Sandapkhu Phalut- Chapter 3

abhisek ghosh
Mar 27, 2023
11 min read

"The last word always belongs to the mountain.” - Everest movie

Day 5: Sabargram to Aal

Sabargram is known to be a really windy campsite and although I didn’t experience it the last time, during this visit the wind element compensated for both visits. Every time I woke up in the night, all I could hear was the outer frost protection layer rapping continuously against the tent.

Faisal’s voice early in the morning woke me up from my slumber. His voice had a level of excitement which sent everyone scampering out of their tents. There was frost everywhere as soon as I opened the zipper of our tent and it started pouring in like fine dust. As I came out, a blast of icy wind caught me off guard and sent a chill down too my bones. I shook of the chill literally and turned to see the mountains. Although I had seen this mountain back in 2019 from this same campsite, what I beheld was nothing less than breathtaking.

Alpenglow on Mt. Kanchenjunga and Mt. Everest Range

The sun was still in a deep slumber, but some of its aura had found a way to subtly light up the surroundings. The sky had put on a steel grey colour like a perfect neutral canvas for that setting. It was absolutely crystal clear with not even a speck of cloud could be seen in the sky. Silhouettes of lower mountain ranges and the all familiar road to Phalut could be seen faintly. But in between these two realms of Earth and Sky, lay the work of god. The Sleeping Buddha lay there, as if in a deep meditative state, glowing from within in its spiritual aura. It stood out in the grey background so prominently, as if god himself took a pencil and drew it’s sharp outlines on the sky and then decided to sculpt the whole thing on these mighty rocks. It felt like if I close my eyes and listen carefully, I would probably hear the mountains chanting the primordial sound of OM. The snow and dark rocks played an ethereal contrast on each other. This was the first time I was able to see the actual peak of Mt. Kanchenjunga and it was a fulfilling experience.

I swept my eyes to the left and there laid the Three Sisters in the dawn's faint glow and to the further left, Mt. Everest and the rest of its clan stood there, imposing their dominance in the horizon. Mt. Makalu looked exceptionally amazing amongst all of them and Mt. Everest was absolutely spotless. Very soon the eastern sky started showing shades of crimson as the sun started to wake up from its deep slumber. I decided to set up my camera to take a timelapse of the first ray of light falling on the Mt. Everest range. That transition of the colours in the sky was so mesmerising that it is truly difficult to express in words.

The sky slowly started changing into various shades of red as the chromatic aberrations forming on the sleeping buddha left everyone speechless. The excitement in the voice, the sudden gasps of astonishment to see the nature at play in full vigour left all of us stupefied. All that was present was the winds of Sabargram and the magic unfolding before us. For the next 20 minutes or so we remained in that state until both the mountain ranges on either side were in a state of constant and we slowly came out of our trance.

Timelapse of Alpenglow over Mt. Everest

The cold was getting to us even more and we decided to go into our tents and sit there for some time. I wanted to have some water badly and as luck would have it, the bottle of water

froze over night, leaving just a few sips of ice cold water moving around the bottle which I somehow managed to drink.

We went down to eat breakfast and eventually said goodbye to the amazing staff at Sabargram, we made a push for Aal, our next campsite and closer to the summit point. For me, the entire trail felt like an episode from a limited series, rewinding itself. The entire route was exactly through the same trail I took back in 2019, the same huts on the way, a dilapidated stable with no one in sight. A large fallen tree

trunk where we stopped this time to take a long break and the last time we stopped here was for lunch. Seeing a small pond-like water body as we left that place reminded me of all the laughters we shared with the old crew, especially with our then TL Ramapriya. The only difference once again was the absence of snow. Although it wasn’t bothering me as such, however, I did feel that the impending doom looming over the planet, called “climate change” is clearly showing its effect on the weather. We continued on an almost arid trail, spotted with shrubs and an occasional tree here and there. One and a half hours since our last resting point we saw an SSB camp at a distance, where a couple of us were asked to provide identification details to keep a record of the group. We went around the camp and up a tall hillock where a tea house was located.

This was Thokum, where we would stop for a nice hot lunch. Dal, Rice, a simple vegetable dish, felt like a piece of heaven in our lunch boxes. We rested there for quite some time, and played some fun games. Sipping hot, sweet, black coffee under the sun, with the cold mountain air filling our lungs was probably the best kind of therapy one could ask for and we didn’t wanted to miss even a moment of it. We were informed by our Lead Guide Lakpa Ji that the weather is really nice and the sky is favourably clear for us to witness the most amazing sunset at Aal. Having missed it the last time I came to Aal, I had no intentions to miss it again and got ready to roll. We all started off towards Aal with renewed vigour. At some of the places the terrain wasn’t easy and in many places to save time, we had to take shortcuts, which meant straining across steep terrains.

I saw Lakpa Dai break off from the group and taking a different route; he looked at me and gave me a sign to join him. It was probably my lucky moment to share a totally different route with Lakpa Ji, while he told me various stories about the trail, about his village. He stopped multiples times to tell me about various shrubs, bushes and trees on the trail. I also learnt that Sandakphu is not just a tourist spot, but it is also a place of religious importance for the people living in the nearby mountains. Apparently there is a temple of a goddess who is regularly visited by the locals and she is the one who has blessed that region with her benevolence. This was the second time I was visiting this place and I was surprised to realise how little we actually know about the places we go. There is so much to learn from the local residents and especially from people like Lakpa Ji. That small detour with him truly cemented a special friendship that I cherished till the last day of the trek.

Lakpa Dai... The Legend of Sandakphu Phalut

Soon, I could see the famous blue coloured tea house of Sandakphu at a far away distance and the glass observatory of Aal slowly came into view which was much closer to us comparatively. Eventually we caught up with the rest of the group and climbed through a steep patch of thorny shrubs which took us to the main trail towards Aal. As soon as we came up, the road looked like it was leading off towards a sea of clouds. As far as my eyes could see, I saw waves of clouds, almost like huge bales of cotton covering everything in sight below us.

Spurred by the wonderful sight we pushed hard to reach Aal on time. In another 15 minutes time, I saw the same tea house which had housed my team in 2019 amidst a heavy snowstorm, standing there, waiting to welcome me back. I noticed some much needed structural changes to the tea house, but it was all new and fresh. We had tea at the top of the hillock just behind the campsite and revelled at the beautiful sight ahead. We all packed up in multiple layers and went to the observation spot to watch the famed sunset. Five of us decided to climb the tallest hillock in the vicinity and it was the right decision as what we saw was simply put… heavenly.

Clouds were rolling in from all directions just below us and the setting sun was sitting comfortably on the fluffy clouds, all set to turn in for the night but not before giving us the last surprise. As I panned my eyes across the landscape and turned towards the right, the sleeping buddha once again took my breath away. There it stood, stalwart as ever, almost floating on the sea of clouds as if, drenched in the last light of the sun. As if molten gold was flowing down from all over it, bathing the mountain in the elixir that would give these memories, immortality.

Timelapse of sunset at Aal

I stood there in silence; my few stray thoughts slowly becoming silent and melted away as I saw the sun slowly setting into the clouds, setting them on fire one last time, before sinking into its deep slumber once again in its circle of life. It was getting dark pretty quickly and eventually as we were coming towards the campsite, the wind picked up.

We huddled in to the dining room and came to know that 6 of our team mates have decided to go straight to Sepi tomorrow and travel to Sikkim instead of completing the trek with us. It was quite a bummer for all of us, because we as a group had bonded quite well within the last few days and it would be just amazing to be able to conclude this adventure together. Nevertheless, they had made up their mind, so we decided to have a good time at dinner and enjoy our moments together before they leave early in the morning in a local’s vehicle. Lakpa Dai brought out his famous Ukelele and started strumming on it, eventually breaking into some amazing songs which we all participated in.

Lakpa Dai strumming away

It was a bittersweet moment as we shared stories and our experience on the trek till now. We finally packed up and went to take rest for the day. Our dorm room was quite comfortable and so was our sleeping arrangements, but the one aspect which was not in our control was the gale that was blowing in a hellish fury since sundown. I could hardly get a good sleep at night as I was constantly worried about the large glass window and its integrity against the wind that shook the structure multiple times throughout the night. I don’t remember when I had finally given up and fell asleep due to sheer exhaustion.

Day 6: Aal - Sandakphu to Gurdum

I woke up early in the morning and the wind had mellowed down to quite an extent, but the chill in its wings were sending cold streaks on any bare parts on our bodies. To my utter surprise, the 6 member team who were supposed to leave early, were still there and their vehicle didn’t turn up till the time we finished breakfast and were ready to roll. So they decided to join us and complete the trek with us, which was quite a joyous moment for all of us. After taking loads of photographs with the sleeping buddha in the background, we

started towards Sandakphu. It was about a 1.5 kms walk from Aal and we reached the sunrise hotel at Sandakphu. A lot had changed and the place looked more commercialised than before which was a bit saddening to see. We took the well defined trail on our left and started going towards our destination, Gurdum.

The journey towards Gurdum was pretty uneventful. The forest section from Sandakphu has a well defined trail leading all the way to Gurdum. After a 2 hour long gradual windy descend through a thick jungle, we reached another bamboo forest section, which eventually led us to a clearing with a quaint little tea house. Our guide, Chetaan Dai made dalgona coffee for all of us. The coffee was not only wonderful but it also reflected the love and care he mixed while whisking the coffee mix which in itself was a laborious task. we had a simple dal chawal meal with papad at that tea house and moved forward towards Gurdum.

After about descending 2 hours from the tea house, the trail turned into a concrete pathway. In all honesty, this was my least favourite part of the trek. Not only the concrete pathway was an eye sore in that beautiful jungle trail, it was also hard on the knees. It doesn't matter how good is your trekking shoes, concrete hits back with a very hard feedback to your knees.

Thankfully, chatting with my fellow trekkers, helped to cover the rest of the distance quickly.

Gurdum homestay is a quaint little place amidst the mountains. It is certainly nothing compared to Sepi or Samanden; however, it had its own charm, an open valley, and the

people managing the homestay had hearts larger than any valley in the mountains. Mingma dai was an absolute warm host and his family were really hospitable. Just what we needed after a long and strenuous journey.

Gurdum was a place where we finally got a chance to unwind with the group and as individuals. Music, good food, dance, fun and frolic, personal experiences, everything was just right. A few words from our guides and especially some heart touching statements from Lakpa Ji for me was like the penultimate moment for me. Garnering respect from such people is something really special. after an amazing night of dancing and merry making, we headed last time for a night in a base camp.

We had to start early the next day towards Sepi; the trail was through the jungle. Initially on the concrete pathway and eventually breaking away towards a jungle trail till we reached a bridge under which a small river was flowing by. We stood there for some photographs and started our journey towards Sepi. In the next half an hour we reached the Srikhola bridge. The landmark which marked the beginning of our amazing journey was now a sigil of the journey's end. It was a matter of another half an hour and we reached Sepi. Jackie was waiting for us with droopy ears and wagging tail, clearly happy to see us return in one piece. we stayed there for sometime and eventually our vehicles arrived so we had to move. The next part was quite difficult for us, as it is still difficult for me to write...

Goodbyes were made, hugs were exchanged. The promise to remain in touch and chat regularly was also made. For me, this was not something new, but it still hurt to realise that I wont be seeing these wonderful people anytime soon. That we will all go our own ways, with just these sweet memories with us, our photographs, etched in our memories and in our phones, which we would see from time to time and laugh and smile and relive these moments we shared as a team in the last few days. The mountains would still stand tall, people will come and go and make new memories, but our memories will always be special. I felt a pair of huge arms hugging me from behind. It was Vikas... our doctor sahab... so real was his embrace, so full of affection for someone he met just a few days ago. I gave a final hug to Faisal, Abinandan, Bittoo and rest of the gang. God only knew when i would be seeing them again. But that bond would remain for a very long time. As I sat in the car, Lakpa ji asked me to visit again, one more time during the blooming season... As the car started moving, he and the other two guides placed their hands on the window as a last goodbye. I had my hand on the glass, a smile on my lips. As we moved further, I had to turn my face away. I couldn't let them see the tears rolling down my face...