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Day 1:- Arrival day.
November 01, 2008 (Saturday)
MIRIK (DARJEELING AREA).
Everyone receives a number to be used for identification on luggage, room
lists, and to be worn during the race. You should be given an ID tag for
all your bags upon arrival at the Delhi airport. Normally, you will fly
to Bagdogra airport as a group from Delhi. Passports must be collected
and stamped before leaving the airport. Several buses will transfer the
group and all baggage to Mirik Lake Resort, near Darjeeling. It takes
about 1 1/2 hours to drive by bus. Upon arrival, you will have a room
key waiting for you. If traveling alone, you will be sharing with another
person (men with men, women with women). You will find your key by locating
your ID number and by name. The Indian staff can have difficulty with
foreign names so the value of using your ID number will become quickly
obvious. The clothes you wore to India can be left at the Hotel laundry
if you wish. You may leave a bag in a private storage room with your valuables
and items you do not want to take to Sandakphu, Phulet, and Rimbik. Baggage
should always be locked when in storage or transit. Meals taken at Mirik
Resort are included in the price, but not drinks of any kind. Please stick
with bottled drinks without ice and hot drinks. Dinner is at 7:00 pm in
the dining room. A trip briefing will follow dinner.
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Day 2:-
November 02, 2008 (Sunday)
MIRIK (5500 ft).
Breakfast is from 7:00-8:00 am. At 8:30 we drive 2 hours to Darjeeling
and visit the Himalayan Mountaineering Museum and Ghoom Monastery. Shopping
is an attraction in Darjeeling. Bring your passport. Lunch will be at
the Park Restaurant. We plan to ride back from Darjeeling to Mirik. You
can decide if you want to ride back after lunch or shop in Darjeeling
on your own and return to Mirik in our bus at 4:00 pm. Dinner will be
at 7:00 pm. Mirik Resort provides personal safe deposit boxes or you can
leave valuables in your locked bag in the storage room. You must have
your passport with you when we travel away from Mirik because there are
periodic check points where it is required. We are often very close to
the Nepal-India border.
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Day 3:-
November 03, 2008 (Monday)
SANDAKPHU (11815 ft). 20 miles.
Depart at 0530 for the 1 1/2 hour drive to Maneybhanjang (6600 ft). Bikes
should travel on to Sandakphu by jeep. Riders should walk or ride in jeeps.
Optional riding will be discussed in Mirik before departure. Walkers can
go at their own speed as several guides will be available. Porters and
jeeps will carry luggage to Sandakphu. On arrival in Sandakphu, hot soup,
bread, and snacks will be available. A complete dinner will be served
by our staff about 5:00 pm. A menu of all meals is included in the PDI.
Bringing personal snacks, favorite freeze dried meals, and other personal
food items are encouraged because at 11,815 feet most food looses it's
familiar taste. Runners and walkers will overnight together. There are
about 6 tourist bungalows at Sandakphu with a total of about 75 beds.
Each room has 2 to 10 beds. Married couples can be together although others
may also be in the same room. In addition to the bungalows, some tents
will be erected nearby, if needed. Everybody needs to bring their own
sleeping bag. Bags can be rented for $25. for this trip if advance notice
is given. Beds have cotton mattresses, pillows, and blankets. Dining will
be organized in a large communal tent or One of the banglow. It is not
large enough to fit everybody in at one time however. Food may be collected
at the dining tent so eating of main meals will most likely take place
inside each bungalow. No showers are available, but hot washing water
will be provided in "washing tents/One of the bangalw". Out-house
toilets are available in Sandakphu and a few places during the day. Expect
daytime temperatures 50-70 degrees; night time 25-50 degrees.
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Day 4:-
November 04, 2008 (Tuesday)
PHULET (11380 ft). 14 miles.
Many people are up about 5:00 am for the panoramic sunrise views of Mt.
Everest, Lhotse, Makalu, and Kanchenjunga. These four mountains are the
highest in the world, except for K2 (located in Pakistan). Sandakphu National
Park is the only place in the world where 4 of the 5 highest mountains
can be seen at one time. Breakfast starts at 5:30. See the menu in the
PDI. Mornings are clear and crisp as the sun rises to warm us up. Your
warm clothes will feel good. A guided ride will begin at 8:00. If you
want to start later, you can easily follow the bike tracks in the jeep
track all the way to Phulet. The jeep track is the border with Nepal and
is seldom used. There is single track (Yak trails) along the jeep track
that give better views of the big mountains. There is no chance of getting
lost if you follow the bike tracks on the jeep track. We may see yaks,
wild horses, and the small Red Panda today. The area is part of Sandakphu
National Park so there are no villages. Luggage will be transported by
porter, jeep, or Yak to Phulet Hut. There are about 40 beds in one communal
room in this Hut. You will have time to walk up the hill near the Hut
to get better views of Everest, Kanchenjunga, and major peaks in Nepal,
Tibet, Sikkim, and Bhutan. The Hut marks the border with Nepal to the
west, Sikkim to the North, and India to the south and east. One day the
trail will be open north into Sikkim to connect with the existing trek
from Yuksom to Gocha La. Today, we may offer a short bike race and/or
bike clinic.
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Day 5:-
November 05, 2008 (Wednesday)
RIMBIK (6350 ft) 20 miles.
Breakfast is at 6:00 am. We return 4 miles to Molle Turn and start downhill
to Molle Hut and through thick jungle to the hill village of Siri Khola.
There are sections where you cannot ride so be prepare to carry or push
your bike downhill. Porters will follow us to help carry bikes as requested.
For advanced riders, this is a technical downhill ride; for less experienced
riders, it is a walk. As you enter the upper parts of the hill village
of Siri Khola, the trail becomes a maze of paths zig zaging down to the
bridge crossing the big river. Smiling villagers waive greetings as you
pass. With no roads, they see few foreigners passing this way. After crossing
the river, the trail becomes more populated with the houses of farmers
until reaching Rimbik (6350 ft). We may follow a different route from
Phulet which has less technical downhill. Porters and yaks will carry
luggage to Rimbik. There are several lodges we use in Rimbik. Accommodations
are allocated based on the final make-up of the group. The Sherpa Lodge
is our headquarters. Do no expect personal luggage before late afternoon.
The Nepalese lodges we use have just a few showers and toilets each. We
may supplement their facilities with our own gas burners to heat water,
washing tents, and portable toilets. There are some 2 person rooms and
some communal dorm rooms at the lodges. Food has been pre-ordered and
will be served upon request when you arrive. It is normally warm and sunny
at Rimbik.
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Day 6:-
November 06, 2008 (Thursday) MIRIK.
After breakfast, we ride 13 scenic miles on rural roads with little traffic
to Palmajua for a rest stop. Bikes can be transported to the top of a
long hill and ride 15 miles on to Maneybhanjyang. For those interested,
it is possible to ride on to Mirik. You can see the road on day 3. Lunch
will be in route. Dinner will be at 7:00 pm at Mirik Lake Resort.
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Day 7:-
November 07, 2008 (Friday)- MIRIK.
Breakfast is available starting at 6:00. Today we ride from Mirik downhill
to the Wayside Inn at Dudhia for lunch. This road continues on to the
airport so you will see it on arrival day. We drive back to Mirik and
tour a tea estate, a monastery, and local markets. Dinner is at 7:00 pm.
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Day 8:-
November 08, 2008 (Saturday) MIRIK/BAGDOGRA airport. End of trip.
After breakfast, we drive to Bagdogra airport to catch the Jet Airways/Indian
Airlines flight to Delhi. The trip ends at Bagdogra airport. For those
not staying in India for an optional extension, a hotel night may be needed
in Delhi with airport transfers. This must be booked and paid for in advance
of arrival in India. The cost is .... ..... on a sharing basis and
.........
on single room accommodation. Allow ........ per night for extra nights with food at Mirik.
Transfers from/to Bagdogra airport serving Mirik and
Darjeeling, guided sightseeing, transport, hotel & lodging on a shared
basis, all meals, aid stations and bottled mineral water during bike rides,
guides for riders and walkers, T-shirt, and Pre-departure booklet.
Price
does not include:
Air flights, train services, or transfers in India to
connect to Bagdogra, any meals or services outside the Bagdogra-Mirik-Darjeeling
area, airport taxes, visa fees, or tipping kitty (....... is optionally donated
by each passenger toward a group tipping kitty to cover all services during
the trip). Tour operator does not accept responsibility for your mountain
bike. Be sure you can assemble and disassemble it as required to travel
by bus or jeep. Bring extra spares shoes. There are no bike shops or parts available
in the areas visited. The tour operator has an experienced bike guide to
lead rides, but the availability of a bike guide is not guaranteed by the
tour operator. If you decide to leave the group to ride on your own, the
tour operator does not accept responsibility for you getting lost, services
missed, or diversions in your itinerary, including extra costs you may
incur to rejoin the group.
Options: See Mt. Everest Challenge Marathon.
