Has it ever happened that you visited an awesome place but couldn’t make the best out of it? If yes, what was it? Was it the weather, company or a bad hotel experience? Let me tell you mine.  

Back in 2019, when the world hadn’t turned upside down, I had the opportunity to travel to Mussoorie with my girlfriend. Lucky me right! Well not so much because the hotel where we stayed was, to simply put it, “pathetic.” The food was horrible, the rooms were untidy, and don’t get me started on the room service. The bad hotel experience impacted our overall vacation and I hadn’t been on another vacation thereafter until this September when I went to West Sikkim with my friends. The place is apparently in trend since everyone seems to be exploring “offbeat places” these days.

Learning from my past mistake, I booked everything in advance this time, and boy! am I glad I did that because the homestays I stayed has filled my soul with so many good memories. So much so that I think the world should know about these homestays and West Sikkim in general.    

Trip to West Sikkim to check out what all the fuss is about

We started off from Gangtok. The plan was to reach Yuksom before sunset and explore the nearby places of interest, but due to the bad roads and weather, we ended up reaching Yuksom at almost midnight. Luckily for us, the owners of Limboo Homestay were kind enough to wait for us patiently.

Stay at Limboo Homestay, Yuksom

As we got out of the car, my first impression was “this is not what I had seen on the internet.” I thought I had booked a cute wooden cabin but all I could see was a tall and boring building. Just then we were greeted by the owner who looked very lively given how late it was. She was accompanied by her daughters both no younger than 10 years. They helped us with our luggage and guided us to the backyard, which unveiled our very own wooden cabin. The backyard filled our eyes with awe and the garden was well maintained and ornamented with cute light lamps. There was a gazebo shed in the center where two dogs slept soundly and the Instagram famous stone stacked oval gate. I couldn’t wait to snap pictures in the morning.

Limboo homestay

After gazing at the backyard for a couple of minutes, we went inside our room, where our dinner was kept in a hot case. Maybe it was because we were starving but the food tasted heavenly. After dinner, we went out to explore the property and to vlog (video down below). There are two cottages in total. Both the cottages have two rooms each. Our room had a staircase leading upstairs, but we decided to explore the top space the next day.

The next morning, we were pampered with bed tea, which I took upstairs with me. It turns out that the staircase lead to a meditation and yoga room and also offered a splendid view of the homestay garden. A little further from the oval gate is a fish reservoir where you can enjoy a bonfire. Tea was followed by breakfast, which was set up in the gazebo shed. Post breakfast we headed towards Karthok Lake.

Karthok Lake is just 5 minutes away from Limboo Homestay. It is situated opposite Karthok Monastery, which we didn’t have time to visit. The lake was small but scenic. Mind you, if you plan to visit Karthok Lake or any lake for that matter during monsoon, always be mentally ready for leaches. I alone counted 6 leach attacks on my feet after 10 minutes.  

Karthok Lake 

First impression of Pelling, en route tourist attractions

With hungry hearts and bleeding feet, we drove towards Pelling. The scenery en-route was spectacular. The night rain had washed off all the impurities of the valleys and looked fresh out of the shower. There was a tiny waterfall flowing down a cliff. We were so impressed by these baby waterfalls that we asked our driver, Subash da, to stop the car but he insisted we head to the mighty Khangchendzongda Waterfall, which was only 10 minutes away. Two songs later, we could see milky white water gushing through the green hue. The waterfall was as intimidating as it was beautiful. Due to the monsoon, the waterfall had transformed into a raging waterfall that was overflowing on the street as well. Although scary, we had to go up close to enjoy it to the fullest. There were stairs that took us to another waterfall. We screamed with excitement, clicked some photos, and came back soaking wet. A little further was the sacred Kanchendzondga Ringing Stones Cave.

We reached Pelling at around 6 pm. To my surprise Pelling was not as crowded as I had imagined. We were told Pelling offers one of the best views of Mt. Khangchendzondga. Well, we just had to wait till tomorrow to find out.

My experience at Triratana Homestay, Pelling  

The first impression, to be honest, was “meh!” Limboo Homestay had set the bar so high that I was a little disappointed at first. The homestay was dark and the homestay owner didn’t seem that friendly. But it all changed wher we were invited for tea to their kitchen. You see, we were allotted the rooms right at the front of the property. Beside it was the house where the owner and their family stayed. And behind that was the newly constructed kitchen cum common area with two additional rooms on top of it. So yes, the kitchen was where we went to have our tea and oh boy! I was stuck in awe to see how beautiful the interior was. Romila di (owner’s wife) served us tea and snacks and we chatted for a bit; turns out she was friendly after all. After a while dinner was served in a giant bronze plate. Trust me, I had not seen a plate that big and heavy. The food also did total justice to the plate; simple yet delicious.

The next morning, I woke up early to witness the hyped Mt. Khangchendzonga view. Fortunately, the weather was clear and I could see the rolling hills in a blue hue. Shining behind was snow-clad Khangchendzondga. The hype was real; my eyes were blessed. I then chatted a bit with the owner who then shared with me his future plans for homestays. He plans to include dormitories for both genders. And apparently, the homestay is built in such a way that you get the view of Khangchendzondga from every room, which was pretty cool.

Triratana homestay's common room 

Breakfast included aloo puri with Romila di’s special mint tea, which was “delicious.” What stood out for me were the different pickles that were served; Romila di is known for her pickles. Post breakfast we headed out for Pelling sightseeing.

Dinner is served 

We came back exhausted. To help us relax, Romila di served us refreshing mint tea, which was followed by tongba, as it was our last night at Triratna. Romila di insisted we enjoy our drink with a bonfire but we were too lazy to get up from the cosy common room. They also have other beverage options like homemade wine, beer, brandy, and whiskey.  Dinner was served in a giant bronze plate again. We enjoyed our last meal there and retired for the day.

Homestay or hotel?

To be honest, I was always skeptical of homestays. Why would you leave your home just to go live at somebody else’s house? That just didn’t make sense to me. But experiencing Limboo and Triratna homestays was eye-opening for me and now all the homestay fuss makes sense. Living in a homestay is indeed the best way to explore a place and get exposed to the local culture. Also, no one knows a place better than the local occupants, so by staying with someone local, you have access to the best information of the place.

Let me sum it up for you: hotels are for tourists, homestays are for travellers. Hope that makes sense.