The Travel Independently Blog

As I was planning this trip, you may remember that I researched flight options to make sure it was possible to get from Bangkok to Bagdogra in one day. The schedules of the airlines made the choice of which airline to take very simple: only one could do that, Jet Airways.

So it is time to buy those tickets. I went to the Jet Airways web site and input the flight information. This required a multi-city itinerary, as we need to fly from Bangkok to Kolkata, change planes and fly onto Bagdogra where ground transport will take us to Gangtok. Ten days later, we fly from Bagdogra to Kolkata, and three days later. We fly from Kolkata back to Bangkok.

I found the Jet Airways website easy to navigate. I always wonder whether I will be able to buy intra-Asia tickets online, as sometimes there are issues with credit cards. I do have a back-up plan if my credit card is not accepted, I have a travel agent in Bangkok who I have used for purchasing tickets when needed. But this time, it all went smoothly, I booked and purchased our tickets, and the electronic ticket was delivered to my email in pdf format. Jet Airways requires a printed copy of the e-ticket to enter the airport.

Technorati Tags: Bangkok to Bagdora, Bangkok to Kolkata, buying intra Asia airline tickets, Jet Airways, Kolkata to Bangkok

Glenburn requires an international wire transfer to make a deposit. Other properties I research in Sikkim and Darjeeling also required wire transfers. We are accustomed to make deposits by credit card, so I needed to do some research.

I planned to make the wire transfer out of the bank at my brokerage (E*Trade). I conduct virtually all of my business with the brokerage and bank online. I found the web page about wire transfers, international transfers cost $25, which seemed quite reasonable. It looked like I could make the arrangements online. For security purposes, I had to request an authorization code they emailed to me. As I moved through the process, I suddenly realized they wanted to transfer money out of my brokerage account rather than my bank account.

I went back and couldn’t find a link to make the transfer from my bank account. I could always transfer money from my bank account into my brokerage account, if necessary. So it was time to talk to someone. I had a very helpful conversation with a service rep. He said I couldn’t make that transfer online from my bank account, but he could do it for me. As I started to give him the details, he stopped me and said, I can only make this transfer if this transfer is into a foreign bank account with your name on it. Oops – this wasn’t going to work. In order to make an international wire transfer to an account I did not own, I would have to create a signed set of instructions, have my signature notarized and mail it to them. I decided to talk with my local bank.

My local bank (US Bank) said, sure, they could do it. Their price was higher, $50. But I just needed to bring in the instructions and they would do it. I asked about a premium on foreign exchange and they said there would be none. Mentally, I was comparing the cost of putting a transaction like this on a credit card, vs. the wire transfer. The amount of the transfer was about $1600. My Visa card would charge 3% ($48) or my American Express card would charge 2.5% ($40) so the cost of the wire transfer ($50) was fairly comparable. However, when I received the statement from my bank on the actual cost of the wire transfer, the exchange rate I received was 1.65% ($27) over the listed exchange rate on the day it was made.

Also, once I got the confirmation from Glenburn on the amount received, some bank that it passed through added an additional charge of $7. So all told, it cost $84 for the wire transfer, which works out to 5.25% of the amount transferred. The cost of the wire transfer worked out to be about twice the cost of putting it on my credit card.

When I make the final payment in October, I think I’ll do it through E*Trade so I have a direct comparison of costs.

Technorati Tags: hotel reservation issues, international wire transfers, making hotel reservations

Travisa emailed us once they had received our passports and visa applications. Their website also allows you to track your passport through the process. They emailed us when they sent our packets to the Indian Consulate and when they received our completed visas from the consulate. They notified us the same day they received our passports that they had mailed them back to us via Fed Ex. Fed Ex, of course, also has tracking information. Thus, we could follow our passports on their journey every step of the way.

We received 10 year visas. When I get a new passport in two years, I will send off both my new and old passports to Travisa and have my 10 year India visa transferred into my new passport for a $25 fee.

Because we are going to Sikkim, we also need Sikkim permits. I asked them about this in an email and discovered that we could have arranged to get our Sikkim permits at the same time. We did not do this, so we plan to get our permits at Rangpo on our drive to Gangtok, but I hope this is useful information for other travelers.

Technorati Tags: india visa, Sikkim, travisa

I received a quick reply from Glenburn that the dates we wanted were not available – six months out from our trip. The Glenburn is small, just 8 rooms, but I had not anticipated that they would be full. They gave us alternate dates and I started working around those dates.

So the next iteration looked like this:

Day 1 leave SEA
Day 2 arrive BKK, overnight Novotel
Day 3 fly BKK-CCU, Kolkata
Day 4 Kolkata
Day 5 Kolkata
Day 6 fly to Bagdogra, ground to Gangtok
Day 7 Gangtok
Day 8 Gangtok
Day 9 Gangtok to Pelling (ground)
Day 10 Pelling
Day 11 Pelling to Darjeeling (ground) Glenburn Tea Estates
Day 12 Darjeeling Glenburn Tea Estates
Day 13 Darjeeling Glenburn Tea Estates
Day 14 Darjeeling Glenburn Tea Estates
Day 15 Darjeeling Glenburn Tea Estates
Day 16 ground to Bagdogra, fly to CCU
Day 17 Kolkata, fly to BKK
Day 18 Bangkok
Day 19 Bangkok
Day 20 Bangkok
Day 21 Bangkok
Day 22 Fly SEA

This itinerary accommodates the dates we can get at Glenburn, but I don’t like the fact that we’ll have an overnight in Kolkata on our way back to Bangkok because of flight times.

After discussing it and sleeping on it, I had a second revision:

Day 1 leave SEA
Day 2 arrive BKK
Day 3 Bangkok
Day 4 Bangkok
Day 5 Bangkok
Day 6 fly BKK-CCU-IXB, ground to Gangtok Norkhill
Day 7 Gangtok Norkhill
Day 8 Gangtok Norkhill
Day 9 Gangtok to Pelling (ground) Elgin Mt. Padim
Day 10 Pelling Elgin Mt. Padim
Day 11 Pelling to Darjeeling (ground) Glenburn Tea Estates
Day 12 Darjeeling Glenburn Tea Estates
Day 13 Darjeeling Glenburn Tea Estates
Day 14 Darjeeling Glenburn Tea Estates
Day 15 Darjeeling Glenburn Tea Estates
Day 16 ground to Bagdogra, fly to CCU, Kolkata
Day 17 Kolkata
Day 18 Kolkata
Day 19 fly BKK, Bangkok
Day 20 Bangkok
Day 21 Bangkok
Day 22 Fly SEA

I like the second revision better. It will divide our time in Bangkok, but it eliminates the night in Kolkata due to flight times. This itinerary also notes the places we have arranged to stay in Sikkim and Darjeeling.

Technorati Tags: darjeeling, Glenburn Estates, independent travel itinerary, India Independent Travel, kolkata, Sikkim, travel planning

Reading over what I’ve written as I prepare for my next entry reminds me how much of the process happens in tiny, almost unnoticed steps. For instance, we have changed where we are staying in Darjeeling as we stumbled across a place in the countryside that looked great. A recommendation from a fellow Fodorite sealed the deal – Glenburn it is!

The Elgin properties in Sikkim are still our first choices, including The Elgin at Norkill and The Elgin at Pelling.

Alternative options we looked at were the Bamboo Resort in Rumtek and Yangsum Farm near Richenpong.

We also considered other stops, such as Kalimpong and considered staying in Darjeeling at The Elgin or The Windermere as well as outside of Darjeeling.

Technorati Tags: Glenburn Estates, India Travel, making hotel reservations, Sikkim

I try to read as much as I can about places I visit. Typically, I can find several dozen books, so the task is to choose the best. I usually find a combination of history, fiction and memoirs.

Finding books is a bit more difficult for Sikkim than for other places we’ve visited. I’ve done a thorough search for books on Sikkim, and have turned up only a few, none of which are available directly from Amazon. I ordered two books from IndiaClub.com. One arrived in a week or so, the other arrived in a couple of weeks, shipped from Delhi. Next, I did a more thorough search and turned up a number of books I could get from Amazon resellers. I ordered the books, and have received all but one of the books, which is being shipped from Delhi.

Here is a list of what I’ve found:

Sikkim: A Traveller’s Guide, Photographs and Essays by Sujoy Das, Text by Arundhati Ray. Permanent Black, New Delhi, 2001 (This is the book most often recommended)

Garuda & Winged Horses by Somnath Guha. Srishti Publishers, New Delhi , 2001

Memoirs of a Political Officer’s Wife in Tibet, Sikkim and Bhutan by Margaret D. Williamson. Wisdom Publications, London, 1987

Mountaintop Kingdom: Sikkim Photographs by Alice S. Kandell, text by Charlotte Y. Salisbury. Norton & Co, New York (no pub date listed)

History of Darjeeling and the Sikkim Himalaya (this book not yet received; being shipped from India).

I also ordered one DVD from Amazon, The Lion’s Roar, a documentary about the 16th Gyalwa Karmapa filmed in 1985

The next task is to read and digest as much of this information as possible!

As I mentioned earlier, in my reading I found that there is a separatist group in Darjeeling that is demanding the formation of a separate Gorkha homeland. Periodically, this group calls a bandh to put pressure on the government to resolve the issue. A bandh is a political strike that stops all traffic. While Sikkim is not party to this dispute, the road from the airport in Bagdogra or the train station in Siligari leads to both Darjeeling and Sikkim. So if there is a bandh in Darjeeling, you cannot get to Sikkim.

Since it is impossible to predict when there will or will not be a bandh, we need to have some contingency plans. This is one of those times when I wish my schedule were more flexible. But we have fixed dates in and out of Bangkok and need to work within that framework.

Sometimes, the separatist groups names a date when they are going to have a bandh. In this case we might know far enough ahead of time to rearrange some of our itinerary as needed. But other times they just call a bandh with little warning.

So, where can we be flexible? The current plan calls for flying from Bangkok through Kolkata, on to Bagdogra, then drive to Sikkim and Darjeeling for 10 days. Next, a flight back to Kolkata and four nights there before returning to Bangkok for five days. So we have three puzzle pieces: 5 nights in Bangkok, 10 nights in Sikkim/Darjeeling, and 4 nights in Kolkata. Those could be re-ordered in a number of ways. We would need to have flexibility in our hotel reservations (and I’ll be checking on that).

Another option is to change locations if there is a bandh. I’ve already researched Assam. Perhaps we could go there instead. This would require a flight from Kolkata to Guwahati instead of Bagdogra. Of course, it would also require both canceling hotel reservations in Sikkim and Darjeeling and making new ones in Assam as well as changing our flights out of Kolkata.

But when do you decide? A month ahead of the trip? Weeks ahead? Can I wait until I arrive in Bangkok to change plans? Until Kolkata? Until Bagdogra? I guess that depends in part on how willing hotels are to change dates or refund deposits. It also depends on how long we are willing to wait to know where we are going. While I’ll gather all of the information I can when I start making reservations, I’ll have to make that call as the time gets closer.

Technorati Tags: bandh, contingency plans, darjeeling, independent travel research, kolkata, Sikkim

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.

Technorati Tags: Airlines, Asia Travel, calcutta, Independent Travel, india, international travel, kolkata, seattle, Sikkim

Input from other travelers is helpful. And for me, the Fodors forum is especially helpful. I’ve been posting there for years, as have many others. And many of us have met each other at get-togethers all over the world. So I have a cadre of fellow travelers whose opinions I respect.

It was from my request for input that I was referred to the blog post of a fellow Fodorite about her experience on the Darjeeling Toy Train. That, combined with other research convinced me that the Toy Train might be fun, but I shouldn’t count on it as reliable transport. Another Fodorite suggested I consider Darjeeling and Sikkim. Sikkim has been on my list of places I’d like to visit since I was a child. I’d looked at it briefly, but it appeared to be too cold in November-December for what I’m looking for.

Still, it was something to put on the list for future consideration. Another poster noted that Assam is less-touristed than Darjeeling, which is what I’d concluded. So I received a variety of responses to my request. Some of the info provided confirmed my sense of the places, some dis-confirmed, and some raised more possibilities. I did a bit of further research on all of the salient points raised by others.

I had timed all of this data-gathering to be done when we left for our annual trip to Kauai. This was a time to think and talk about the options and come to a conclusion without the tasks and pressures of day-to-day life. I took my Lonely Planet Guide and we had a laptop and free wi-fi, so we were set to work out a plan.

I’m the travel planner, but my partner and I are true travel partners, so we make our travel decisions together. I presented Cheryl with the info I’d gathered and the Lonely Planet and she took some time to digest it. Then we talked together about our thoughts and feelings about the destinations.

Cheryl’s reaction to Assam was that it would be interesting, but not exciting. Darjeeling and Sikkim sounded exciting to Cheryl. Darjeeling, and especially Sikkim sounded exciting to me, but the weather was a concern. The Tibetan Buddhist influence is something we are both interested in. So it was time for more research.

The internet is a wonderful thing, but we can all be deceived by assuming the info is correct. I went back to my favorite weather site, then went on to several other weather sites to check the weather in Gangtok and Pelling. One problem with the data was that some sites only gave an average temperature for each month. At high altitudes, especially, that isn’t very helpful. If the average temp is 50 does that mean it varies between 40 and 60 or 25 and 75? We also discovered at least one weather site that had the centigrade temperatures listed as Fahrenheit – that makes a big difference.

After lots of research on weather and local news sites, and some posts from people who were in Sikkim or had been there in November through January, it began to look like the weather in Sikkim would be pretty good. Yes, it would be cold at night, but day times should be very pleasant, 65 – 70, and rain is scarce at that time of the year.

So now we had a first choice destination. Can we make the logistics work?

Technorati Tags: assam, darjeeling, Fodors travel forum, Lonely Planet, NE India travel planning, Sikkim

I consider this part of trip planning to be a real luxury. To simply think about the many options available… I bought an atlas many years ago that billed itself as a list of options.

Sometimes the question of where to next answers itself before I get home from the last trip. I’ve always had a long list of places I wanted to see. Some are written down, some are in my head.

This year, I went back to several lists and looked at ideas. One idea that has been with me for a long time has been Machu Picchu. I’d planned to take that trip a decade ago. But before the trip was planned I was in an auto accident. While I wasn’t badly hurt, my back was injured enough that long walking was clearly not in my near future. My plan for Machu Picchu had been to walk the Inca trail and enter through the Gate of the Sun. That plan had to be put on hold. As the years have gone by, my back is better, but I don’t think I’ll ever hike the Incan Trail. An easier Machu Picchu option is likely in my future. But Machu Picchu hasn’t struck me as being the right trip for this year. And there are mudslides blocking the railway.

So back to my lists. India has long been on my list. But it’s so huge and varied – what to tackle first? One of my lists had Assam on it. So I started doing some research.

I started by doing some reading on my favorite travel boards and buying a guidebook. The guide I could find with the best info (and still, it didn’t have a lot) was the Lonely Planet Guide to Northeastern India.

Assam sounded good to me for a number of reasons. Our last trip was to Burma, and Assam shares a border with Burma. The there are shared history and customs among the people on the two sides of the border. It seemed like a natural extension of our time in Burma. Assam offers the opportunity for a variety of interesting activities. National parks offer wildlife viewing. There are tea plantation, temples and markets. And my favorite weather site, weatherbase.com confirms that it will be a pleasantly warm break from November‘s rain and cold in Seattle.

Technorati Tags: independent travel itinerary, independent travel planning