Hi there !! In January this year, hubby and I, we made a trip to Nepal… It was a once in a lifetime experience I must say, had a wonderful time with new experiences.
Day 1, we took a bus-ride to Panitanki, Indo-Nepal border. Then we took a cycle-rickshaw ride across the river Mechi, we reached Kakarbhitta in an hour I believe. From there we took a nonstop bus-ride to Dharan, but as the name suggested, the bus stopped at every nook and corner as we travelled across Surunga, Damak, Itahari, Birtamod and many more small villages. It took us nearly 2-2.5 hours, and finally we reached Dharan. We had a sumptuous lunch at Hotel Embassy and made our way to the local departmental store to buy some gifts and some essentials required for our trek to Tamafok, Sankhuwasabha. We took a local bus-ride to Muday-Sansari. On the way, my husband showed me Charles-point at Bhedey Tar. We crossed Dhankuta, Hiley, Basantapur and we finally reached Muday-Sansari at round 7:30pm. It was very cold there, we stayed at the local lodge that night. This was the last place where public transport could take us.
Day 2, my husband woke me early in the morning around 6am to show me the majestic Mt. Everest kissed by the first rays of the sunlight, and for that we had to hike to a nearby mountain top with the statue of Yalamber. Lo and behold, it was such a beautiful sight !!! I couldn’t stop praising God looking at the Mt. Everest, surely beautiful are his works !! We had our breakfast and made our way to our first destination Tamafok, accompanying us was my hubby’s cousin “Goray”. Tamafok looked so faraway, I mean across two hills, and we had to trek all the way. It was a good experience for me, as its not everyday I walk 18 kilometres in 2 and half hours. Finally we reached Tamafok, my husband’s village at 11:30 am, we were greeted by his eager relatives. It was exhausting, but totally worth it !!! Had our lunch there, spent some time and again made our way towards hubby’s maternal village Teluk. Ups and downs, across the gorging rivers and a steep climb, we reached Teluk after 2-3 hrs of walk with many rests. It was cold, we were greeted by his uncle’s family. We spent a good time catching-up with grandpa and the family, sipping tongba (home-brewed millet served in a traditional-ware made of bamboo) , followed by dinner which included the local-river catch by the smallest cousin “sandesh”, who is just 10-11 yrs old.. It was a tiring day for us, 6 hrs of walk, so we retired early that night.
Day 3, we woke up early, with my entire body-aching. We had our breakfast with the usual tea followed by tongba. Then spent sometime with the grandpa, watching him weave DOKO (a basket with numerous holes used to carry cut grass/leaves/branches/wood made out of bamboo shavings), basking in the warm winter sun, and cold breeze. We met cousins, on their way to school, and I thought, how difficult it must be to even goto school for them because they need to walk for so long uphill everyday. We went to another uncle’s house and had a nice chat. We came back to the grandpa’s house. That day we decided to stay back, I even got to see the old house where my hubby was born.. It was so nice… We had great-time. I cringed everytime I had to wash my face with the cold mountain water. We had an early night after a tiring day.
Day 4, after saying our goodbyes to everyone, we made our way back to Tamafok with our little cousin who came with us till halfway showing us an easier trail. It was way much easier trail than we had taken on our way to telluk. My spirit was high, with my supportive husband, but my body was giving way, my head was constantly throbbing even after taking pain-killers. We reached Tamafok, and went to the local registration office, and finished with our marriage registrations. We spent sometime with the relatives in the nearby shop, and made our way to the uncle’s house. We took an early night, as my head was throbbing badly.
Day 5, we woke up straight after 12 hours of sleep. We had our breakfast, spent sometime with the relatives and made our way towards Muday-Sansari. This time, it was a tough way up-hill, and had to take so many rests on the way. It took us nearly 4 hours to reach Muday, where we could hear blaring-horns of the last bus for that day to Dharan. Thankfully, we managed to catch the jam-packed bus, i had to literally push myself inside, as people were not budging from the way. I’m not joking, even with my petite height, I found myself like a giant inside that tiny bus, as the height of the ceiling of the bus was so low that i had to literally stoop. It was so uncomfortable till I finally found seats for both of us, not right next to each other but right back to each other. It didn’t end that way, a man boarded the bus with a “Black goat”. I got so scared as I’ve never been so close to a goat before, he pushed the poor animal at the back. The goat was scared as well, i requested that man not to get his goat closer to me, but then in vain, after awhile of travelling, the goat was right next to me, its body pushing against my left side, and I could even feel the heat radiating from it. Thankfully they got down at HILEY, and we found a much comfortable seat together till we reached Dharan that night. We checked out some lodges there, none so comfortable to spend the night nonetheless, we checked into one of them. Dharan was celebrating a road-festival during that time. We joined in the celebration after freshening ourselves after 4 days with just dry-cleaning ourselves. We dined at “Thakali-kitchen” at Putali-line, where the Mahotsav(festival) was taking place, ending that day.
Day 6, we woke up, had breakfast and were out for a city-tour. We went to the Budha-Subba temple in Dharan.. And then we went around some shops for some souvenirs for loved ones back home. Then we took a bus back to Kakarvitta, we reached around 7 in the evening. From Kakarvitta, we hitched a taxi with an elderly couple back home. Reminiscing back, it was worth everything, had a wonderful time, and it ended like every other travel full of memories worth cherishing forever…. Lastly, be beautiful, feel beautiful and shine like stars !!!
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