Misty Morning Views from Gangtok

During my recent Sikkim trip, the first morning greeted me with bright sunshine. The skies were beautifully blue with minimal clouds around. But, when I was leaving Gangtok, the whole morning scene had changed to a thick misty atmosphere.

 
But, I was not in the complaining mood at all. In fact, I was more than elated to see the mist cover and the low lying milky white cloud cover play hide and seek with the pine forests below.

 
And it was even better that I could plonk my backside on the balcony of Club Mahindra’s Royal Demazong resort to gaze at this slow moving scenery in front of me.

 
It is such nerve numbing scenery that drives people to hill stations all over the world and especially in India and to Sikkim. A sight that can remain etched in memory for a lifetime!

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Club Mahindra’s Royal Demazong – A property with a heavenly view

A couple of weeks back, I was invited by Club Mahindra to go on a trip to Sikkim along with a selected group of travel bloggers, writers and photographers. And it was during this trip that I got to stay at Club Mahindra’s ‘The Royal Demazong’.


This Royal Demazong mountain resort is situated about 12 kms away from Gangtok, the capital of Sikkim. One has to drive through extremely steep and curvy roads to reach this property and it is on the way to Tsomgo (Changu) Lake from Gangtok.


The Royal Demazong is very tastefully designed and has a Buddhist Monastery like look. This monastery look is more prominent from the outside than the inside. But, in overall, it gives the property a rich Sikkimese look.

 
It is quite a large property that overlooks the Himalayas. And since it is situated on top of a hill and with a thick green cover, it offers great avenues for bird watching and nature hikes. I personally went on a couple of hikes to the nearby hills and found the vistas to be spectacular.


The rooms in this resort as such are pretty decent and offer most of the modern amenities. But the icing on the cake, is the heavenly view of the Himalayan mountains, the snow fed rivers and the green valleys right from the room’s balcony.

 
The food too is pretty decent, though I would have personally preferred more local dishes in the menu. But, the one thing that I was really happy with was the rich hospitality shown by the hotel staff. They always seemed to have a smile on their faces and were very accommodating.

This 3 star mountain resort is one place I would recommend you check out if you are planning a holiday in Sikkim.

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Enterprising Travellers!

I had recently gone on a trip to the Himalayan Kingdom of Sikkim in India. This short, but sweet trip was an invite by Club Mahindra. It was during this trip that I got to meet eight other fellow bloggers, most of them travel bloggers, some travel writers, most of them photographers, some birders, some social media experts and one pastry chef. I knew a couple of them before and most others through their online presence. But, this was the trip, where I put a face to a name along with some great experiences and happy memories.


I found their company to be great fun, enterprising and very interesting. I hardly realized how time flew when I was around them. These enterprising travellers are Lakshmi Sharath, Arun Bhat, Arun Nair, Vamsee Modugula, Nisha Jha, Kishi Arora, Shuchi Kapoor and Sneha Divakar. I seriously recommend that you check each one of them out.

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Are you a Foodaholic?

Are you addicted to food? Do you live to eat? If yes, then you can continue reading as I am going to talk about the best dessert that I have had in recent times and am going to help you savour the yummy experience.


As you all know, I had recently been invited by Club Mahindra to go to Sikkim along with a group of enterprising travel bloggers, writers, photographers and did I say a ‘Master Chef’. It was during this trip that I got to sample the Banoffee Pie and Chocolate Brownie made by Kishi Arora and boy was it an out of the world experience. It has been four days since I savoured these desserts and the sweet taste still lingers in my mouth and in my brain.


A graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, Kishi Arora is a pastry chef and a food consultant who runs the finger-licking and yummy business that calls itself ‘Foodaholics’. Foodaholics makes your favourite cakes, desserts and puddings and the best part is that you can order online.

 
So, if you happen to be in the Delhi, Gurgaon and Noida (NCR) area, do remember to sample the lip-smacking menu of foodaholics. I intend to every time I am in the NCR corridor.

All images in this post are copyright of Kishi Arora and Foodaholics.in.

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Upcoming Travel – Himalayan Kingdom of Sikkim

It has been over a year since I last visited the heavenly Himalayan state of Sikkim. In fact, that was my first visit to Sikkim and I was on my solo all India motorcycle journey.


I still have very vivid memories of my time here when I visited the Tsomgo (Changu) Lake in East Sikkim, Yumthang Valley and Gurudongmar Lake in North Sikkim, Pemayangtze Monastery, Rabdantse Ruins, Khecheopari Lake, Singshore Bridge and Pelling in West Sikkim and got caught in a snow storm in the cold Himalayan deserts on the upper stretches of North Sikkim.


This time I have been invited by Club Mahindra to travel with their team to their property near Gangtok. During this trip, I will be in the company of travel writers and photographers, most of whom I already know through their respective travel blogs. 


This will be a brilliant opportunity for me to put faces to names and to enjoy the company of like minded souls and all this while I get to enjoy pristine nature in the Himalayan Kingdom of Sikkim.

And hopefully a lot of interesting posts and photos from Sikkim…soon!

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