The desire to walk on the snowy trails motivated us to do this trek in winter. Even though there was hardly any snow along the trails, we enjoyed the clear weather, beauty of the pristine Kanchenjunga and her family, and some breathtaking views.

Often dubbed as “One of the most amazing treks of the Eastern Himalayas”, Sandakphu and Phalut trekking trails, do not fail to offer bewilderment to the trekkers, – be it the weather, the marvellous views or the picturesque valleys along the coniferous and mixed temperate forests of these areas, and most importantly the beckoning of the “Sleeping Buddha”.

Sandakphu (3636 m, 11941 ft) is the highest point of the Singalila ridge situated in the Darjeeling district on West Bengal – Nepal Border. The peak is located at the edge of the Singalila National Park. About 4 of the highest peaks of the world, namely Mt. Everest, Mt. Makalu, Mt. Lhotse and Mt. Kanchenjunga can be clearly viewed from this point. At this very point, one can also view the entire Kanchenjunga range in the form of “the Sleeping Buddha”.

We started our trek from Dhotrey, a village nested amidst the pine trees and situated at the height of 8,500 ft. We ascended towards Tonglu where we saw the first glimpse of “the sleeping buddha” and traversed through Tumling, Jaubari and reached Gairibas on the end of the first day.

The night was quite cold with temperatures racing down towards negative centigrades. The next morning when we started out for Sandakphu, the entire area was covered with frost. The frost started melting away as the Sun went up with the day.

The trail from Jaubari to Sandakphu is a bit difficult one if one decides to abandon the boulder laden trail and take up the shortcuts. Some turns are quite steep. As we breathed out heavily with crossing each of the steep turns, we yearned more to view the sunset from Sandakphu top. Aah! What a molten gold the Sun was when it went down that day!

Most of the trekkers end up walking upto Sandakphu and back. But we, driven by the sheer desire of viewing the mighty peaks of the Himalayas more closely walked 21 kms of a barren, and arid patch to reach Phalut. These 21 kms of barren patch was an eye-opener in a literal sense, as it tested our endurance levels. The endurance to go on in our lives even if the things don’t appear lively or promising. As we started our walk towards Phalut after breakfast from Sandakphu, our spirits enlivened as we saw the first clear glimpse of Mt. Everest, Mt.Makalu and Mt. Lhotse. “The Sleeping Buddha” formed by Mt. Kumbhakarna (the head of the Buddha), Mt. Kanchenjungha (the body) and Mt. Pandim (the feet) appeared closer. Our guide, Subash, jokingly remarked, “Abhi i itna kareeb hai, Phalut mein pahounch ne ke baad kya karoge? godi mein utha lo ge?”

Sleeping Buddha as seen from PhalutAs we laughed on our way, the rocky trail gave way to a muddly one with patches of snow here and there. Some of the rapids have entirely transformed into hard ice and we even played with the icicles. I started to feel out of energy after 4 hours of continuous walking. I sat down and wanted to have some sleep. I met Subash when he approached towards me from behind and told him to move forward and convey my condition to my fellow trekkers. He asked him whether he will arrange for a landrover, to which I opposed. I wanted so much to walk to Phalut and complete the ascent. I went slower and slower. Towards Sabargram, our trek captain asked me about my condition and suggested me to get into a landrover as the time’s passing out fast and we might get stranded in the middle of our journey if the daylight fades out. I assured him that I will move and we have headlamps to assist us.

After reaching Sabargram, we had lunch. After lunch, I felt better and started to pick up the pace again. The surrounding was so barren without any variation in the landscape that we started to feel demotivated. But life’s all about carrying on, isn’t it? The sun started to set and we still had 2.5 kilometres of ascent to cover up. We could see the Phalut Trekker’s hut. It seemed to beckon us but more we treaded on it appeared to be far and far. Our headlamps went on and our feet grew tired. Suddenly Subash paced ahead through a shortcut. We were quite surprised in this sudden behaviour as this was not his nature. He would not leave us in this darkness. We were shocked, surprised and dumbfounded. However, after 15 minutes, we saw him coming back to us with a powerful torch. We now understood that he went ahead to bring the torch from the trekker’s hut to make our journey easier. He constantly encouraged us to stride on through the steep shortcut slopes to reach the hut early and saw us through. We decided to rest for the day after a refreshing dinner.

The next day, we took out a leisurely stroll towards the Phalut Top to see the great peaks under the clear blue sky. The sky was the clearest of the blue and the peaks were spotlessly white. As the sun decided to set for the day, it luxuriously draped the sky into all the hues it wanted.

The Kanchenjunga family went yellow, golden, orange, red and blue with absolute merriment. The scene left us visually awestruck. As we descended towards the hut, the stars came out to greet us. Yes, indeed, they looked like “diamonds in the jet-black sky”.
The most beautiful part of our walk was undoubtedly the trail via Samanden from Phalut to Rammam, a village 19 kms down the hill. A small village, where we took an hour’s rest and had lunch, known as Samanden offered a very rewarding and soothing view to our weary eyes. A mat green carpet of grass was spread all across the valley and there were wood houses with colourful sloping roofs. The soft sun baked us. We washed our bare feet and lazed about without our rucksacks. The entire stretch is laid amidst the pine forests, and the breeze which pleasantly whizzed out from the trees calmed us throughout our tiresome journey. We reached Rammam in the evening and rested for the day in a homestay. The best part of our stay in the homestay was the indigenous chulha with regular refill of charcoal to warm us up and a dinner of humbly cooked chicken and rice. We were having a non-vegetarian meal after 6 days, so we were quite elated.

Next day, we started early. Our destination was Rimbik through Srikhola. We walked fast as we had to board a cab to Darjiling and the cab was due to leave just before noon time. As we reached Srikhola, our state of trance and a natural mesmerism was stopped harshly by the mechanical sound of a land-dumping crane. The soft noise of the water flowing underneath the Srikhola bridge was subdued by the loud cheers of a travelling group. Alas! Most of us do not want the nature to remain in the state of tranquility. We want to capture each and every finer aspect of nature in the proud cameras we carry. With heavy hearts, we treaded on to the townscape of Rimbik.
The trail we followed: Dhotrey – Tonglu – Tumbling – Gairibas – Jaubari – Kalipokhri – Sandakphu – Sabargram – Phalut – Samanden – Rammam – Srikhola – Rimbik.

Our Trek Itinerary in brief:

20/01/2017 – Boarding Train @ 11:45 PM (Padatik Express)

21/01/2017 – Reaching NJP @ 10:00 AM, have breakfast

Darjeeling More/ Take a cab to Dhotrey.

Reach Dhotrey @ 4PM. Overnight Stay at Dhotrey and arrange guides and porters from the local office.

22/01/2017 – Start trek after breakfast @ 8 AM.

Tonglu-Tumbling-Gairibas. Overnight Stay @Gairibas Trekker’s Hut.

23/01/2017 – Start from Gairibas after breakfast. Trek towards Sandakphu. View Sun Set and Overnight Stay at Sandakphu Trekker’s Hut.

24/01/2017 –  View Sun rise. Start from Sandakphu trek towards Phalut. View Sunset. Overnight stay @Phalut.

25/01/2017 – Halt in Phalut for Acclimatization. View Sunrise and Sunset.

26/01/2017 – View Sun rise. Start from Phalut towards Rammam.

27/01/2017 – Start from Rammam and reach Rimbik. Take a cab to Darjeeling.

Useful Information:

• We decided to unwind for a day after the trek in Darjeeling. One can directly reach New Jalpaiguri from Rimbik if he/she wants to take a train on the same day or day after.
• We booked the beds in Trekkers’ huts in Gairibas, Sandakphu and Phalut from the Gorkha Bhavan near City Centre-1, Salt Lake, Kolkata. One can book a 6-bed Dormitory. The rates can be anything in between Rs. 600 to Rs. 1000. The rates keep changing, so it’s better to contact the office directly.
• We took one porter and one guide from Dhotrey Guides’ Office. We were charged Rs 700 per day per guide. The entire amount had to be paid on the day we started our trek from Dhotrey according to the rules. It was quite convenient and the guide and porter service was unquestionably good.
• The charge of food increases as one goes up to Sandakphu or Phalut. We took some dry and easy to prepare food with us like ready-to-eat Khakhra, Puffed Rice, Chanachur, Sattu, Cup Noodles and Sandwich Spreads. This helped us in cutting down our food cost.
• One can also contact Land rover vehicles from Maney Bhanjang or Dhotrey if they cannot walk. But, I would definitely suggest to walk through this trail. It’s quite a rewarding experience as a traveller.