Sandakphu-Phalut in December

Hi all,

Greetings!!!

I am planning to trek Sandakphu-Phalut on the last week of december.

My itenary is as follows :

21-Dec: (night) train/bus from kolkata to siliguri
22-Dec: travel to dhotrey by car, overnight stay @dhotrey
23-Dec: trek from dhotrey to tonglu; overnight stay @tonglu
24-Dec: trek from tonglu to kalipokhri; overnight stay
25-Dec: trek from kalipokhri to sandakphu; overnight stay @sandakphu
26-Dec trek from sandakphu to phalut; overnight @phalut
27-Dec:Rest Day at Phalut
28-Dec trek from phalut to gorkhey; overnight at gorkhey
29-Dec trek from gorkhey to rimbik; drive from rimbik to njp by car; train from njp to kolkata
30-Dec: reach kolkata by morning.

Just wanted to know if the itenary is OK.

Also since it would be on December will there be any issues other than the temperature.

Regrads,
Souvik

Hi life1style1,

Welcome to IM

Your itinerary is quite ok. You have enough time.... you can move at ease,

Temperature and snowing (if) can only be the matter of concern then, so is the slippery road condition following snow-fall (if).

Best of luck.

Hi Duronto Jajabar,

Thanks for your quick reply.
Just one more querry:

If it snows at that time will it be trekkable?
Since i have a bit of time in hand there is no reason for hurry I guess.

-Souvik

You can have the news from Manevanjan or Dhotrey about the road ahead. During December last, usually there 'll be no such problem. But it's not wise to predict now

You have really enough time.... hope will be no problem.

One more thing - Dhotrey to Tonglu is 5 km only. So in first day you can move a far, if you wish, to keep one more day in hand or to shorten the trek in day 4/5.

We did this trek in Jan 2009 ....though we did get some snow fall but that won't be of any problem unless you have had very bad luck & get huge amount of snow fall...

About the itinerary : I would suggest merge the below 3 days as
______________________________ _____________________________
23-Dec: trek from dhotrey to tonglu; overnight stay @tonglu
24-Dec: trek from tonglu to kalipokhri; overnight stay
25-Dec: trek from kalipokhri to sandakphu; overnight stay @sandakphu
______________________________ ______________________________

23rd dec : trek from dhotrey to gauribas; overnight stay @ gauribas
24th dec : trek from gauribas to sandakphu; overnight stay @sandakphu

this will leave you with one extra day in hand....

I would suggest you to spent it at sirikhola ...a small village at the sirikhola river bed & you would enjoy the nature there....


Happy trekking...

Hi Legend.

Thank u so much for ur suggestion.

I have very little idea about Srikhola.

I have plans to stay at Rimbhik.

Instead of that can i manage to spend that night in sirikhola?

If yes,can it be trekked from phalut in a single day?

Regards,
Souvik

Sirikhola is 4km before rimbik & on your trek route...but you can not reach there from phalut in 1 day...the itinerary should be the same only staying place differ....

Hi,

If i reach NJP by 8 AM ,will it be possible to reach Tonglu on the same day?


Regards,
Souvik

That may be too much. You never know what the road condition be like from NJP to Dhotrey. It takes 2.5 - 4 hours to walk from Dhotrey to Tumling. Tonglu has only one trekkers hut (DGHC) and it is in bad condition. Traverse 45 minutes to Tumling where there are nice guesthouses on the Nepalese side of the border.

Next day, it would be wide to go till Gairibas. From Gairibas, it's uphill most of the way. It may sound very less 4 Kms or so - but it will take you atleast 2.5 - 3 hours to get over it. Remember you are also going higher. The weather conditions will make it more difficult in December.

I also dislike Phalut. It is a very tough trek from Sandakphu to Phalut to Gorkhey. Gorkhey is nice place tho a lot of people also stay at Ramam instead. Going to Siri khola is a bit ambitious. The motorable road has almost reached Sirikhola - it is called Sepi (jeep point).

I guess you will have to spend the night in Rimbik as you won't be able to reach the jeep in time. There are limited jeeps going from Rimbik to Darjeeling so try to book in advance.

Yes you can but that would be a hectic one....
njp to dhotrey will take approx 3.5 to 4 hrs...
So if you start at 8.30 from Njp you will reach there at around 12.30 ...arrange guide porter will take around 1 hr...
You can start from dhotrey at around 2pm....& 5 km trek will take max 2 hrs....

Hi,

As Legend suggested earlier i have decieded to halt @ Dhotrey in the first day and next day move to gauribas and halt there.

How much time does it takes to trek from Gauribas to Sandakphu?

Can it be trekked in a single day?

Regards,
souvik

Yes of course !!!!
We also did the same i.e from gauribas to sandakphu in a single day...
It will take approx 6 hrs of leisure walk with sufficient halt...

Only the last 4 km will be a bit huffy puffy....

Hi Legend,

Just wated to know about the accomodation in Sirikhola.

Heard that der is no DGHC option available.

An contact available for prior booking?

Regards,
Souvik

Sorry we didn't stay there ...so I don't have any contact number....
There are 2 or 3 guest houses but not from DGHC I guess...You can just go there and check for availability...Hope you will get rooms ...there is always option to go till rimbik if rooms are unavailable...

dear lifestyle

you do have a dghc hut in sirikhola, a small hotel with basic amenities RED PANDA, pinaki da the owner a very helpful person and also the SHOVRAJ LODGE. i will try and get you the contact if possible.
would also like to suggest a small change in itinerary of yours being there thrice

21-Dec: (night) train/bus from kolkata to siliguri
22-Dec: travel to dhotrey by car, overnight stay @dhotrey
23-Dec: trek from dhotrey to tonglu; overnight stay @tonglu (PLEASE MAKE A STAY AS YOU MIGHT NOT BE LUCKY TO GET A VIEW FROM SANDAKPHU FOR CLOUD COVER, SO BETTER TAKE A TRY FROM TONGLU AS WELL AS SANDAKPHU)
24-Dec: trek from tonglu to kalipokhri; overnight stay
25-Dec: trek from kalipokhri to sandakphu; overnight stay @sandakphu
26-Dec trek from sandakphu to phalut; overnight @phalut
27-Dec:Rest Day at Phalut (SCRAP IT. PHALUT WOULD BE TOO COLD.PHALUT TO GORKHEY IS TOTALLY DOWNHILL SO YOU WILL MANAGE)
28-Dec trek from phalut to gorkhey; overnight at gorkhey
29-Dec trek from gorkhey to rimbik; drive from rimbik to njp by car; train from njp to kolkata (GORKHEY TO RIMBIK AND ONWARD TO NJP NOT POSSIBLE IN SAME DAY. SO UTILISE THE DAY U SAVE AT PHALUT AND STAY AT SIRIKHOLA AS RIGHTLY SAID BY LEGEND. NEXT DAY U NEED NOT GO ALL THE WAY TO RIMBIK, U GET CAR AT SEPI WHICH YOUR HOTEL AT SIRIKHOLA WILL ARRANGE)
30-Dec: reach kolkata by morning.