1 Day Bhaleydhunga & Maenam La Trek

Maenam means “treasure-house of medicines”. The tribes of the nearby hills till date explore around this stretch of untouched jungle in search of medicinal plants. The undisturbed rich ecosystem caters to great diversity of fauna too. The narrow hiking trail right through the heart of the 35 sq km Maenam Wildlife Sanctuary is an excellent destination for birders as well. The 12 km long trail enters the wildlife sanctuary from Ravangla and climbs continuously till Bhaleydunga. From Bhaleydunga it’s another 15 minutes of climb to the Maenam view point and 5 minutes more to the summit. On top of a ridge there’s remains of an oldmonastery, a meditation spot still used by the practising Lamas. You can check out our Sikkim Monastery circuit Trail, if you like to visit authentic and quaint monasteries in Sikkim. The view point and the Gompa (the monastery) both offer a magnificent bird eye view of Ravangla and rolling hills of south Sikkim and even Kalimpong & Darjeeling hills vanishing into the horizon crisscrossing the landscape. The ridge top standstall and rises to an altitude of 3140 m/10300 ft, between two major river systems of Sikkim. Rangeet at East and Teesta at west carve the landscape, creating a triangle down south and run into each other at Melli. Due to this high vantagepoint, trekkers get a clear view of Mt Kanchendzongha’s East face from here. Surrounding the giant other visible peaks from here are Mt Rathong, The whole Kabru family,Mt Simvo, Mt Pandim, Mt Narsing etc.

If you are looking for an alternate route, you can experience the recently launched Bhaleydhunga Ropeway in Yangang, South Sikkim. There is a 250m long nature trail that connects Bhaleydhunga Ropeway upper terminal to the skywalk, passing through green lush forest of Meanam Wildlife Sanctuary. The passenger ropeway connects Dhapper to Bhaleydhunga peak in Yangang, South Sikkim is considered as one of the top five toughest ropeways in the world and the second toughest in Asia, after China. Bhaleydhunga peak is located at an altitude of around 3,300 m and offers a 360 degree panoramic view of the Himalayan range.