Gangtok: Sikkim Tourism’s New Horizon
This article narrates the author’s journey of rediscovery, guided by his friend Luku, a passionate travel agent and former STDC chairperson, who unveils a hidden Gangtok filled with unique birdwatching spots and butterfly sanctuaries.
Often, one man in a crowd can change everything. Two weeks ago, Ritesh my friend of 30 years, had asked me: “Sujit-da, what are the places good to see in Sikkim. I shall reach Gangtok around October first week.”
My split-second response was “Forget Gangtok, It is just a marketplace and travel agents will show you Nathula, Baba Mandir and Tsomgo Lake. Same old hat… either go to West Sikkim for cultural tourism or North Sikkim for scenic beauty.”
Since 2000, I had been living in Gangtok as the owner of the state’s most popular newspaper, Weekend Review. And every Bong I knew would come, go to Nathula, Baba Mandir and Tsomgo Lake and go back merrily singing, a la Hotel California… “what a lovely place, what a lovely place, what a lovely place…”. Frankly speaking, being a born rebel, I had no place in my mind for such pedestrian lovely places.
“Pedestrian is a pejorative,” you would say? Indeed, it is and I mean it to be that, I meant it to be that, I had meant it, but I no longer. For Gangtok… “what a lovely place, what a lovely place, what a lovely place…”.
My Friend Luku
As I was saying, often, just one man can make such a huge difference. So a week after shooting off my response, I myself landed in Gangtok, and a few days later, Lukendra Rasaily – we call him Luku — and I met hotel room, me empty hands, but Luku with a big map of Gangtok, a completely new map, an unthinkable map, and my eyes nearly popped out and started dancing on MG Marg, that “just a marketplace”, as I had dismissively told Ritesh about.
I am ashamed I had never seen Gangtok in the way Luku now showed it to me. For who had ever known that run-of-the-mill places like Ranipul, Setipul, Adampul in the lower elevations, and Ratechu, Tsomgo and Kyongsla Alpine Sanctuary were major birdwatching centres? Who had heard of Fambonghlo was a wildlife Sanctuary? Wo had ever known that Ray Khola, Ranka or Pangthang were such fabulous butterfly spotting places?
This man, a firmly established travel agent himself, and as former chairperson of Sikkim Tourism Development Corporation (STDC), had developed a tourism map, complete with scientific nomenclature, of a ‘new’ Gangtok as I could see. And he is distributing the map and selling it as well as his new business; and yet, it is not just business alone… this is his commitment towards tourism, which is the mainstay of Sikkim’s economy.
Me and Sikkim
And let me assure you that he has not paid me or East India Story for my article as an “advertorial”, because I happen to know what I am saying, and I shall tell you why.
I arrived in Sikkim in May 2000, and was given charge of developing the portal for the state’s tourism department by STDC. Mr Karma Gyatso was then the Tourism Secretary and Mr PK Dong, the Chairman of STDC. My job was not to photograph and write about just pretty places in the unsurpassably beautiful Himalayan state – scenically as well as spiritually, and as one top bureaucrat, late PG Tenzing (IAS) had told me, perhaps I had seen more pf Sikkim than many Sikkimese had ever done.
So let me assure you that though it happens that Luku and me have been friends for the past 24 years, it is neither out of love for him or lucre that I am singing this pean.
I had lived un DPH Road, just below the Sikkim Nationalised Transport terminal in Gangtok, and going up and down the steep climb to MG Marg was a daily routine. My friends and relatives used to come and stay with me frequently, and my advice to them had always been that since everyone visited Tsomgo Lake and Nathula; and the much-vaunted Baba Mandir, a memorial to a “Baba” Harbhajan Singh, a soldier in the Indian army who is said to have died near Nathula, which has been turned into a temple that seemed more of folk lore and a fetish created by the army than any hard reality.
I used to stress visiting Pelling, Yoksum and Khachoedpaldri Lake. But now as Luku unveiled the map, it was a different Gangtok that I had never paid much attention to. In fact the same Tsomgo Lake is actually a bird watching area, as is the Kyongsla Alpine Sanctuary, just ten minutes from the sacred Lake. In fact, I had never known about Kyongsla Alpine Sanctuary at all.
Then take Ranipul…. For me it was just a messy, crowded bazaar at turning point on National Highway 10, climbing towards downtown Gangtok. I realised, looking at Luku’s map, that I had seen just the road, not what lay beyond it. And that beyond the road was a forested area that was also an unknown—so far – bird watching spot.
Similarly, Rano Khola, Ray Khola and Seti Khola showcase more than 300 species of butterflies. There are day-hiking trails, such as Fambonglho Wildlife Sanctuary and other places, which are mostly kin the range of ten to fifteen kilometres from Gangtok town, taking one through charming villages and semi dense forests.
Luku himself has been ardently promoting mountain biking trails, such as the one that travels from Merung-Bhusuk-Riley down to Ranipul-Fifth-Mile- Tadong. And over the past three years, I have myself seen literally hundreds of mountain biking groups on this adventure sport.
For ardent mountain-river anglers, there are exciting spots such as Bakcha Khola, Ratey Chu, Seti Khola,
“I say, Luku, you are spot on in your decision to bring out this map in terms of growing tourism in Sikkim,” I said.
“Yes, you see, Bengalis are Sikkim tourism’s bread and butter, but people come her for two or three days and go away. Such short term but bulk tourism is environmentally damaging. If bird watchers come, they stay for longer periods and grown within themselves a sense or responsibility, they take ownership of the place. They make sure these places are not littered, Besides, for everyone, from hotel and restaurants to taxi drivers, earn more.”
That is one point that has been neglected so far and plagues tourism Sikkim Bulk and short tourist visits are set in the minds of those in the tourism business. What Sikkim needs is high-end, high-spending tourists, like Bhutan has done. But the word has to spread, so Luku is selling his map to hotel owners and travel agents.
I clearly felt that over his five-year tenure as STDC chairperson, Lukendra Rasaily did not just park himself in a plush chamber in Manan Kandra and just enjoyed the salary and perks. He has worked diligently on growing high-end tourism.
As he was left, a question that had been nagging me eased itself from mouth: “Luku, isn’t the new government reappoint you as STDC charman?”
“I do not know… it is for the chief minister and tourism minter to decide,” he said with a smile and left.
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