Nathang Valley
Gnathang, Sikkim, India
Nearby attractions
Thambi View Point
Zuluk, Sikkim
The 11,200-ft balcony above Zuluk's loops — sunrise firing the whole eastern face of Kanchenjunga down the Silk Route valleys.
Zuluk Old Silk Route
Zuluk, Sikkim
The hamlet on the historic Lhasa trade road whose 32 hairpin loops stack up a bare mountainside — India's most photographed zigzag.
Kupup Elephant Lake
Gangtok, Sikkim
Bitan Cho — an elephant-shaped sacred lake at 13,000 ft on the Old Silk Route, beside the world's highest golf course at Kupup.
Baba Harbhajan Singh Mandir
Gangtok, Sikkim
The shrine of the 'Hero of Nathula' — a soldier believed to guard the border beyond death, his boots polished and bed made daily by the army.
Tsomgo Lake
Sikkim
A sacred glacial bowl at 3,753 m on the old Nathula road — mirror-still between snow slopes, ringed by prayer flags and yak bells, frozen solid in winter and rimmed with primulas in June. Sikkim's beloved high-altitude day trip from Gangtok.
Nathula Pass
Sikkim
The historic Silk Route gate to Tibet at 4,310 m — Indian and Chinese posts face each other across a saddle of snow and wind, reached past Tsomgo Lake and Baba Mandir on one of the world's highest motorable border roads.
Ranka Lingdum Monastery
Gangtok, Sikkim
A vast, cinematic Zurmang Kagyud monastery in forested Ranka — sweeping courtyards and gilded halls familiar from many film shoots.
Aritar Lampokhari Lake
Aritar, Sikkim
Sikkim's oldest natural lake, boot-shaped and pine-ringed at Aritar — the state's only boating lake, gateway to the Silk Route.
Hanuman Tok
Gangtok, Sikkim
An army-maintained Hanuman temple at 7,200 ft where the monkey god rested carrying Sanjeevani — the finest Kanchenjunga view near Gangtok.
Ganesh Tok
Gangtok, Sikkim
A tiny Ganesha shrine on a 6,500-ft spur — its balcony wraps around Gangtok's amphitheatre with Kanchenjunga floating beyond.
Himalayan Zoological Park
Gangtok, Sikkim
India's highest zoo (7,200 ft) at Bulbulay — red pandas, snow leopards and Himalayan bears in forest enclosures so large you must hike between them.
Enchey Monastery
Gangtok, Sikkim
The 'solitary temple' of 1909 above Gangtok, blessed by flying tantric Lama Druptob Karpo — pines, prayer flags and Kanchenjunga glimpses.