Sikkim is picturesque and verdant with clean crisp air, deep blue mountain lakes, gorgeous Buddhist monasteries and hillsides ablaze with rhododendrons against a backdrop of snow-clad mountains. If you are looking for exciting trekking routes in unspoilt terrain, or a quiet communion with the mountains, there are few places in India that would match the Himalayan state of Sikkim. This tiny state of Sikkim, bigger only than Goa and Delhi and India’s least populated, lies tucked in between Nepal and Bhutan in India’s eastern region.

Just 110 kms from north to south and 60 kms across, Sikkim is entirely mountainous with altitudes varying from 800 ft in the south to the 28,199 ft. Mt. Kanchenjunga, in the northwest (India’s highest peak, and the third highest in the world). The awesome mountain is revered by the Sikkimese as their protecting deity. The capital of the state, Gangtok is an attractive and interesting town in eastern Sikkim, well developed and with absolutely amazing views of the snow clad Himalayan peaks including the Kanchenjunga.