Tour - 14 days/ 5 days trekking
About UTTARAKHAND
Uttarakhand is a state blessed with an enormous diversity of cultures and landscapes. Just like Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh, it spans the whole altitudinal range from steamy jungle where tigers and wild elephants roam to some of the highest peaks of the Himalayas. One of them is Nanda Devi (7816 m, 25,636 ft), the highest mountain that lies fully in India.
TREKKERS’ PARADISEThe higher reaches of the Uttarakhand Himalayas are a mecca for trekkers. You can follow the herders up to the high bughyals (alpine meadows) and trek up to passes that in the old days gave access to Tibet. They reward you with some of the best glacial vistas in the Himalayas. Although the number of Indian trekkers is increasing, these areas still don’t get that many visitors as the much more known treks of Ladakh and Himachal Pradesh.
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Wildlife enthusiasts find a treasure trove of biodiversity here, partly protected in national parks and wildlife reserves throughout the state. Most notably, Jim Corbett National Park and Nanda Devi & Valley of Flowers National Park. Jim Corbett National Park is named after A famous British hunter-turned-conservationist. It is well known and popular as it is one of the tiger parks in India that is easiest to reach from Delhi. Apart from being home to a wide array of mammals, birds and plant life, it has very appealing landscapes and a well-laid out infrastructure of jeep trails. Nanda Devi & Valley of Flowers National Parks are two formerly separated but now joined protected areas lying almost completely at or higher than 3500m (11.500 ft). They can be explored only on foot.
HINDU PILGRIMAGETo Hindus – who make up 83% of the state’s population – the higher reaches of Uttarakhand are known as Dev Bhoomi – the abode of the gods. This is not just folklore, as present day Hindu culture finds many of its roots in this area. It is believed that the sage Vyasa scripted the Hindu epic Mahabharata here. In the Middle Ages, the Hindu kingdoms of Garwhal and Kumaon made up the western and eastern part of the present day state, respectively.
Millions flock every year to the many pilgrim sites that the state harbors. Easily accessible places like Rishikesh, Haridwar are not only popular with Hindu pilgrims but also host numerous ashrams and yoga schools that cater mainly to foreign visitors. Much higher up, you can witness die-hard Hindu pilgrims and saddhus dipping themselves in ice-cold waters where Mother Ganga (Ganges) emerges from the mouth of a glacier.
BREATHTAKING VIEWS, COZY RETREATSTraveling by car, you may experience Uttarakhand as a never-ending series of curves and switchbacks, but after each of these bends new views and sights await you. The mountains are covered in forests and green fields and especially in the winter months you get breathtaking views of the snow-clad Himalayas on the border with Tibet (China). Uttarakhand counts numerous so-called hill stations, towns situated at medium elevation levels that have been welcoming tourist since the British era. These hill stations are popular with domestic tourists, but have a lot to offer to ‘foreigners’ as well. In and around them, you can find (with some effort) hidden lodges, boutique hotels and family-run retreats with a high degree of the ‘Hotel California factor’: you can check in any time, but you may never want to leave.
Region
Darjeeling & Sikkim
(India)
Best Time
March-June &
Sept-Nov
No. Of Days
15 days, 7 days trek
Trip Character
Trekking tour with Wildlife extension
Sleeping Altitude
550 - 3205 m
Trek Character
Camping trek
Level: 2
Price
INR XXX/ $ XXX
ABOUT THIS TOUR
On this tour, you’ll fly from Delhi to Bagdogra, south of Sikkim, and then travel to Darjeeling, the tea capital of India endowed with a lot of old world charm.
From here, you’ll travel on foot up the Singalila Ridge, a mountain ridge that marks the border between India and Nepal. Walking for five days over this natural balcony, you’ll be surrounded by beautiful forests of firs and (in spring) blooming rhododendron trees,. You’ll pass through quaint little villages and – weather permitting – get some of the most awesome views in the Himalayas. This can be done as a camping trek as well as a lodge trek.
After this trek you’ll travel on to Sikkim, exploring its ancient monasteries and temples, traditional Bhutia and Lepcha villages, and staying at homestays and family-run ecolodges. The last day, before returning to Bagdogra and flying onward to Delhi, you’ll spend exploring Sikkim’’s quaint but relatively hip capital, Gangtok.
YOUR custom-made TRIP
The tour described here, as well as the other ones on our website, are mainly meant as suggestions. We would be happy to offer you a travel proposal that fully meets your personal demands and expectations. That means that you choose where you want to go, what level of accommodation and type of transport you want and what activities you prefer.
Please let yourself be inspired by this and other trips on our website and then drop us a line (or call us) to explain your travel wishes. We will be happy to help you put together the perfect trip. You can reach us over e-mail, Messenger, Whatsapp or mobile phone.
EXTENSIONS & VARIATIONS
Apart from the tour as described here, you could consider the following add-ons and changes:
- Travel further north – which means: higher – into the Sikkimese Himalayas and explore the isolated ‘Tibetan’ hamlets of Lachung and Lachen.
- Do a more challenging trek instead of the Shingalila Ridge trek. For instance, the Goecha La trek, or the slightly longer Goecha La Trek Plus. On these 10 or 12-day treks you sleep in trekkers tents while a walk-along cook prepares your meals. You walk longer distances, climb higher but the rewards are even better views of the big guys.
- If trekking is not your cup of tea we can show you some of the beautiful mountain forests, off-road villages and majestic views of the Himalayas on day walks.
ITINERARY
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Day 1: Delhi ✈︎ Kathgodam (5 h)
Fast trains to Kathgodam leave Delhi either at 6:20 AM or 8:20 PM and reach Kathgodam at 11:40 AM or 4:55 AM. Flights leave early and take 2.5 to 6 hours (stop-over at Dehradun). At the railway station or airport your guide and driver await you. They will take you to a comfortable hotel nearby. Altitude 550m. -
Day 2: Kathgodam - Bageshwar (180 km/ 7-8 h driving)
Early morning you will be picked up from your hotel for the 7, maybe 8-hour drive up to Bageshwar, where you check in to a pleasant guesthouse. Altitude 550 → 1000m. -
Day 3: Bageshwar to Kharkiya & trekking to Khati (3 h drive, 1.5 h walking)
Leaving Bageshwar, you climb up (by car) over a small road to the small village of Kharkya, situated at 2210m. Here, the trek start. The first day is short and easy. The trail undulates through rododendron forests, along alpine meadows and waterfalls. Overnight in camp. Altitude 1000 → 2210 → 2200. -
Day 4: Khati - Jhatoli - (3 h walking)
XXX. Altitude 2200 → 2440.Overnight in camp. -
Day 5: Jhatoli - Khatulia (7 h walking)
XXX. Overnight in camp. Altitude 3438 → 3205m. -
Day 6: Visit Sunderdhunga glacier
Today you’ll walk up to Maiktoli Bowl, a valley at the foot of peak with the same name (6803m), where you get up-close, as well as great views of Sunderdhuga glacier. The trail traverses large boulders, ice and deep mud, but it is worth it. Overnight in camp. Altitude 3205 → 4320 → 3205m. -
Day 7: Visit Baluni Top
Another day exploring from camp. Today you climb up to Baluni Top, a viewpoint from where you get a magnificent view of Vanoti (5646), Tent Peak (5695), Tharkot (6099), Maiktoli (6803) and Panwalidwar (6663), among others. The trail is initially quite steep, later leads over a beautiful bugyal (alpine meadow). Overnight in camp. Altitude 3205 → 3815 → 3205m. -
Day 8: Khatulia - Jhatoli (5 h walking)
You descend back to Jhatoli. Overnight in camp. Altitude 3438 → 2440m. -
Day 9: Jatoli - Kharkiya - Bageshwar (3.5 h walking & 3 h drive)
Further descending to Kharkiya, where the car will pick you up for the transfer to Bageshwar. Altitude 2440 → 2210 → 1000m. -
Day 10: Bageshwar - Jim Corbett National Park 196km/ 7 - 8 h)
You descend from the mountains to the edge of the plains. Here, one of India's most enigmatic national parks is situated, named after a famous hunter-turned-protectionist. Overnight in a forest bungalow inside the park. Altitude 1000 → 400m. -
Day 11: in Jim Corbett N.P.
Today you can visit the park on jeep drives, looking for wild elephants, deer, wild buffalo, many spectacular birds, and who knows a tiger. Overnight in the forest bungalow. Altitude 1960m. -
Day 12: Jim Corbett N.P. - Ramnagar - Delhi (5 h)
In the morning, you can again go into the park by safari jeep. After that you'll be taken to the railway station at Ramnagar or to Pantnagar Airport for the journey back to Delhi.
HIGHLIGHTS OF THIS TOUR
DARJEELING
DARJEELING'S TOY TRAIN
Darjeeling Tea
If there is one legacy of the Brits in India it is tea. Tea estates, tea processing and exporting, and tea drinking. It was long believed that wild tea, Camelia sinensis, only grew in China, but this small woody brush was ‘rediscovered’ by the British in the early 19th century in the jungle of Assam. Camelia sinensis var. assamica had long been used by indigenous people. Large tracts of land were converted into tea gardens and these days Darjeeling (and Assam) tea are known worldwide. There are two kinds of preparation. The black tea that is being dunked in water that just has been boiled is called orthodox. In Indian households and tea stalls the tea is generally boiled for some time with milk and sugar, and sometimes spices. This is called CTC tea. The two kinds of tea require different factory handling, but both have the same Camelia leaves as the starting point.
Singalila Ridge Trek
If we were to pick one trek that is, at best, moderately strenuous while offering superb views of the Himalayan giants, it is the Singalila Ridge Trek. On this trek you climb through well-protected subtropical forests teeming with butterflies, birdlife and some rare species like the red panda up to the montane zone of fir and Rhododendron. From late April to May exuberantly blooming rhododendrons and magnolias set the hill sides on fire. Emerging at the alpine meadows of Sandakphu, you’ll be treated to breathtaking views of the Himalayan range. Especially during autumn (October – December), when you can expect clear skies, you can see five summits higher than 8000m within one sweeping view, amongst them Everest, Kangchenjunga, Makalu and Lhotse.
Yangsum Farmhouse
Pemayangtse Monastery
Teen Taley Eco Resort
Teentaley Eco Resort is not a hotel but, as they say “an organic experience of the real, rural Sikkim.” Here, you stay in cozy bamboo cottages amidst a sprawling landscape garden, with a farmhouse and a private forest where you can go bird watching without leaving the premises. The food is home-grown, organic of course, and dinners are accompanied with the typical Sikkimese tongba – bamboo containers filled with millet beer. As the location, in Rumtek, is close to Gangtok, you can stay here, sleeping in the quiet of the mountains and waking to the birds’ songs, while visiting Sikkim’s capital during the day.
Rumtek Monastery
Gangtok
In Sikkim’s capital Gangtok, the rear neighbours almost always live on another street and hardly anyone has a garden, because the slopes are too steep for that. This also means that the roads are nowhere wide and often clogged. But fortunately most locations in the city can be reached on foot. Pedestrians can use a whole series of footbridges to cross busy roads. Gangtok was also the first city in India to declare its centre a pedestrian area. Here it is pleasant to stroll and shop and there are numerous ‘hip’ restaurants and cafes. Thanks to the government’s serious approach to environmental problems – a rarity in India – this is also one of India’s cleanest city centres. Interesting places to visit include the flower exhibition – with many varieties of orchids, – the Institute of Tibetology, Enchey Gompa and Tashi Viewpoint.
