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

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. Kathmandu rooftops in afternoon haze, monastery roofs in front and the city climbing the ridge beyond USA · EN Three Kingdoms: Kathmandu to the Tiger's Nest in 14 nights A private 14-night route through Nepal, Darjeeling, Sikkim and Bhutan: the order, the borders and the one long day. Kanchenjunga's snow summit and its ridges filling the frame under a deep blue Sikkim sky USA · EN Three dawns facing Kanchenjunga from the Pelling ridge A three-night Pelling break built around three dawns facing Kanchenjunga, and what changes when the mountain hides in cloud. Two young monks in maroon robes laughing together on a monastery wall in Kalimpong, a pale cloudy sky behind them USA · EN Three generations, one journey in the Darjeeling hills Seven nights for grandparents, parents and children: two warm, low bases, two cars, a briefed doctor in each town. Kanchenjunga catching first light above a band of pink cloud, seen from Tiger Hill near Darjeeling USA · EN Tiger Hill at dawn, without the jeep queue What the Tiger Hill sunrise above Darjeeling really involves, how a private dawn works, and where to look at first light. A jade green river running between steep forested slopes near Tashiding in West Sikkim, a shingle bank below USA · EN Tongba: warm millet beer through a bamboo straw What thee and tongba are, how the millet is fermented and drunk, where it is poured, and the other drinks of the hills. A high alpine basin in Sikkim above the treeline, a small stone hut below a glaciated snow peak USA · EN Travel insurance for Darjeeling, Sikkim and Bhutan: what to check Why every guest is asked for mountain cover, the altitude limit to check in the wording, and who to call when a road shuts. Juniper and dwarf rhododendron scrub below fir trees on the Singalila range in West Sikkim, cloud lifting off the forested ridges USA · EN Treks, parks and high valleys: when each one opens and closes Tsomgo, Yumthang, Zuluk, Sandakphu, Goecha La, Phobjikha, Pokhara, Lumbini, Jaldapara: best months and when to think twice. Tsomgo Lake frozen in January, snow on the brown slopes above it under a hard blue sky USA · EN Tsomgo Lake at 3,753 m: seasons, altitude and who should go The glacial lake above Gangtok: what its name means, when it freezes and flowers, and how children and parents manage it. A row of golden prayer wheels on monastery steps above the wooded hills at Gangtok USA · EN Tsuklakhang, the royal chapel where Sikkim crowned its kings What Tsuklakhang is, why it is not a museum, and the festival days when its courtyard opens to visitors. Taktsang monastery clinging to its granite cliff above Paro, gilded roofs over whitewashed walls and pines below USA · EN Two kingdoms: Sikkim to Bhutan by road in eleven nights Gangtok to Paro by road, why it runs through Bengal, the border day hour by hour, and the threads that tie the kingdoms. Rows of Darjeeling tea bushes curving over a sunlit hillside, a lone shade tree on the crest and blue ridges beyond USA · EN Two nights on a Darjeeling tea estate, straight from the airport Bagdogra to Glenburn in about 3 hours, a day of factory, plucking and a river lunch, then the range at dawn. Day by day. Prayer flags framing Paro Taktsang, the Tiger's Nest monastery, on its sheer cliff above the forest USA · EN Up to the Tiger's Nest before the day groups The Taktsang climb in figures: start time, the halfway cafeteria, lockers, hours, the fee, and options for parents. A Nepali thali of rice, greens and fritters on a brass plate with clay bowls of curry around it USA · EN Vegetarian, vegan or Jain in Sikkim: how meals are arranged Much of Sikkim's food is meatless by nature. How kitchens are briefed, what Jain cooking means here and what to order. A wooden lodge on brown winter grass at Sandakphu, with the snow massif of Kanchenjunga filling the sky behind USA · EN Walking the Singalila Ridge to Sandakphu, within sight of Everest A five-night walk on the India and Nepal border to Sandakphu, 3,636 m, with a bed each night and Everest on the horizon. Split-log steps laid along a trail through moss-hung rhododendron and fir forest in West Sikkim USA · EN West Sikkim with older parents: steep steps and cold December nights How much climbing West Sikkim really asks, how cold Pelling gets in winter, and how to plan days around older parents. Darjeeling's houses spread down a forested slope under heavy cloud, light breaking over the ridge USA · EN What a private journey price includes, and what moves it What every from-price covers, what you pay separately, and the levers that move it, using the site's own figures. Logs and glowing embers burning behind the glass door of a wood stove in a dark room USA · EN What to pack for Darjeeling, Sikkim and Bhutan, season by season Night lows and day highs for each season in the hills, and the clothes, shoes and extras to pack for each. A braided river, rice terraces and forested ridges in the Punakha valley of Bhutan USA · EN What to tip in Darjeeling, Bhutan and Nepal, and when Suggested tips for drivers, guides, house staff and trek crews in India, Bhutan and Nepal, and how to hand them over. A cook in a woolly cap serving noodles and chilli fry from a wide griddle at a night market stall in Sikkim USA · EN What we eat at home in Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Gangtok Sel roti for breakfast, thenthuk at night, gundruk, glass noodles and a fierce round chilli: hill food and where to eat it. A yellow Tibetan Buddhist balcony in Kalimpong hung with a painted door curtain, dharma wheel railings and a maroon flag USA · EN When Kalimpong was the end of Tibet's wool road Mule caravans, a trade agent's house, a Tibetan newspaper and addresses in miles: what the Tibet trade left in Kalimpong. Kanchenjunga lit gold at first light above the rooftops of Darjeeling, the town spilling down its forested ridge USA · EN When Kanchenjunga shows itself from Darjeeling, month by month The months that give clear views of Kanchenjunga from Darjeeling, night temperatures, festival crowds and our pick.

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