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below are still dark with only a scattering of house lights glinting. We climb a steep path behind houses, passed iced-over puddles and snow on vegetable gardens, then pass through a cedar forest to reach Ganesh Tok, a viewing tower, Hindu temple and a Buddhist sacred place, high on a promontory. To the west the humbling immensity of the Himalayas is now bright white, and horsetails of powder snow fly off the south face of Khangchendzonga into blue sky. Below the rising sun slowly spreads over Gangtok bringing its features into detailed clarity; temples on hilltops, houses clinging to steep slopes and layers of rice fields carved carefully into the sides of steep valleys. The Himalayan Zoological Park, near Ganesh Tok, opens at 9.00 a.m. I'm not usually fond of zoos but this one is brilliant; all 32 hectares of it. Some of the enclosures are so big that it's difficult to see animals in them, but as the sun strengthens yaks, tahr and deer come out of the forest and sit, warming in open sunny spots. The locals, and there are not many visiting the zoo this morning, have hired taxis. We are the only ones walking but we love it; the snow is so powdery it squeaks underfoot, we eat hand-fulls of it and drink in the scenery. There is, at times, a feeling of being inside a Chinese ink drawing with snow- bent bamboo in the foreground and massive mountains behind with deep, shadowy valleys lost in the depths between. It's breakfast time at the red panda' enclosure, but some of these fluffy faced fellows are still snuggled in their beds and won't come out in the cold. They are adorably cute and the look of love on the keeper's face shows that he thinks so too. Coincidently, one of the two snow leopards is called Robbie and this Robbie is also blonde and tawny. She's perfectly camouflaged in golden grass and occasionally lifts her head, looks at us and yawns, then continues to doze in the sun. We see civet cats, mountain cats and mountain leopards all of which live in remote parts of Sikkim. Our breakfast has been snow and the almonds and dates Terry keeps in his daypack for unexpected hungry times. So, late morning, with many kilometres walked before discovering the zoo restaurant, we tuck-in to huge plates of fried noodles and steaming hot chai. This is all that's available and it's delicious. With a second cup of chai we sit facing the sun and if people could purr we would. The snow is melting, lumps of it slides off trees and drips sparkle on the ends of leaves. We have only been in Sikkim 36 hours, and it feels as if we have fallen into Himalayan heaven. Liz Light Essential information Plane: Singapore Airlines flies into Kolkata and Delhi. From these cities there are direct flights to Siliguri on numerous local airlines (Kingfisher, Go India, Spice). Buying tickets over the Internet is easy and efficient. Bus: Sikkim is too mountainous to have an airport. The bus takes six hours from Siliguri to Gangtok. Permits: Foreigners need permits to visit, but these are easy to obtain at Sikkim House next to the bus station in Siliguri. Best time: October to May. Winter, in January and February, is cold but beautiful. June to September is monsoon season and mountain roads are often closed. HER MAGAZINE | December/January 2012 | 101