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**krishna77** · 12-11-2015, 06:19 AM

Re: S 3 | Sohra, Sandakphu & Sikkim

What's really striking about your writing is the small details.
Carry on sir!

**raja_roadster** · 12-12-2015, 09:37 AM

Re: S 3 | Sohra, Sandakphu & Sikkim

Glued to the thread ,eagerly waiting to see sandhakphu through your camera lens.

**sajalsheth** · 12-12-2015, 10:14 PM

Re: S 3 | Sohra, Sandakphu & Sikkim

11. Day 9 = 4th Oct., 2015

Siliguri to Gairibash.

Total km traveled 96. Ride time 7.10AM to 5.20 PM.
We rode to Gairibash passing Mirik, Pashupatinagar, Simana, Manebhanjang, Chitrey, Lameydhura, Meghma, Tonglu, &Tumling.

Sandakphu is one of those few places in India (if not the only one) from where you can have a panoramic view of 4 of the world's five highest peaks, namely Mt.Everest, Mt.Kanchendzonga, Mt.Makalu and Mt.Lhotse.

There is no metallic road past Chitrey or 3km past Manebhanjang. 28 km out of 31kms to Sandakphu is a stoned way where Land rovers ply!
During my planning of Sandakphu ride, I came across many travelogue and websites. I collected some maps and info data, & I want to share will you all for your future visit to Sandakphu. These are not mine, credit goes to respective owners.

Last night me and Neel Dey, decided to start at 6.30 am. I took only needed luggage in claw, keeping rest in backpack in store room of hotel. I woke up early to achieve a dream to ride bike up to Sandakphu.
I was ready at 6.30 am with all luggage tied up and was waiting for Neel to arrive.

But he arrived at 7.10 am and we started our ride towards Mirik via Matigara. We crossed Putinbari tea garden, Simulbari tea garden, Raki forest, Bamonpokhari forest, Marionbari tea garden, Balasan forest, Longview tea garden, crossed BalasonRiver, Gyabaree tea garden.
The road was nice with lots of greenery and tea gardens.

At around 8.25 am, I had my first fall of the ride. In fact this was my first fall among all my past rides. This was due to my mistake of pulling front disk brake on a slippery road.
My right leg guard and rear brake lever bent due to fall.

In the mean time we crossed Singbulli tea garden, Purba Phuguri and Paschim Phuguri tea garden. A picture of scenic tea estate roads.

At 9 am we reached Mirik at 4900 feet. I got my bike repaired at a welding garage.

Mirik is a picturesque tourist spot nestled in the serene hills. This is Sumendu or MirikLake, surrounded by a garden on one side and pine trees on the other side. It is linked together by an arching bridge called Indreni pull or Rainbow bridge.

Riding ahead there was great view of hills around.

We crossed Thurbo tea estate, Bukim tea garden, Okaity tea garden and Gopaldhara tea estate riding on beautiful road.

We reached Pashupatinagar at 10.00 am. We had breakfast here. We also entered Nepal from here to pose in front of this WELCOME TO NEPAL board.

Neel Da also posed here.

Our next target was Simana Basti. Road with big pine trees around was pleasure to ride.

There is a under construction downhill road towards Manebhanjang, by passing Simana. We took that short cut. This was our first view of Manebhanjang.

The mountains around were giving good view.

This is Nepal view with a road going towards it.

The short cut road was like off road with lots of descend.

Opps�.I just passed a king�yes king of Sandakphu road.

We had to ride down carefully.

At 11 am we reached Manebhanjang.

There is another Kind of Sandakphu road�. A Land Rover with 4 wheel drive. �. It must be at least 50-60 years old.

At 11.10 am we reached Visitor�s Center of Singalila National Park. We wanted to register here and buy entry ticket but there was nobody here and office was closed.

The road towards Sandakphu starts in front of this office.

Some more maps and information about road to Sandakphu was there.

We were at 700 feet. Sandakphu was 31 km from here and was at 11929 feet. A big day for me & I posed with this info board.

This is Neel Day at same place.

We started riding on ascend; the road was good till Chitrey.

This was view of Manebhanjang after riding up.

I loved riding on these curves.

We reached Chitrey Monastery at 11.40 am.

Here again my health issue propped up. I had to go to toilet. The loose motions issue haunted me again here. But there was toilet near gate of Monastery. It took time as I had to remove all thermals and winter wear.

Neel Da was waiting there and taking pictures around.

At 12pm we were ready to leave.

A view of road ahead.

Riding ahead I saw lots of prayer flags in green patches.

Neel Da also arrived there.

I was looking like a Robocop with all the riding accessories.

Now the good road ended and riding will be a different game from here onward.

View looking back.

It was not easy to ride on these boulders off road. We had to be very careful riding on these.

We were now going to ride towards clouds.

Neel Da�s Avenger with a tank view.

This is the road.

Riding ahead, there were two Land Rovers coming down with passengers. A small traffic jam as the road was just fit for one four wheel only.

The passengers were tourist and were surprised to see motorcycle riding towards this trekking route. They stopped to clicked pictures of our bikes.

They got more adventurous and sat on my parked bike to click pictures.

I allowed them to click but told them to be careful and advised not to fall with bike.
I also took picture of King of Sandakphu roads. These Land Rovers were made in England at Birmingham.

This is a view of trekking route.

I and Neel Da were stopping every now and then taking pictures of each other and the scenic beauty around.

I was happy to live my dream.

Now Lameydhura was 1 km ahead.

The distance between Chitrey and Lameydhura is about 3.5 km. The road was having lots of old green trees.

The road was having good forest cover.

There were two roads, one for us and other for trekkers. Some trekkers were also coming down. This picture is not taken by drone!

I had to keep riding with both legs down fearing a fall on this off road full of boulders.

We met some trekkers going down.

Road with lots of ascend.

There was short cut for trekkers in some places. Some trekkers on that separate trek route.

At 1.00pm we were nearing Lameydhura. This is first view of that.

Road condition was same towards Lameydhura also.

That is Neel Da�s Avenger posing on those off roads.

There were two eateries there.

We decided to have food here.

Few travelers were coming down on a Land Rover and they took break there. One gentleman came and watched my bike. He then asked me that �ARE YOU SAJAL SHETH ? I have read your travelogue on DEOMALI-Highest place of Odisha at BcmTouring and I can recognize you and your motorcycle�

I and Neel Da were surprised and I felt happy that at least writing travelogue made me famous J . If feels so good if someone recognize you at unknown place.
We took this picture for remembrance.

I told that gentleman to read my travelogue on Sandakphu & I will feature him also in a picture.

It was lunch time and I was having fear of loose motion, so I skipped lunch. But need Da had tasty noodles. I just tasted 2 -3 spoons full for taking medicine.

Neel Da is looking like a SWAT team member!

We also met one foreigner who as trekking at this senior age also. Only one word for him- Respect.

At 1.30pm we started riding again towards Meghma.

There was another eatery ahead.

The road looking back.

The road ahead.

Tonglu was 4 km ahead, Sandakphu 25 and Meghma 2 km from here.

There are no roads that would be more attractive and spectacular than those that have the mesmerizing and dangerous turns.

It was pleasure to see those trees.

I was riding carefully on those dangerous roads.

Some different roads.

Neel Da waiting for me on a curve for taking picture of me riding.

Between Lameydhura and Meghma, we came across a small but scenic lake.

Clouds around was making view more scenic.

Little easy road ahead.

View around was great with big mountains and clouds.

We could see a very small village ahead. It was Meghma.

Tonglu was 3 km and Meghma 1 km ahead.

We rode only 7 km from Manebhanjang !! We started at around 11am and now it was 2pm. We rode Seven km only in three hours!

Road ahead was little easy with little ascend.

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============== PAGE BREAK=========

**coolmaverickguy** · 12-12-2015, 10:25 PM

Re: S 3 | Sohra, Sandakphu & Sikkim

Omg !! these are the road you were talking about. Dangerous !!

**sajalsheth** · 12-12-2015, 10:28 PM

Re: S 3 | Sohra, Sandakphu & Sikkim

================ CONTINUE FROM PAGE BREAK================

Can you see the roads in that mountain ahead of Meghma ?

Ascend again.

We were now riding with clouds.

This is view of mountain with trekking route.

Well written.

A view of Megma or Meghma at 9500 feet. Left side is Monastery and right side is SSB, Shashatra Seem Bal of India.

This Monastery is on Nepal side.

We registered our name and rode ahead. There were two roads ahead of Meghma. Both go to Tumbling. Left one goes via Nepal and right one via India and passes through Tonglu. I inquired about the road with locals.

Since we wanted to visit Tonglu also we took right side road which is ascending.
We started riding uphill, a view looking back.

This is view of trekking route.

Some dangerous turns, but concrete on turn made it safe.

But it was too steep.

Looking back at Meghma after a steep ascend ride.

See the road which I rode on left side.

We were now riding with clouds.

See the road from bottom right to top left, do you feel the danger?

A view behind.

Then I had my second fall on curve. Since my bike was tall and my legs were not touching ground on curves, I fell here. Neel Da had advantage of short bike. But it was a slow fall, hence no injury to me or bike.

Neel Da inspecting my bike after fall. We took a small break there.

I again started riding on steep off road, but carefully

At 3 pm we reached Tonglu. Met this happy local gentleman and inquired about the road condition ahead.

He also took one picture of us together.

I must mention here that this ride of Sandakphu would not have been possible without support of Neel Dey. He stood by me everywhere. If he was riding ahead, he will keep an eye on me via rear view mirror and so will I.
We planned a strategy. One will ride two corners and wait for other rider, and then other rider will overtake and wait after riding two corners. This way we collaborated and made this ride slow but safe.

I will always give credit of my Sandakphu ride to Neel Day. As after withdrawal of Harsh from this ride, it might not have been possible for me to ride solo on these dangerous off roads.

You can ride solo to Ladakh & Zanskar, but it is not advisable to ride solo to Sandakphu.

We started our ride towards Tumling. It was 2 km ahead and Sandakphu 21 km ahead.

If you fall from this road towards right, God only know what will happen. We were at 10000 feet.

We were riding around cloud, entering and coming out of clouds.

Then we saw a small lake before Tumling.

It was not scenic but clouds around were making it look different.
I took some pictures there.

That’s Neel Da’s Avenger posing with lake.

Some flowers near one house.

Riding ahead I saw this stunning view.

This was stunning view of Tumling. It was a cover picture view with clouds crossing hill & some special light effect by God.

That is me posing with that spectacular view.

I reached Tumling at 3.40pm. There are two roads after Tumling. Left one goes via Joubari of Nepal and right one goes via Singalila National Park Check post. All left side houses are in Nepal and right side is India. The left road is in bad condition and right one is in better condition.

There were some lodges there.

We were at height of 9700 feet.

Neel Da arriving.

There was a tourist map of Mechi zone of Nepal.

Some flowers.

And the King was standing proudly.

We started riding towards Singalila National Park Check Post. At 3.50pm we reached there. The road hereafter is fully concrete up to Gairibash, but passes through dense forest.
It was 6 km ahead.

We stopped there and then a staff of National Park asked about entry ticket. We told that Manebhanjang office was closed, so he asked to buy entry ticket.

This is the entry ticket I bought showing Tumling check post stamp with date of
4th October, 2015. He did not charge us for camera.

We were riding on the best road after Chitrey. The road is on descend and is fully concrete road up to Gairibash. We rode slowly in this 6 km road to enjoy the beauty of dense forest. At 4.30pm we reached Gairibash. There is a SSB (Shashtra Seem Bal) check post there. After consulting with our SSB personnel at check post, we decided to end our day there.

One reason was it was at 8600 feet, which will help our body in acclimatization. It is better to stay at low height at night. We had reached 10000 feet today from 400 feet and now it is better to stay at 8600 feet.

Secondly there was a Government Trekkers hut with all facility including safe parking, cozy bed and food.

Reached at this Trekkers Hut at 5.20pm at booked a bed for Rs.110 only. Food cost extra.

There were no tourist except me and Neel Da that night at Hut.
We could see clear sky at night. I tried some flop photography of stars at night.

I had light dinner with loose motion medicines. Also took lukewarm water with lime after dinner. It was cold night and we used two three blankets.

Sandakphu was another 13 km ahead.

This was our ride map for the day.

Google GPS link:-

Click HERE for next update.

Coming up….next…. Reaching SANDAKPHU.

**sambit** · 12-13-2015, 01:10 AM

Re: S 3 | Sohra, Sandakphu & Sikkim

Woooo. This is the best part till now.... Though it took almost 15 mins for all the pics to load. But it was worth it.

**Siddhant Mishra** · 12-13-2015, 01:22 AM

Re: S 3 | Sohra, Sandakphu & Sikkim

Amazing pictures. I'm loving it .

**sajalsheth** · 12-13-2015, 11:15 AM

Re: S 3 | Sohra, Sandakphu & Sikkim

Originally posted by coolmaverickguy View Post

Omg !! these are the road you were talking about. Dangerous !!

Thank you [MENTION=19266]coolmaverickguy[/MENTION] Anupam..... Mahendragiri was mini Sandakphu we experienced and This is BIG one.....THE SANDAKPHU ROADS

Originally posted by krishna77 View Post

What's really striking about your writing is the small details.
Carry on sir!

Thank you [MENTION=57323]krishna77[/MENTION] ji...

Originally posted by raja_roadster View Post

Glued to the thread ,eagerly waiting to see sandhakphu through your camera lens.

Thank you [MENTION=31437]raja_roadster[/MENTION] ji ... Here comes Sandakphu on bike ... day 1

Originally posted by sambit View Post

Woooo. This is the best part till now.... Though it took almost 15 mins for all the pics to load. But it was worth it.

Thank you [MENTION=32054]sambit[/MENTION] ....

There are two options...either I upload low resolution small size pictures so that the page loads quickly and another one is to load high resolution pictures so that one can feel like traveling with me.
I choose the second one....so load the page.... have a coffee and let the page load fully...& then enjoy...

LET YOUR MIND TRAVEL TO SANDAKPHU....body will follow !!

Originally posted by Siddhant Mishra View Post

Amazing pictures. I'm loving it .

Thank you [MENTION=19191]Siddhant Mishra[/MENTION] ...You will like the Day 2 of Sandakphu with Sunset and Day 3 with great sunrise also.

THANK YOU ALL

**taufique** · 12-13-2015, 10:02 PM

Re: S 3 | Sohra, Sandakphu & Sikkim

Excellent

**hypheni** · 12-13-2015, 11:25 PM

Re: S 3 | Sohra, Sandakphu & Sikkim

[MENTION=60815]sajalsheth[/MENTION]

A real great road trip I read so far. No words to describ the same. Only one thing, probably I will be visiting BBSR on this decemeber end. Will try to meet you for sure.

**sajalsheth** · 12-14-2015, 01:01 AM

Re: S 3 | Sohra, Sandakphu & Sikkim

Originally posted by taufique View Post

Excellent

Thank you [MENTION=66379]taufique[/MENTION] bhai

Originally posted by hypheni View Post

@sajalsheth

A real great road trip I read so far. No words to describe the same. Only one thing, probably I will be visiting BBSR on this decemeber end. Will try to meet you for sure.

Thank you [MENTION=57101]hypheni[/MENTION] ji.....for the appreciation....
Sure.... do keep in touch with @coolmaverickguy of xBhp Bhubaneshwar chapter.
We at xBhp:Bhubaneshwar always eager to meet riders from other places.

**silent_rambler** · 12-14-2015, 07:12 PM

Re: S 3 | Sohra, Sandakphu & Sikkim

Sajal Sir and Neel da,

Excellent pics and writings.

I loved the Umiam Lake & Mirik lake pics. If you had not told the location, we will have to think that this is somewhere abroad.

Wonderful locales and ofcourse, awesome ride.

Kept it up gentlemen.

**MUSTANG 27** · 12-15-2015, 02:18 PM

Re: S 3 | Sohra, Sandakphu & Sikkim

Excellent, you guys are standing on the ninth cloud and taking pics....

carry on

**sajalsheth** · 12-18-2015, 12:29 AM

Re: S 3 | Sohra, Sandakphu & Sikkim

12. Day 10 = 5th Oct., 2015

Gairibash to Sandakphu.

Total km traveled 14. Ride time 7.00AM to 12.30 PM.
We rode to Sandakphu passing Kaiyankata, KalaPokhari, Bikeybhanjyang.

I woke up early after dreaming about Sandakphu in early morning. I wanted to see sunrise, but from Gairibash it is not properly visible. Mist had made my bike wet and just wiping it made bike look clean. View of my bike at 5.45 AM outside trekkers hut.

We had occupied a big room at Trekkers Hut. In peak season in case of over crowd, trekkers do sleep on floor, as per the lady caretaker.

After having light breakfast, we were ready to leave at 7.00 am. I had the needed medicines on time.

But my bike’s petrol indicator was showing less than half tank of petrol left. I had not topped up petrol at Mirik, thinking that with full tank bike’s weight will increase. With 10 liter petrol I can easily ride 220+ kms. But riding on 1st gear was consuming lots of fuel. This was my mistake.

The farewell view of the Trekkers Hut.

I started riding first. The road was steep ascend. I did not find Neel Da coming, so I stopped.

Neel Da came and told me that he registered at the Shasatra Seem Bal check post as I did not hear their call and rode ahead. He had to enter both bike and other details there.
Today it was a sunny day with lots of sunlight.

We followed yesterday policy of overtaking and stopping and every alternative turn.

We continued riding carefully. Some stretches were bad also.

But the turning was a concrete road, helping us on turn.

That cemented pillar on left is boundary mark between Nepal and India.

View of mountains on Nepal side.

We had to ride 14 km for today, so we were stopping every now & then. We were enjoying the view around and clicking lots of pictures.

At 8.25am we reached Kaiyankata.

Kalapokhari is another 4km ahead. There are two roads from here. One goes via mountain and other one via jungle road.
That Land Rover stopped and told us to go via jungle route.

Kaiyankata from Neel Da’s camera.

Going via forest route, at 9.00am we got first view of Sandakphu.

We saw a SSB post also from far.

Sandakphu was visible, but too far. We could see that danger mountain road from far.

At 9.10am we reached Kalaphokhari.

That’s me posing at Kalaphokhari. This place is a 10000 feet above sea level.

Since there as barricade at beginning and end of forest rode, we crossed it from side.

Lots of prayer flags at Kalaphokhari.

All the scenic mountains were on Nepal side.

The road which bifurcated at Kaiyankata, was again joining back at start of Kalapokhari.

A Land Rover is moving on road between greenery.

At 9.20 we reach Kalapokhari village. This is at 10196 feet.

Looking back at Kalapokhari

Nepal View

The road ahead was not good one.

My bike posing with green Kalaphokhari village on background.

Some worse road ahead.

The road was giving great view of Nepal side on left.
I posed there with beautiful mountains of Nepal on background.

Looking at Kalaphokhari village.

View of Sandakphu and the last tough road was becoming more n more clear with beautiful sunshine.

At 9.52am we crossed Bikeybhanjyang.

The road from Bikeybhanjyang to Sandakphu is the toughest one.

At some place we felt like climbing a tilted wall.

Now we need real skill and endurance.

--------------- NEXT HERE -------------

===================== PAGE BREAK==========

**Siddhant Mishra** · 12-18-2015, 12:32 AM

Re: S 3 | Sohra, Sandakphu & Sikkim

Rarely you get to see such pictures,"I am a lot happy that you bought such nice pictures."

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S 3 | Sohra, Sandakphu & Sikkim

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