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

First light on the snow peaks of the Kanchenjunga range above a long bank of valley haze USA · EN Four seasons in Darjeeling and Sikkim, and what each one is for Autumn for the mountain, winter for quiet, spring for flowers and tea, monsoon for green: the hill year in eight pages. Tea pluckers with baskets and umbrellas filing down the green slopes of Temi Tea Garden to the road USA · EN From Kurseong's first flush to Sikkim's Temi tea garden Six nights following Darjeeling tea over the Rangeet: blind tastings, plucking at Glenburn and Temi's organic terraces. Soft morning light over the tea gardens at Dawaipani in the Darjeeling hills, shade trees among the bushes USA · EN From first message to home again: how a private journey is booked The nine stages of booking a private Himalaya journey, from a one-line enquiry to the drive home, and when each happens. A painted Bhutanese archway crowned with a gilded bell at the forest edge in Phuentsholing, wooded hills rising behind USA · EN From the Kalimpong house where Bhutan met the world to Paro Eight nights by road: Bhutan House in Kalimpong, the Dooars, the Phuentsholing gate, Thimphu, Haa and Paro. Gangtok's painted houses stacked along a green ridge in evening light, the hills of East Sikkim fading into haze USA · EN Gangtok, a kingdom's old capital on a ridge Who ruled from Gangtok until 1975, what faces it across the valley, the best months and the road from Bagdogra. Stone steps rising to a painted Buddhist monastery in Darjeeling, with a white stupa and carved mantra USA · EN Ghum: butter lamps and the Buddha still to come Ghum's monastery and its 15-foot Maitreya Buddha, how to visit it, and the highest station on the Darjeeling railway. Kanchenjunga's snow face rising at the head of a brown alpine valley on the Goecha La trail, a glacier moraine below USA · EN Goecha La, privately: ten nights to Kanchenjunga with your own crew A private trek into Khangchendzonga National Park: the camps, the heights, the season, the fitness needed and who it suits. Punakha Dzong standing white and red above the green river water in western Bhutan USA · EN How far ahead to plan, and three mornings to book early When to write for festivals, Bhutan, Christmas, tea estates and permits, and why three single mornings fill first. A mountain road above the treeline in North Sikkim running towards snow covered peaks wrapped in cloud USA · EN How high you will sleep in Darjeeling, Sikkim and Bhutan The sleeping heights on our journeys, the rules for the high days, and who should ask a doctor before Tsomgo. A blue toy train locomotive hauling carriages along the roadside track through a crowded hillside street in Darjeeling USA · EN How much walking Darjeeling asks of you Slopes, steps and a car-free square: where a car can and cannot take you in Darjeeling, and how slower walkers still see it. A green painted colonial house in Darjeeling with white fretwork eaves and arched verandah windows USA · EN How to read a Darjeeling Trips quote, line by line What each line of a private journey quote shows, the date on every rate, and what the team needs from you to write it. Sunrise light on the snows of the Kanchenjunga range in Sikkim, above layered blue ridges and a bank of cloud USA · EN How we choose a house: the view, the quiet and the catch The questions asked of every hotel and bungalow before it joins a journey, with three named houses and their faults. A lone walker on an empty Darjeeling street at sunrise, shuttered shopfronts and hazy ridges behind USA · EN India's e-Tourist Visa for US travelers: apply before you book Where a US citizen applies for India's e-Tourist visa, how early, what the 30-day visa allows and why it comes first. Tashichho Dzong beside flooded rice paddies in the Thimphu valley, green hills rising into low cloud USA · EN Inside a working dzong: what you may see, shoot and wear When Bhutan's dzongs let visitors in, where cameras are allowed, what to wear, and the one festival mistake to avoid. Mist drifting over the Teesta between the steep forested walls of its gorge at Sevoke, north of Siliguri USA · EN Into Bhutan by road from Darjeeling, through Phuentsholing The road to the Phuentsholing gate, the border step by step, the half-hour clock change, the fee and why it needs a week. Jakar Dzong on its ridge above the Bumthang valley, low cloud drifting over the forest below USA · EN Into the heart of Bhutan: Bumthang's oldest temples Nine nights west to east across Bhutan: the passes, Trongsa, temples from 659 and 1501, the Burning Lake and the plane back. The jade Teesta winding through a deep forested valley below the Darjeeling hills, a road cut into the slope above its sandbanks USA · EN Kalimpong or Darjeeling: which hill town suits your trip A fair comparison of Kalimpong and Darjeeling: altitude, cold nights, slopes, what each is for, and how long to stay. A small round of white homemade cheese being cut with a knife on a wooden board USA · EN Kalimpong's Haat Bazaar: market days and what to taste When Kalimpong's Haat Bazaar fills, what to taste there, how to ask the price, and how to plan your dates around it. The view from Deolo Hill above Kalimpong, tall firs framing forested ridges and a faint rainbow over the valley after rain USA · EN Kalimpong: the warmer ridge across the Teesta from Darjeeling Kalimpong's Lepcha name, its Bhutanese and Tibetan past, its altitude and the best months to go. Kanchenjunga's snow peaks catching pink first light above dark forested ridges, seen from Pelling USA · EN Kanchenjunga, the summit Sikkim asked climbers to leave untouched Why the first climbers of Kanchenjunga stopped short of its top in 1955, and what the mountain means to Sikkim today. The covered cantilever bridge over the Paro Chhu at dusk, Rinpung Dzong's walls above and snow peaks in the distance USA · EN Kathmandu to Paro: which side to sit for Everest and Kanchenjunga Drukair's hour between Nepal and Bhutan: the left-hand seats, the clearest months, and what happens if cloud closes Paro. Patan Durbar Square at dusk: the stone Krishna Mandir, a Garuda on its column and a lamplit pagoda roof USA · EN Kathmandu, Patan and Bhaktapur, each at its own hour Why midday heritage walks wear you out, and the hour that suits each of the Kathmandu valley's three royal cities. A painted stupa and tall prayer flags in Yuksom, West Sikkim, with the snow summit of Kabru rising at the head of the valley USA · EN Khecheopalri, the sacred lake in West Sikkim the birds keep clear A sacred forest lake near Pelling: its names and legends, the boardwalk rules, its two festivals and when to arrive. Keventer's corner on a misty Darjeeling morning, its red KEV'S sign above the sloping street and early walkers USA · EN Kitchens of the Hills: bakeries, cheese and a Sikkimese stove Six nights, three kitchens: Keventer's, a three-flush tasting, Kalimpong's Haat Bazaar and lunch at a Gangtok family stove. A Darjeeling toy train steam engine pouring white smoke as it rounds a bend of the road through Kurseong USA · EN Kurseong, the tea town most people drive through Why Kurseong, halfway up to Darjeeling, earns a night: milder air, the morning train, muscatel gardens and the plains view. Lachung village beside the boulder strewn Lachung Chu in North Sikkim, green cliffs and a far peak behind USA · EN Lachung and Yumthang, the yak meadow of North Sikkim Six hours north of Gangtok: the 16:00 checkpost rule, the Yumthang meadow at 3,564 m, its rhododendrons and its season. The white arch of the Coronation Bridge over the Teesta gorge at Sevoke, framed by leaves against the forested slope USA · EN Landing at Bagdogra: what happens between the runway and the hills What happens after you land at Bagdogra: immigration, your driver, the first road, the drive times and arriving before dark. A narrow forest track running between tall trees in the Dooars of north Bengal, grass down the middle of the lane USA · EN Leaving the hills better: six practices, no certificate The six practices kept on journeys in Darjeeling, Sikkim and Bhutan, and the places where you can watch each one happen. A white dog wearing a thick garland of orange marigolds for Kukur Tihar, sitting in sunlit grass with its nose raised USA · EN Lights of Tihar: five days of lamps in Darjeeling and Kalimpong Crows, dogs, cows, oxen, then brothers: how the Nepali-speaking hills keep Tihar, day by day, and how to join in as a guest. Copper prayer wheels tied with white khadas in a green painted frame at a Buddhist shrine in Ravangla, South Sikkim USA · EN Losar: the Tibetan new year in Sikkim, Kalimpong and Darjeeling When Losar falls, the masked dances at Rumtek and Pemayangtse that close the old year, and where families take their khadas. The white Maya Devi Temple at Lumbini above the excavated brick foundations of older shrines, a Nepali flag beside it USA · EN Lumbini, where the Buddha was born: the pillar, the stone, the walls Ashoka's pillar, the marker stone, the walls of Tilaurakot and the best months for a pilgrimage to Lumbini in Nepal. Rain wet paving on MG Marg in Gangtok, walkers with umbrellas between shopfronts and street lamps USA · EN MG Marg, Gangtok's promenade with no cars Gangtok's car-free street: its rules, which half of the market rests on which day, Lal Bazaar below and the best hours. A village of red roofs among tea slopes in the Darjeeling hills, monsoon cloud pouring over the ridge above USA · EN Mirik, Sittong, Lepchajagat, Tinchuley: the quiet side of Darjeeling Four quieter places near Darjeeling compared: how far, how high, why go, and which deserve a night on a comfortable trip. Tsomgo Lake mirroring snow dusted peaks and a golden autumn slope, the Nathu La road traced along the far shore USA · EN Nathu La at 4,310 m: who may go, and how the day works The pass above Tsomgo is for Indian citizens only. The permits, the open days, the daily cap and what everyone else does. The Kathmandu valley at dusk, snow peaks glowing pink above a monastery on a ridge and the city rooftops below USA · EN Nepal at a glance: the Kathmandu valley and the way in from Darjeeling Where the three royal cities sit, the best months, how many nights to give them, and the short way in from Darjeeling. A road winding past tea slopes through the hills of Ilam in eastern Nepal, lit by the evening sun USA · EN Nepal's visa on arrival for US citizens: Kathmandu or the Mechi bridge How a US passport gets Nepal's tourist visa at Kathmandu airport or the Kakarbhitta land border, with fees and papers.

Plan my journey

Tell us the month and we will do the rest

Four lines are enough to start: when, who, how to reach you, and the trip you picture.

  1. A reply within 24 hoursFrom a designer in the hills, not an auto-reply. If your dates are tight, the reply says so.
  2. A day-by-day draftEvery house, drive, guide and permit on its own line, with the date each rate was checked.
  3. Change anythingAs often as you like, before anything is booked.
+91 86178 24110 Message a designer Support 24×7, every day of your journey
With country code if outside India. Either this or email is enough.
Who is coming, the pace you like, the occasion. A sentence is fine.
Add more detail
Their ages help: add them in your note
Permits in Sikkim and fees in Bhutan depend on it
A week in the hills starts around ₹1.4 lakh per person, and Bhutan around ₹3.25 lakh.
Calls from our office, 8am to 9pm IST (GMT+5:30)
Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Gangtok, Pelling, Bhutan, Nepal

No deposit to begin, and nothing is booked until you say yes.