Musings from my trek to Sandakphu
This was the time of the year when we went to the mountains again. We decided to go to Sandakphu with Indiahikes. Sandakphu, the highest peak in West Bengal, at 12,000 feet offers grand views of the world’s tallest peaks. The route of this trek lies along the border of India and Nepal and we were often on both sides of the border.
Sneha, her friend Puja and I joined 14 others in Jaubhari, the basecamp for the trek. The weather forecast was not encouraging as there were heavy rains predicted because of a cyclone in the Bay of Bengal. Unfazed by the weather, we started the trek with our trek leader, Gautam and two local guides Buddha and Kumar. The first day was treacherous — heavy rains, steep uphill through dense and slushy forests with dozens of leech bites.
At the end of the day, as we reached Tumling, everyone was cold, drenched and not very hopeful of lasting through the week. Thankfully Buddha ji, our guide, found a hack to dry our shoes using coal fumes from the kitchen. The skies cleared a bit the next morning and we resumed our journey. We entered Singalila National park, the circumference of which was the route of the trek
Day 3 we reached the peak of Sandakphu. There is no summit on this trek. Most other trek groups return from here on the same route, but Indiahikes has an extended route via Phalut. We halted for the day in a place called Aal. This place is supposed to offer better views than Sandakphu. We waited eagerly for hours in the evening to catch a glimpse of the mountains but could only get some beautiful snaps of the carpet of clouds
The next day we reached Sabargram — this was the main viewpoint of our trek where we could see “the sleeping Buddha”. We pitched our tents, slept under starry skies.
When we woke up in the morning the clouds were still thick and dense. When we had almost given up any hopes of seeing the mountains, the whole sky cleared and we could now see the entire stretch from Everest to Kanchenjunga
Delighted with the views, we started our descend back to Gorkhey via Phalut. This was the longest we trekked in a single day — 21 kms in 9 hours. The vast meadows with endless skies were an absolute treat to the eyes
On the 6th day we were back in our basecamp and that concluded the trek. Overall we covered 70kms in 6 days. It was a long but endearing week with an amazing bunch of people
Finally some things that left a lasting impact on me from the trek
Mountains without borders
We constantly moved in and out of Nepal during the trek. Of course, the mountains know no boundaries and we experienced the same. There were Indian army camps on both sides of the border and yet people would peacefully wander across the region without being probed. I wish all borders had such a high level of trust and peace.
Sustainable healthy living
The local tea houses that we stopped at or the guesthouses we stayed in were small but very neat and tidy. The toilets would be old and broken but they were still very clean. The food was made from local produce. Electricity was mostly solar and barely needed. We should be able to reproduce this in cities.
Green Trails
The trail was a bit commercialized because of the partly motor-able road and there was litter on the trails. Indiahikes does it’s best to educate trekkers about leaving mountains clean through it’s greentrails initiative. But we as tourists can do it better by not generating this litter — avoid Maggi, Lays, mineral water bottles, biscuits etc. Eat local and carry back any garbage you produce back to your city
Keep traveling
Travel to understand the world better, meet new people and make the world a friendlier place. Make it a sustainable activity so that you can keep doing it
