TRAVEL DIARY TOWARDS THE WESTERN SIDE

Every Dashain vacation, I prefer to travel out of the Kathmandu valley. This year the institution I work in chose me as one of its travelers. The destination was Nainital of India. I was excited about visiting Nainital on the first day of Dashain. It was raining nonstop from early morning. However, it subsided as day passed by. Along with more than 100 students and a few colleagues, we left from Chobhar in 4 buses on 21^st September at 1 p.m.

Travelling in autumn season is pleasant, and moreover, we could enjoy the green hills and the serpentine roads from Thankot onwards. Unfortunately, we got stuck in a few hours’ jam near Narayanghat which delayed our schedule. The road was under construction and heavy rainfall took place.

After having our dinner there, we travelled all the night in the bus to reach Kohalpur at 11 a.m. Tired as we were, we relaxed before having our breakfast in the hotel rooms for some time. Driving through the straight terai roads, viewing the green paddy fields, in the morning or evening is bliss. Within 5 hours, we were in Opera Hotel of Mahendranagar for our lunch.     

As expected, we had to carry our heavy luggage in the border area and it was already 7 p.m. when we started for Nainital. The Indian highway was well maintained, swift, well lit, with huge trees on both sides of the highway. I felt as if I was going inside an unknown cave. Our destination welcomed us at midnight and Hotel Ashok served us with warm dinner in the rainy chilly night.

The morning of 23^rd September got worse. Our schedule got disturbed due to this. The heavy downpour, wind and the fog continued till the evening. We finally decided to go to the nearby shops ignoring the weather. Mall road, as it is called, stood at 5 minutes’ walk from the hotel, and for the first time, we could get a glimpse of Naini Lake. Ducks were swimming in it and tourists were clicking themselves at the bank. Market was a simple one like any other places. Big departmental stores were not seen till the walk of about 30 minutes. Mostly, food shops could be seen with varieties of items, starting with local chana fry to Domino's Pizzas. The latter became very popular among our students.

After some light shopping, it got dark and we returned back. We had our dinner and decided to go for a night-show movie at the Mall Road, the same way that we had walked through in the evening. The movie was Kingsman. The hills nearby the lake looked magnificent with lights at night. Once seated inside the hall, many of us were seen to be dozing off initially until the plot got interesting. By the time we slept at the hotel, it was 2:30 a.m.

I was glad to find out in the morning that there was no rainfall. It turned out to be a better day. The day happened to be my colleague’s birthday, one of the travelers. So we appreciated the way the weather had decided to turn out. After having our breakfast and packing our luggage, we started for sightseeing at 9:30 a.m. It consisted of viewing Suicide point, the Naini Lake, Khurpa Lake and a fountain. By the time we reached boating zone of Naini Lake, it was already noon. The lake was similar to Phewa Lake of Pokhara where I had been a few years ago. Scared though I was of water, I was bound to boat as everyone else started getting into it one after another. While boating, we could see houses in the hills nearby the lake. The experience was pleasant setting a meditative mood. But it passed by very quickly and we were already towards the end of our boating. The clouds and the mist reappeared.

We rushed towards the hotel, had lunch, grabbed our stuffs, boarded the bus and headed towards our homeland in the afternoon through Kath Godam, Haldwani and Banbasa. We went through the same process in the border area as before and reached the hotel in Mahendranagar at about 9 p.m. After having our dinner and enjoying the birthday cake, we slept at around 1 a.m. to get up in the next morning at 6 a.m. As our Nainital plan had been disrupted by the weather conditions, it was decided that we visit some places of Nepal.

So, we started by observing the suspension bridge of Mahendranagar called Jhulunge (Dodhara Chandani bridge) over Mahakali River. It looked awesome, first one that type I had ever seen. For some time, I felt it was no less than the Eiffel Tower. It is the second longest suspension bridge in Asia and is nearly 1.5 km long. After breakfast, we left Mahendranagar in the noon. On the way, we came across a lake called Ghodaghodi Tal, a simsar area. However, the students seemed to enjoy chana-chatpat sold in front of it more than the lake itself.

Tikapur Park was next destination but due to shortage of time, we had to satisfy ourselves with lunch and a group photograph in the garden of one of the hotels there and continue with our journey.

The bus stopped in Chisapani, Karnali Bridge where we had more group photographs. Karnali fish is very popular there and we tasted some. A big empty land next to the bridge attracted us all there. Continuing our drive through Bardiya, Kohalpur, Butwal, Kawasoti, Narayanghat, we reached Benighat the next afternoon. We were able to beat the midday heat looking at the cool Trishuli flowing beside the restaurant. Such a nice respite for travelers!

Luckily, the road was jam-free and we reached to the point from where we had started in the evening.

While driving to and from Nainital, the driver had taken a break once for about 30 minutes in 36 hours’ journey both times. I then realized that being a driver was not that easy. In the first journey, he had slept for about 30 minutes and in the second journey, he just had a cup of tea along with other drivers for the same duration but did not even sleep. I wondered how he could do his duty without a proper sleep.

Despite the change of daily routine, unusual dining and sleeping hours, tiredness, the visit turned out to be an experience worth remembering teaching me one week is too less for India tour. 

TRAVEL DIARY TOWARDS THE EASTERN SIDE

Utilizing my summer vacation of a week, I wanted to escape to a cool destination through domestic tourism. After much brainstorming, the placed happened to be towards the farthest possible side—Ilam. As I had never been there before, I was excited to travel. Bought a hiace ticket for Rs. 1600/one way and booked a room in a hotel on 5^th June.

In the very next morning, I got up at 3 a.m. and reached Koteshwor at 5:15 am. The bus was supposed to leave at 5:30 a.m.; however, it left at 6:15 a.m. It travelled through Sanga and Dhulikhel. I was enjoying my travel through the banks of Sunkoshi River along with the soothing evergreen hit Hindi songs in the bus. Along with 9 other passengers in a 15-seated bus, I reached Dumja of Sindhuli district at 8:30 a.m. I had roti-tarkari in a hotel on the way.

After breakfast, the terai heat slowly began to reach us. The bus again stopped in Bardibas at Lalgadh at 11:45 a.m. for lunch (rice) for Rs. 150/plate, Rs. 100/half plate).

After boarding, I enjoyed the terai landscapes from the window seat—the houses, fertile land without hills, wide lands with vegetation, grazing cattle, ripe mango and jackfruit in the trees. As we reached Jhapa, no green trees could be seen and the way was straight.

On reaching Morang, I could see many gravestones nearby the roadside. The East Highway, i.e. Mahendra Highway ran through the middle of the terai districts. I was happy to see and reach Damak, Jhumka, Birtamod, and Itahari as they brought back some fond memories related to my closed ones.

As the bus took a north turn on reaching Ilam district, a sudden change in weather could be felt. It was evening and Ilam hills were welcoming us with the fog through their serpentine roads. After about three hours, I finally reached Ilam bazaar.

It was 7:15 p.m. and was completely dark. It took about 15 minutes to locate and get into the hotel. I had a shower. Also had to change the booked room because of the musty smell and seemed like an unused one since ages. However, the adjoined room for a price of Rs. 700/night was comfortable and without complaints. Hungry as I was, I had roti, curry and dahi which had a unique taste.

On the second day, after I finished with my usual routine, I had a heavy parautha and chutney at the hotel lounge at around 8 a.m. There were some tourists in the lounge area. I could see this hotel as one of the best ones in the bazaar. From there, I headed towards the Ilam bazaar.

The market was similar to the markets anywhere in Nepal. But the houses and the shops had the trend of growing flowers and keeping flower pots even within a small space. Even outside their stone-walled compounds, they would plant some vegetable plants or flowers.

The morning was sunny. I went to the Ilam tea estate. Although I had been excited in the beginning, the Ilam tea estate was not as per my expectation. Later, I came to know that Kanyam tea estate was the best place to visit if we wanted to look at a tea estate in Nepal. However, the Ilam tea estate was just above the bus stop and that excited me. The range of the tea garden was huge. It expanded to several nearby hills and the way towards tower view had been constructed through the tea garden. On reaching the tower top in the scorching heat at around 11 o’clock, I forgot all the hardships I had taken during the climb. The cool breeze of the tower was unexplainable.

From the bazaar shops, I bought lollipop packets, chhurpi, pustakari, tea packets as gifts for my friends and relatives. It was 11:30 a.m. by then. I went to my hotel, had shower and ate a packet of raw Rara noodles. There was a problem with wi-fi connection in my room. So I went to the main hotel. Tired as I was from the previous day’s travel and as I had nothing much to do in Ilam bazaar and as there were not much places to visit, I had no options other than to remain in the bazaar on that day. It was raining heavily outside the hotel and my umbrella was in my room.

So I chatted with my relatives sitting in the comfy lounge enjoying tea of Ilam twice (milk and black). Planned for the next day, i.e., decided to go to Mirik and other Indian areas as they were quite nearby. It had already been three hours’ stay in the lounge.    

After the raining stopped, I went to the shops and bought some more gifts for my closed ones—bambaisan, peda, tea packets, and chhurpi. Kept those items in my room and went for an evening walk around Chiyabari. By 5:30 p.m., I was back in the room. Rested and had dinner of local chicken at around 9 p.m. As the wi-fi connection had been working, I slept at around 11:30 p.m. after surfing the net for a few hours.

On 8^th June, I got up and went to the hotel after my daily routine. Checked out and had a farewell tea. I left the hotel at 7 a.m. and reached Fikkal bazaar in a microbus for Rs. 150 in about one and a half hours. I could see the haat bazaar of this place from the window of the bus. They were selling varieties of vegetables. Then I took a microbus to Pashupatinagar.

Sandwiching myself among three people, I reached Pashupatinagar. I went to Monica Tamu Hotel in order to exchange Nepali rupees for Indian currency. The couple travelling with me in the bus, who had been heading towards Darjeeling for a medical checkup, had gone to that hotel for INR and I had followed them. After exchanging the currency, I had a plate of vegetable momo with a bowl of soup for Rs. 50. It is the cheapest momo I have ever had. In the same shop, I came to know about the taxi services for people wanting to tour in India. After a bargain, it was fixed that I would be visiting Mirik and Darjeeling in a private taxi for NRs. 5000.

As I had not carried any of my IDs with me, there was no chance of lodging in India. So it was decided that after 4-5 hours of sightseeing, I would be brought back by the driver in the same hotel. My bus ticket towards Kathmandu also was booked then and I was glad to know that the bus would come to pick me up from right in front of the hotel. So, I kept my luggage in the hotel and set towards India with a carrying bag, purse and umbrella. Mirik looked extremely beautiful amidst the green tea estates. The lake had many visitors. I did not miss the chance to click myself in the Mirik tea estate and bridge. Few places of Mirik such as gumba, Swiss cottage were visited.

As I was eager to see Darjeeling, I did not want to waste any minute. Unfortunately, the weather had changed and had turned chilly as we were heading towards Darjeeling. However, we kept on moving ahead amidst the tall green pine forests separated by the main road. The driver stopped the taxi in a place called Simana from where a panoramic view of mountains could be seen. A mini-mela had been set up there. The driver also was a guide to me who told me that the mela place had been a cemetery before. That seemed true as I could see the bulged cemented portions on the ground. From there, we went towards Jorepokhari which was a pond and a park. Nice place to be but the horrible condition of the toilets there is something worth mentioning. I have never ever seen such a sorry state of toilets in my life. This area could either be cleaned or blocked for visitors.

A Shiva temple was also the part of the pokhari. The entrance charge was INR 10. By this time, the drizzle had already begun. The idea of sightseeing seemed to be a bad idea. However, we kept on travelling. Also, I came to know only then that Darjeeling bazaar remained closed on Thursdays, like Saturdays in Nepal. So the desire of shopping in Darjeeling had to be kept aside. We were heading towards Batase Dada. On the way, we saw many vehicles that had gone towards Darjeeling returning back. The saddest part of this day was to know that a strike had been called upon due to political reasons. We had no options but to return back from half the way.

So we returned back to the hotel with a heavy heart. I paid the discounted amount for the taxi which came to be NRs. 3800. I had chowmein and rested a while. There was no hot water service in the hotel. I wanted to see Pashupatinagar. So I took about one and half hour’s time to walk around the market at 5 p.m. The chilly weather in this part in the month of July was something new to me. The shops selling warm clothes and people wrapping themselves in warm clothes seemed interesting. I could see tongba vessels in most of the shops. The road was graveled but it seemed like an uphill. Shops were similar to Kathmandu shops and mostly had Chinese goods. I had planned to go to a cheese factory nearby but as it was getting dark, I returned back from half the way. Through the net surfing, I had come to know that this place was a meeting point for businessmen from India and Nepal. However, I could not see any foreigners the way I had seen in Ilam bazaar.

Returned back to the hotel in the evening, turned the wi-fi on and talked to the dear ones. Delicious warm food was served in charesh ko thaal (plate) which I relished and slept looking forward to the next day.

On the fourth day, I got up early and finished my daily routine. After clicking this place from my camera and breathing in the fresh morning air of Pashupatinagar, I boarded the hiace microbus and bade farewell to the hotel owners.

While leaving Ilam, I remembered a Nepali song “Badaluko ghumtole…” by Yam Baral and realized how he had popularized his place through one song. I then wished I could do something similar to make my birthplace popular.

The hilly and cool areas of Ilam could not be seen once we reached Jhapa. The fertile lands and heat was slowly showing up. The terai looked similar to how it looked a few days ago. After having lunch in Lalgadh, we headed towards Sindhuli in the midday heat. Dead stinking cocks inside the bus and road dust outside the bus accompanied the heat. However, the greenery of Sindhuli would relieve us at times. A hotel seems to be opening in the area soon. There was a jam due to the dry landslide in Khurkot and the road had been diverted. Another jam hit us in Sanga. We reached Koteshwor late i.e., at around 7:30 p.m. However, I was happy to see my hair remain silky for 4 days as a result of travelling to the dust-free zone.

THE ADVENTUROUS HIKING

The bus moved at 8:15 a.m. from Satdobato on 11^th March, 2017. At 8:45 a.m., we started to walk from Kirtipur. Our plan changed because of rainfall. The previous plan had been to go to Champa Devi hill. But now we decided to go to Bagh Bhairab and Uma Maheshwor temples, then go nearby Mata tirtha and return back the same way—limiting ourselves to less uphill and downhill.

So we visited the temples and continued walking through Kirtipur. Suddenly, we could see a ray of sunshine over the sky. We kept walking and reached to a point where the ways separated.  After discussing with the group, it was decided that the first destination be followed although we were unsure of the weather. Locals said it would take about 3 hours to reach there.

We headed upwards through the wide road, pausing at times for long deep breaths, turning behind to look at the distance we had covered and resumed with our walking. Soon after, we were surrounded by trees. Climbing was difficult. At times, we were confronted by big stones and had to put a good effort to pass through them. There were a few times we walked on both hands and legs, very carefully. Due to the morning rainfall, the dried leaves’ way had become slippery.

We reached Bhasmeshwor hill at about 12:45 p.m. In about 20 minutes, we reached Champa Devi Temple. It had been the highest altitude of our travel that day (2236 m). I visited the temple for darshan and then had the healthy Nirogdham lunch.

While having my lunch, I could feel my hands go cold and the fingers all numb. I could hardly hold the spoon to eat. Amazingly, the fingers went pale. After some time, they turned blue. It was the first ever experience I had. I rubbed my hands together to generate some heat but in vain. I asked others what I was supposed to do. They just told me not to worry and that it would be fine after sometime.

We were uncertain how the day would turn out to be. The weather was cloudy and chilly too. As we could see the rainfall approaching, we collected our belongings quickly and left the place.  

We then headed downhill from a different way. This way was far better than the one we came through. However, we had to carry an umbrella because of rainfall and hailstones. While heading down, all the fingers now had got a tingling sensation. Unusual feelings again, because of the cold and heat fluctuations, I guessed.

The hailstones had stopped and we could see the sceneries of Kathmandu valley and Taudaha. A rainbow was visible and the hills looked amazing in the sunshine after the rainfall.

We walked for about 30 minutes and took a water break and a short interaction program followed. The regular interaction program during the lunch had been cancelled due to the weather. Then we resumed our walk, and after about 2 hours, we reached the bottom, Boson, Chalnakhel. The downhill had again become slippery because of the rain. We boarded our buses from Chalnakhel at about 5:30 p.m.

This has been the most adventurous hiking till date. A mixture in a day of rainfall, sunshine, hailstones, steep and slippery hills—muddy at times due to rainfall –and the bodily responses to them—AMAZING!   

A NATURE'S DAY

18th February, 2017

With 1 liter water bottle in my backpack and wearing comfortable dress and shoes, I headed towards Satdobato at 7 a.m. on Saturday, 4^th February to take part in hiking organized by Nature Lovers Group. A large number of people wearing blue caps had already gathered in front of the office premises. After collecting our breakfast and lunch in our bags, we boarded our buses which started at 8 a.m. There were 5 of them carrying 220 hikers. Through the ways of Kalanki and Balaju bypass, we reached at the gate of Shivapuri Nagarjun National Park.

As hiking was supposed to begin from this very point, the staffs started working out the entry process in the counter. The condition of the free of cost public toilet there was pathetic. However, there was no other option.

After the completion of the entry procedure, we headed upwards through the jungle following the office staffs. Walking through the stone staircases, at times, we also remembered to view the jungle right and left.  

We took an apple break at around 9:30 a.m. I had already taken two apples while walking not realizing it was an improper way of eating. Then we continued with our walk. Reached at around 10:30 a.m. to an open area from where our destination Jamacho gumba at the top was visible. Drenched with sweat as we were, we took our water break there and clicked photographs. The landscape was magnificent. We headed uphill for one more hour and finally reached the gumba.

It was a small gumba and a stupa stood nearby, the top of which had been slightly hit by the earthquake last year. On the other side was a long house where reconstruction was going on. There also was a tower from where I clicked the Himalayan ranges and the surrounding views. By that time, the healthy lunch was ready. Healthy because it had a proper combination of all the minerals, vitamins, fat and proteins—beaten rice mixed with roasted soya beans, raisins, dried dates, groundnuts, two different varieties of green vegetables and a potato salad.

After interaction programme and dancing and singing, we decided to head down through the same way at 2:30 p.m. We walked downhill passing through the shades chitchatting to whosoever we met on the way. In one and half hour, we had reached the bottom of the park from where we had begun in the morning. We waited at the bus stop and rested until all the hikers had arrived.

After their arrival, we boarded the buses. They moved at about 4:30 p.m. towards the office at Satdobato. Thank you NLG.