Sandakphu

Sandakphu is a beautiful destination in the Darjeeling district of West Bengal, India. It is famous for its scenic beauty, trekking trails, and panoramic views of the Himalayas, including the world-famous Mount Everest. I will now take you on a journey through my Sandakphu travel blog, where I will share my experience of this picturesque destination.Getting There: The nearest airport to Sandakphu is Bagdogra airport, and the nearest railway station is New Jalpaiguri railway station. From there, you can take a taxi to reach Manebhanjang, which is the starting point of the trek to Sandakphu. The trek is around 32 km long, and you can either walk or hire a jeep to reach Sandakphu.The Trek: The trek to Sandakphu is a moderate one and takes around 3-4 days to complete. The trek route passes through beautiful forests, picturesque villages, and stunning landscapes. The trail is well-marked, and there are several tea houses and campsites along the way where you can take rest and enjoy local food.The Highlights: The main highlight of Sandakphu is undoubtedly the breathtaking views of the Himalayan range, including Mount Everest, Kanchenjunga, Lhotse, Makalu, and many other peaks.

On Day 4we rise up a bit late as one of our guy was not feeling well and had to descend down for treatment. We spend half the day in Kalipokhari and had lunch there. Last night was a experience in itself. it was around -6 degree and wind was blowing like hell. Sometime it was feeling like our log huts will get blown by it. The flag poles were swinging like logs. Today we spend lot of time exploring the region around frozen Kalipokhari lake. The lake has religious importance to the locals. Also it is said that it is a like of poison. ‘Kali’ means poison. In the afternoon we decided to take a Land Rover to Sandakphu. We were lucky, that Pandim Lodge had their own Land rover and drove us to Sandakphu at Rs. 2000. We witnessed sun set over the Kanchenjunga and got a clear view of Everest as well. It’s a panorama of great snow clad mountains, whose beauty can only be felt at that moment. We settled down for the day at Sandakphu.

Day 3 started at 5:30 am. We went for a morning walk up the hills, where all you can see till the far is hills .. We encountered a beautiful sunrise also. We were provided with only 1 bucket of hot water for being fresh. All we could do is brush and leave. For those days we forgot what bathing was. After that we had a great breakfast - pancakes, aloo paratha, chilla (made of gram flour and white flour), boiled eggs and pyaz tamatar ki sabzi. At around 9 am we set off for Sandakphu. We were ready for the drive that would probably be the most adventurous ride till date. And yes it was. The roads were so steep that a point came when we could not see the part other side.. it felt like reaching the cliff and then jumping off it. In between we stopped at Kali pokhri, it has a sacred lake which has some holy beliefs among the locals. Moving forward, we finally reached our destination - SANDAKPHU. Temperature was 2 degrees Celsius. As we were not lucky enough to see Kanchenjunga there also, all we could see was clouds. The hotel Sunrise in Sandakphu was the only hotel present there. As obvious it was quite crowdy. And no meaures for covid were taken. Infact people were not even wearing masks. The hotel was still under construction. As this place has water scarcity, water is supplied in containers which come from Manaybhanjyang. Because of this, water supply is limited. There was no water supply in the toilet flush, forget about geyser. The food was also not that satisfying. The only good thing was the view from the room. It felt - "I was on the clouds". In the evening we witnessed beginning of snowfall.

1. Sandakphu TrekImagine the magnificent views of some of the highest peaks in the world – the radiant white light of Everest on one side, also the magnificent Kanchenjunga spectacle on the other. Thus the trip to Sandakphu and Phalut describes the beauty, strength, and grandeur of all that one club did. This eight-day Sandakphu Phalut Trek allows you to wake up every morning on natural swamps, surrounded by dense forests and green valleys, between rhododendron mountains and white mountains – each of which will surely take your breath.

Kalipokhri - Sandakphu ( 6km / 4-5 hours )The trail of the day starts with a gradual ascent which is followed by another steep ascent. The trail gets covered with hard snow which affects your walking speed. You'll eventually reach Sandakphu during your lunch time. Head over to Aahl which is a mere 2km walk up from Sandakphu to enjoy the sunset and don't forget to carry your windproof jacket with you cause the wind speed is very high at top of Aahl. Spent the night at Sandakphu by sipping a peg of old monk .