~From Sikkim with love-1~ Before my visit to Sikkim a fortnight back to attend a conference on the climate issues in the Himalayan region I had made an intense search in the internet to find out what was there in the store for me in South Sikkim, a region less travelled. I was a bit frustrated as I found there were no viewpoints nearby to witness the majestic Kanchanjungha peak though the region lies in the lower altitudes of Kanchanjungha range. Finally I shortlisted two places of interest namely the Char Dham which is a pilgrimage destination situated at Solophok Hill (5 Kms from Namchi) and the tallest Buddha statue (135 ft) in the world about 13 kms from Namchi town where out conference was scheduled. `At about 8.30 PM in the evening our car entered the remote and sleepy Namchi nestled in the lap of Himalayas. The four hours journey from Bagdogra airport to the little Himalayan town was quite tiring as the road condition is quite bad. And as we left the NH-31A to take a diversion for our destination it became worse. The car driver attributed such pathetic condition of the roads to the widening work taken up by the government. We dropped two of our friends at one Hangkhim hotel while rest us housed in Yatri Nivas, a hotel at a hilltop in Namchi. The night was chilly, but not as cold as I expected it to be. It was quite bearable for any one from Western Odisha. I woke up in the morning to the sound of the chime of bells nearby. I was astonished, but didn’t give much thought to it and went ahead to get prepared quickly to set out for the conference venue. As I went to the balcony of my room to take a glimpse of outside, to my utter disbelief I saw the Char Dham structures as I had seen in computer were right in front of me. It was just a stone throw distance from the hotel. In fact the hotel was in the premise of the Char Dham pilgrim centre in the Solophok hill. A perfect ‘feel good’ in the first morning.
Posted on: Fri, 05 Dec 2014 08:24:53 +0000
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