PineCone Homestay Sillery Gaon

PineCone Homestay is a small three-room homestay in Sillery Gaon, a farming hamlet of a few dozen families at about 6,000 ft in the Kalimpong hills, close to the Sikkim border. On a clear day Kanchenjunga fills the northern sky, and you can see it from almost every corner of the property.

Rates start at ₹1,000 per person. The house is compact and homely rather than grand, and it is run the way a family home is: you are a guest at our table, not a customer at a front desk.

There are three Standard Homestay Rooms, each taking up to four guests, so the homestay sleeps twelve when full. That works well for a family that wants a room together or a group of friends booking the whole house.

What makes the difference up here is the basics. Sillery Gaon is known for patchy mains electricity, and many homes run a generator only for a few hours after dark. PineCone has 24-hour power backup and 24-hour hot water, so a cold winter morning is still a comfortable one. Wi-Fi is free.

Meals are not part of the room rate; they are cooked at home and charged separately, so you pay only for what you eat. Expect simple, home-cooked hill food made fresh in the family kitchen. Let us know your meal plan and any dietary needs when you book, since everything is cooked to order for the number of guests in the house.

• Ramitey View Point, about 4 km by road, roughly 5 minutes' drive. From the cliff edge you look down on the Teesta winding through the valley in its famous fourteen bends, with Kanchenjunga behind. Go at sunrise for the best light.
• Silent Valley, about 3 km, a valley that turns into a small lake during the monsoon.
• Damsang Fort, a short drive, the ruins of the old Lepcha fort near Pedong.
• Tinchuley View Point, a steep half-hour climb for another wide view of the range.
• Icche Gaon, the neighbouring homestay village, linked to Sillery Gaon by a forest trail.
• Sangchen Dorjee Monastery near Pedong, believed to be around 300 years old.

The forest around the village is pine, rhododendron and bamboo, and it is good for birdwatching on the walks between viewpoints.

• From Kalimpong: 23 km, 30 to 45 minutes. Take the Rishi road to Algarah, turn onto the Pedong road, and a short way before Pedong a narrow gravel road climbs up to Sillery Gaon.
• From New Jalpaiguri (NJP): 95 km, 4 to 5 hours by road.
• From Siliguri Junction: 88 km, 3 to 4 hours.
• From Bagdogra Airport: about 100 km, around 4 hours.

The last few kilometres are narrow and bumpy gravel through forest, so a higher-clearance car such as a Sumo or Scorpio is the sensible choice. Shared jeeps run between Kalimpong and Pedong; get off at the turning and ask us in advance about a pickup for the last stretch.

October and November bring the clearest skies and the best chance of a sharp Kanchenjunga sunrise. Spring, from March into early summer, is also good, with mild days and clear mornings. December to February is beautiful but properly cold at night. July to September is the monsoon: heavy rain, cloud that hides the mountains, and leeches on the trails.

• Check-in is at 1 PM and check-out at 10:30 AM.
• 24-hour hot water and 24-hour power backup.
• Free Wi-Fi; mobile signal in the village can be patchy.
• Free parking at the homestay.
• Pets are welcome.
• Suitable for families, couples and senior citizens.
• A bonfire can be arranged on cold evenings.
• Meals are charged separately from the room rate.