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Flexible bookingsSandakphu being the highest peak of Singalala national park offers to breathe taking views of the four tallest mountains in the world. Mt. Kanchenjunga (8598m), Mt. Makalu (8481m), Mt. Lhotse (8571m) and Mt. Everest (8848m) with very good clarity as if the mountains are just some km away.
Kanchenjunga is the third highest peak in the world situated in the middle of the Kanchenjunga range also called “The Sleeping Buddha“. The Name is given for its appearance. The Mt. Kumbakarna peak makes its nose, forming a human face, Kanchenjunga peak makes its belly and Mt. Pandim makes its feet. The other part of the Sandkphu Trek, Kanchenjunga range is described in the Itinerary section.
Sandakphu in Singalila Forest is a home of many wildlife species. Red Panda are most famous among all as it’s a state animal of Sikkim and also it’s very rare to spot red pandas because of their shy nature. Sure they are rare but it is worth traveling long distance for just a glance of this beautiful animal.
The route of this Sandakphu trek is on the India and Nepal border. In fact, on the trek, you will constantly enter and exit Nepal. As the trek is a long-distance trek, it is always advised to follow your guide instruction and forest regulations.The trail includes several monasteries, grasslands, snow-covered tracks, jungle trail surrounded by huge mountains and amazing helping people.
- Hotel khangchendzonga
- Getting to the Base Camp at Manebhanjung
- Manebhagjung is a small village situated at the exact border of India and Nepal. You standing in the middle of the road of Manebhagjung would be perfect middle of the border of the two countries. The place has a small market as well which is very fascinating to observe sometimes. The stay is basically on sharing basis and a day is spent for acclimation.
- The closest airport is Bagdogra and NJP (New Jalpaiguri) is the closest railway station to the Base camp. The cost of the travel from NJP or Bagdogra is borne by the trekker. (A week prior communication is required for cab booking) It usually costs about Rs. 3500 per cab for 5-6 people. The Travel time is about 4-5 hours to the Base Camp of Nature Walkers.
- Tumling
- Tumling a small village is 5-6 families. The route is Manebhagjung to Tumbling crosses three beautiful villages on the way. Chitrey (1.5 hours), Lamyadhura (3.5 hours), Meghma (5 hours). These could be the water sources on the way. Although we request everyone to carry their water bottle with them. Also, we would be having our lunch on the way to Tumling at these checkpoints.
- The initial track is a road till Chitrey which is about 2-3kms to the Monastery. From here the road converts into mud and rock road. The trek is categorized as easy to moderate but sometimes rain might make the trek more difficult. So, it is advised to reach the destination prior to late noon as the weather becomes a bit foggy and we can avoid a mountain shower. There are a few rocky paths (gravel roads) with muddy sections and a few walks through meadows as well.
- From Chitrey to lamyadhura, the trail is little steep with zig-zag track. Although there are small concrete short cuts to cut the road but they are little steeper than the zig-zag track. This trail goes through many paper plants (local use the plant for making paper), rhododendron plants and many different species of flora by the side of the trail.
- At Lamyadhura, the view opens up to the lovely meadow. This would a small halt for us. A small family lives here in there cozy tea house, living on their daily income from the passers-by. Many travelers also travel through jeeps from Manebhangjang to Sandakphu or Phalut through the motor road. It could also be used for direction if ever you feel off track.
- The Next stop would be at Meghma which is about 3-4km hike from lamyadhura. It is not as steep as the previous walk of the day. Do keep your eyes by the side of the road its offers an amazing view of mountains and valleys. Before reaching Meghma, we would pass by an SSB check post (Do keep your visa/ID for verification). From here, the lunch point in Meghna is about 5 mins walk by the side of Meghma Monastery.
- From here the next village is Tonglu, which is to the right from the midway diversion of Tumling Road. Although you can skip Tonglu and reach Tumling Tonglu gives a panoramic view of snow-covered peaks such as the Kanchenjungha, Pandim and the Makalu, a picturesque trekkers’ hut and solitude — Tonglu promises much and delivers for the most part. The next village is Tumling, the day’s trek ends here. Tumling falls on the border of India and Nepal and also, gives the best view of shining Kanchenjunga (Sleeping Buddha) during morning sunrise. The most amazing view as the sun raise would sparkle on the peak of Kanchenjunga illuminating the whole surrounding with its magnificent beauty.
- Kalapokhri
- The morning view of Sleeping Buddha is clear and distinctive from Tumbling. The Kanchenjunga range is called a sleeping Buddha for a reason for its shape. The Mt. Kumbakarna peak makes it nose, forming a human face, Kanchenjunga peak makes its body and Mt. Pandim makes its feet. The other peaks you see near the belly peak (Kanchenjunga peak) are Kabru North to its left and Kabru dome to its right are the main members of the range. To the left of Kabru dome comes three different peaks (Ratong, Koktang, and Kang) followed one after another till the Kumbakaran peak. After follows the Kabru Forked to the right of Kabru dome, and then comes the Guiche-la to the right. In between Guiche-la and Simvo peak comes the Zemu Gap, and at last come the Pandim peak at the right foot of the range.
- After leaving tumling, you will enter the Singalila National Park (check post to make an entry). Nature Walkers would already obtain permission for the trek so the entry would be sufficient. The next trail is through jungle hiking route which will lead you into Nepal and through it to Gairibas. Do look out for pandas here as there is a maximum chance of finding one. The next stop serves the best chai and momos here. Gairibas also has an SSB Check post (Please keep Visa/ID for verification).
- Kalapokhri is about 6 km from Gairibas through Kaiyakatta, which is about 3 km of a little steep climb. The trail goes through motor road although vehicles are not allowed on this road. The next stretch is very scenes and one can find different species of birds on this. After about 2 hours of muddy road walk, you will reach near the black-water- Lake in a shape afoot, nicely decorated with a Buddhist prayer flag. Well, you have almost reached our destination of the day. Kalapokhri is actually named after this lake. In the Nepali language, Kala means black and pokhri means water, so is the name originated. The is a small Buddhist temple at the head of Lake. When you hear do look or ask for a small cave at the foothills of the hill surrounding the lake.
- Kalapokhri village is on the border of India and Nepal. 10 mins walk from the lake will take you to hot chai and meal at our final point of the day. One should definitely take this opportunity to explore the morning view of this place as it gives you the best view of the valleys towards Nepal side.
- Sandakphu
- It would an easy start from kalapokhri to bikheybhagjang (valley of poison) (In nepali language, bikhey means poison and bhagjang mean valley), The name of the place was derived from a poisonous aconite plant which grows in abundance here. These flower plants can also be sited in the “Valley of Flower” in Uttarakhand. It is also another beautiful trek one should venture on. After taking a break at bikheybhagjang, our next stop would be sandakphu, which lies ahead for about 4 km through steep inclined and zig-zag trail. One has an option of exploring through the Nepal side as well although the distance would be comparatively longer than the other route. The route from India’s side is a little more steeper but its more popular for this scenic view of snow-covered valleys and mountains.
- It would take an hour or two to reach sandakphu from bikeybhagjang till you reach a level road. Although it is not advised to take short cuts here but there are some short cuts that could be taken with your guide’s advice.
- After taking a left after the final stone bridge will take you a little steep and muddy road, which will end up to our final destination of the day –“Sandakphu”. You could find many tea houses, small tea and snack stall around here.
- Taking the muddy road by the end of the tea house would guide you to our campsite.
- The campsite is exactly on the border of India and Nepal because of which you can choose to camp at either sides of the border.
- The morning sunrise view of the annaporna range from the campsite is very beautiful and mesmerizing. It offers a complete 180 degree panoramic view of the world’s tallest mountains in the background. The sleeping Buddha stands tall towards your east side followed by the three sister towards its west and Makalu,Lhotse, Everest, Nuptse, chamling, chomolonzo and several other peaks towards the eastern side. The ariel distance of Mt Khanchenjanga range is said to be about 11 kms because of which the mountains would look like standing before your eyes reflecting glittering sparkles of sun raise at its peak.
- Phalut
- Today’s trail is more colorful than any other day of the trek as the trail goes beautiful rhododendron gardens. Well, it’s a natural garden though. In terms of beautiful scenery and diverse flora and fauna, this trail has many things to offer like snow-covered valleys, meadow walks, on the ridge trail and many more.
- You will be kept on gaining and losing altitude today for an hour till the Thukumb check-post. The total distance from sandakphu to sabargram is about 14kms in which you have the option to trek through the Nepal side as well. It is advisable to look for the junction point of the road if you ever feel lost on the trail.
- After coming back to the main trail of sabargram, it would a little steep ascend till you reach our next campsite at Phalut.
- Gorkhey
- Phalut is about 7 km from Sabarkum and it has the best of Kanchenjunga. Although you might not able to see many peaks of Annapoorna range but the Kanchenjunga peak would dazzle your eyes with its magnificent beauty.
- Initially the route has several ups and downs till you reach a meadow walk of about ½ km. After this, it is about 1km steep ascent. Walking on the side ridge for half an hour would take you to our rest point at Phalut. Please note, Phalut is windier because of which the you might feel this place more cold than other campsites. The viewpoints on the hillock to your left. Reaching before the late noon would give a panoramic view of the mountains and peaks of the range.
- Our check post is a forest guest house at the right of the main trail. Many trekkers also choose to stay at these check post but we would be carry our journey to Gorkhey. It’s time to descend. The next trail would be a little lengthy (about 14 km) but would be easy compared to any other routes of this trek. On course you will keep on losing altitude and the trail would take you to zig-zag forest route and then through thin bamboo jungle. These bamboos are the major source of food for red pandas because of which this route also has the maximum probability to spot a panda.
- It is also the most relaxing walk of the trek the trail goes through proper muddy route surrounded by green vegetation and valleys, also you can see Pandim, Tenzingkhang, Japanu, and Narsing in the background. Please Note: this routes has many short cuts but it’s not advisable to take short cuts as it could be made by wild animals in search of water and food. And taking them might lead to wrong direction or different village. The final stretch of the trail is a steep descent to Gorkhey village. One must take a moment to observe the beauty of the valley once you are off the dense jungle. The view of the valley looks more like a painting – as the village has beautiful water streams, farmlands, small houses, long pine cone trees, small bridge to cross the stream. The Left side of the steam is Sikkim and right is West Bengal.
- The best thing to do in Gorkhey is to explore the village, the water steam and peas and potato farms.
- Sepi
- Crossing the bridge gives you a surprise ending trail of the trek. The last stretch of the trek is through the village and into the jungle through the little steep ascent. It is the least discussed route because of which one always get surprised by its beauty. In April and May, you can see several variety of rhododendron flowers and Chestnuts by the side of the trail. Our next stop would be at a small tea house at Ramman next to a school. The view from this place is just amazing as you could see beautiful valleys towards the Sikkim side with roads and houses built on the edge of the hill.
- After tea and snack, we would continue our descend through nicely decorated homestay and pea gardens until we reach the Srikhola bridge. Crossing the bridge guides you to an ascent until we reach our destination – Sepi. We are expected to reach Sepi before noon for our hot lunch. After lunch, you can depart to NJP/Darjeeling. Nature Walker would be arranging the vehicles on demand. It usually takes about Rs. 5.5K for – 5-6 people per cab to NJP which is bared by the trekker. The expected time to reach NJP is at 8 pm so, we request you to do your onward booking after 8 pm. Sandakphu trek teaches us to be strong, patient and it definitely ignites a spark to explore this world with an objective. One might say – This trek leaves you speechless but then turns you into a storyteller.
- Accommodation
- Breakfasts
- Lunch
- Dinner
- Bonfire
- Guide
- Permit
- Snack/Tea
- Singalila National Park Permission
- Jeep Arrangement
- Arrival day accommodation and food.
- Any kind of insurance.
- Porters could be arranged and the costing is borne by the Participant
- Personal Expense:( snacks, mineral water, etc)
- Anything not mention in Inclusion
Nature Walkers (hereafter referred to as “NW”, “we”, “us”, “our) provides services (Travelling, Backpacking, Sightseeing and Trekking activities) or connects Operators who have knowledge and experience in same services with Travellers or Clients (hereinafter referred as “You”) seeking to experience such destinations and activities. The purchase of any services offered by NW constitutes a contractual arrangement between NW and You. Booking or making a purchanse of our services represents your unconditional acceptance of the terms & conditions set ou herein. These terms and conditinos shall be binding on you and all the travel companions you adding in your booking list.
Trekking, Travelling to remote locations is an outdoor activities executed by NW depends on many factors and has inherent risks associated with life. We do our best to reduce all the types of hazards, risks, discomfort to the best of our abilities but yet there might be some chances of accidents, mishaps and deficiency of our services.
We request you to please make sure you read our terms and conditions carefully and understand it prior to confirming your bookings.
Expectation
The pictures, information used or mention in the website and collateral are meant for promotions purpose. We do not gaurantee that you will experience the exact same setup of nature as represented in the pictures. Our service is limited to activity we perform on the trip and not to the weather/climate condition on the trip.
Travel Plan and Itinerary
NW reserves the rights to modify the itinerary or cancel the trip or part of the trip mentioned in the itinerary under circumstances, including but not limited to Natural Calamities or in other words Acts of God, sudden curfew at travel destination state or city, road blockage, political unrest, sickness, accidents and events beyond our control. The circumstances might arise extra cost like (Evacuation charges, damage of any nature, entrance fees at sites.) other then the cost of the trip you have paid while booking the trip, these extra cost shall be borne by you on the spot. whereever possible, NW shall intimate you of such changes or charges in advance (like in the exclusions section on website) or on the trip.
If in case you are not able to travel on the date mentioned in your travel booking then we allow one date change request for free. So, if in case you shift your travel dates you need to communicate us before 48 hours and in email only. If you are changing the date for more than one time then addition charges will be applicable for the date change request, our customer support will mention you the addition charges you need to bare. Once the date change request has been made, the booking amount shall be held as credit with us and in no case will a refund be made further on. Also, it is your sole responsility to verify the correct dates mentioned on the travel documents.
Fitness for the Trek or Travel
NW offers events which requires varying level of fitness. The level of difficulty depends on the extent of physical stress, the terrai, weather. you need a specific level of fitness level to withstand the level of difficulty. We always encorage our participants to prepare themself before being sure to travel or do the bookings. We also encorage you to communicate with us and gather as much information possible about the challenges and difficulty level of the event before making the booking.
NW does not have medical experts who can examine your fitness level and guide you accordingly, So we request you to consult your physicial or medical expert and gather medical advice before joining the trek or trip. Nw do not take any responsibility of your inability to cope up with the level of difficulty. We request you to communicate your age, any disability, pregnancy, mental or physical or any other medical condition that may effect your ability or fitness to complete the event must be revealed to our customer support before making the booking. If you have not communicated the same while booking then we suggest you reveal it to our on field representative for guidance. If you have not revealed any such information then we assume you are in good health and gathered information, evaluated the challenges and consulted the medical expert before making the bookings.
While doing the booking for your companion or others, we assume you or your companion or others you have booked for do not suffer from any conditions (mentioned above) or disability that could cause hazard to you and others on the trek or trip.
Refund and Cancellation
As you know that cancellation hampers overall budget of the trek. As we have tie-ups with third-party vendors and the commitment is already made, the cancellation affect the facilities given to participants,
The cancellation charges are as follows.
Case 1: If the cancellation is done before 7 days from the trek date then FULL REFUND is applicable. (Transaction code 10% will be deducted from the trek cost).
Case 2: If the cancellation is done before 4 days from the trek date then HALF REFUND is applicable. However, you can opt to carry forward the amount for a future event happening in coming 2 months. (Transaction code 10% will be deducted from the trek cost).
Case 3: If the cancellation is done before 2 days from the trek date then NO REFUND is applicable. But, you are allowed to transfer your booking to anybody else with prior confirmation
In case of unforeseen weather conditions or government restrictions, certain activities may be canceled and in such cases, we will try to provide an alternate feasible activity. However, no refund will be provided for the same, if In case we are not able to give any alternate activity then we would refund 95% of the trek fees after deducting 5% of transaction cost.
For Bookings made from Third Party Website.
It is the responsibility of the client to communicate with a third party (booking website) for cancellation.
Cancellation / Refund is done by the third party based on their policies
You can send your cancellation request to connect@naturewalkers.in
Code of conduct on Treks or Trips
We require you to adhere code of conduct with other participants of the trek or trip similar to the corporate code of conduct. We require you to behave in a manner acceptable to group travel. In any case you cause distress to co travellers, endanger or damange property of participants or supplier, without assigning any reason whatsoever, NW reserves the right to terminate you from the trek or trip and No refund would be applicable in this reason.
While doing the booking, you also accept that the final decision on Treks/Trips reserves with the On-field representative or Leader of NW. The decision of the leader binds on all the participants on any matter that affect the safety of any participant on the trip. Leader also reserves the right of termination in case of mis behaviour or interference with the services or mobility of the group and No refund would be applicable in this reason for any unused services.
No Trace Policy
You also agree with our No Trace Policy which forbid you to throw plastic or anything that is harmful to nature on the trek or trip. We believe in preserving the nature as it is before and after our trek or travel. Also, you are not allowed to make loude noise or play loude music on trek or trip which may annoy other participant or animals on the trail.
No Smoking or Alcohol Consumption
NW do not support or promote smoking, alcohol consumption or any other intoxicant on travel or trek. We request you to not indulge yourself or others in those practises while you are traveling with us. NW do not tolerate smoking or intoxicantion of any kind on our trip, vailation of this policy will lead to your termination from the group and you would be requested to make your own arrangement of travel back to your home destination.
Luggage Responsibility
NW do not own any resposibility of your luggage or personal belongings on the trek or trip. You are sole responsible for your personal belongings. NW is not responsible for any loss of your baggage, air tickets, passport, cash, jewelry, travel documents or any item owned by you while on the trek or trip.
Amenities
NW makes every effort to ensure the comfort our traveler, but also please note that the amenities around the remote location, travel destination or trekking grounds may not be same or similar as you are comfortable with. On trekking trail, we do not gaurantee for washroom or toilets, In such situation we expect all participants to be aware & maintain defecation and sanitation decorum.
Emergency Situations
In a situation where you fall ill or suffer an accident during the trek or trip, all the hospital expenses, doctors fees, repatriation expenses, evacuation charges or any other charges incurred as a direct or indirect result of your illness/accident are your responsibility. Please note, NW do not obtain any type of travel insurance for you, it is sole your responsibility to obtain a travel insurance for yourself.
Graphical Content
NW reserves all the rights of the photographs/videos taken on the trip or during your travel and to use them for promotional purpose. By booking a trek/trip with us, you automatically grant us royalty-free perpetual, worldwide and irrevocable license for using your images or videos for promotional purpose on website, social media, collateral and any other marketing and publicity materials.
Cancellation Policy for Himalayan Trips/Treks
Case 1: If the cancellation is done before 30 days from the trek date then FULL REFUND will be applicable. (Transaction code 10% will be deducted from the trek cost).
Case 2: If the cancellation is done between 15 days to 29 days from the trek date then HALF REFUND will be applicable. However, you can opt to carry forward the amount for a future event happening in coming 3 months. (Transaction code 10% will be deducted from the trek cost).
Case 3: If the cancellation is done between 0 days to 14 from the trek date then 10% REFUND of the Event Cost will be applicable. But, you are allowed to transfer your booking to anybody else with prior confirmation
In case of unforeseen weather conditions or government restrictions, certain activities may be canceled and in such cases, we will try to provide an alternate feasible activity. However, no refund will be provided for the same, if In case we are not able to give any alternate activity then we would refund 95% of the trek fees after deducting 5% of transaction cost.
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