Prayusha Acharya A day hike was organized by the Hiking club of DSS+2 on November 16, 2019, for Grade XII students. As per the plan, our hike started from Panauti passing through Naya Gaon to Phulchowki and down to Godawari. Everyone was instructed to gather in the Deerwalk Complex by 7:20 am sharp. Our bus left the premises at 8 am with 19 students and 2 teachers. We started our hike from Panauti at around 10 am, where we walked along the bank of a river from Malpi International School for 1.5hrs through a busy road as it was a way for tippers to transport rocks and mud. One of the tipper drivers was kind enough to give some boys lift to some distance. We then began to walk through a steep hill that led us to Naya Gaon. The surrounding there was breath-taking, engulfed with the terraced farmlands, traditional old houses, and the different shades of green hills around. We were already tired by the time we reached Naya Gaon. But we couldn’t give up, as we had a substantial destination to reach ahead. The locals around were friendly, showed us the way and even offer food to have. One of the Locals told us strictly to follow the stairs until we reach Phulchowki and that information was really helpful. Our real hike began when we marched from Naya Gaon towards our next destination, Phulchowki. There had been news in media about kids getting lost in Phulchowki. We were aware that the trails were very confusing so we all stuck together during our hike. We could see our destination, Phulchowki tower from several hills far. We walked up and down the hills but the tower didn’t seem to appear any closer. We walked restlessly as we needed to reach there on time. There was no option for us to return or quit the hike. We walked and walked and finally reached the jungle trails. The trails used to disappear from time and again, as it was covered under thick layers of dry leaves. It made us realize that the road was uninhabited. We had a walk through the jungle where we could see the holes formed by pigs in different places. The jungle was dark, thick, shady and quiet. We walked through the never-ending stairs and every time we thought that we reached the top, we would see the tower on the other hilltop. The way was really exhausting as at one point compelled us to give up, but there wasn’t any way out. Without losing our hopes and determination we proceeded our walk ahead. We finally reached the awe-inspiring Phulchowki peak (2700m altitude) at 5:30 pm, during the time of the sunset. The view from there was really stunning where we could see the White Mountains under orange dusk, the sky above the layer of thick pinkish clouds as it seemed like we saw a resplendent new world from that place. The striking view obliterated all our pains, hunger and tiresome journey out of our mind in a moment. Clicking some photos and then enjoying the surrounding, we still had 13kms journey ahead of us towards Godawari. It was already dark, all the way along the forest, we were only able to walk with flashlights on. Gratified, our bus came to pick us up till 8kms from Godawari. Enthralled with the moment, we got into the bus and went to have some meal after the tiresome yet bodacious journey. We reached back to the Deerwalk complex at 8:45 pm. Our journey would not have been possible with our classmates helping each other immensely during the hard times. This hike made our friendship bond much stronger with new memories to cherish.