Singba rhododendron trek

Day 1. pick up from bagdogra airport and driven to Sikkims capital Gangtok, you will pass through dense jungle forests, tea plantations, rivers, streams and many small villages as you drive through West Bengal into Sikkim. Arrive in Gangtok, evening free for sightseeing, overnight stay in a hotel on a b&b basis.

Day 2. after breakfast you will be picked up and driven to Lachung village passing watefalls, cardamom plantations, deep tropical forests and little village home gardens. Lachung is a beautiful himalayan village surrounded by snowy peaks with the lachung river flowing through. overnight stay in hotel on a b&b basis

day 3. after breakfast, we start our trek towards the famous Singba rhododendron sanctuary, passing by rhododendron arboruem with there blooms ranging from pink-white-red, you will also see rosa sericea as well as arisaema nepenthoides covering the ground, soon you will see other rhododendrons such as rh niveum and the lovely dwarf rh ciliatum,  once in singba you will surrounded by enormous groups of rhododendrons in full bloom with contrasting colours. the sanctuary features huge numbers of one species giving way to another, first rh niveum with purple-lilac blooms mixed with rh thomsonii with its blood red bells, then rh campylocarpum with its clear yellow bell-shaped flowers, then the stunning campanulatum with its blue-lilac blooms, rh hodgesonii with pink-purple blooms and rh wightii with creamy white-yellow blooms, as you climb higher you will see rh anthopogon with its scented foliage, you will reach our camping area called yumthang which is carpetted with dwarf pottentillas and purple primulas, there are also hot springs with a bathing hut constucted over the 2 pools of sulphur-infused water. overnight stay in tents.

Singba-rhododendron-sanctuary

Singba Rhododendron Sanctuary with Rhododendron arboreum ssp arboreum in full bloom

 

 

Day 4. after breakfast we will follow our path back to lachung, afternoon free to explore, overnight stay in guesthouse on a  b&b basis.

Day 5. after breakfast we will head for lachen and then onto the alpine meadows of thangu passing hillsides covered with rhododendrons, the village of Thangu is very close to the Indo-Tibet border and there was once an army camp here, above the village we reach the alpine desert and you will be able to take in spectacular views of mt Khanchenjua and entire valley of dwarf rhododendrons.overnight stay in tents

Day 6. after breakfast we will head back down to lachen, after lunch we will drive to Darjelling, evening free to explore, overnight stay in hotel on a b&b basis.

day 7.early morning pick-up to be taken to see the sun rise from tiger hill, this is a scared moment when you will see the Mount Khangchendzonga light up with the new rays of the morning sun, after this we will take you to visit the famous Ghoom monastery, taken back to hotel for breakfast, after breakfast you will spend the day sightseeing, visiting the Gurkha memorial, darjelling toy railway, Darjelling zoo, the peace pagoda and many many more sights, evening free to explore, overnight stay in hotel on a b&b basis.

day 8. after breakfast you will be picked up and taken to Bagdogra airport, service ends.