Elgin Mount Pandim

Sikkim

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This erstwhile royal getaway is perched on a hilltop near Pemayangtse Gompa with stupendous views in all directions. Highlights are the manicured lawns and the welcoming lobby; it's everything you'd want in a heritage hotel, busy with uniformed staff and packed with interest but welcomingly unstuffy.

Cosily luxurious rooms come with very fresh but unflashy bathrooms in the main building, snazzier ones in the annex, three minutes' walk away through the garden. It's around 2km east of Upper Pelling.

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Nearby Sikkim attractions

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One of Sikkim’s oldest and most significant Nyingmapa monasteries, Pemayangtse (literally ‘Perfect Sublime Lotus’) is 500m off the Geyzing road – turn…

2. Rabdentse

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A few partially rebuilt wall stubs are all that remain of the palace complex at Rabdentse, which was Sikkim's royal capital from 1670 until it was sacked…

3. Helipad

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Just 10 minutes' stroll from Upper Pelling's Zero Point junction, the helipad is about the best viewpoint around, with almost 360-degree views.

4. Sanghak Choeling Gompa

1.67 MILES

Near the foot of the vast new Chenrezig Statue, this monastery complex is a contrastingly calm, meditative place with fabulous views, with seven stone…

5. Chenrezig Statue

1.85 MILES

Officially unveiled in November 2018, this huge, four-armed statue of Chenrezig (Avalokiteshvara) sits around 500m beyond the attractive little Sanghak…

6. Tashiding Gompa

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7. Chorten 'Forest'

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At the southern end of the Tashiding Gompa complex, this unusual compound contains a 2008 dharma bell, two giant Kashmir cypress trees and a series of…

8. Drakar Tashiding

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If you're visiting Tashiding Gompa, a minor 'extra' sight is this tiny prayer cave, accessed via 250m of mossy stairs down to a small, tin-roofed hut…