Guraspara Tour
From siliguri or New jalpaiguri come with river Teesta who run with you, first crossing sevak then tista bazar then crossing Melli then you will come the nice town Jorthang of Sikkim. From here share jeeps are available for Okhrey. on this route the Rangeet river will your way-friend. On the way you will see a samll village Dramden and a ganj area Sombaria. Somabaria is a bazar which is open only once a week,monday (sombar) and that is why its name is 'sombaria hat'. Sombaria is a rural area. you will stay at night in okhrey laudge. The staircase is starting upwards from in front of the laudge and has end the door of the jilla school. when you stand in the field of the school you will see the Rimbik and Rammam hydral project at the bottom. At your right, srikhola and Gorkey village. and a very big distance you will see the highest ridge of Sandakfu and a little point of trekkars hut. From gorkey village any one trekking for falut. At a far far distance you will see many little lamps, it is Darjeeling.
Next day you will go for Hilley from okhrey with booking car. Distance is 9 km. The fare of full car is 300 Rs. On the way of a short distance, a road is going for Ribdi at your left.and the straight road for Hilley. The scenary of two sides are very beautiful, undescrible. At the two sides of the road, there are many tall trees like pine,oak,hemlok,chestnut,debdaru etc. the road is almost shadow for trees. There is a small field with some water in between of grass and road is looking charming for its snow wet. and after that an unwanted scene kanchanjunghha and pandim's are always with you. at the end of the Hilley they will stay with you.
An important coridor in between Singhalia national park and Kanchanjungha biomphere is Varsey Rhododendron Sanctuary. Varsey is called as 'valley of flowers'
or Nandan kanan of Sikkim. The entry fee of this Rhododendron Sanctuary is Rs.25 per head.From Hilley to Varsey the road is made up with stone. The best time to visit the sanctuary is from April to July, when the rhododendrons are in full bloom and the sanctuary turns into a riot of colours. In 4 kms the trekking is normal. The time will take 1.30 mins more or less. Hilley is the last motorable point before Varsey. A four-km walk through beautiful pine forests takes you to the Sanctuary. Now the real adventure began. The path was steep. The jungle was closing in. Every now and then there were streamlets on the trail making the boulders slippery and unstable. Near every stream there were Primulas, Aconytes, Foxgloves and Bluebells. At some places the canopy was so thick that it denied sun in the mid noon. It seemed like a tunnel. The dramatic appearance of fog made the atmosphere more adeventurous. If you need to drink water you may drink the water of water falls, this water is cold and tasty but you should drink it mix with jeolin. The forest is covered with many kinds of flowers i.e.primula, magnolia etc,and after half an hour you will reach guras para - Varsey - It lies at an elevation of 10,000 ft and has motorable road access upto Hilley.
At last you reached Varsey and will stunned by the awesome view it presented. come and stand at the top of a hill which was clear, surrounded by a huge barrier of thick rhododendron forest in every direction you could see. In the front, stand the majestic Mt. Kanchenjungha-partly covered with clouds, with Mt. Pandim, Kimbhkarna, Simvo, the beautiful Mt. Sinolchu and numerous other peaks covering more than 150 degrees of the horizon.
A few distance of varsey you can see a small Taal and you will see nil guras there. A saltbit is near about you and deers are used to come here to eat salt. A watch hut is also there. You can watch the life style of deer to seat this watch hut. In the deep forest there are barking deer, leopard, homalayan black bear,and red panda you can see. From varsey there is a narrow road is going to ribdi. Adventure lovers will trekking this 7 km path,half and two hours time will take to reach the village Buriyakhop, A beautiful landscape. From there you will get share jeep for going Soreang. In the way you would see a village Dodak which is look like a picture. You may stay here for one night. From soreng you will come Jorthang by share jeep. Now its time to back home.
Route : New jalpaiguri or Siliguri by Train. Siliguri - jorthang by share jeep / from there share jeep in ribdi route -okhrey / okhrey - hilley by jeep / Hilley - Barshey and back.