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So how does one get from Seattle to Sikkim?
Starting from SIkkim, I note there is no airport in Sikkim. The closest airport is Bagdogra. It’s about a 4- 4.5 hour drive by Jeep from Bagdogra to Gangtok. It’s less than 70 miles “as the crow flies” but the winding road through the mountains makes it both longer and slower. The closest international airport to Bagdogra is Kolkata.
Kolkata has good international connections from major cities in Asia. Since we use either Bangkok or Singapore as our entry point to Asia, I checked flights from Singapore to Kolkata and from Bangkok to Kolkata. As usual, Thai Air out of Bangkok is much less expensive than Singapore Air out of Singapore.
Our plan is to fly from Seattle to Bangkok (via Tokyo), arriving about midnight. We’d like to get to Sikkim as soon as possible, so we would stay at the Novotel at the Bangkok Airport and fly out the next morning to Kolkata, with the goal of being in Gangtok by nightfall.
The Thai Air flight leaves Bangkok just before midnight, so that won’t work. A bit of checking reveals that both Kingfisher Air and Jet Airways fly between Bangkok and Kolkata and between Kolkata and Bagdogra. A look at the schedules makes Jet Airways the winner. The Kingfisher flight gets to Bagdogra at 4:25 pm, too late to set out for Gangtok. The Jet Airways schedule looks perfect: we’d leave Bangkok at 9:20 am, arrive in Kolkata at 10:20 am; leave Kolkata at 12:20 pm and arrive in Bagdogra at 1:20 pm. The last bit of driving will likely be in the dark, but that seems not too bad. One of my Fodors friends notes that there is a helicopter connection of Gangtok. It’s difficult to get, and I won’t count on it, but it takes 45 minutes rather than 4 hours. I’ll certainly see if I can book it.
Each move from one location to another is a long drive, 3 to 5 hours via jeep. So for that reason as well as that we like to spend some time in each place we visit, I want to minimize the number of moves we make. I’m sure the scenery will be spectacular; I’m also sure the ride will be uncomfortable.
On the way back out, we’ll fly from Bagdogra to Kolkata and spend a few days there, then onward to Bangkok for some time with friends there, then back home to Seattle.
So the transport looks like it will all work… as long as there isn’t a bandh.
