Sandakphu by Land Rover

It was a Sunday and we all friends were busy in our Sunday 'adda' in the evening and we were talking about our experiences in various tours and suddenly the name “Sandakphu” was uttered by someone. And it took approximately 10 minutes for us to decide that Sandakphu is out next destination. Wasted no time and started gathering information about Sandakphu. There are plenty of informations available in Google so it was not a big trouble. The initial plan was to trek but the moment we came to know that land rovers are also available from Maneybahnjang we opted for that only because we didn't have much of time. We booked our hotel and a land rover from Kolkata itself and that was a big mistake for which our tour was almost going to end before it had started. Shall talk about it afterwards.

We reached NJP in a bright sunny morning and booked a cab for Manebhanjang which is the starting point of the trek/land rover. We went via Mirik and spent sometime beside the famous lake. From Sukhiapokhri we took the left hand side and reached Mane at around 12 noon. We shifted to hotel and after our lunch we got out of the room to roam around the small village. Mane is a nice small hamlet with some 30-35 families. In the evening we met the famous 'Masterjee'. We'll never forget the way this man helped us although he didn't even know us. However, he came to us and gave us some useful infos about the road and route. It was getting colder out there in Mane and we already had our dinner so we opted to go to bed and prepare ourselves for the tough journey ahead.

The next day we were ready and so was our vehicle. But honestly I could hardly believe that this 'Dabba' shaped vehicle is actually going to take us to 11000 ft! Anyways, its better not to think about things which are beyond of my control. We got into the cab and our trouble began.

The problem was, there are approx 30 land rovers which ply between mane and sandakphu. Now whoever comes from Kolkata (which is 90% of the total travellers) they book that cab only and the other cabs seat idle. Now they won't let that cab go. We could do nothing but seat and watch. Now we can't change the cab as we've made the full payment of hotel, cab, everything in Kolkata only. This went on for almost an hour or so and finally Masterjee came for our rescue. He sat with the other car owners and convinced them that he will talk to the Kolkata booking agent and ask him not to book cabs anymore from Kolkata. After another half an hour of this urgent meeting we were given the pass to go and they all came to us and apologised for their behaviour and we also understood that it is their only source of income so their point is also quite logical. However, thanks to Masterjee, we started our journey at around 10:30 in the morning.

5 minutes in that vehicle and we understood what a big mistake we've made by opting for land rovers. No there was no complain against the vehicle. It was perfectly OK but the road was horrible. It was full of boulders and the jerking made our life miserable. Our first stop was at Tumling and we reached there at around 12 noon. The hotel was quite good and was in a great positin to watch the sunrise over the Kanchanjangha. Tumling falls under the teritorry of Nepal. The place doesn't have electricity and that makes it even more beautiful. We paid a visit to Tonglu which is at some one and half km distance from Tumling and that is within India. Late in the afternoon the entire place was covered by fog and it was an awesome experience.

The next day morning we enjoyed the grand sight of the Sunrise over The Kanchanjangha. We had our breakfast and started our journey to Sandakphu. The beauty of the road can't be described in words. It was mid of the April and the Singalila Sanctuary was getting ready with all its beauty. We had lunch at Kalipokhri. The word 'Pokhri' means pond/lake and there is a lake at this place and the water of the lake is black. Hence, it is name as Kalipokhri. It is a holy lake for the locals. The next place is name Bikebhanjang and 6 kms from here on is Sandakphu. This last 6 kms is the most difficult one for the trekkers. The slope is almost at 60 degree angle. However, we reached Sandakphu at round 12 noon and shifted to hotel. There are quite a few hotel (roughly 4 to 5) here and there is a camp of the SSB (Shashatra Seema Bal) as well. This is probably the only village of India where from one can see so many 8000mts high peak. But we were not so lucky...it was cloudy and in the afternoon it started raining! We actually had nothing to do except watching rain through the window of the room. But the rain, the cloud, the lush greenery...in one word its fantastic.

The next day we all went up very early in the morning and guess what did we see?...it was still raining out there guys! And that was our last day in Sandakphu. We had to retun in the afternoon. We were terribly upset! Even a single peak was not visible. It was 7 o'clock in the morning and by that time rain had also stopped. I went out with my camera to take a few snap of the morning and to my surprise I saw that the cloud cover was gone and the Kanchanjangha was in front of me. It seems as if I could touch the paek by stretching my hands. And it wasn't Kanchanjangha only. I could figure out Kabru, Pandim, Jano and few others as well. I couldn't even imagine that the weather can change so quickly. I had my photo session for a while and came back to hotel for breakfast. We had no plan to go Falut but our driver said he is ready to take us to some distance towards that direction and he said that the scenic beauty of that road is breath taking. And indeed, it was. There are lush green grass lands at both sides of the road though there was hardly any sign of any road. We came back to our hotel and after lunch headed towards Manebhanjang...