Sandakphu + Phalut Trek 2019

Mountains were calling. An itch was there. I had said no too many times and like a good relative, every month or so, they would ask me when I would visit. It had been 4.5 years since I last visited them. I had to do this. Stars had aligned - I was in between jobs with an offer from the next one. I had asked for a 5 week gap for joining and I knew that I had to make the most of it.

The decision to trek Sandakphu was fairly simple. One, all Uttarakhand/Himachal treks were covered in snow and I had done Goechala previously. Second, Hemanth from Nature Walkers fame had recommended it very highly. I trust his judgement very much on these matters.

It was meant to be a solo trek. Roughly within 6 hrs time frame, I had managed to get a good contact - Pemba from the Sandakphu Challet Lodge and he had planned my entire trip with accommodation and a guide. On a day before the trek, I casually asked Amit if he wanted to join. I must commend on his spontaneous decision making as not only he said yes but bought tickets and missing gear in a day. With travel, stay, guide booked, I was all set and that too with a good companion as well.

Day 0 - Travel day to Maney Bhanjan.
The plan was to fly to Bhagdogra and from there, drive to Maney bhanjan, some 3-4 hrs. With a very early morning flight, we were there at Bhagdogra by 9:30 am and reached Maney Bhanjan by around lunch time. Our stay was at hotel Pradhan, a cozy place. We got some early signs of pleasant-cold-ish weather and it started to rain. It rained the entire night and this gave us a good idea for the trek to come.

At Maney Bhanjan, I also purchased a plastic poncho of INR 30 which served me very well. Amit provided good entertainment with his expectations of wifi along the way only to discover that there may not be even electricity. Even I, who had assumed that I was prepared for all weather conditions was in for a surprise.

Maney Bhanjan has an interesting aspect - A road runs through this small town and to the right of the road is India and to its left is Nepal. So, in this trip, I also travelled to another country. This facet of a road dividing the two countries runs through the entire trek. At Kalpophari and Sandakphu, we stayed on the Nepal side while from Phalut onwards, we were in India.

Day 1 - Maney Bhanjan to Tumling
Many bhanjan is at about 7000 ft and Tumling is at 9600 ft. So, we were in for a steep climb. Even locals had shared that the first 2Km to Chithrey is very steep. But the first-day excitement was enough to push us through this.  We started a little late waiting for the guide (Ashish) and porter-cum-guide (Newang) to join us. But I had a great company of the book - The wizard of Earthsea by Ursulla Le Guin; something that I had been meaning to finish for a long time.

From Chithrey, my other friend, Mr Mist joined us and it would be with us for long walks through the trek. At Chithrey, we visited the local monastery. The monastery was a nice one and post a short visit, we stopped for some tea at a nearby shack.  From Chithrey, we went to Tumling via Medhma. At lunch, we stopped at Lamaydhura and had our first Noodle soup of the trip with some omlette thrown in. It was nice and hot, filling our appetite.


One thing to note here is that there is a motor-able road from Maney Bhanjan to Sandakphu. The trail for trekkers overlaps with this road more than 60% of the time and you can see jeeps going back and forth with tourists. This was the worst part of the trek. While it is ok to have a motor-able road for tourists, the trail and road should have been separate. Many a times, the people in jeep would smile at us while I would be panting, or just walking slowly. The horn beeps did not help either.

After about an hr from Lamaydhura, I was tired. I pushed myself to Medhma where a cup of local black tea revived my spirits. This is the other interesting facet of this trail. Due to a motor-able road and fair but of commercialization, there are shacks every 2 hrs on the journey which serve hot tea and some snacks.  At no point, you are in total desolate wilderness. For amateur trekkers like us, this was a good confident sign that we will never be lost but on the other hand, you are never truly just with nature.

From Medhma to Tumling, it was an easy walk. Mist had cleared by this time and we could see nice views. Our stay at Tumling was at Siddhartha lodge. We were sharing this a big India Hikes group and few others. The lodge was huge. We had nice pakoras in the evening. Weather-wise, it was cold. More cold that I had anticipated. Room was nice and had a great view. At night time, I used one rajai and one blanket to get good warmth. Inside the two layers, it was cozy but the moment you step out of it, it was quite cold. 

Day 2 - Tumling to Kalpokhari
Tumling is at 9600 ft and Kalpokhari at 10,400 ft. So, ideally, there should have only been an elevation gain of about 800 ft but the mountains have curves. The trail from Tumling goes via Jaubhari over to Garibas which is at 1000 ft lower than Tumling. From there, we climb our way to Kalpophari climbing steeply along with the zig-zag motorable road to Kanyakatta and then walking to Kalpokhari over a gradual ascent.

The best part of Tumling morning was our first sights of the Kanchenjunga range. We were able to clearly see the Pandim, the twin peaks of Kabru, the Kumbhakaran mountain. And behind these mountains, we saw Kanchenjunga only for 90 odd seconds, and we could see a perceptible difference in the heights. While these peaks were tall in themselves, Kanchenjunga was higher not by few notches but by a significant margin.  We had to wait for some time to get these majestic views. Once visible, we were in awe of these ranges. The Sun had come up and it was promising to be a clear and sunny day.

Our breakfast was Puri, rice and chana subzi with boiled eggs. A sumptuous meal. The trail from Tumling to Garibas was easy being a downhill. At Garibas, we took a tea stop and nice black tea on the Nepal side. From Garibas, the steep climb was a challenge with the Sun shining brightly now. All jackets were off and sun caps were out.

Life changed when we reached Kanyakatta - our lunch place. For lunch, I ordered egg chowmein, which was delicious. At Kanyakatta, it had started to rain, so we decided to take some break, given that our destination, Kalpokhari, was only 1 hr 20 mins away. It was only 1 pm, so we decided to wait till 2pm. Among the rain, there was also small hail stones that were falling, hence we decided to wait. By 2, it had changed to a drizzle so we thought to make a move.

At the lunch place, I took out my plastic raincoat called "jugaad" and asked for scissors from the lunch-lady. Using scissors, I cut two holes for my arms to come out.  With this small ingenuity, I was all set to face the rain. Once out on the trail, the small drizzle turned out to be a full storm, later to a full blown soft hail storm (somewhere between graupel and sleet - https://www.nssl.noaa.gov/education/svrwx101/hail/types/ )  . It was difficult to walk as hands were getting very cold. The nice sunny views of the earlier day were now covered in full mist but there was still 10m + visibility.  We were walking fast too, just to escape from the rain and reach destination faster.

Not visible clearly, but it is raining graupel in the background

My jugaad poncho.

At Kalpokhari, it was very cold. After reaching, and quick tea, I changed to fresh clothes. My previous clothes were full wet, mostly because of sweat, partly because of rain. I quickly sneaked into my rajai + blanket layer. But, even within these two layers, I was shivering. Amit was also getting frustrated, neither of us had planned for this weather. Our guides mentioned that this is unprecedented for this time period. My shivering did not stop, my feet were not getting warmer. Took in a crocin tablet. Waited. No effect. Finally, forced myself out of the homestay and went for a walk. The sunset was beautiful. The sunset's redness took a long time to fade away and it was beautiful to watch. Had momos from a tea stall next door and finally came down to our homestay. Getting out gave the energy kicker to drive the cold away.   Dinner was the usual - Potatoes + Masoor dal with Roti.

Beautiful sunset

Day 3 - Kalpokhari to Sandakphu
With Sandakphu at 12000 ft, today meant a climb of 1400 ft but a distance of mere 7km. It was windy and raining the entire night, the morning was full misty with visibility less than 5 metres. We decided to start late hoping for the mist to clear but to no effect.

We had donned our ponchos as it could rain anytime. The 7k was an easy walk except for the last 250 metres. Right at the end, when you have done the hard steep climb, where event the milestone reading says - Sandakphu 0 km, right then, to get to the homestay, it is the steepest climb of the the entire trail. A trail so steep that at rest, your legs make a 70 deg angle with your feet, your ankles in a position as if you are stretching post a long run. A 10 step walk along this ramp forces you to stop to fill air in lungs before you start again. This was all to get to the top of Sandakphu where all lodges are located.

Some amazing signs and gyans along the way

Our lodge - Sandakphu chalet lodge was perhaps the best stay of the trip and that too at this height was indeed a delight. They say that on a clear day, you can see the Kanchenjunga from your bedroom window but today, it was all grey mist. A hallowed experience, something that I am used to from my previous treks.  Inside, I mostly spent my time in the dining area as the kitchen next door used to send the warmth into this room. Here also, I finished my first Earthsea book and left it there for future travelers to be delighted.

Amit warming his hands from rice steam.

Day 4  - Sandakphu to Phalut
While both Sandakphu and Phalut at the same altitude, day 4 trail first goes down by 1400 ft and then comes up running a course of 21kms. It was supposed to be the most beautiful day of walking. It is said that on this day, you walk facing the Mt. Everest while the Kanchenjunga range to your right for the entire stretch. We had rains, mist, more rains and a very gloomy weather throughout the day.

This is not a black and white photo, it looked like this only.

We started after having an egg roll as our breakfast. It was roti with Omlette with tomato ketchup. At about 9K, we stopped near an army camp for some hot tea. Sabargram is at 14K from Sandakphu and the trail crossed 4-5 hills where you climb them only to get down. The last stretch was a good climb and we were exhausted by the time we reached Sabargram.

We had taken boiled eggs and potatoes for lunch. At Sabargram, at a local shack, the local guy served us hot maggi soup which gave us some respite. We were totally exhausted by the time we reached Sabargram, we had already walked 5+ hours, most of it in rain. The gloominess of the weather was wearing on us. It had dawned on us by this time that there would be no views for us in this trip. All hope of the mist clearing away had gone. It was not just the walk and the hard work. While the walk was beautiful, we even got to see horses and yaks, the silhouette of the tress against the mist brought out the true natural beauty, we even passed some GoT references along the way, but the weariness of the extra layers of ponchos, coldness of the weather and rain had started to weigh more on us.

With just a cold realization, we left Sabargram for Phalut to end the day. Our last 7K was on the motorable road, the meadows along side had the risk of us loosing the way because of poor visibility. The motorable trail was stony, slushy and nothing interesting about it. We walked and walked. The first 5.5K was pretty flat, last 1.5K a little up-gradient. We finished the last bit in 2.5 hrs and reached the GTA trekkers hut at Phalut.

The GTA trekkers hut is pretty much the only option up there and its facilities are pretty basic. Bear in mind, it is like a 5-star hotel compared to a tent stay but this was a pamper trip for us. With no electricity and partial wet beds, we found couple of the dry ones and made this our home for the night. Like a typical rich folks who feel certain entitlement, we sat inside the kitchen, near the coal fire throughout the evening to feel the heat and be warm. The hut folks were very accommodative and  even served us dinner in the kitchen itself.

Our spirits were very low and we decided to change the last day plan. Instead of going to Barsey and experience the bad weather and more rains, we wanted to be cozy now. A plan came to walk from Gorkhey to the nearest place where we could catch a vehicle to go to Siliguri. Our guide mentioned that it would entail a walk of 15 kms from Gorkhey and we decided to take that route instead and rest with the warm Siliguri weather. The cold had made us little bitter by the evening and I was definitely irritated with it. The night's sleep made us warm and Pemba, our trip planner again reiterated to try out Barsey, saying "it is a nice place". We listened to him in the morning and decided to not change our plans.

Day 5 - Phalut to Gorkhey
Day 5 morning showed us glimpses of sun. Visibility had increased and we could see 25+ metres ahead. But there was no chance of seeing the mountains with big names. They were still covered in mist. Today's trail was the downhill part. 15kms of downhill, where we come down more than 4000ft. A killer on the knees and ankles in short. But on the good part, the trail was very good. It changed after every 30 mins or so, from huge trees to thick bamboo cover to small shrubs.

The last 30 mins or so was the steepest descent on a stony trail and it hurt the most. But the views of Gorkhey valley were just amazing. It was clear and we could see the entire valley. We took our sweet time to walk down and enjoy views of the valley. Our home stay tonight was called Eden Lodge and it was situated on top of a flowing river. Our lunch spot had views of a river, hills with green terrace farming and a bright sun without the excess heat. It was magical. Our lunch today was Alu ke parathe with beer and pickle.

Gorkhey Valley

I decided to continue my Kindle reading at Gorkhey at the iconic spot. It was peaceful. During evening, took stroll around the valley. Next day was trip to Barsey and our guide had no idea about the trail. Fortunately, out homestay owner had an idea and said that after a 4K walk, we have to walk 14K on a tar road to get to our next day homestay - Bodhi Villa. Since it is a tar road, he also gave us an alternative to take a jeep and reach there at a cost of INR 800. In evening, it had started to rain a bit and I was weary of yet another day of walking in rain. So, I decided to take the vehicle option.


 Day 6 - Phalut to Barsey (Okhrey)
Actually, our homestay for tonight was not at Barsey, the place is actually called Okhrey. Barsey is another 10kms away. After our standard roti + potato breakfast, we started the 4k walk. It started to rain just 10 mins after we started and rained the entire day today. The 4K trail was good, not too many ascents, we finished it quickly in less than couple of hours. At the trail end, we snapped some pics as our walking portion has ended.

We took the vehicle quickly to reach Bodhi Villa. It had rained the entire way, so I was partially glad to have taken this option. But the views of hills and valley from the road were pretty amazing, it would have been a nice to walk on it. The road was fairly uphill too. Once at Bodhi Villa, we quickly made plans to visit the Rhododendron flower sanctuary. The owner-lady of homestay warned that you will see more flowers in her local garden than the sanctuary but still I insisted.

The walk inside the flower sanctuary was amazing - one of the best sanctuaries that I have seen. It was lush green on both sides, I did not see a single plastic or trash along the way and it was insanely peaceful. One downside - it was pouring crazy. I had not taken my plastic poncho and was wearing my upper-half raincoat and my pants were drenched in 30 mins. Amit, on the other hand, had been frustrated with his decathlon poncho, so I offered my newly bought Maney-bhanjan poncho to him. He agreed but that poncho was even worse than the Decathlon one as it allowed water to go inside.

After 2km or so walk, both of us were fully wet. Though the views and nature around was very beautiful, afraid of being sick, and being cold, we decided to turn back. At Bodhi Villa, our luck continued - there was no electricity, no hot water and no network. They had some kind of transformer issue day before we arrived and hence the power was gone. The food continued to be potato and roti and masoor dal over lunch and dinner here. We spent time by playing Ludo.

I was able to finish book 2 - The tombs of Atuan here and was enjoying my reading very much. At night, we went out for couple of mins to see the starry sky - our first for the trip but came back after 2 mins as it was quite cold.  Post dinner, the clouds had taken over that view too.


Day 7 - Okhrey to Siliguri and back to Bangalore
We started our return journey back at 7:30 am. There was a big election rally planned at Jorthang and we wanted to avoid traffic. Our cab was on time. We were able to escape the Jorthang traffic but were stuck later for 1.5 hrs due to landslides. We reached airport about 2:30ish, had proper lunch there and then took the flight. Our flight was from Siliguri to Delhi and Delhi to Bangalore.

At the airport, I started my Book 3 - The Farthest Shore and was able to finish it by the time we landed in Bangalore. Both of our flights, Siliguri to Delhi and Delhi to Bangalore were delayed which also helped my reading.

Overall,  it was an amazing experience. I was lucky for Amit to have joined at the last moment as it provided good companionship. The trail is very good though it has its flaws - mainly the motor-able road.  Weather can not be controlled but time again, it makes us humble. Yes, I got irritated for an evening but other than that, I had a fantastic trip. In between the mists, we would get some views of the mountains next to us and we would be blown over by them. Our joy of seeing them must have been far more than those who would have taken it for granted.

This was also a very luxurious trip that i have ever had. Staying in home stays, blankets, attached bathrooms, all made it a very pleasant experience. A personal guide too helped in matching our own pace. It was planned very well by Pemba and to think that all discussion happened over Whatsapp is amazing. Pemba's Whatsapp line says - "we listen to our customers..not our competitors." I think this beautifully sums up why he knows more about running a business than many entrepreneurs in Bangalore including myself. I think the notion of trust and humanity in mountains is far more visible than anywhere else I have been. All Himalayan treks have left me with that warm cozy feeling with other humans than anywhere else.


Finally, my tryst with mist and rain continues on. Goechala, then Sapa, snowfall at Routeburn, heavy downpour at Kurinjal, this has been sort of a pattern. This time, I even experienced walking during hailstorm, a first one. While I definitely miss the views, I have grown fond of the misty nature. The Rhododendron were not blooming completely but we caught enough glimpses to visualize the rest. I can see that why this trail is so popular. The chance to see both Mt. Everest and Kanchenjunga from one place will be incredible. Having missed it this time, the trail is definitely inviting me for a revisit!