Darjeeling-Sikkim – Before the trip

29. March 2025

 

 

 

I have been to the region 5 times so far:
1995 Darjeeling with Singalila trekking and a short visit to Sikkim
2000 Darjeeling with Singalila trekking, which got shortened in the rain
2013 quite a long time in Sikkim with Goecha-la-Trek
2015 Kamerakidz project in Sikkim and a tourleading
2016 Sikkim, where I really wanted to do Dussehra

 

You can see the latter in the picture above. And that was clearly too long ago. However, my time is very short this time (2 weeks) and I’ve been thinking back and forth about what I want to do. As always, the mountains attract me the most. And then I thought: so much has changed in many places in recent years, why not see how the trek has changed? Means the Singalila trek near Darjeeling. You don’t have to take a tent with you and it’s not so complicated.

 

What’s old is that I could just do it back then. All by myself. Only my passport details were registered. What’s new is that you have to take a guide with you. Regardless of whether you want to or not. You can also take a porter with you, but you don’t have to. Fortunately – somehow I prefer to carry my own things and limit myself with the luggage. I took a lot with me back then:

 

 

Apart from the fact that you needed a big sleeping bag back then, which I can do without this time, I wonder what was in that rucksack….

 

Another pic from the past when I had good weather. Unfortunately it is not always like that (see 2000) and there fore lots of raingear in my luggage. But good hope in the heart.

 

 

In 1995 you weren’t allowed to do almost anything alone in Sikkim – even to Rumtek I had to travel with several people in an organized way. At the time, I had great expectations of a kind of magical mysterious country that might even top Ladakh. But nothing, rather the opposite. The monasteries, for example, were very tidy and clean and I missed stepping on rancid butter with my socks like in Ladakh. Perhaps my best experience back then was going to the cinema to watch a Bruce Lee movie. I was the only Westerner and only halfway through the movie did I realize that it was in English, the sound quality was so bad. But I liked this kind of absurdity – watching Kung Fu in the mystical land I imagined. Which reminds me that I was later able to watch Tae Kwon Do lessons in Gangtok. Also unexpected and fine.

 

But I actually wanted to write about the fact that even today you can only see a small part of Sikkim on your own and the north in particular, which seems attractive to me, is completely off-limits (because of its proximity to Tibet). But maybe I’ll manage to find some company and at least go to Lachen/Lachung, where you’re allowed to go with two foreigners. But I’m so short of time and not at all flexible. It’ll probably take a bit of luck and Gopal’s good connections.

 

I will definitely meet Gopal and hopefully more of his family. I’m sure I won’t even recognize his daughters now that they’ve grown up. After all, Gopal was in Germany a year ago – and I realized again how much fun I have with him and what a funny guy he is.

 

 

But before I go to this part of India, another new experience awaits me! I will be leading a Diamir Famtrip, i.e. 10 people who work in travel agencies and sell Diamir trips are invited to experience India for a week for very little money and they should enjoy it so much that they are even more motivated to find guests for Diamir India trips afterwards. I can’t wait to see how that turns out. We’re doing the extended Golden Triangle – and as it’s the beginning of April, it’s going to be really hot.

 

But since this blog is more for my non-tourleading, I will probably summarize that part in one blogpost only. And then report in more detail about Darjeeling/Sikkim. In any case, I’m already pretty curious about everything. And I like to remember a very happy moment in my life: Trekking with sunrise on Kanchendzonga and on the descent a helper came whizzing up with a coffee pot – a great surprise in front of this amazing panorama.

 

 

In a week we are already on the way to Taj Mahal….