In Search of the Red Panda

Day 1

Gangtok: You land at Bagdogra and drive to Gangtok (4.5 hours).

Day 2

Rumtek: We visit the Handicraft Centre and Institute of Tibetology and then drive to a a resort for lunch. The afternoon is pent hiking the hills around the resort.

Day 3

Temi: We visit the the old and new Rumtek Monastery, which is the seat of the Karmapa. We then drive and walk through the terraced paddy fields of Martam. After crossing the Teesta River, we drive uphill to Temi Tea gardens. We give you a tour of the Temi Tea Gardens, visit the tea factory and observe tea processing. 

Day 4

Namchi: We drive up to the Biodiversity Park. We walk along the temperate forest for an hour, visit Tendong hill and return to Damthang for lunch. We then drive to Namchi.

Day 5

Namchi:  Explore Namchi, which commands panoramic views of the snow-capped himalayas. We visit the Boomtar Blind School and participate in activities with the school children.

Day 6

Kewzing: We drive via Kamrang village to Reshi Hot Springs. After lunch at the hot springs, we drive via Legship to Dalep Village, and then walk along the rolling hills to Kewzing village. 

Day 7

Kewzing:  From Kewzing we drive to Ralang Monastery. We RalangMonastery which houses a large collection of rare paintings and thangkas. On the return we walk for an hour towards Ravangla for lunch. In the evening we walk/drive to Bon Monastery, and then walk to Kewzing village via Doling Monastery. The evening is spent at a cultural programme.

Day 8

Pemayangste: From Kewzing we drive to Pemayangste in West Sikkim. We visit the  Pemayangste Monastery, one of the oldest in Sikkim dating back to the 17^th century, and has a fascinating legend behind it.

Day 9

Yuksam:  We drive to Khecheopalri Lake, which is sacred for both Hindus and Buddhists, and it is said if you make a wish at this lake, it is always fulfilled. From the lake we hike down to Rathong bridge, cross a river and drive to Yuksam. 

How your travel makes a difference to the local community & environment:

•  During this impressive trip we often stay in homestays. This promotes village tourism and helps the local communities benefit fully from the economic opportunities of tourism. The concept of homestays was introduced in the rural areas of Sikkim with an aim to facilitate alternative source of income directly for the rural people in a sustainable way. The system of homestay brought in a very efficient way of sharing the income from tourism among several families. Depending on the number of visitors, the hosts have agreed upon a system where they circulate the guests amongst themselves so that everyone benefits out of tourism. This is a productive way of complementing rather than competing with each other!

• There was a growing concern amongst the local Sikkimese community to minimize the various negative impacts of tourism and actively conserve the resources that attracted visitors to this area. Out of this shared concern, different stakeholders from the community along with our local partners work together under the banner of Khangchendzonga Conservation Committee (KCC).

• In Yuksam we will visit their information centre and get an opportunity to interact with members who can inform you about the issues in this region and the local initiatives that are being taken. Funds used from similar holidays have been used to form an association of porters who have been trained to minimize the human impacts on the environment whilst in nature. They make sure all garbage will be brought back to Yuksam where it is sold to the scrap collectors. These funds go to KCC.

• All the porters are insured by the KCC and have been taught to keep a check on, and monitor all the activities inside the national park. Any illegal activity inside the National park is reported to the KCC office and the forest department.