Watch the magic of the Himalayas when the sun rises over the Kanchenjunga range and the snow covered peaks slowly turn a pale pink and then a deeper orange against a bright cerulean sky. Along the hill slopes the multicoloured prayer flags snap in the breeze around small stupas as monks in saffron robes sway and chant mantras in remote monasteries. And the turbulent waters of the Rangit and Teesta rivers flow down the hill slopes, past forests and fields of wild flowers, creating waterfalls and lakes.

Sikkim is a magical land of hilly terrain and green valleys, encircled by the towering Himalayan ranges covered in perennial snow. This enchanting land is encircled by the highest Himalayan ranges dominated by the magnificent Kanchenjunga peak. The landscape is dotted with pine and birch forests, crystal clear lakes, silver waterfalls and fields of orchids and rhododendrons. Here the Buddhist faith is a part of people’s lives as melodic meditation chants float out into the silent air from Buddhist monasteries and there are brilliantly choreographed chaam dances at festivals that look like ancient paintings in vivid colours.

Gangtok is the capital of the picturesque state of Sikkim that was once a remote mountain kingdom that legends said was the Himalayan ‘Shangri-la’ – a hidden kingdom of magical beauty and a secret heaven that was very hard to find. As it was located high in the Himalayan ranges, in ancient times Sikkim was an important stop on the trade road called the Silk Route that connected India with Tibet and China and then moved on towards the Middle East and Europe. Here trader’s caravans arrived with loaded horses after traversing through the dangerous mountain roads of Central Asia. They arrived at the Nathu La pass carrying tea and silk from China and taking back spices and cotton from India.