Sandakphu is a very popular place and the highest point of West Bengal. It offers a great view of over 26 famous peaks of the Himalayas including the Everest and Kanchenjunga. The cluster of Everest has 3 of the tallest mountains in the World namely Everest itself along with Lhotse and Makalu. The panorama extends till the Annapurna range and slight pinch of Macchapucchare. While towards the right, the Kanchenjunga Massif along with its family forms the Sleeping Buddha with 16 other peaks. The view of the sun rising and the glowing mountains in the golden cover are just breathtaking and simply unbelievable.
People often take an easier way to reach Sandakphu and Phalut and the landrover road helps many Himalayan lovers who wish to witness the beauty of the Sandakphu. The Landrover safari takes you through the Singalila National Park on a rough road, It follows the route of Maneybhanjyang - Tumling - Kalipokhari - Sandakphu - Phalut - Maneybhanjyang. On popular demand, we have opened the landrover tour package of Sandakphu and Phalut which works as the best plan to visit this place. It takes care of all the hassles and you are just required to arrive in NJP or Bagdogra. We will pick you up and drop you back. All of the rest is covered in the package. Read more details.
The Everest Cluster extending to the Annapurna range as seen from Sandakphu and Phalut
Lali Guras or Red Rhododendrons
Interesting Customizations To Sandakphu Phalut Landrover Safari:
Adding Extra Night In Kalipokhari On Return:
Kalipokhari is a beautiful lake enroute Sandakphu. While we move towards Sandakphu on Day 2 of our plan, we do get the time and see this lake nicely. However, spending a night here in the beautiful village, which is mostly covered by fog and mist. The local homestays are beautiful which are further topped up with warm hospitality and awesome food! Kalippokhari is a very good location for sitting animals and especially the innumerous birds of the Singalila National Park. A small stroll with the camera out of the main village will open up immense opportunities for wildlife sighting on this route.
small chorten near kalipokhari
Trekking From Sandakphu To Phalut Within The Same Itinerary:
On the same plan as above, we can add a small trek between Ssandakphu to Phjalut which is the best trekking route on this route. The route is quite and winds through the forest of Magnolias and Rhododendrons and innumerous other wildflowers. The forest opens up as a wide meadow giving long and unrestricted views of the Mount Everest and its neighbouring peaks like Lhotse, Makalu, Chamlang, Chomolonzo, etc. It's an unbelievable panorama to witness and walking beside it with is just so refreshing. Although the distance between Sandakphu and Phalut is 21 Kilometers, the trail is flattish and takes about 7 hours of walk to reach Phalut from Sandakphiu. To ease out on the difficulties, the Landrover can wait for you in Sabargram and reduce 7 Kilometers of the trek. Do note that Sabargram top offers one of the best views of the mountains around.
Kanchenjunga with Kabru Sisters as seen from Sandakphu and Phalut
Trekking Downhill From Phalut To Srikhola ( + 2 Days ):
Here is a plan that extracts the best out of this entire region with minimum effort. That is driving till Phalut and then trekking down to Srikhola via Gorkhey. This irradicates all the difficulties of the Sandakphu Phalut trek as you do the climbs on the landrover, and descend down from Phalut till Srikhola, which is not as difficult as ascending to Sandakphu from Maneybhanjyang. Also, it gives you the experience of trekking in the wild forest of the Himalayas and makes out a way to visit Gorkhey and Samanden, which is very beautiful, serene and full of birds around. The descend down to Gorkhey will be a descend of about 10 kilometres and will take you around 4 - 5 hours. It's through the forest. We will stay the night in Gorkhey.
Next Day, we will start our trek in the morning and descend down to Srikhola. The trek route os beautiful through the deep forest of the Singalila National Park and it takes about 5 hours to complete the descend via Samanden and Rammam. Vehicles will be waiting for you in Srikhola and after having a farewell lunch in Sepi, we will bid goodbyes with a promise to meet again in the mountains somewhere else.
Beautiful offroad to Phalut