TRAVEL DIARIES: SIKKIM Part 1(Bagdogra to Okhrey)

Courtesy: Google Maps

Our flight from Bangalore landed at Bagdogra Airport(Siliguri, West Bengal) at 11:20 am, 29th October 2019 .We were received by Mr. Dorjee Namgyal Bhutia(from Yuksam, West Sikkim), who warmly welcomed us into his Tata Sumo and established an instant connect with the two of us(Me and my friend Aditya Mohandasan).He, for us, was a friend, guide and driver, all rolled into one, throughout our trip.

Drive through Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary, West Bengal

Sikkim being a birders paradise and to satisfy the avid birder in me i had planned to make good use of our 6 night stay by watching/photographing some endemic himalayan avifauna along with the regular sightseeing we had originally planned. So i got in touch Mr. Lakpa Tenzing Sherpa(also from Yuksam, West Sikkim) who, as I later realised, is a celebrity birder and a well known naturalist in Sikkim. He organised the complete itinerary for us and connected us with his driver Mr Dorjee.

Crossing the Teesta river towards Melli

Melli Checkpost

There began our arduous yet beautiful drive to Okhrey, West Sikkim which as per plan, was our place of stay for the first two nights. After a quick lunch from a highway-side restaurant in Siliguri, we resumed our journey.The landscapes of the plains of Northern Bengal soon made way for the landslide prone hills of Darjeeling district after we  crossed the Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary with the Teesta river in sight almost entirely through our drive till we reached Melli checkpost(Sikkim-West Bengal Border). At Melli, which is the gateway to West Sikkim, we were briefly stopped for a quick identity check by the extremely polite and welcoming gentlemen from Sikkim Police who stood guard there. After being wished for a pleasant stay by the Sikkim police personnel, we resumed our journey towards our next pit stop, Jorethang, a major city in South Sikkim.Though the drive to Jorethang seemed extremely challenging Mr Dorjee made it look quite easy and comfortable.The wear and tear on the road was intense post an unforgiving monsoon.

Jorethang City Centre

  We stopped for Tea at Jorethang. Dorjee suggested that we take a quick walk around the main market.The tiny and beautiful city centre was a far cry when compared to the usually bustling town centres of most districts in  India.All places we walked by were spick and span; devoid of even a single sight of discarded plastic/waste, therefore being true to the "Swachh Bharat"dream. Before this experience, I had only read about the clean towns of Sikkim.
From Jorethang, We began our ascent to the beautiful hamlet of Okhrey situated at an elevation of 7200 ft.The climb was,as expected, quite steep but we noticed that roads this side were well tarred and better off. In the lower hills we got see a lot of paddy fields, most of them following the method of step cultivation.As we went higher up the paddy fields made way for corn and potato. We reached our Homestay(The Kyllkhor Inn) at about 6:30 pm.The sun had fully set by then.