a portable filter with cold water as well while checking in. We booked it from Goibibo @ Rs. 1300/- per room. Considering the amount we paid, and the season we traveled in, we were extremely satisfied. The staffs were very courteous and the restaurant section is great as well, as long as you stick to plain Bengali Cuisine. We tried Chinese as well, but it was not upto the mark. So considering the prime location and overall experience I’d rate it a complete 5*.

Hotel Zumthang, Ravangla : The hotel is just a 3 minutes walking distance from Market. The location is prime for the view it offers. And if you happen to be staying in the new building, the consider yourself lucky as the new building being the last one by the cliff, you are entitled to have no obstruction. On a clear day, you’ll be able to enjoy Mt. K without even leaving your bed. Miss Pema, the owner needs no description, if you have gone through the post above. She and her staffs are very warm and friendly to make you feel at home. You’ll have a great time, and they will just make you feel at home, unless you are a bit skeptical in nature. She’s one of the best host I have ever met in my life. But she being managing everything on her own, is always busy and running.

Tip : Try the awesome Tibetian Bread at breakfast!!

Limboo Homestay, Yuksom : Mr. Limboo and his family is very warm and highly hospitable. The rooms and washrooms are extremely clean. The whole property is very well maintained. But they being vegetarian, you might like to take your food outside at Gupta’s Restaurant if you’d like to have non-veg. He maintains a garden at the backyard of his property where there’s a cottage too. So you might like to book well in advance if you’d like to grab the cottage. He also deals in trekking package and renting trekking gears.

Contacts :

Hotel Silver Line, Gangtok : +91-97758-90990 / +91-92335-58288
Hotel Zumthang, Ravangla : +91-97330-61311 / +91-74782-93110
Yatri Nivas, Chardham, Namchi : 078728-88880 / 086429-00718. Hotel Yatri Niwas Website
Dungmali Heritage Resort, Namchi : +91-98320-56427 / +91-98515-89829 / +91-97341-26039
Limboo Homestay, Yuksom : Mr. D. S. Limboo – +91-97330-84983 / +91-97351-06236
Red Panda Tour & Travels, Yuksom : Dhanraj Gurung – +91-90023-22885 / +91-97331-96470 / +91-3595-241224

Gopi (Bolero – SK 02J 0179) : +91-97330-83795 / +91-80162-88879. The best driver I have traveled with so far. He’s being very close to me, I can guarantee that you’ll not come across a person like him. And if you are a bird watcher or photographer who like to travel at your own pace, Gopi is just the right person for you.

Cost :
Vajra Stand – Hotel Silverline, Gangtok Taxi: 150/- x 2 (cars) = 300/-
Hotel Silverline, Gangtok : Two Double Bed Room with one extra person @ 1300/- x 2 (rooms) = 2600/-
Food Bill at Silverline, Gangtok : 2097/-
Hotel Silverline, Gangtok – South Sikkim Stand Taxi : 150/- x 2 (cars) = 300/-
Breakfast at Singtam : Rs. 650/- (This includes bill of Gopi as well)
Tea at Temi Tea Garden : Rs. 20/- per cup.
Samdruptse Entry + Parking : 210/- (Entry @ 30/- per head & Parking @ 25/-)
Chardham Parking : 50/-
Chardham Entry : 275/-
Snakcs at Namchi : 400/-
Hotel Zumthang, Ravangla : Two Triple Bed Room @ 1500/- x 2 (rooms) = 3000/-
Food Bill at Hotel Zumthang, Gangtok : 2484/- (This includes food bill of Gopi too)

Gopi : Rs. 3300/- per day.

NOTE : I have omitted any cost of personal nature such as drinks, for your easy reference.