Gangtok (which means 'hilltop'), capital city of sikkim, still lingers on my mind. A place abundant of beautiful hills and people.

We met Bhima at the taxi stand. A young (20) taxi driver with tons of enthusiam, we asked to transport us from the stand to our hotel, Golden Pagoda. We got a room with a market view for 600 rupees. Bhima was still waiting for us, he had suggested us a 7 point visit for 500 bucks. With just 1.5 days with us in sikkim we quickly agreed to and got started. Our second day was well accounted with pictures in my other post "Heaven - 12,400ft above sea level!". For people who wish to travel to sikkim here are some list of places to eat and stay. (M.G. road is the hub of all activities in gangtok. All shops and life comes to halt at 8pm).

Top hotels: Tashi Delek (has great views!!) Double: 2500+ / Suites: 4500

Hotel Tibet (Tibetan Decor- great resturant) Hotel Tibet (2-3 mins walk from MG road) Double: 1100-1600 Phone: 203468 / 204962

Mid range Hotel Golden Pagoda on MG road, with a roof top pure vegetrian resturant Double: 600-850 email: goldenpagoda 'at' hotmail 'dot' com

Budget stay: Green Hotel on M.G. Road Single: rs. 150 / Double: rs. 250-300

Places to eat Cafe Tibet for fast food (gen. see college crowd there) Hotel Tibet is a great place for dinner (little expensive) Bakers Cafe, MG Road - amazing place for breakfast and cakes!

Ofcourse there is lot more to sikkim beyond Gangtok. Will write about those places when I visit them :)