Web Stories

The Eastern Himalaya, one story at a time

Tea, monasteries, the toy train, festivals and trails: short stories for planning Darjeeling, Sikkim, Bhutan and Nepal from the United States or Spain.

All stories

The main shrine of Rumtek Monastery above its rain washed courtyard, gilded roofs and a painted stair wall against forest USA · EN Sikkim's great monasteries, one a day, east to west A seven-night route from Rumtek to Dubdi that reads Sikkim's history backwards, with time to sit through the prayers. A steel truss bridge carrying an empty road across a river gorge in the forested hills of Sikkim USA · EN Sikkim's online permit for foreign passports: no more desk at Rangpo Since January 2026, Sikkim's permit for foreign passports is issued only online: what you send, when, and who checks it. Tiered gilded roofs and painted wooden window bays of a Buddhist temple in Phuentsholing, the Bhutan border town USA · EN Six border posts on a Darjeeling, Sikkim, Bhutan and Nepal journey Where each checkpost on our routes sits, how far it is from Bagdogra, and what a US passport shows at each one. A walker in a gho with a daypack climbing a dusty, sunlit trail through pines on the way to Taktsang above Paro USA · EN Six day walks in western Bhutan, with a real bed every night Dzongdrakha, Chele La at 3,988 m, Cheri and Tango, Lungchutse and the Mo Chhu path: western Bhutan on foot, no tents. A great barbet with a yellow bill and green wings perched among red blossoms in the Darjeeling hills USA · EN Spring break in the Darjeeling hills: rhododendrons, first flush, haze What March and April bring to Darjeeling, Sikkim and Bhutan for a spring-break trip: first flush, rhododendrons and haze. La estupa de Swayambhunath sobre Katmandú España · ES Swayambhunath, la estupa en la colina sobre Katmandú Cómo subir a Swayambhu, a qué hora ir, cómo rodear la estupa y qué hacer con los monos antes de que os quiten el agua. Swayambhunath stupa in first light, prayer flags running from its gilded spire and monkeys crossing the stone platform USA · EN Swayambhunath: the stupa on the hill above Kathmandu Which way up Swayambhu's hill, when to go, how to walk the stupa and what to keep away from the monkeys. Las curvas cerradas de la antigua Ruta de la Seda en una ladera boscosa espolvoreada de nieve en Zuluk, Sikkim del Este España · ES Tarjetas, efectivo y SIM en la India, Bután y Nepal: qué funciona Dónde sirve la tarjeta en las colinas de Darjeeling, dónde solo vale el efectivo y qué tarjeta SIM comprar en cada país. Lines of prayer flags strung along a concrete footpath at Tashiding in West Sikkim, forest rising behind USA · EN Tashiding and Bumchu, the sacred vase that reads Sikkim's year What happens at Bumchu, the holy water ceremony at Tashiding, when it falls, and how to walk up to the monastery. Cumbres nevadas de la cordillera del Kanchenjunga sobre crestas rocosas oscuras y hierba otoñal rojiza en un sendero alto de Sikkim occidental España · ES Tashiding y Bumchu, el jarrón sagrado que predice el año en Sikkim Qué ocurre en Bumchu, la ceremonia del agua sagrada de Tashiding, cuándo cae y cómo se sube al monasterio. Kanchenjunga's snowfields turning pink at sunrise above blue haze, seen from Darjeeling over a fringe of bamboo USA · EN Tea and Snow: a five-night winter honeymoon in the hills Three nights at Glenburn while the tea rests, two by a cottage fire in Pelling, and the clearest skies of the year. La gran estatua de Chenrezig en su colina sobre Pelling, con la larga escalera y la pasarela subiendo entre bosque y nubes España · ES Tea and Snow: luna de miel de invierno entre té y nieve Cinco noches de diciembre a febrero: una finca de té en reposo, una cabaña con chimenea en Pelling y los cielos más limpios. A painter's hand with a fine brush detailing a wrathful deity on a thangka in Sikkim USA · EN Thangka brushes and bark paper in Gangtok Inside Sikkim's 1957 crafts directorate: thangka painters, carved choktse tables, argeli bark paper and when it opens. El pórtico pintado del monasterio de Rumtek, con un rey guardián que toca el laúd en la pared y un mandala en el techo España · ES Thangkas, tallas y papel de corteza en Gangtok El centro que Sikkim fundó en 1957 para salvar sus oficios: pintura de thangka, mesas choktse, papel de argeli y horarios. Prayer flags strung across misty Kurseong hills in autumn, tea bushes falling into the valley USA · EN Thanksgiving week in the Himalaya: US holidays and the clear season How Thanksgiving, Veterans Day and Columbus Day fall inside the clearest weeks in Darjeeling, Sikkim and Bhutan. The Gorkha war memorial and the national flag in the terraced garden of the Batasia Loop, Darjeeling, under a blue sky USA · EN The Batasia Loop, where the toy train turns back on itself Why the Darjeeling railway spirals at Batasia, what stands inside the loop, and the best ways to ride round it. A Bhutanese farmhouse with a red roof and carved wooden windows on a dry winter hillside under a blue sky USA · EN The Bhutanese hot stone bath: when to book it, who should skip it What a dotsho is, why it is booked in the morning, how to sit in the tub, and who is better off with an early dinner. Crew riding the front of a Darjeeling Himalayan Railway steam engine as it pulls away in a cloud of smoke USA · EN The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, a World Heritage line since 1999 How the Darjeeling toy train climbs: its 2-foot track, loops and zigzag reverses, steam engines and UNESCO listing. The Everest massif and its neighboring peaks seen from an aircraft above the snow ridges of eastern Nepal USA · EN The Everest flight from Kathmandu: an hour beside the range at dawn How Buddha Air's dawn mountain flight runs, what happens if cloud cancels it, and who should skip the 3,880 m breakfast. Darjeeling's rooftops in soft early light, with Kanchenjunga faintly pink on the northern skyline USA · EN The First Time: why Gangtok, then Pelling, then Darjeeling Why an eight-night first visit to Sikkim and Darjeeling runs Gangtok, Pelling, Darjeeling, and what each stop is for. Pigeons wheeling over Kathmandu Durbar Square on a clear morning, tiered pagoda roofs and a white temple around the square USA · EN The Kumari, Kathmandu's living goddess: what visitors should know Who the Kumari is, where she lives, whether you will see her at her window, and why the camera stays down. The Zuluk switchbacks stacked down a brown hillside in East Sikkim, cloud rising off the blue ridges behind USA · EN The Old Silk Route, with two nights in a Zuluk family home Five nights on the old wool road to Tibet: a Zuluk homestay, Lungthung at dawn, Kupup. For Indian passports only. A tea plucker with a cane basket on her back picking leaf from flat topped bushes in Darjeeling USA · EN The Planter's Week: Makaibari, Glenburn and the town above Six nights on the working side of Darjeeling tea: two estates, a dawn train to Ghum, a merchant's tasting and Tiger Hill. The jade Teesta curling through forested hills on the Darjeeling side of the valley, a highway cut along its left bank USA · EN The Quiet Ridge: three slow nights in Kalimpong A three-night Kalimpong break, day by day: one 1930 house, Deolo at 06:00, market day, growers and Durpin at prayer. The Teesta winding through a steep forested gorge in Kalimpong district, a road cut into the slope above it USA · EN The Teesta, 1,500 m below the garden on Deolo Hill How to see the Teesta gorge from Kalimpong's highest hill: gate hours, light by month, the confluence and the road. Crowds filling the courtyard of Gangtey Goenpa in Bhutan's Phobjikha valley for the annual crane festival USA · EN The black-necked cranes of Phobjikha, Bhutan's winter valley When the cranes arrive, dawn at the roost, the 11 November festival, and how to watch them without disturbing them. A red panda walking along a mossy branch among green leaves at the Darjeeling zoo, its ringed tail hanging behind USA · EN The hills with children: six nights and no drive over three hours A Darjeeling and Kalimpong family week for ages six to fourteen: red pandas, a steam engine, cacti and bark paper. A wooden handloom strung with wool in the weaving workshop at the Tibetan Refugee Self Help Centre in Darjeeling USA · EN The looms on the Hermitage spur, Darjeeling's Tibetan craft center The Tibetan Refugee Self Help Centre below Darjeeling: its 1959 founding, what its workshops make, and how to visit well. Rinpung Dzong and the Ta Dzong watchtower on the hillside above Paro, ripe paddy in front and storm cloud behind USA · EN The masked dances of the Paro Tshechu, and a 03:00 unveiling How the Paro festival runs, why the great thongdrel goes up at 03:00, the 2027 dates, and how to sit through the crowd. Carved copper prayer wheels in a row under a red eave lettered in Tibetan script, at a monastery in Kalimpong USA · EN The monasteries the trade built: Thongsa and Tharpa Choling Two Kalimpong gompas the usual taxi loop skips: one from Bhutan's years, one founded by Tibet's traders in 1912. Darjeeling town packed on its green ridge, seen across the valley through breaking monsoon cloud USA · EN The monsoon in Darjeeling and Sikkim, told straight What a June to September trip really means: the rain, the roads, the closed parks, and why Bhutan is the drier summer choice. Boudhanath stupa's white dome and gilded spire under blue sky, pilgrims blurred in motion around its base USA · EN The morning kora at Boudhanath, walked clockwise with its neighbors Why to reach Boudha at seven, how to walk the circuit around the stupa, and what changes by the middle of the morning. The snow summit of Kangchenjunga rising above dark forested Sikkim ridges with white cloud along its flanks USA · EN The people you will be speaking to, from first email to home Five people run Darjeeling Trips, and about twenty drivers and guides travel with guests. Who answers, and when. Gangtok at blue hour, lit apartment blocks in front and house lights scattered across the dark ridges beyond USA · EN The road up to Gangtok: NH10, landslides and plan B Why the road from Bagdogra to Gangtok closes in the rains, where it breaks, the long way round and how to time your flights. Tea pluckers with umbrellas working across a steep green tea slope in the Darjeeling hills, seen from above USA · EN The tea garden's year: when to see Darjeeling's pluckers at work Month by month in the Darjeeling gardens: winter prune, first flush, second flush, monsoon leaf and autumn's last baskets. Una hilera de ruedas de oración de cobre labrado bajo una inscripción tibetana, en el muro de un monasterio de Kalimpong España · ES Thongsa y Tharpa Choling, los monasterios del comercio en Kalimpong Dos monasterios de Kalimpong que casi nadie visita: uno de los años de Bután y otro fundado por los mercaderes en 1912.

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