Gangtok

...At first you have to go down from Darjeeling into the hot Teesta valley at only 500m. The river valley is quite narrow and only has enough room for a few settlements with their fields. Hence most places are bazaars whose houses press against the street on stilts high above the torrential river.
The gate to Sikkim is reached over a bridge over a tributary of the Teesta. Foreigners must show their passports here and the personal data is registered in a book. You now have 14 days to explore the former kingdom. If you would like to make a trekking tour for instance, an extension is easy to obtain in Gangtok. In a side valley the road gradually climbs again. The difference to West Bengal is easily noticeable; everything looks better maintained and prosperous. The Indian government made Sikkim a small tax haven to make the annexation of 1975 sound appealing to its inhabitants...

M. G. Marg

We gladly stay at Hotel Anola in Gangtok. That is at the end of M. G. Marg (Mahatma Gandhi Marg), a conspicuously wide and flat bazaar and promenade. Next to it is the luxury hotel Tashi Delek in which most foreign traveller groups stay. The Anola has tidy rooms with shower and toilet, an excellent restaurant and an especially good service. The breakfast can be served in the room too, which we gladly accept, as it gives us the chance to pep up the typical hotel breakfast with fresh fruit, honey and spices from the market...

Research Institute of Tibetology, Do-Drul Chorten, Orchid garden, Ridge, Secretary, Deer Park, Government Institute of Cottage Industries

A recent building is the Research Institute of Tibetology. It was finished in 1958 and inaugurated by Pandit Nehru. The Dalai Lama had placed the foundation stone in 1957. The institute was set up at the suggestion of the last Sikkimese king who feared a loss of Buddhist culture and literature through the invasion of China in Tibet. Thus the library today contains more than 30000 Tibetan scripts of the different schools of the Mahayana and Vajrayana. For the few students of Tibetology, the institute is a real treasure chest...
...You can visit the gigantic Do-Drul Chorten which contains relics, holy writings and ritual objects, on the hill above the institute...
...A little below of the Institute of Tibetology there is an orchid garden. However, a visit is worthwhile only in April and May when these otherwise inconspicuous plants open up their marvellous blossoms. Sikkim is famous for orchids and rhododendrons which are mostly to be seen out in the open in springtime, especially for the hikers, off the roads. The number of the orchid families is uncertain. 200 different species, however, bloom in this small park alone.
In spring a Flower Show on the Ridge near White Hall offers a feast for the eyes of flower lovers with its selection of the most marvellous orchid cultivation. Along the Ridge, a popular promenade similar to the M. G. Marg, simpler orchids which are often found in nature have been grafted onto the sweeping boughs of the trees...
...There is a constant stream of people going in and out of the Secretary, the seat of the administration of Gangtok. Every citizen has the possibility and the right to bring his matters to one of the numerous departments. The tourists can receive an extension for the residence permit here...
...The downhill stretch from Secretary at a fork of the street takes you to the Government Institute of Cottage Industries. Pupils are trained here in the old craft arts of Sikkim...

Enchey

From the Institute of Cottage Industries a very winding street climbs steeply to the Enchey monastery, past the state-run Siniolchu Lodge on the way to the TV tower which has been under construction for years. A road flanked by hundreds of prayer flags and woods leads to the small but important monastery of the Nyingmapa order which was built 150 years ago. The mural paintings of the four guardian kings on the veranda of the temple are protected from the sun by thick fabric. We take off our shoes here and pack up our cameras because photography is not allowed. One of the numerous little novices always keeps an eye on the tourists because a photographed statue was stolen by some desperate poor devil who was tempted by a tiny sum of money from some greedy foreigner. For this kind of reason and because of the impertinent behaviour of some visitors, the interiors of many temples are closed to tourists...

Tashi View Point

Tourists gather at the Tashi View Point at an early hour for the sunrise above Kanchenjunga. From a distance, you can already see the prayer flags, typical for a pass, flapping in the wind. Buddhists come to this place to burn aromatic herbs and to make offerings to the glory of the Gods. The daylight hardly lights up the stairs to the pavilion that invites you to sit down. Tightly wrapped up, you wait for the first sunbeam. As soon as a reddish ray of light settles on the peak, the cameras stand ready with frozen stiff fingers...

Nor Gompa

In the north of Gangtok near Dikchilling lies Nor Gompa, the only Sakya monastery in Sikkim. Set up as a place for teachings, it only accommodates a few old monks...
...The order had a great importance in Tibet. Whole villages here belong to the big Sakya Monastery. The population helps the monks who, in return, take care of the welfare of their people. Two families alternately provide the head monk of the main monastery thus ensuring the succession. The present Sakya Tritsin lives with his family in the northeastern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh where the Dalai Lama also had found sanctuary...

Tamang: Buddha Purnima

The Tamangs are Nepalese Buddhists and Buddha Purnima is their greatest festival. It is not celebrated by the Tibetan Buddhists. There is a small inconspicuous monastery in Gangtok. The Rinpoche is a very young man with almost childlike features, the rebirth of the late head of the monk community. We are invited to participate in the ceremonies and the procession following it...

Lal Market

Our hotel Anola is not far from Lal Market, also called Sunday market because, on this day in particular there is a buzz of activity around the market stalls. The rural population from the surroundings is also here on Sundays to sell vegetables, livestock, fish, honey, milk products, eggs and herbs. The gate of Lal Market is surrounded by stores and the biggest part of the market consists of permanent wooden kiosks. Mobile market stalls can be set up between them or the goods are displayed on the ground...