Honeymoon or anniversary
This honeymoon is built against two things: whole days in the back of a car, and a string of 04:00 alarms. No road runs past five hours, nothing starts before 09:00, and the week's single dawn is watched from a four-poster.
Photo: Andrew Lamb
Glenburn, 3 nights
You land around noon and drive about three hours to Glenburn Tea Estate. The Singalila Suite, in the Water Lily Bungalow, has an antique four-poster, a bath with a view and a bay window over the valley. Dinner the first night is for the two of you only.
Photo: Prasanta Kr Dutta / Pexels
Day 2
First light reaches the range around 05:40 in late October and around 06:00 in November. Ask for bed tea a quarter of an hour before, leave the curtains open, then sleep again: Glenburn serves breakfast at any hour from 07:00 to 11:00.
Photo: Clickfound by Hafis / Pexels
Day 3
The estate jeep takes you down to the Rangeet, where lunch is laid on the sand with a cloth, two chairs and a pot of tea. At 20:00 the candlelit dinner is set on the mountain-view terrace for the two of you alone.
Photo: Sajal Devnath / Pexels
Kalimpong, 2 nights
The MAYFAIR here is the old Himalayan Hotel. One of its Heritage Rooms is booked by name, because those are the rooms the hotel lists with fireplaces. The team calls housekeeping at 16:00, so the fire is burning when you come in from Durpin.
Photo: Boudhayan Bardhan / Unsplash
Pangthang, 2 nights
Taj Guras Kutir sits in its own forest at about 1,870 m (6,140 ft) above Gangtok. At its J Wellness Circle a steam ritual comes first, then Nidra: two hours of slow massage ending with face and scalp, booked with the room weeks ahead.
Photo: Gaurav Purohit / Pexels
Day 7
A Sikkim-registered car takes you to Rumtek, the Karmapa's seat, then to a Sikkimese thali at Nimtho on car-free MG Marg. At 18:00 comes the resort's butter lamp ceremony: you light the wicks together and dedicate them.
Photo: Pema Gyamtsho / Pexels
When to go
October to April works, and November is the most reliable month for clear mornings. The journey is priced from ₹2,65,000 per person, twin share. Book your flight home for 15:30 or later, so even the last morning starts at 09:00.
Photo: Aritra Roy / Unsplash