I was thinking of traveling up to Darjeeling in March and booking a couple of treks but I've heard that you need all sorts of permits. Has anyone taken any treks around Darjeeling or Sikkim and had to buy a permit?
Yes Ive done it and its very easy. From what I remember there was a permit I got in Darjeeling in a little official government office, to get me into Sikkim and it was done the same day. Good for two weeks i think. There were a number of check points around Sikkim that you showed your permit. All really easy. I ended up not doing an arranged trek, but met some other tourists and we all just went ourselves no problem.
Ah thought it might have been easier than the guide book says! They made it sound quite complicated.
I have a feeling you might be confusing a general Sikkim permit with the additional permit that is needed to get to some of the Tibetan boarder areas. Those from what I remembered had some more difficult stipulations attached, such as needing to be in a guided group. But the general permit for Sikkim which is all most people want and need is easy.
Yeah I would just need the general permit. It all sounds pretty straight forward then
I do have one other question. Was it fairly simply to reach Darjeeling, and what mode of transport did you use? Ill be travelling from Delhi and after Darjeeling I will have to make my way to Mumbai.
Wow, nothing like criss crossing the country!
Nothing is "simple" in India!
There is no straight through train from Delhi to Darjeeling. Depending on which train you take out of Delhi, you have to change at least once in Siliguri. From there I took a shared jeep up to Darjeeling. You can take either a diesel or steam train from I think Siliguri to Darjeeling, but it takes much longer than the jeep. For your trip back, unless you have lots of time, you might want to consider a flight. Maybe a train down to Calcutta and flight from there would be a good compromise. If you have time, stop at Varansi on your way from Delhi. This website has great info on the trains in India
I guess I should preface this information with the fact that i did this trip back in 09 and that there is a bit of unrest in Sikkim, so might still be good to check on how things are. This site might have some more up to date info.
[ 12-Jan-2013, at 15:34 by Dodger ]
Thanks for all the info Roger!
Problem with me is that I keep finding places I want to see and I don't have enough time for everything. But I can always go back
Think im gonna need the guide book also!
Cheers
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