Hiking Route: Budhanilkantha – Shivapuri
Date: Saturday, July 23, 2005
Participants: Rudra Pandey, Anil Khadka, Shankar Upreti, Prabin Subedi, Amulya Bhattarai, Sudeep Adiga, Manohar Adhikari, Sewa K.C. and Anjana Shrestha
Photos: ShankarU, AmulyaB, Sewa K.C.
Report: Anjana Shrestha
Caption: Anjana Shrestha
Creative Support:DijupT, BishwaR, DhilungK

It was a regular party at D2Hawkeye on Friday evening. Rudra dai was in town and hence just another reason for our gathering. Suddenly, Rudra dai came up with this idea of hiking and casually said: Let us start hiking in D2 and why not start it from this Saturday.

To be honest, we did not care whether D2 would really start any hiking trend or not but we definitely opted for this hiking. It was indeed something new and thrilling, especially with your friends to go with. There were 9 of us including Rudra dai. It was Anil Khadka, Shankar Upreti, Prabin Subedi, Amulya Bhattarai, Sudeep Adiga, Manohar Adhikari, Sewa K.C and me.

We all gathered at D2 on Saturday morning, i.e. July 23, 2005 – the day that hiking would set history in D2 with the 9 historians. We drove up to Budhanilkantha and started our hiking from there. It was monsoon time and the road was slippery and not to mention filled with leeches. The road was a steep climb. We first got the tickets to enter Shivapuri National Park. From others that I recall about this hiking is that we reached “Nagi Gompa” monastery after walking for about one and half hours. We rested there for some time and made our way to the top of Shivapuri hill.

Our amateur photographers, Shankar U and Amulya B did enjoy capturing some pleasant moments on the way. The top of the hill was not as we had expected. It was just a small ground and as if the leeches were not enough, we were chased with flies everywhere. Nevertheless we gasped some breath there with a sense of pride.

Our way back was even tougher especially after it started raining. I remember that Shankar U had sprained his ankle and how Anil tied his leg with the shirt he was wearing. A friend in need is a friend indeed! We all were so hungry by the time we were descending as there was no sign of any restaurants throughout our hike. We survived with whatever food stuff we had taken. However, I remember that I had taken some hajmolas. That was the only food left while we got down and needless to say, we all had one slogan with us then: je aaucha majja le pachaucha.

We got down to where the van was waiting for us. We had ascended around 7:30 am and it was around 4:00 pm when we reached down. It had been indeed a very very long walk, especially for the new ones. We went for lunch at a Nepali restaurant in Durbar Marg. We hogged like anything.

We all departed to our homes to crush into our beds. We had one of the best night’s sleeps – a very tiring yet unforgettable hike with memories to last till date.

Please click on the image to see its large version.

01 – Looking back in time	02 – We set forth to set history
03 – What’s in a bottle	04 – Our first break
05 – The first ladies join	06 – A short break again
07 – Moving on	08 – The monastery bench I
09 – The monastery bench II	10 – Sewa runs away
11 – Valley view	12 – The Nagi Gompa Monastery
13 – Top of Nagi Gompa	14 – Ready to get in
15 – Then we come out	16 – Anil poses
17 – Looks like a fork	18 – It’s Manohar next
19 – I am ready	20 – A click
21 – Through the eyes of the binoculars	22 – A bit tired
23 – The grazing cows	24 – In pensive mood
25 – My trick	26 – I got your head
27 – Just me	28 – Happy Anil
29 – Move on guys	30 – What’s the status in ur project
31 – Oh no, not here	32 – Tired half way
33 – Time to move on	34 – This will definitely go
35 – Sewa beats them all	36 – Ola, this trail looks smooth
37 – Getting cloudy	38 – Capturing the moment
39 – Manohar ji and Shiva ji	40 – Sewa with the deity
41 – Shiva ji alone	42 – Jay jay Shiva Shankar Uprety
43 – Some natural water	44 – I had plenty
45 – My turn now	46 – A leech in my Tshirt
47 – I am refreshed	48 – So are we
49 – We are tired	50 – Shankar minus 30 pounds
51 – Into the jungle	52 – The road less travelled I
53 – The road less travelled II	54 – The road less travelled III
55 – Sewa from a distance	56 – Sewa from near
57 – Happy to be on top	58 – The trick once again..
59 – Baba on top of Shivapuri hill	60 – Baba with Rudra dai
61 – Some rest	62 – Getting ready to descend
63 – Steep path	64 – Don’t wanna get down