Gangtok, 18:00
MG Marg is about a kilometer of paving in the middle of Gangtok where no car may enter. In the early evening the whole town passes along it twice, and when it rains the stones turn to a mirror.
Photo: Simanta Saha
The rules
Signs at each end declare the street free of litter, spitting and smoke, with fines for anyone who lights up. Benches run down the middle, and Gandhi's statue stands about halfway along.
Photo: Ahad Hasan / Pexels
Tuesday and Sunday
The market's two halves rest on different days: the New Market on Tuesday, the Old Market on Sunday. So one side is always dark and the other always trading. Shops keep roughly 08:00 to 19:00.
Photo: Unsplash
Lal Bazaar, just below
Below the promenade lies Lal Bazaar, built in 1956 and named for J. Lal, a Dewan of the Chogyal; it has since been rebuilt as a five-story block. Come in the morning for heaps of dalle chillies, hard chhurpi and dried gundruk. It closes on Thursdays.
Photo: Arindam Chowdhury
06:20
At dawn MG Marg belongs to sweepers, schoolchildren and the odd monk. On our Gangtok long weekend this is how the Tsomgo morning begins: a walk down the empty street to the permit car waiting at the far end.
Photo: Yash Sanghani / Unsplash
For every age
Flat, lined with benches and closed to cars, MG Marg suits every age. Our car drops you at one end and waits at the other. Tell us who is traveling, and we place the walk on a day when the half you want is trading.
Photo: Rahul Pandit / Pexels