Richa Aishwarya Saturday, July 5, 2014. The day scheduled for hiking from Kulekhani to Markhu. Being the first hike for most of us, we were very enthusiastically looking forward to it. As per the pre-informed schedule, we gathered at Deerwalk premises at 7:00 AM and were off to destination at about 7:15 AM. Picking up the remaining hikers on the way, we left Balkhu at about 8:00 AM. With lots of banter and wonderful songs from Nitish dai’s phone, the time passed easily. Soon we reached Dakshinkaali temple. We were surprised to see the crowd there. As the day was Saturday, so there were a flock of devotees in queue waiting for their turn to worship the Goddess.

As we went on travelling, the surrounding was suddenly covered with mist. Unexpectedly, the weather turned foggy. It was just like we were travelling in winter season. We were enthralled to see the mesmerizing beauty of the nature.

As we went on travelling the surrounding was suddenly covered with mist. Unexpectedly, the weather turned foggy. It was just like we were travelling in winter season. We were enthralled to see the mesmerizing beauty of the nature. It was just Wow. The view was like a dream. We could not stop ourselves from taking pictures and saving them in our cameras. Soon, after taking a few pictures we moved towards our destination. It had already started raining by then. Again after few minutes of drive, we saw some people roasting corn. Most of us were a bit hungry by then so, we bought some corns and got up on to the van. It was kind of mini-breakfast for us. It was already late, so we decided not to waste any more time. It was already 10:00 when we reached Sisneri for our breakfast. As soon as we had our breakfast we left the place. Around 11:30, we reached Kalanki (Indrasarovar); the initiation of our hike. Cleverly, we pre-ordered our lunch in one of the hotels, and laced our boots and got started. The weather was quite good for hiking, cool breeze with a cloudy sky. However, the intermittent rain compelled us to canopy in our umbrellas. Singing, cracking jokes and clicking, we moved on with our hike. Moving along the side of the dam, it was worthy of a sight. We reached the end point of the dam, the boating site, near the Markhu village. The environment was so lush and green; so rustic and agrarian, the place was so mesmerizing. Some boys were fishing in the rain, cows and buffaloes grazing, and some villagers busy with their humdrum. Then, we moved towards the boats, but due to some disagreement in the rates we all could not make it. However, we moved towards the nearby suspension bridge and suspended ourselves with some pictures. We returned from there as it was already late by then. We decided to send Deepak and few extremely interested ones via boat to Kalanki. It was very thrilling and awe-inspiring, the experience with the boating in Kulekhani dam at Markhu. Due to the torrential rain, the boatman was unwilling to take off his boat. So, we solemnly urged him and finally he agreed. We dressed ourselves with the life jackets and felt as if it was not mere boating, but a take off to the moon. Rain was falling continuously and some of us also managed to row the boat with avidity. The rain drops breezing the ambience, the anecdotes being told by our boatman, the wariness of Narendra , and gags and jests of Supreet were so very stirring. I was very amazed to know about the underground tunnel bridge that stretched 7 kilometers beneath the hills and converged into the dam. Even a taxi could go through it. The next interesting story was about the formation of the dam. According to the information, the dam was actually a village before, that had been flooded once; the people were rehabilitated aside and a dam was built in the junction of the two hills. Can you imagine the depth of the dam? Its 7-9 Baas i.e. around 300 meters. The one-hour boating was truly awesome. Those moments were so agitating and enthralling, I bet, you should take out your boat more often in the rain. Reaching Kalanki, we rested for some time and waited for other hikers. As soon as they arrived, food was served. Being satiated with the famous food of Kulekhani, i.e, fish curry, we departed at 5 pm from there with lots happy n funny memories. 

Mamta Pariyar Truly, hiking in Kulekhani was one of the best experiences of my life. It’s all because of the marvelous place, green view, fog and the 14 coolest people I traveled with including our driver Deepak . I find myself lucky to be there. I can hardly express my feeling in words because one has to be there to realize truly what that place was like. After all of our members got picked up at their respective places, we reached Balkhu at 8:00.We traveled about two and half hours before starting our hike. During drive we had immense fun and laughter. The moment was made more enjoyable by the beautiful landscape, and the hills shrouded in fog. We were astonished by the nature that surrounded us, particularly by the greenery and we even get off the van to take some snaps. And no doubt, pictures were superb. Music blaring out of Nitish’s cellphone speaker added flavor to our time. Thank you dai for having such beautiful collections. We reached Sisneri at 10:30am. The breakfast we had at Sisneri was delicious. And at 11:35 we reached Kalanki. The place is famous for fish. After we made our order for lunch there, we headed towards Markhu and then our real hiking started. Although the road was muddy due to rain, we had fun because of the jokes we cracked at the moment, snacks we took on our way and pictures we captured whenever the scenery was amazing. At the same time we had to be careful as the road was slippery.

Hiking in the rain was the best part. A walk along the bank of the reservoir was amazing. We were excited to walk on suspension bridge which was really big ,and when we reached the end, we had best view of Kulekhani reservoir.

Hiking in the rain was the best part. A walk along the bank of the reservoir was so awesome. We were excited to walk on suspension bridge which was really big ,and when we reached we had best view of Kulekhani reservoir. The impressiveness of the view was consistent with our hiking. The peacefulness and panoramic view of that place at least for a while made our mind stress free and relieved.I wanted to do boating but due to rain I was scared but that did not stop some of my mates went for boating. Oh! I missed that.. Then finally, we had our lunch at Kalanki and of course it included fried fish which was very tasty.Then we headed back to Kathmandu. This hiking was truly a remarkable experience. Thank you Resha for such a nice coordination, Rajani for beautiful photography and to all the members for the fond memories.