Trek in the Varsey Rhododedron Sanctuary
Where is it located ?
The Varsey / Barsey Rhododendron sanctuary is located in the southwest corner of the West Sikkim district.
- Altitude 10,000 ft
Best time to visit
Mornings are the best time to visit. From Mid March to May the Rhododendrons flowers are fully bloomed and the trek is a wonderful experience.
How to reach?
It’s a 30-minute drive from Okhrey to the Barsey rhododendron sanctuary. The entry fee is Rs 55.
Our experience
Our wonderful host has planned a wonderful breakfast of momos (our request to repeat it as we love momos, almost every single day in Sikkim we’ve had momos) and aloo paratha.
Okhrey Morning
We breathe the fresh Sikkim air. As we open the windows, clouds enter into the room, the most beautiful sight ever. Love at first sight with this beautiful state.
We gather lots of information from Urgen Sherpa. He is a Law graduate from a college in Darjeeling. We now know about the history of Sikkim, its constituency, and its political scenario. He and his father inform us about the Barsey Rhododendron Sanctuary. Perched at an altitude of 10,000 ft, it is a paradise for nature lovers. I m so glad our driver suggested this place. Apparently, he and his friends have been trekking frequently during their teenage days.
Trek Begins …
The Barsey / Varsey rhododendron sanctuary is spread over an area of 104 sq km across the Singalila range. It is famous for its variety of Rhododendron flowers (Guras / Gurash in local language) which bloom in the month of April-May. Out of 1000 known varieties of Rhododendron in Sikkim, 600 can be found here itself. So, we pack our bags with sandwiches made by our host and begin our drive.
We enter into the grand entrance, start our walk through the trail. It’s a beautiful trek, a narrow winding path, and woods covered tall trees everywhere. However, our bad luck, that this year monsoon had arrived earlier than anticipated and the flowers were mostly gone. We trek all the way up crossing a lake and many other breathtaking views and reach up to the Guras Kunj (Government Guest House). We eat all our sandwiches here, walk up for an hour more till the apex and start our downhill trek.
Exploring Okhrey
We reach our homestay at around 2.30 pm. We thought that sandwiches would be sufficient for lunch but we hungrily gobble down some rice and daal prepared by Urgen’s mother. I see a variety of green leaves and even a type of edible fern around in the kitchen and find out that they were ‘saag’ available locally in the mountains. So, I request aunty to make saag and fern as per the availability.
Afternoon tea is served along with the very popular Sikkimese snack ‘Aloo Chaap’ (‘batata wada’ as we would call in Maharashtra and Gujarat). A small walk around in the hamlet post dinner is all that we manage today, and that too with a torch as there is very little visibility. The weather is due to the cyclone ‘Fani’ nearing Orissa, expected to hit around 2 May.
I would highly recommend trekking in the Barsey rhododendron sanctuary. Even though flowers had gone, the trek itself is worthwhile. It is one of those off-beat trips that is not highly marketed as no major hotels are present here. Just a small hamlet with homely stays. Apparently, there is a trek which can go till the Nepal border, as suggested by our host. Our itinerary was already planned and hotels booked, else we would have stayed for another day here and gone for the trek.
Kyilkhor Inn Okhrey Homestay review
- Okhrey Homestay Review
- Rooms – Highly recommended – We had opted for a family room, good clean spacious room. Fully furnished, comfortable bedding and blankets, a little armoire for clothes and a dresser: luxurious (by Sikkim standards). One double bed, 2 single beds. There is a common living room with T V on the lower level where guests can spend time. Food to be had in the kitchen downstairs.
- Food – Excellent, package included breakfast, Lunch, high tea snacks and Dinner. All of our food requests were fulfilled by the host and his mother. Even gave us packed sandwiches for our trek. What more could one ask for?
- Location – very Good with a beautiful view, 30 mins drive from the Varsey Rhododendron Sanctuary.
- Contact person – Mr. Urgen Sherpa (Tshering)
day 3 – Okhrey– Singshore bridge – Dentam alpine cheese factory – Pelling
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