sikkim.ch –
About us
Since 1999, we have been building bridges between people and cultures far away from mass tourism. We connect you, our guest, to our local network of chauffeurs, guides, accommodation managers and cultural mediators.
We have lived and worked for many years at all of our travel destinations, so you will benefit from our local networks and our extensive experience of bring different cultures together. With us as your travel companion, you will be able to discover much more than the usual tourist attractions.
As a native Swiss, I understand the needs of our customers as well as the conditions and challenges that our travel destinations can bring and we tailor all of our trips accordingly. It is my task not only to build a bridge between cultures, but also to ensure the needs of our guests in terms of structure and hygiene.
Thanks to our personal and proven contacts with local cultural mediators, chauffeurs, guides, and the guardians of traditions and employees, we are always well prepared.
Guide Teiso with Noëmi in Arunachal Pradesh. (2018)
Helen with the owner of a home stay in Arunachal Pradesh
Helen with daughter Noëmi (2001) in Bhutan
I am very grateful that I was able to spend over 14 years of my life in the former kingdom of Sikkim, northeastern India and Bhutan, in the Indian Himalayas. I got to know the country and its people first-hand by participating in everyday life and festivities. It is here that I founded the Bamboo Retreat Hotel with my Sikkimese husband, who unfortunately passed a few years ago. Together we built up our very own travel agency and tour operating companies (sikkim.ch & terralaya.com).
We discovered and got to know just about every corner of Sikkim, on numerous hikes, treks and road trips. We have an intense, personal connection to all of our travel destinations and the locals. We know the special needs and peculiarities of both cultures. So you will certainly benefit from our wealth of experience. Take a look at our various destinations and touring packages, and get inspired!
Feel free to contact us. This is the best way for us to be able to personally advise you, because not all of our travel offers are published on our website. Even trips with a pioneering character are possible.
Noëmi crosses a root bridge with a local guide in Meghalaya. (2006)
We have always supported local projects. Also, for example, the children’s home Lepcha Cottage, which was founded by Miss Keepu, who is highly valued in Sikkim. She is a member of the indigenous Lepcha people.
Helen Kämpf
I am happy to be one of the bridge builders who strengthens the connections between travelers and the locals living on the land. I am fascinated by this and again and again I realize how meaningful basic trust can grow with an intense, emotional relationship with the land.
Countless hours of silent meditation and seclusion have strengthened my inner compass and has made me realize that the only part of the game that stays the same is change. The choices that we make from one moment to the next are the powerful tools which help shape that change, and inevitably our lives.
My career:
1992: Federal Certificate of Commercial Competence.
1992–1994: Student exchange years in the USA and Guatemala. English and Spanish language studies. Permaculture course with Larry Santoyo in Ford, California (US).
1996: Bachelor’s degree in International Studies in Vermont (US) and Ladakh, India. Project work in Ladakh: Industrial Society’s Alienation from Agrarian Values.
Since 1997: Green Gardening Educator Training Program at the San Francisco League of Urban Gardeners, San Francisco (US); The Art and Science of Herbalism, course with Rosemary Gladstar. Further study of Spanish on social assignments in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala. Extensive travels to India, Mongolia, Myanmar and Bangladesh, among others.
1999–2013: Co-founder of Terralaya Travels (terralaya.com) and Bamboo Retreat Hotel (bambooretreat.in) in Sikkim, India. Extensive travel experiences, partly with a pioneering character, in Sikkim, Northeast India, Bhutan, Rajasthan, Central India, Ladakh and South India. Development of different types of travel including cultural and hiking tours, trekking tours, cycling tours and themed tours to places of high energy.
2001: Our daughter Noëmi was born in Sikkim, where she spent her childhood.
2014–present: Further development of the travel agency with launch of Sikkim (sikkim.ch), Terrralaya (terralaya.com) and Bamboo Retreat (bambooretreat.in).
2020: Permaculture course with Beat Rölli.
2021–2022: Internships at various farms in Switzerland.
2023: Garden Therapy course with certificate, Inforama Hondrich, Switzerland. Project work: Evaluation of Garden Therapy Services for Hotel Guests.
2024: Farm & Family Manager with federal professional certification. Project work: Garden for Optics, Health and Food-Conservation. Autumn Seminar, Inforama Emmental and Hondrich, Switzerland.
Since 2023: Further development of travel offerings, show garden at the Bamboo Retreat Hotel and development of a concept for the Academy of Himalayan Plant and Culinary Heritage.
Languages: German, English, Spanish, Nepali and some French.
Further interests: Lifelong tourism projects with a focus on authenticity and sustainability, sports, health and wellbeing.
Our transport vehicles are always serviced and inspected.
We connect cultures. Here Helen with a budding local monk in West-Sikkim.
Helen with a rare wild rhubarb plant in a remote side valley in northern Sikkim.
We build bridges between cultures – here our tour guide Tseten at a cultural exchange in Bern (Switzerland)
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Helen with Khiamniungan tribesmen in traditional dress in Nagaland (2004)
Tseten Norbu Bhutia
Tseten has been with us from the very beginning. Growing up in the mountain village of Yoksum in Sikkim, at the tender age of 11, Tseten accompanied his grandfather on extensive hikes in the mountains at the foot of the third highest mountain in the world, Mt. Khanchenjunga. This mountain giant is considered to be the guardian being by the local people. The mythical stories of yeti sightings and fascinating legends told to him by the village elders have left quite an impression on Tseten. He often shares some of these childhood stories and legends with our guests, which adds an intimate, personal insight during our tours.
The combination of the teachings of Buddhism and the indigenous Lepchā’s view of life as an interdependent, animated web are the basis for his deep respect for nature, its forces and manifestations. Due to his extensive trekking experience near Terrolaya, he knows the mountain and plant world like no other. He takes care of our trekking equipment and keeps us constantly informed about weather and road conditions. He maintains excellent relationships with our local porters, chefs, chauffeurs and guides, as well as doctors and local authorities.
Tseten has many years of experience as a tour and trekking guide and travel coordinator. His passion is to provide our guests with excellent travel or trekking experiences through top organization, cultivating a caring and motivated team spirit. Tseten earned a Master’s degree in Art History from North Bengal University in Siliguri, India. In 2015, he visited us in Switzerland, and since then, he has had an even greater understanding of the needs of our guests. Tseten speaks English, Bhutanese, Lepcha, Nepali and Hindi.
Sunita Sharma
“Since I was a child, I have learned to follow the customs and traditions that teach us to serve our fellow human beings in the best possible way. I love to take in nature and enjoy communicating with guests and sharing with them our local lifestyle, as well as knowledge about Sikkim and India. I believe the universe connected my life’s journey with sikkim.ch and terralaya.com. This collaboration allows me to work on my skills. Today’s people are very busy and don’t have time for themselves. Everyone knows that our mental health is just as important as our physical health and that the two are connected. In pursuit of a good life, we often don’t seem to give ourselves the time to reconnect with Mother Nature. Experiencing the earth is not only a source of beauty and happiness, but also prepares us for the struggles of life. The entire team and I take pride in providing you with the best possible service and we look forward to welcoming you to our country.”
Sunita speaks Nepali, English and Hindi.
Your comfort and safety is paramount for our tour guides, chauffeurs and trekking teams. Through many years of experience and local connections, they will open doors to new worlds for you.
Building bridges as cultural mediators and guardians of traditions. Connecting farmers, gardeners, park rangers, ornithologists, small entrepreneurs, producers, craftsmen, homestay families, village teachers, Buddhist monks and shamans.
Freshly prepared flatbreads in the homestay
Farmer plows his field in West-Sikkim
Caretaker of the trekking animals
Lepcha farmer collecting food shows his friends
Park ranger shows leopard tracks