May, the 2nd, 2007

I would say this was the first hike I ever made with my friends. Santosh, Nischal, Shiraj, Janesh(JD) and I made a wonderful team. We set off for journey at about 8 in the morning. By 9:15, we had reached the base of Shivapuri national park. With lots of enthusiasm, we got off the microbus and started heading towards the park.
We were very hungry and in a good hunting mood. After searching for a while, we found a hotel where we could eat dal-bhat-tarkari(DBT) along with CHICKEN ROAST.
The CR was so good that we carried some with us. It was almost 10:30 when we finished eating one of the best DBT. We bought the tickets and entered inside the park. We were very excited and in a real hiking mood. We entered the forest and continued to walk through the road. “Walking straight away through the road” was interesting but could have been better. We tried something different. After walking for some distance, we decided we need some rest and sat down for a while. Every one of us had our own style of taking rest. We climbed up to the Gumba and had some photographs there.
The most interesting thing we had there was a couple of cups of special drink, special because it was free.
After being somewhat refreshed, we climbed down and kept walking until we saw the grand “Tare Bhir”. We all had the same feeling but it was Santosh who spoke out, “Let’s climb that hill”. WOW, what an offer it was. Everyone agreed as if it was a preplan. We started climbing straight up. The hard-to-climb rocks were challenging us and we were ready to face the challenge, including Shiraj who was having a soft of problem with his stomach
(guess what….?). We started the journey, which I would say, was adventurous. We thought we were the first hikers to climb that hill, which may or may not be the truth. Hands on hands, we were supporting each other in climbing the hill. Shiraj was getting weak but he accompanied. The rocks were getting stiffer as we elevated. At a point, the place was so steep that we could only see the ground meters down. We kept strong to the bushes and kept climbing. There was no room for slippery legs. The more we climbed up, the
more adventurous the journey became. Thanks for a packet of biscuit that was providing Shiraj the energy to push forward. The approaching top was motivating us to climb more and the increasing difficulty was deteriorating our spirit. We were only about 20 meters shy of the top, when Shiraj declared he can’t continue. We could not force him as we know he was not fit and finally decided that we’ll complete the mission some other day.
Actually, the fun we had that day had already been memorable. We sat down and started eating the CR (Chicken Roast) that we had bought with us. They tasted fabulous. We then climbed down the hill and returned back via another path. The return path was even more interesting. We passed across “Salla Ghari”. Nischal glorified the moment by several jokes and advising us different postures for photographs in the beautiful “Salla Ghari”. We returned playing with the “Sallako Ful”.

Looking down the slippery slope full of pine leaves, Janesh proposed “Guys, Let’s slide down”. It was the start of next interesting event. We slid down the slope. (Later, I found that the pocket of my pant was torn). We reached to the forest behind the NMC. Janesh left us from there and rest of us took micro to return back.
The day was full of events. It was a real hike and to say the truth, it set the true meaning of hiking, at least to me.





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