(Chapter Four) : Day Three of Sandakphu Trekking from Kalpokhri to Sandakphu

Hello Friends,

  

Finally Day Three was bright and challenging morning with dazzling blue sky, the lovely mountains, the chirping of birds, the cold breeze blowing with an immense roar everything seemed eternally beautiful. And after a mental preparation of hard toil for the day we took the last lap and started walking skywards from Kalipokhri to “Sandakphu”, the highest peak in the state of West Bengal covering approx 8 kms.

The first three kilometers was more or less flat and within one and half hours we reached Bikhebhanjang. The trail was zig zags up the hill full of Aconite plants. This Aconite plants is the reason behind the name of this place Bikheybhanjyang, Bikhey means "Vish" or Poison.

We got bemused seeing the trail upto Sandakphu, the gradient of the stretch was so steep that it felt like nose is about to touch the ground. It becomes increasingly difficult for me to describe the walk to the climax with an altitude gain every few meter. All the strains will simply disappear as you see the board saying “Welcome to Sandakphu”; you are at an altitude of at 3636 m/ 11,929 ft on the summit of Singalila range, paradise of trekking.

You got to be at the place to experience the feeling which no words can describe. If you belong to the concrete jungle and your heart is a chaotic battlefield every day, this is an ideal place to be. We hoped the weather stayed as it is and not deteriorate. But as they say – Man proposes and God disposes. The fog returned. The weather which looked like a beautiful lady now appeared an evil witch eager to rob us from the post card perfect views around. When we reached Sandakphu, the wind was blowing with an unrestrained rage and thick fog had blocked the view of the mountain ranges. 

Soon we made ourselves comfortable in the cozy room inside “Sunrise Lodge”. In these harsh terrains getting resources takes lot of efforts but we were showered with amazing hospitality which touched our heart and soothed our pain. 

In the evening post dinner erratic and biting cold wind started blowing straight from the Himalayas which dropped the temperature to almost zero making us shiver and gasping for breath due to thin air. We witnessed something that could aptly be described as miss and blink odyssey to Paradise..! With hardly any streak of light in the atmosphere atop the hill, the zillions of stars overhead seemed at stone’s throw distance from us. Enveloping the dark environ was thick canopy of stars that covered Sandakphu like a blanket. It was this overwhelming feeling of being on the top of the world that made us brave with élan.