Lingthem Lyang Homestay

Our 3-day stay at Lingthem Lyang Homestay was an unforgettable experience. We needed a special permit for the Dzongu area as non-Indian tourists and Sangdup took care of all paperwork needed. He even organized a driver for our entire 10-day trip in Sikkim. We stayed in the newly built spacious cottage with an amazing beautiful view of the Kanchenjunga mountain ranges from our room windows. The property in typical Lepcha style is located in a beautiful part of Lingthem overlooking rice- and cardamom fields. Sangdup and his family were all wonderful hosts and it was humbling experiencing the village with them. We went to the monastery and joined a special celebration lunch. We also went for a beautiful hike from Passingdong to the hotsprings, Lyang waterfall and back (19 km). We truly enjoyed all the tasty traditional dishes freshly prepared with adjustments to our plant-based diet. The food is organic and the ingredients are obtained from their garden. Overall a great experience!

We had booked for one night stay on our return trip from North Sikkim and wanted to enjoy then quiet and tranquil atmosphere at Lingthem Lyang Homestay, Dzongu. The place requires special permission like all other places (our reliable driver - Mr. Santosh Gupta - +919474349326 has obtained all required permission beforehand). We drove upward from the bridge over the Teesta River to reach Dzongu. The road is a typical village road with rough patches at most places and we have to depend on GPS mostly as well as the phone numbers as the driving through deserted roads will have little help in guiding to the destination. It is a long drive from the bridge to reach the top of the hill on which the Homestay is located. We had to seek direction multiple times as no marking is on the road to reach correct destination. Once we reached the place, we were really surprised to see the Homestay at a height where you need to climb 120 steps (no support on both sides and people have leg / joint problems will find it very difficult to climb such steep steps). The room provides to us was the backside of the Homestay (with attached bath). The room was very small so also the beds and it is difficult to accommodate 2 person on a bed of 3 feet width. On our complain, we were provided one additional room to sleep in the night. They provided one towel for 4 person which is crazy. The food is provided to guests as per the requirement of the Homestay and not as per the requirement of the Guests. Lunch is after 2.30PM and breakfast after 9PM and dinner after 10.30PM is really difficult time. The place is very quiet with a few birds - I could see 4 varieties - Scarlet mini vat male and female, Verditer Flycatcher, Lesser Yellow nape Woodpecker. The people are nice and helped us to get the Bada Elaichi from the village to carry home.

I made a booking based on excellent reviews of the homestay and was really looking forward to my stay. I had informed Mr. Sangdup Lepcha that I am a solo traveller and a US national. He assured me that this would not be a problem and he would arrange for the permit based on my OCI. I sent the deposit well in advance and all the details that were asked to arrange the permit. It was hard to get hold of Mr. Lepcha from that time on as he would just not reply to my messages on whatsapp or return the call. When I did get hold of him from another phone to inquire about the status of my permit, he said that there are still plenty of days and not to worry. In the meanwhile, I had been informed by other sources that my stay in Dzongu would not per permitted as it is only allowed for a group of two foreigners or more with a guide. When I talked to Mr. Lepcha about this, he again assured that the permit would be arranged. It was only the evening before my scheduled arrival that I finally heard from Mr. Lepcha that my stay would not be possible. He did not return the deposit and till date has not responded to my request to do so. Clearly, it was no fault of mine and the host should have known the policy better before asking me to send the deposit. I am still certain that the stay would have been memorable if I could make it but this incident speaks for the character of the host who would give more priority to keep the money sent to him as deposit rather than return it and someone who thinks that it is fine to just let a potential guest know the day before scheduled arrival that stay would not be possible without offering any apologies for inconvenience or any sort of regret.