May 6 | Would rate today as the worse day of my trip

We had a great stay here at the Red Palace, Yuksom and now was the time to head out for Gangtok. In the morning after a decent breakfast, we wanted to check out. Since we stayed here two nights and ate all our meals here, our bill ran into a few thousands and we realized that we were not carrying as much cash. But than considering this is one of the best hotel in Yuksom and also it looked it, we felt they would accept cash. And that’s when they told us that they dont and nor are there any ATMs in Yuksom nor are there any other establishments in Yuksom that could convert plastic to money.

To be frank, it was embarrassing to an extent and more so for me because just a day or two before we came to Yuksom, Sushant had told me its better to carry more cash when on trips like these rather than visiting ATMs regularly. I’ve always avoided carrying too much cash in the wallet because i’m not too good had holding one wallet or phone for a long time but this time it worked badly for me. Eventually we spoke to the owner of the place Ms Daichen Wangchuk Bhutia who was very cordial about the whole mess and provided the solution. We had to ask someone to deposit cash into the hotel’s account. Once done, we left but it was a somber start for the next destination, Gangtok.

On the way, we were further convinced that Sikkim is one of the more beautiful states in the North-East. The terrace farms, the umpteen suspension bridges along the rivers, the dense forrests on each of the mountains and most importantly the people. All put together the state made for a great road trip, the roads are mostly driver friendly and what you see around only makes the drive/ride so much easier. Most of Sikkim is at a height, so the weather overall is pleasant, again another reason to take off on the road anytime of the year. But do look at the seasonality of the places you are visiting before taking off.

The month of May being a peak holiday season, making a hotel booking in advance is a sensible thing to do, but since we were not sure about the dates of our travel, we did not. The manager at our previous hotel ‘The Red Palace’was helpful, he connected us to someone who could get us a room. Once we reached, we did contact him but the tariff at this stage seemed steep, so we went looking around. We went to many properties, a few nice a few decent and a few bad, and unfortunately, only the bad ones seemed to have a room available, so eventually decided to take the first contact but after we saw the room, we just had a feeling that we should try a little more and that’s when we came across ‘Sonam Delek’ on Tibet Road, i would strongly recommend the deluxe rooms here, they are reasonable on tariff, have a clean hotel, a spacious neat room with a balcony and a nice view of the sunset. We settled in and called a few friends to find out the best way to spend the evening and the two places that came up were ‘Live and Loud’ on Tibet Road and ‘Little Italy’ at Deorali. Since the prior was closer, we went there first but the band who was scheduled to play that eve, cancelled last minute, so we headed to Little Italy. Its a sweet place, where one could feel like in Goa while in Gangtok because of the decor and the ambience in general. Reasonably priced, the place serves decent food with live music, would recommend anyone in Gangtok to visit there once. But one caveat, if you are staying anyplace other than Deorali (which is a suburb of Gangtok and where Little Italy is) than either make sure to leave the restaurant before 9PM or else book a cab to take you to your hotel later. I would not recommend the first option because 9PM is when the band would’ve finished warming up and will now play the real stuff and for the second option, bargain with the cabs.

A bad start but a good end to the day. Tomorrow we had assigned to some looking around the city and probably visit Tsomgo in the afternoon. The Nathu-la pass is shut because of land-slides and reconstruction of roads hence its just the lake that we are visiting.

Morals: ALWAYS cary extra and enough cash while you are biking around, if necessary stash it in different places in the bag, but make sure you have cash, especially while visiting smaller places. If travelling is peak season, try to make prior hotel bookings in major cities/towns you are visiting. Always find locals to tell you the best place to spend for evenings and if you are a music person, look for the place that has live performances, it’s always interesting to watch local talent. Almost anyplace except Delhi and B’bay i realized shuts shop early and a few places even very early, so if you are headed to someplace that’s not walking distance from your place of stay, make sure to book a cab in advance (Can’t be riding after the drinks!).