Kangchenjunga at breakfast — West Sikkim's monastery viewpoint above the clouds
Pelling is a small hill town in West Sikkim at 2,150m — famous primarily for the view of Kangchenjunga (8,586m, the world's third-highest mountain) that fills the northern horizon from every guesthouse rooftop, particularly stunning in dawn light before clouds develop. The surrounding area contains Sikkim's oldest monastery (Pemayangtse, 1705), ruins of former palaces of the Sikkimese Chogyal kings, and the highest skywalk in India — a glass suspension bridge across a canyon. The approach roads through West Sikkim's cardamom forests and terraced hillsides are among the most beautiful in the H…
West Sikkim was the heartland of the Chogyal dynasty — the Buddhist kings who ruled the independent Kingdom of Sikkim from the 17th century until Indian annexation in 1975. Pelling sits near Rabdentse, the second capital of the kingdom (1670–1814), the ruins of which are among the most evocative royal sites in the eastern Himalayas. The Lepcha people (Rongkup — 'children of the mist') are the indigenous inhabitants of Sikkim and occupy significant forest territory in West Sikkim.