After years of planning, finally, we planned to visit Sandakpur. Not only Sandakpur Rural Municipality but the peak of Sandakpur, which is located at the altitude of 3,636 meters. Sandakpur rural municipality is located in Ilam district, and Ilam is mostly known for its beautiful tea gardens (chiyabari); however, Ilam has a beautiful village like Sandakpur too, which you shouldn’t miss if you are a hardcore traveler. In this vlog, I am not going to explain the beauties of Sandakpur, as I highly suggest you to witness this stunning and scenic view by yourself but I would like to share some important information for you about how to reach this place and how much it costs.
(Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOPmryPe6oY)
Sandakpur doesn’t appear that very far from the centrally located city of eastern Nepal, Itahari if you look at it, which is approximately 170km from Itahari. But in reality, it is quite far to make there in a single day, so you can make a plan like this. You might take your own vehicles such as bikes and cars but good conditioned, mostly preferred vehicle is 4 wheelers. The route is very simple: Itahari to Birtamod to Kanyam to Ilam to Maipokhari to Maimajhuwa (Sandakpur) to Kal Pokhari (Sandakpur) to Chauri Chowk (Sandakpur) to Sandakpur Peak (Sandakpu). If you start your journey in the morning at 6 AM/7 AM from Itahari, you can easily reach up to Kal Pokhari of Sandakpur rural municipality in a daylight. I wouldn’t recommend you to drive or ride further to Sandakpur Peak from there because of the very stiff and extremely off roads. Kal Pokhari to Sandakpur peak is nearly an hour of riding/driving distance, but due to limited hotels in the peak, I would suggest you to stay in Kal Pokhari. You can stay in Kal Pokhari and head towards the peak in the morning by taking a drive of 1950s antique land rovers. If you are taking your vehicles, it would be better to leave your vehicle in Kal Pokhari and take the land rovers’ ride from Kal Pokhari to Sandakpur peak. Many people get confused that whether we should take a Nepalese road or Indian road, well there is only one road up to the bottom of the peak and that completely lies in Nepal. Only the last 20 minutes of ride can be done from either Nepalese road or Indian road, so if you are taking your Nepali number plate vehicle take the Nepali road, as the peak lies pretty much in between Nepal and India (Darjeeling) but I strongly suggest you to leave your vehicle in Kal Pokhari or Chauri Chowk as both lies in Nepalese territory.
(Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UR7eidXk8Do&t=525s)
The budget is the one of the most important segments, when it comes to the travelling. The cost of travelling to Sandakpur mostly depends on the type of vehicle you use. If you are travelling by a bike, transportation doesn’t cost much. If your bike gives average mileage of 30 to 35 kmpl, approximately, 15 liters of fuel should be enough to reach Sandakpur and return. Roads up to Mai majhuwa of Sandakpur is quite good even though it is completely off road from Mai Bazzar. However, the road from Mai Majhuwa to Sandakpur Peak is extremely off – road. Hotels charge per night in Kal Pokhari and Chauri Chowk is around Rs. 500/person, but food is very expensive there, as a bowl of wai wai costs you almost IRs 100. Despite Kal Pokhari and Chauri Chowk lie completely in Nepalese territory, must of the visitors come from Darjeeling and India, so they calculate everything in Indian currency; however, they accept Nepalese currency too. The first day, you can reach up to Kal Pokhari, the very next day morning, you can take a ride of land rovers from there, as they charge approximately IRs. 200 to 300 per person for taking you to the peak. From the top, we can witness the wonderful view of mountain ranges and mountains such as Mt. Everest, Makalu, Kanchenjunga etc., you can further take a ride towards another nearby place of Darjeeling. You can return the same day and arrive in Ilam for the night stay. In overall, you can breakdown the cost and calculate it as per your spending plan.
To conclude, Sandakpur visit will be a lifelong and more satisfying memory of your life. The best months for visiting Sandakpur are September to February, and normally, we can expect snowfall in late December, January and February. You can make home in 3rd day. Have a wonderful visit to the Sandakpur.
For more travel information and vlog, please visit: https://www.youtube.com/eastriderkiran
