An dramatic sunrise greeted us next day and post breakfast :
we did a reke of Tumling, making a few images as we waited for our ride to Sandakfu
The road to Sandakfu along with being very steep was also very rocky and full of boulders making the journey very bumpy. Every time an vehicle approached from the opposite side a fair amount of maneuvering had to be done by both drivers to pass each other. EN-route from Tumbling , we stopped at Kaya kata- Red Panda viewing expeditions are often done from here , which involves few km trek from this place
Next stop was at: kalipokhri Roads from Nepal join India roads Bikes are not allowed into Singhilila national park from India side,, but if one wants to test there skill by riding into Sandakfu, one has to enter via Nepal and it sure is a challenging road, ride, best done on a adventure I say.
Next we stopped at CHOURI cHOWK a grassland to catch the view n give the cars a rest, on ly 20 more to reach Sandakfu, n onward again right up to Sandakfu. We reached by 1230hrs approx. the weather was quiet clear We had lunch rested n at 1530 we started to trek to sunset point also called - AHAL.
The landrover that one hired to reach sandakfu, for an extra Rs 1000 will do a drive from hotel Sunrise to Ahal and back We just kept walking watching the sun n 1.5 km later we reached the point where we were greeted with a blanked of clouds n fog which was way below us. Yes this was Ahal viewpoint.
The sight was mesmerizing to watch the fog roll in n cover the land masses, and as the sun got low on horizon it started to color Mount Everest, giving us an mesmerizing view of sunset magic. All too soon it was dark but there were few others who had trekked like us. And I was carrying a flashlight making return journey not so difficult.
Did I mention? From out hotel to the sunset point the 4x4 cars charge Rs 1000 per trip. Rs 3500 is Manebhanjan to sandakfu drop Rs 5500 is Manebhanjan to sandakfu return same day Rs 7000 if overnight stay is needed for the cars with drivers. We trooped back to the hotel n had a cup of streaming tea n fritters before we turned in to our room till dinnertime at 2000 hrs. The hotel staff was very punctual and we got dinner at 1955 hrs. A knock on the room door announced and requested us to come to dining room for dinner. Long tables with 6 chairs, each table was shared between various tourists n we shared out table with a kid and his parents making for various entertaining moment as the kid was mad at her parents. Dinner done we headed out for a short walk. Outside temp was -2 n had a strong breeze, forcing us to retreat indoor and continue with our walk in the corridor. We decided to call it a night early and were in bed by 2130 hrs.
The next day would see us up at 0500 hrs. Again as the sunrises by 0600 n we needed to freshen up n get a round of tea before the sun rose. We were hoping for clear weather next day n another amazing sunrise with sunlight reflecting on the Mtn Kanchenjunga. We caught the golden light some, but 30 seconds and and then again it was foggy for a while .
This eve we decided to not go to sunset point but spend time hoping for reflection of sun on Mt kanchanjunga and Mtn Everest.
Day time we trekked some visited nearby temple and viewpoint n had a good short hike.
A viait to Thaken vally costs Rs 2500 and is an 2 hr each way affair, over bad roads once more.
Our trip was mostly successfull except we dint get to see snow and hearing out driver jonny tell stories of how if snows people are typically stuck for a few days. Boy were we glad we dint get stuck.
Next morning would see us head to Latpanchar an popular birding station, hoping to see Rufous necked Hornbill.
