Today it was time to leave Pelling behind and make our way to Gangtok, the capital of Sikkim – a total distance of 125km was ahead of us with plenty of ups and downs and a driving time of about five hours (that’s sans breaks).

We already pulled in for a first stop just an hour or 20km into the trip at Legship. Legship is right at the Rangeet River at an altitude of about 580m – and as such 1600m (or a mile) lower than Pelling.

After plenty of Buddhist temples during the last few days, we were now about to visit the Kirateshwar Mahadev Temple – a Hindu temple built at the place, where Lord Shiva, dressed as a hunter, appeared in front of a Kuru prince to bless him for success in war. A cable suspension bridge got us over to the temple ground, where we then were guided around the temples, statues of deities and Shiva Lingas, complete with explanations … well, what I remember, the temple is also a destination for folks wishing for a child – time to move on 🙂