[Safedriver76]

Cant find words to really describe the feeling after seeing your travelogue. Driving 1500 kms on a weekend and thereafter climbing to 11K feet above sea level requires a lot of passion. The video of the ascent gave me goosebumps, the road was so narrow and steep. Photographs were jaw dropping especially the Mighty Kanchenjunga and the starry sky on the backdrop of the snowy peaks. Hats off to you guys. You deserve 5 stars.

[DriveTrain]

Samba , I am sure this would be the one route and trip where the "Injectors" wouldn't even dream of giving up, they had a tryst with the sleeping Buddha after all :

The pictures are simply out of the world and your video makes the ascent seem like child's play. The dimension you have added through the night landscapes is extra ordinary

Do the Landy's still ply till Phalut ?

[debuda]

Wonderful travelogue with great pictures (as usual).

IMHO, it is nothing but goondaism on part of the Land Rover taxiwallahs to extort Rs 500 per private car plus force you to hire one of their taxis too. I wish you had protested and taken up the matter with local authorities, especially since there were quite a few of you and all were driving private cars, not rented cars.

[predatorwheelz]

I wish we hadn't discussed the trip so much on other forums, before I chanced upon this thread. Nothing more to say, but the fact that it was an excellent trip with all the heavyweights of Kolkata teambhp chipping together. Wish I was in town this time, would have hopped on to one of the vehicles.

[Samba]

Made a short 20 mins video from the Sandakphu trip.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTTC3D3OCDU

Originally Posted by A.G.The Rambler

Logged in after a long long time and what a treat to my eyes. Mind boggling pictures and excellent driving skills. Kudos to Samba and the whole team. Missing my Kolkata days :-)

Thanks a lot.

Originally Posted by hothatchaway

Driving 1500 kms over the weekend from sea level to 11000+ feet.I read about the Mahindra you encountered at the very top but where is the ledge on the way to let an oncoming vehicle pass?!

Another year and I think you would have recovered your investment on the Duster!

Thanks a lot.

Actually one should not scale 11,000+ feet from sea level, it's always safer to acclimatize and then gain altitude. This was a bad negligence from our end.

Regarding giving pass to the Mahindra, there were two occasion's, once when i was climbing up and once i had to reverse up on the incline while going down! Actually there are some tight spots where two vehicles can squeeze. But finding that space is a tough job!

Originally Posted by Pancham

P.S: In 2017, I remember they were repairing the roads from Tumling to Sandakphu. Seeing your pictures, it seems its still the same.

Thanks. Tumling to Gairibas, road is good now. From Gairibas to Sandakphu the road is still bad.

Originally Posted by dip27in

Sharing few photographs from my end

Lovely photographs!

Originally Posted by Safedriver76

Driving 1500 kms on a weekend and thereafter climbing to 11K feet above sea level requires a lot of passion. The video of the ascent gave me goosebumps, the road was so narrow and steep.

Thanks a ton. This road is the main thrill of driving to Sandakphu.
And this is till date the only hill station where i have not seen a Maruti Alto at the top! Believe me, wherever i went and how bad the roads may be, i found a Maruti Alto or a Maruti 800 at the top!

Originally Posted by DriveTrain

Do the Landy's still ply till Phalut ?

Thanks dada.
I asked the Landrover driver's about Phalut. They told, the roads are filled with boulders but they will go.

Originally Posted by debuda

IMHO, it is nothing but goondaism on part of the Land Rover taxiwallahs to extort Rs 500 per private car plus force you to hire one of their taxis too. I wish you had protested and taken up the matter with local authorities, especially since there were quite a few of you and all were driving private cars, not rented cars.

Thanks.
There is no point arguing with them, as the local authority is in their favor too.

Originally Posted by predatorwheelz

I wish we hadn't discussed the trip so much on other forums, before I chanced upon this thread. Nothing more to say, but the fact that it was an excellent trip with all the heavyweights of Kolkata teambhp chipping together. Wish I was in town this time, would have hopped on to one of the vehicles.

Thanks.
It's never too late! We can plan again! You just need to tell this to the Kolkata Bhpian's once. Am sure another plan will be made in no time!

[haisaikat]

Stunning travelogue and even beautiful pictures. I hope the mods do not ban further posting of mobile pics that i am used to doing.

I am usually such lazy that driving on a weekend from Kolkata to Digha and back with one night stay is considered an equivalent of interstellar travel. Kolkata to Sandakphu on a weekend cannot be imagined and after seeing that steep road i would prefer to watch your video on projector or a 360 VR than to drive.

You are awesome samba and so is the team who dared to achieve this excellence. All the best for future trips, may be mounting the cam outside the car on the roof would have given and even better perspective of the road to fence sitters like us (don't listen ).

[cp171185]

Was reading it while coming to office in metro and i forgot to get down at my station & realised that two station after!! I was so lost in the article..

This is marvellous. Awestruck photographs of sunset, sunrise, cars with the roads & the short, crisp yet beautifully narrated blog. Enjoyed it thoroughly. Videos were placed bang on time when I was imagining about the place by your writing. Gote to sandakphu was more scary than the other one. Don't know if I am correct.

Day & week started with a lovely read. Thanks for sharing. Thanks for the photographs to you as well to BHPian SouravC.

One thing, why did LR association charged twice? like paying 500/- per car & compulsory hiring one LR? Is it negotiable?

I hope BHPian PapaBravo is fine now.

[tacho9000]

Samba Da as usual excellent thread and even better are the photograph. You've done one of the most treacherous roads in the world even today. I've heard the last 4km ascent is one of the steepest and most difficult to drive and is proper 4WD territory. Seeing as you have posted snippets from your dashcam it will be great if you have the full clip of the last 4km and can share that here. Will be a treat to see though I guess it wasn't that much of a treat to do in reality I guess.

Regards,
Subhra

[SVK Rider]

Superb Travelogue, actually one of the best videos I have seen for Sandakphu i got to see from this thread.

Awesome pictures, Kudos to the entire team.
Such a treat to see the photographs from all.

[PapaBravo]

The pictures are superlative Samba. No one could have captured the beauty of Sandakphu so well. It was great doing this trip together. You made it look like a piece of cake. I am sure your second trip is already on the cards.

Sharing some pictures I took on phone.

Sunrise just before climbing the hills



Stop & regrouping at Chitrey



Pajero & Red Express Enjoying the Jungle







The concretised part of the road



Mt. Kanchenjunga



And the beautiful views from top




Also, sharing some pictures of HULK, my car at the top when we went there in April.

Originally Posted by cp171185

I hope BHPian PapaBravo is fine now.

Thanks for asking cp171185. I started feeling better as soon as we descended to a lower altitude. I was perfectly okay the next day.

Cheers,

Pawan

[1100D]

Congratulations on having ticked Sandakphu off your list. The weather seemed great, pictures came out breathtaking.

Just sharing a pic from my last time there. No sign of any clouds between Mt-K and Sandakphu!



But then, this story was captured in my previous travelogue of the same destination.

[BlackPearl]

Originally Posted by silverado

Did you encounter any cyclists? I do understand the switchbacks would need them to walk, but did you see any?

No silverado, I have not seen any cyclist there.

Originally Posted by Sutripta

You need to reimburse all those who drive to Sandakphu in their own vehicles.

I will happily reimburse all of them but on one condition. Mahindra should be paying me a commission for every 4WD Bolero they sell in the Sandakphu region. I saw at least 6 to 7 Bolero 4WDs this time and that has happened due to one Bolero LX 4WD busting the myth 8 years back that it is a Land Rover only territory

The one that started it all!

[Sutripta]

Originally Posted by BlackPearl

I saw at least 6 to 7 Bolero 4WDs this time and that has happened due to one Bolero LX 4WD busting the myth 8 years back that it is a Land Rover only territory

Was never LR only territory.

Quite a few of the assistant managers (one is an inactive member on this forum) of the Darjeeling tea estates have daytripped to Sandakphu in their vehicles and mobikes. (Somehow managers were less adventurous) I don't know about Boleros, but certainly Jeeps (Hurricane and XDP) and Gypsy (1 L, which I believe was a pain, but doable), RX 100, and at least one RD have made it to the top.

Regards
Sutripta

PS. Posting from Assam in broad daylight now, courtesy Jio. Progress.

[AJ-got-BHP]

Wonderful to see BHPians brothers of the Kolkata Chapter at Sandakphu. Great Pictures and Videos there by everyone - Samba, SouraC, BlackPearl & dip27in !!

Missed catching up with you guys this time as was off to Meghalaya for a few days for the Cherry Blossom !! Had the trip been planned a week later, would have definitely joined in from Guwahati.

But I guess for me, the time is yet to come for that. My Teenage Endy will have to wait to scale Sandakphu

[Samba]

Originally Posted by haisaikat

I am usually such lazy that driving on a weekend from Kolkata to Digha and back with one night stay is considered an equivalent of interstellar travel.

Thank's dada.
Yesterday night, I read your travelogue on the beaches of Bengal. It was a fantastic read.

Originally Posted by cp171185

One thing, why did LR association charged twice? like paying 500/- per car & compulsory hiring one LR? Is it negotiable?

Thanks.

Paying Rs 500 is compulsory. Taking the Land Rover can't be. They take that chance. One can always argue and go in without paying for the LR, but during a trip, it's best to avoid getting involved into a controversy with the locals.

Originally Posted by tacho9000

I've heard the last 4km ascent is one of the steepest and most difficult to drive and is proper 4WD territory. Seeing as you have posted snippets from your dashcam it will be great if you have the full clip of the last 4km and can share that here.

Thanks.

And here you go. A 16 mins clip of the last 4 km stretch from Bikeybhanjan to Sandakphu -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fmr5hKIV9gw

Originally Posted by SVK Rider

Superb Travelogue, actually one of the best videos I have seen for Sandakphu i got to see from this thread.

Thanks a ton.

Originally Posted by PapaBravo

The pictures are superlative Samba. No one could have captured the beauty of Sandakphu so well.

Thanks Pawan Da. Loved the pic of Red Express inside Singalila National park. The light and shade made the pic look stunning. You captured it beautifully. One of the best pic of my Duster!

The other pics you shared are equally beautiful and not to mention the Pajero Sport is looking drool!

Originally Posted by 1100D

Congratulations on having ticked Sandakphu off your list. The weather seemed great, pictures came out breathtaking.

Thanks.
White Sandakphu will remain a dream for me, until i own a vehicle with a proper low range!

Originally Posted by AJ-got-BHP

But I guess for me, the time is yet to come for that. My Teenage Endy will have to wait to scale Sandakphu

Thanks.
Will plan for Sandakphu again! Wife is quite angry on me, for not taking her in this trip! So have to scale Sandakphu again!