Winter Sandakpur Trek: Getting to know the Snow White of Ilam

(Just wanna check out photos?Scroll down to bottom n find my album's link in photobucket)

Zigzagging through Nepal-India; alternating between Nepali Rupees and Indian; sweat drenching 90 degree uphill treks; bone chilling icy wind; Chauri Goth as top class hotels; loosing your way in snow clad Rhododendron forest ; loosing sense in snow white beauty of a pristine landscape- experience this all in an offseason visit of Sandakpur in Ilam district during winter!  The colors may not be as spring-vivid or the mountains not as autumn-clear, but you will witness something else entirely. A live size cake of nature complete with gingerbread house, trees with snow icings all over. A different vista of nature, that you will never witness if you do not dare to step out from traditional "right season" tourism.

Our journey started from Dharan where an early morning bus took us to Pashupatinagar. You can also fly to Bhadrapur airport, and then drive there. Since it’s a winter sojourn we are talking about, take as many heavy clothing as you can, sturdy snow boots and goggles too. Better to come up stocked up with IC as many places along the route trade in IC only. View Google Map of the area here!

Meanwhile, a modified version of the map showing our footprints is here

Childish Attempt at outlining our foot/jeep print

Weather is quite cold compared to the plains below so arm yourself with extra clothing, sip some tea and then head towards Nepal-India Border Gate of Pashupatinagar to the Taxi Park. Enthusiasts can also trek all the way to Sandakpur right from here which takes 1.5-2 days. Alternately, start from  Ilam Bazaar, take a jeep going through Nepalese side upto Kaalpokhari or in fine season up to Bikhe Bhanjhyang and then trek rest of the way.

Manebhanjyang: to the left of the stone steps is Nepal and right is India

In the taxi park, local Indian vehicles take you to Sukiya and then to Mane Bhanjyang in around 45 minutes.  Mane Bhanjhyang is a small border hill town, quite welcoming and lively despite the cold. In fine season, regular jeep service upto Bikhe Bhanjyang is present but it gets halted in winter due to heavy snowing. You can still catch up one or two carrying supplies to the shops and hotels that will carry you till Jaubari as road after that are beyond driving conditions. Various small settlements like Tumling, Meghma, Lamey Dhura are on the way. We had heavy lunch/breakfast/midday snack in Jaubari where we stuffed our tummies full with tea, momo, thukpa, and puri to prep ourselves for the uphill trek. The bill, only 80 IC. Heavens! The remarkable thing about East is the unbelievably low price of everything from food to hotel rooms.

Lamey Dhura. Tea shop settlements such as these are spread throughout this trek

As you trek, snow covered forests,

charcoal "heating system" hehe

stony trails wounding through vast meadows and beautiful children will keep you going. Small settlements are spread out along this route that mostly overlap Indo-Nepal border. Here the country-divide like we know it, dissolves and becomes irrelevant. Everyone speaks Nepali but trades in IC. After a while, you become tired of asking whether its India or Nepal your legs are standing on. Nepali tourists shun this trail during winter, but others keep coming so the hotels will have you amply furnished with warm blankets, charcoal heating system and burn-your-tongue hot food. It may startle you in the beginning to discover a thin layer of mist covering your blankets in the morning but you get used to it. 

Oh cant stop the temptation of photographing rosy-cheeked cuties

 An early morning scene that greeted us in Kaalpokhari had the gently sloping ground, its colorful small houses, the picture perfect fir trees, the stupas, everything coated in white snow, making the place surreal. It was as if a master baker had generously sprayed icings all over his creation.

A surreal morning at Kaalpokhari

A colorful, lively morning in Kaalpokhari

 

Steepest part of the trek is after Bikhe Bhanjyang that will challenge you for almost two hours. As we ascent, we can see more and more of white landscape downhill, and enjoy the occasional mountain glimpses. There is this huge cliff right at the end of ascent where big yellow letters, "NO SWEET WITHOUT SWEAT" are engraved.

Icicles hanging in clothesline @Bikhebhanjyang

Once you finish the uphill climb and step into Sandakpur, you realize how true it is. The first thing you see, is this giant Kanchenjunga staring right at you. It is so massive, so beautiful, so imposing you forget everything else. 

The first scene that greets you upon stepping in Sandakpur

You gradually begin to take in the fir trees that frames this giant Annapurna, then the colorful small houses that are in either side of border, their roofs still covered with fresh snow, the snow laden small paths that lead to them, and then the entire Sandakpur area which is more or less a level land at the top of a hill more like a plateau (altitude 3636 m). The white coat of snow all around the colorful landscape gives it such an enchanting makeover that it makes you thinking of fairy tales and cakes right away.

More of Enchanting Sandakpur...the path is actually Indo-Nepal Border

Snow White: my feeble attempt at capturing the fairy tale world

 

Most hotels are closed or only partially open in this season but there's sure to be one or the other open and serving. There are 3 Indian Government hotels called A-,B-and C-hut and a few private Nepali/Indian hotels.

Gajendra dai of A-Hut who treated us to free lunch

Yipee...snow! Deprived soul me...really went gaga over all the snow & white

Aahal, some 2 km away from Sandakpur, the border of Taplejung and Ilam, is another place you wouldn't want to miss.

snow laden path between Sandakpur and Aahal

It has one Yak shed owned by a Sherpa Dai, which is both his home, and a top class hotel during peak tourist season. It has a good vantage point of the mountains and the surrounding. We see mountains spread across three countries, Nepal, India and Bhutan from Sandakpur. We spent the night there and the first thing that greeted us upon looking north was  a skull of Yak perched on top of a big stone and immediately across it an unending chain of mountains that goes on and on, lit up in fire standing over blue hills.

The first scene that greeted me in the morning in Aahal

This view was dominated by two majestic peaks in the right, Kanchenjunga and Kumbhakarna. The golden glow, the vastness of the peaks, the cool mountain air and the magnificence of it all. Words cannot describe what we felt. It was nature at its most enchanting.

close up Kanchenjunga = Magnificence

You can always choose to return via a different route as we did taking a trail that went through Deurali, Maipokhari and Ilam Bazaar.

Early morning scene at Deurali of Ilam

The climb down is a very steep one and you can always ditch the conventional road trek and shortcut through rhododendron forests by following shepherd's trail. Chauri Goth are found deep within these forests where you can get meals as well as directions.

Chauri Goths such as these can be found frequently between Aahal and Maimajhuwa trek downhill

You also get free chhurpis and some wild shepherd's tale to recount to your friends back home. Even in proper hotels, the food costs so cheap you are tempted to ask for bill once again. Everywhere you will be given open smiles, free tea and such warmth that it seduces you more than the majestic snow peaks.

Friendly, smiling grandpa who posed for us without asking. :D

abundance of my favorite flowers primula made the trek sweet

After you get to Maipokhari, paying your restaurant bills will make you realize that you have reached the end of "un"civilization. From there, take jeeps or walk to Ilam Bazaar from where, you can either board a night bus to Kathmandu or return to Dharan, enjoy its alunimki and sekuwa, and go back to Kathmandu. Back in the heart of "civilization", with only memories of "uncivilization"; promise yourself to be there next season, next time when the snow covered rhododendron forests will be in full bloom and overshadow even the mountains. Because as my partner fondly likes to recall, for every place in Nepal "once is not enough"!

I hope the writing n the photos struck an arrow thru ur heart n now u'll be visiting Sandakpur!

Check out my album Winter Sandakpur Trek and the sub-albums in photobucket if you want to see more photos.