Sandakphu Motorcycle Ride by Team Petrolheads

Riding through tough terrain takes lot more just 2 wheels and an active mind. You go through back breaking surface that demands a lot of patience. In such conditions, it can take more than one hour to cover just 10-15 kilometers of road stretch where road is an imaginative situation filled with sand, gravel and mud from all sides.

This group of five friends planned a memorable riding route that ended at Sandakphu Peak in Nepal, cruising right through some of the most beautiful scenes one could imagine around the world. The experiences of those 5 days will definitely ignite your motorcycle riding soul.

Bikes & Riders:

• Shreeporno Sarkar & Suporno Sarkar – KTM 390 Duke
• Rohit Rozario Toppo – Bajaj Pulsar 220
• Partha Pratim Maji – Bajaj Pulsar 200NS
• Samrat – Suzuki Gixxer

‘Together – Team Petrolheads’

Video Courtesy: REVV ROZARIO (YouTube Channel) | Instagram | Facebook Page

The KTM 390 Duke used in the ride was the first to reach Sandakphu with a pillion rider

Thanks to Mr. Aamit Kumar for sharing the trip details and photos with us. Following are the complete details about the ride as shared by Team Petrolheads:

Day 1 (May 21) – We started from Asansol and took the Farakka route this time. The roads were not that good but as NH34 is still under construction with a lot of traffic jams, this was a better alternative. It takes almost 12 hours to reach Siliguri with a lot of halts as most of the bikers were new to this route. We reached Siliguri at about 9 PM and started searching for hotels.

Two new friends helped us find a hotel and had a great time talking with us about our journey. Unfortunately, Samrat got a call from his home and had to return back home due to his new job joining. We had our dinner and the day was successfully over. Samrat left for home at 5 AM next morning.

Day 2 (May 22) – Left Siliguri by 10 AM, Mane Bhanjang was our next destination and took Mirik route for our journey. The weather was not good as we got plenty of rains on our way to Mane Bhanjang. Reached Mane Bhanjang by 3.30 PM and had our lunch there itself. The road from Manebhanjan to Sandakphu (31 kms) closed by 2 PM and we had no other choice than spending the entire night here. We stayed in ‘Pradhan Lodge’ keeping our bikes safely in their garage.

Day 3 (May 23) – We had our breakfast at Mane Bhanjang, bought passes for bikes, riders & cameras from the check post and started our journey. At Lamaydhura, Nepal we took a short break and had some chai-snacks. We entered ‘Singalila National Park’ through Tumling and by 12.30 Noon, we crossed Gairibas (2625 metres). Moving forward to our destination, we went past many trekkers and finally, at end of the day, somehow reached Kalapokhri (3186 metres).

We decided to camp that night and hence, an amount of ?150 was charged as camp parking. Kalapokhri (3186 metres) is known for its Holy Lake and that night was well spent because of Karma-Tanzee, who provided us with dinner and camping. We somehow managed to install our tents at freezing temperature and zero visibility. Still, 4.1 km of remaining distance to Sandakphu was in our mind all the time.

Day 4 (May 24) – After a tiresome night in Kalapokhri, we had our breakfast early morning and proceeded for Sandakphu by 8 o’clock. The remaining 4 kms to Sandakphu is known for being one of the toughest routes with some points being 45° inclined. While covering the last 500 metres of our journey, Pulsar NS200 got its clutch plate burnt and couldn’t accelerate due to higher altitude. We somehow managed to resolve the issue and reached our final destination, Sandakphu (3936 metres).

The whole journey became successful when we got a clear view of Kangchenjunga as the view was worth every penny spent on the ride. While exploring the beauty of Sandakphu in the meantime, we had to pack our belongings so that we can reach Manebhanjan by evening. On reaching Mane Bhanjang, we had their cultural food ‘Typo & Momos’ to bring peace to our hungry stomachs. By 7:30 p.m, we reached Darjeeling and decided to spend the night out there in a hotel named ‘Good Morning Hotel’

Day 5 (May 25) – Woke up in the morning & had our breakfast in the hotel. After visiting few places at Darjeeling and shopping few things for the family, we started coming downhill through Kurseong (Rohini route) to reach Bagdogra. We took the Bhagalpur route, entering Bihar as we missed the left turn at Dalkhola. The roads are amazing as just 40-50 kms are still under construction. Entered Asansol through the Gourandi route and ended the ride with pride.