Trek Diaries: SandakPhu – Day 3 :The Summit Day

Day 3: KaliPokhari to SandakPhu
In continuation of Day 2 
An evening of Kalipokhari coloured us in all colours available in the universe. With such a warm welcome, how come one will not fall in love.  As Sunsets, rays of sun makes the Himalayan Ranges glitter in gold. The entire universe, each micro-object of this world got touched by rays and shine in a tinge of gold. No camera can capture, no writer can Penn it down, one should see to believe it.

Each one of us was waiting for tomorrow morning; finally, we all will be going to see for which we have come this high.
-“Hope, weather should be good enough to catch Mt. Everest”
-“Guys, please wake up early in the morning”
-“Ohh.God!! How beautiful feeling will be when I will see the Mystic Everest”
Everyone was Excited and thrilled for tomorrow. I know this must have been the most romantic night for everyone.

One should start early from Kalipokhari to get the panoramic view of the snow peaks from SandakPhu. From SandakPhu, the trek gradually ascends up to BikheyBhanjung which is 2 kms away. The name means “Valley of Poison” because of poisonous plants that grow in abundance around this place. From here there are 3 routes which all leads to the final destination.

SandakPhu, further 4 kms from BikheyBhanjang (Altitude: 11,929ft approximately 2.5 hours trek). One could actually see the SandakPhu peak from Kalipokhari itself. But as the proverb says “No gain without any Pain” comes in reality here. From BikheyBhanjang the climb up to SandakPhu is the steepest in the entire trek. One should not expect an easy climax. It should always be adventurous to get the real joy when you reach the destination. This 4 kms trek easily takes 2.5 hours.
One stretch I still remember was very steep, and I was like “How will I climb up so high?” One of the friends who is having a good height started ahead of me and reached the top in no time. I gathered all the courage and started taking small steps. The mission which was looking tough got conquered with keeping a thought in mind that “all tough things ends in a beautiful way” as all snowy peaks were waiting for me to come and keep them in my eyes forever, and ever.
And finally we saw a board saying “Welcome to SandakPhu”, final rewards are always awesome. We were at an altitude of 11,929 ft., on the summit of Singalila range and at the Heaven of Trekking. Everyone’s eyes were twinkling with “We did it” feeling. Everyone was hypnotised in this moment
From here you get the 180-degree panoramic vista of some of the highest and most beautiful peaks of the world. Ranges that belong to Nepal on the west, Sikkim and Bhutan in the middle and Arunachal Pradesh in the east. The entire range from Nepal to Arunachal is 320 kms long. Some of the greatest peaks include Mt. Everest (29,029ft) , Makalu (27,825 ft.), Kanchenjunga, Lhotse (27,940 ft.), Chomolhari (24,006 ft.), Pendulum((22,010 ft.), Three Sisters, Kumbhakarna(25,294 ft.) and much more.
Amongst all the talk of the town was Mt. Everest (29,029ft, the highest peak in the world). It is about 160 kms away from SandakPhu. Lhotse (27,940 ft., the fourth highest peak) and Mt. Makalu (27,825 ft., the fifth highest peak)