Namchi A Picturesque Destination.

Namchi, famous for it's Temi organic tea estate is a very beautiful, compact and lesser known town tucked away in South Sikkim. The approach to Namchi from Gangtok was phenomenal as the highway winds through the tea estate that is spread across hundreds of acres. The road decorated with pink flowers from the cherry blossom trees on either sides added more charm to the abundant natural beauty. It looked like a scene from a painting. Temi is the only Tea estate in entire state of Sikkim and is run by the Government, it is indeed the pride of Namchi. The co-operative society en-route is a perfect place to buy tea dust.

We stopped at one of the tea stalls to treat ourselves - and it was simply one of the best cups of tea we've had. A cup of tea in our hands with breathtaking views of the magnificent tea estate and the cherry blossom trees made us reconnect with Nature. November turned out to be the perfect time to visit Namchi when the government organizes the annual Cherry Festival to witness the cherry blossoms in full bloom. Various cultural events are organized and this festival is celebrated by the locals for four days. It is one of the best times to visit Sikkim to see how locals celebrate and be thankful to Mother Nature. The locals were very friendly and kind enough to provide us some snippets about the places that we must check out.

Samdruptse Hill: Samdruptse means "Wish fulfilling hill" in Bhutia language and on this hill stands the world's largest statue of Guru Padmasambhava. It is said that the Samdruptse hill is a dormant volcano and the myth is that monks offer prayers to keep it calm.

Chardham, the brain child of the chief Minister of Sikkim to promote tourism has replicas of the four dhams- Jagannath, Dwarika, Rameshwaram and Badrinath, replicas of the twelve Jyotirlingas along with a massive statue of Lord Shiva. Chardham is 5 km away from Namchi and hardly a kilometer from Chardham is a beautiful temple dedicated to Sai Baba which is worth a visit.

The central park at the heart of Namchi is a perfect place to unwind. Right after sunset you see the young and the old gather at central park and take a stroll. This area too like the MG Marg in Gangtok is a no vehicle zone and the entire town seems to gather here at the end of the day to socialize and shop.

At the end of the day, we were in our room jotting down our travel journal and heard an extremely loud boom and felt the window panes in our hotel room shake vigorously. With no clue of what had happened, we rushed out to the street only to witness a ghastly fire accident and the loud boom was due to a LPG cylinder blast. We stood there in disbelief as fire engulfed a series of stalls that were up and running mere hours ago. It was scary to imagine that we were standing at the very same spot an hour ago having chaat and now there was no sign of the stalls that existed there. We had a lump in our throat and this just reminded us of one thing that we never know which day will be our last, so live it to the fullest. Live life the way you want and not for the society.

It was really commendable to see the fire brigade reach in no time and firefighters put their lives in line to save lives and property. We were glad to hear the next day that there were no casualties.

We checked into Kava Suites, the best property in Namchi. They offer huge rooms with 24 hour running hot water, a clean and hygienic place, WiFi at lobby, very good service and their restaurant is the best in Namchi. They also have Karaoke nights.

We would highly recommend this place for the sheer beauty that it has to offer apart from the peace and calmness. A complete stress free environment with trees, hills, mountains and beautiful people, this place is a perfect vacation destination.

Next stop Pelling.