The name Sandakphu means the 'Height of the Poison Plant', a direct reference to the profusion of the poisonous aconite plants that grow near the peak. The loftiest peak of the Singalila Range, Sandakphu is the culminating point of many trekking routes in the Darjeeling-Sikkim region.
Sandakphu epitomises the wild elemental grandeur of the snows. Nature here is at her pristine best, and the vista at the top is worth all the hardship endured on the way. Aptly called the Paradise of Trekkers, the Sandakphu peak is a vantage point from where one can see four of the world's five highest peaks - Everest, Kanchenjunga, Makalu and Lhotse in a continuous snow-clad arc.
Route details & general observations:
At an altitude of 3,636 Meters, it is located at a distance of 58 Kms from Darjeeling. Trek to Sandakphu starts from Manebhanjan, a small town near Darjeeling. Manebhanjan can be reached from Siliguri via Ghoom/Darjeeling.
Sandakphu is resplendent with the ethereal beauty of magnolias, rhododendrons, primulas and other sub-alpine flowers. It also contains more than 600 varieties of orchids, the largest to be found in a single geographical area in the world. The monsoon months of July-August is not suggested, you can trek during any other time on this route.
- International airport to hotel in Delhi transfer by small coach/ medium or large cars as per the group size
- Sightseeing/ monument visits as per the itinerary
- Delhi to trek beginning point and back to Delhi transfers
- Transfer to international airport in Delhi after the trip
- Transportation of porters, cook, kitchen staff to trek beginning point and back to their places after the trekking
Accommodation – city hotels with breakfast & remaining on full board
- Hotels as per the program
- Trekking duration camps with all meals
- Gala dinner at Delhi with expedition mementoes/ souvenirs
Staff
- Porters for the trekking part
- Cook and kitchen helper (01)
- Trekking guide (01) from trek beginning point to trek end point
- Local sightseeing/ city/ monument guide
Equipment
- Trekking tents for the members
- Trekking tent for cook+ helper and trekking guide
- Ground mattresses
- Kitchen tent, chairs, tables, stools, utensils, crockery and cutlery
- Toilet tents and toiletries
- Medical kit
- Maps and directions
Administrative assistance to the expedition team
- Cargo Management for big groups
- Insurance of the staff and porters for trekking trips like Kangla Pass
- Inner Line permits/ restricted area permits
The cost doesn’t include
- Air tickets of the expedition members
- Any kind of insurance of the clients
- Personal expenditures of the clients
- Helicopter rescue
- Personal sleeping bags and sacs
- Cargo handling charges
Skiing supplement
- If you want to ski down from some point, you can write separately.
Day 01: Arrive at Kolkata. On arrival you will meet our trekking guide and office representative who be take you to the hotel for overnight stay. No other city in India enjoys such visible contrasts, as does the City of Joy of famous writer, Lapiere. The quaint little fishing village has grown up to become the most populated city of India bearing the scars of more than three hundred years. It is truly an enigma that defies any description. Afternoon is for the sightseeing of few places in Kolkata.
Day 02: Kolkata - Siliguri: This day again we continue exploring this marvelous and most amazing city of India later we take overnight train to Siliguri, leaving Kolkata in the evening.
Day 03: Siliguri - Manebhanjan: We arrive at Siliguri in the morning and then drive to Manebhanjan by car covering a distance of 110 Kms. in about 4 hours. Siliguri used to be the commercial capital of North Bengal, Sikkim, Bhutan, Nepal and Bangladesh. Siliguri, the gateway to North Eastern India was only a small hamlet at the beginning of this century. It was an entry point for the mule tracks of the traders to Bhutan, Sikkim and Tibet. It is situated in the so called chicken's neck of the north eastern India, and is the vital connecting link with the rest of the country. Overnight at hotel.
Day 04: Manebhanjan - Tonglu: This is going to be the first day of our trekking in Sikkim Himalayas. After good briefing we start our trek for Tonglu (3060 M) in the morning. It takes about 5 hours to cover 12 Kms up to the trekker's hut, where we stay for the night.
Day 05: Tonglu - Kalipokhri: Today we trek to Kalipokhri (3100 M) covering a distance of 13 Kms in about 6 hours. The route passes through the beautiful Singalila National Park. You may be lucky enough to catch a glimpse of the rare red Panda. Overnight at trekkers hut in Kalipokhri.
Day 06: Kalipokhri - Sandakphu: The day’s trek can be started after a relaxing breakfast. It will take about 4- 5 hours to cover 10 Kms to reach Sandakphu (3634 M). This is the only place in India from where one gets a fantastic view of Mount Everest. You can nicely view stunning sunset on some of the mighty Himalayan peaks like the Kanchenjunga, Makalu, Lohtse, Annapurna, Pandim and Siniolchu. Overnight stay at Sandakphu trekkers hut.
Day 07: Sandakpu - Phalut: Trek to Phalut (3600 M) could be one of the most beautiful trails in this region. It takes about 7 hours to cover the 18 Kms distance, which is quite easy as per the landscape is concerned. The entire trek passes over a ridge with the view of the mighty peaks in front of your eyes always. Overnight stay in trekkers hut.
Day 08: Phalut - Gorkhey: Today we trek down to Gorkhey (2700 M) through the beautiful virgin forest of pines and chestnuts. The route is completely downhill and we cover in 5 hours. Overnight stay in Gorkhey at the trekkers hut.
Day 09: Gorkhey - Srikhola: Morning we explore the fine surroundings of Gorkhey and then after breakfast start our trek for the day to Srikhola- a place situated at the altitude of 2286 M. It is really an easy trek of 6 hours offering us plenty of time to interact with people on the way and pictures. Overnight at Hut/Camp
Day 10: Srikhola - Rimbick - Darjeeling: This is the last day of our adventure; we reach Rimbick in about 2 ½ hours. Transfer to Darjeeling by car, which takes about 3 hours. The name Darjeeling is a composition of 'dorje' meaning 'thunderbolt' and 'ling' meaning 'place' ... 'the Land of Thunderbolt'. The Nepalese had marched till the east of Sikkim in 1780 as far as Tista River. Due to a disagreement with Nepal, the British declared war against Nepal at the end of 1813. In 1816 by a treaty signed at Seagoulie, Nepal ceded 4000 sq. miles of territory and by the treaty of Titalya in 1817 the Rajah (king) of Sikkim was reinstated. Overnight stay at hotel in Darjeeling.
Day 11: Darjeeling - Siliguri: Morning visit to Himalayan Mountaineering Institute and then we travel to Siliguri by car to board evening train for Kolkata.
Day 12: Arrive Kolkata, full day is free.
Day 13: We will drop you to the airport for your flight to next destination.
Getting there: Your nearest international airport is Delhi where you will meet with our expedition manager. After essential visits to IMF and cargo (if required), you will be escotrted towards the initial point of your adventure as per the program details.
After the expedition/ adventure journey, you arrive back to Delhi. After de briefing (in case of expedition) and farewell ceremony, you will be driven to international airport to board flight back to your home.
Airtickets: We have our partners in almost every foreign countries, so if you need any assistance in your air tickets bookings, you are always welcome to speak to us to know about our partner close to you.
Cargo Management: We have strong tieups with the cargo management companies to get your consignments clear timely in Delhi. In maximum cases, you will only need to spend just 2 hours for getting your consignmwent delivery. Once you send the documents and the boxes details, we start locating them in India.
Insurance : It is a condition of joining our trips that you must be adequately insured. All persons are expected to arrange their own insurance. Polices should cover any potential risks involved in such adventure.
Our hotels and camps: We offer you best economy hotels in cities and towns and till base camp we provide you very comfirtable tents with maximim possible faciltiies in the mountains. For the trekking, Jeep Safaris, MTB and other adventure journeys, we provide the most luxurious camps fitted with dining areas and modren toilet facilities.
Adventure India briefing: We have excelent maps, images and movies of majoriety of our adventure expeditions/ joiurneys and sports. A short briefing in our offices is highly recommended so the team understands logistics, forecarst problems and know where the solutions would be. We stress on planning, planning and planning in any adventure expediton and till now we have remained successful in all of our expeditions just because of our planning. So we need you to be an active part of it.
Rescue and helicopter evacuation: if the expeditons are well planned, rescue operations can be avoided. In the history of 14 years, we didn’t encounter any seviour requireemtn of rescue but still we can tie up with the agencies to provide helicopter evacuation on your request and willingness to pay the charges.
Peak booking formalities: already mentioned in detail in our mountaineering formalities in India link. For necessary applications either you can check the website of IMF or speak to us.
Ground transportation: We provide the ground transportation compriseing of best available cars/ copaches in fine roads and rough trucks in remote areas of the Indian mountains.
Porters and ponies: We provide ponies till base camp and HAP/ LAPs as per the requirement of the expedition.
Fuel and gases: Fuel (aftwer BC) is not a part of cost included section, but we will manage Butane / Butane propane gases for you on your timely request.
Trek & BC food : We offer a mixture of Vegetarian and Non vegetarian food till BC including the several herbs we have individually discovered with the medicinal values and capacity to keep the body warm. We have cooks who make Korean, Japnese and Continental food along with Indian food.
Our guides & instructors: Our guides are basically trained till BC trekking and support to establish BC. But our instructors do have good experience of mountaineering who can join the expeditions to higher levels too.
Ground Support system: We have fantastic ground support system developed in collaboration with the local people of nearest villages, army camps, porters and local guides. We have re discovered the use of traditional communication system also along with the setellite phones to stay in touch with the groups after BC. Our BC staff is trained to keep information of the groups at ABC and between and act as per the situation.
Cost Includes & not: The cost includes all hotels, guest houses, camps till BC, food till BC, ponies, porters, LAP/ HAP, food & tents for the porters, cooks and staff at BC, insurance of our permanenet staff, food for LO, cargo management, all transportation, all sightseeing, liasioning and coordination, trekking guides and BC management. The cost doent include IMF fees and environment levies, State Government fees and environment levies, porters insurance, clients air fares, helicopter evacuation, extra porters requirement from the BC, extra days at or above BC and any expenditure on personal level including clients insurance/ visa etc.
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