As the unlock 4 is on unveil in India we can surely hope for a COVID free atmosphere very soon and today I shall take you through to the most spectacular and adventurous excursion destination of West Bengal. Sandakhphu and Phalut atop the Singallila ridge of great Himalaya.
First, let me tell you something about Sandakhphu... situated at about 12000 ft. Above sea level Sandakphu is the heights mountain peak of West Bengal with Phalut the second heights peak of West Bengal at about 11800 ft above sea level. It is located at the border of the Indian states of West Bengal and Sikkim and of Nepal. It is located inside the Singalila National Park.
If blessed with a favourable weather, on a sunny morning you can witness more than eight(12) Himalayan peaks including Everest, Lhotse, Makalu, Kumbnakarna and Kanchenjangha main, Central and South Summit and the magnificent sleeping Buddha will surely give you the feeling of heaven.
I shall describe the entire tour plan and itinerary from Kolkata, West Bengal, India.
There are a number of mail and express trains from Howrah and Sealdah Junction upto New Jalpaiguri Jn. namely Darjeeling Mail, Padatik, Kamrup, Kanchenjengha Exp. Etc. Etc., the fares you should verify before booking the tickets.
The journey time varies from 12 to 16 hours for a distance of about 584 km. excluding the delays and most of the trains reach New Jalpaiguri by 11 a.m. in the morning. You must check the latest time table before booking.
You can also go by air through Bagdogra Airport from NSCBI international airport Kolkata. The air fare varies from Rs.1500/- to Rs.8000/- depending the class and time you will be travelling in.
On reaching Bagdogra Airport or New Jalpaiguri Junction Railway station you will have to proceed to Maneybanjang. Remember the name of the place... its Maneybanjang. A small township located at an altitude of 7,054 ft (2,150 m). This is virtually the gateway to Singalila and Sandakphu. Generally you will not get many of the hired vehicles upto Maneybhanjang directly . For this purpose, you will have to hire a cab or shared vehicle upto Ghoom Junction and then another cab from Ghoom to Maneybhanjang. Otherwise you may pre-book a cab directly from Bagdogra to Maneybhanjang or New Jalpaiguri to Maneybhanjang.
Distances :-
Bagdogra to Ghoom – 65 Km. Journey time – 2:30 hrs.
New Jalpaiguri to Ghoom – 67 Km., Journey time – 2:40hrs.
Ghoom to Maneybhanjang – 20 Km. ... Journey time – 1 hr.
From NJP or Siliguri you can also get shared taxi up to Mirik and then take another one. Maneybhanjang is only 26 kms from Darjeeling and takes about 1 hour 15 minutes by taxi, but you have to remember that from Ghoom to Darjeeling it’s a totally different route and you have to come back to Ghoom again from Darjeeling in order to proceed to Maneybhanjang.
Now, the most important point to notice here that if you are an Indian National, you will have to register all the travellers name and other details at Maneybhanjang Singalila Park check post for entry beyond that point and Sandakphu and if you are a foreign national you need to pay a permit Fee (i.e. Singalilla National Park Entry fee) of Rs.200/-. Without paying this fee, entry in Singalia National Park will not be allowed. Carry your passport which may be checked at several intermediate check posts along the route like Tumling, Gairibas, Batasi etc. If you are going through a trek operator, they will take care of the permit. Now, this entry point closes sharp at 01:00 P.M. for the day and as such you need to cross the point well before 01:00 P.M. as such trekkers usually reach Maneybhanjang on the previous day, stay at a hotel or homestay, and proceed early next morning.
For getting the details and phone numbers of the hotels and homestays at Maneybhanjnag you can mail me at esarmi2020@gmail.com or can put your query in the comment box.
They charge about Rs. 4800/- for round trip,
Maneybhanjang to Phalut (round trip): Rs. 7,500/- for round trip and about Rs.1000/- for each night halt. You have to re-check the above rates before you start.
Still Digital Camera: Rs. 100/-; Video Camera: Rs. 400/-
Maneybhnajang to Sandakphu is about 60 km. and on the way it is better to have a night’s halt at Tonglu or Tumling village of Nepal via Meghma.
The initial route from Maneybhanjang up to Chitre (a small village before Meghma) is very steep, and so is the last lap between Bikheybhanjang (a village after Kalipokhri) and Sandakhphu. From Meghma, the trekkers usually take the trek route towards Tonglu.
The entire route is just perfect for trekkers. From Tumling upto Garibas it is a distance of abot 8 Km.
Till which point now you will get concretised road. I will show you video of the entire route. The real adventure beings from Garibas SSB outpost from where only boulder laden muddy road will be waiting for you and if you are driving a vehicle, you will be challenged both mentally and physically and the video will show you....
before Tonglu, a trek route bifurcates towards left and leads towards Tumling while the main route continues to Tonglu. There is a GTA lodge at Tonglu and also a District Magistrate's bungalow. From here, the gravel road for vehicles continues towards Tumling. Tonglu to Tumling and then to Gairibas agradual descent making an easy route for the trekkers.
The next halt is at “Kalipokhri” at a distance of about 6 Km. From Gairibas.... Pokhri means small lake in Nepali. This place is situated at about 10,400 ft. above sea level. I will show you photos of Kalipokhri. Heavenly beauty. Some small tea stalls and smalls shops of gloves, muffler, torch, biscuit, chowmin etc. Chilling wind and black(Kali) water lake will enthral you for sure.
The last stretch of uphill climb begins from here... another 6/7 km. of horrible journey.. Trekkers definitely enjoy the walk... It will take around 1 hour or so to cover this 6 km stretch....
Ultimately you reach Sandakphu..
There are a number of staying accommodation at Sandakphu which you can explore. But, in my opinion the best is Sherpa Chalet hotel at the Nepal side of the border, you can have the details from me if required.
Besides there is one West Bengal Govt. PWD guest house for which you have to apply to the Chief Engineer, PWD, Nabanna, Howrah, West Bengal, India, well in advance. But, accommodation is very limited. Only four rooms available and they can be cancelled at any time for any V.I.P. movement.
One forest department bunglow is also there in the Indian side and in Nepal side another hotel is situated beside Sherpa Chalet, called Sunrise Hotel.
For the hotels, rate varies from Rs.1500/- to Rs.3500/- depending upon the floor and room type. For the PWD bunglow room rent is Rs.45/- only per head.
With the sunset, shivering cold and fridging water will greet you and if you are lucky you will get so much of snowfall that a point will come when you will pray for its stoppage. Some photos will explain you.
Note that there is not even a single shop for any material whatsoever at Sandakphu. No school, no office, no residential house, no market, no internet and no electricity. All the hotels and guest houses run on solar panels and almost all of them have their in house outlet where you can find, biscuit, Sugar, egg, hard drinks etc. obviously at a very high charge.
Heavenly beauty and Himalayan peaks will hug you from every corner.
From here, Phalut is at a distance of 21 km. You can either trek or go by Landrover. Road condition is same... barely motorable.
Most horrible phase of this trip can be the climbing down phase in the morning when the snow melts... Your vehicle can slip down thousand feets below anytime but for the expert drivers of Singalila Land Rover Owner's Welfare Association you will be back to Maneybhnajang within 2:30 hours.
From Sandakhphu, the most common route for return is via Gurdum, Srikhola and Rimbik. From Rimbik trekkers usually take a bus or jeep for a drop at Maneybhanjang. However many prefer to trek from Sandakphu further up to Phalut and then return via Gorkey, Rammam, Srikhola, Rimbik.
There is also another route from Sandakphu via Sabarkum (11,600 ft) and Molley (11,800 ft) that connects to Rammam. From there it merges with the route of Srikhola and Rimbik.
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