Ruby Labh
On 12th of March 2023, Deerwalk Sifal School organized a single-day hiking program. For a hike, Champadevi was chosen as our destination. Champadevi is a concealed jewel that is located on the outskirts of our capital city, Kathmandu. Enclosed by dense forest, it is an impeccable travel spot for those who are looking for peace of mind from crowded and bustling urban areas. This attractive destination has become very popular for camping, short picnics, and family trips.
We were 11 members from Deerwalk Sifal School who were included in this journey. It was around 7.30 AM when all of us met at Deerwalk premises and got on a school van. For every person aboard, this was a pretty thrilling and exciting time. While we were on the way, I imagined how the houses and daily routines of local people were expressing the Newari community. I also visualized numerous significant Buddhist pilgrimage sites like retreat centers and Buddhist monasteries. We soon arrived at Pharping. It took us around 1 and a half hours approximately to reach Pharping Bazaar.
We stopped at a local restaurant and had a traditional Nepali breakfast of tea, bread, fried potato, chana, and omelette. After breakfast, we bought some snacks and began our hike from Pharping to Champadevi hill. Personally, this hike was a new and exhilarating experience for me. We searched a route of the whole trail on google map, moved our footsteps, and started to mount. This destination was lined with stunning natural scenic views. On the way, we also came to discover the tranquil monastery. We took some mandatory photos and selfies while we wandered gently, appreciating those serene surroundings with fabulous weather. Some of the sections were full of steep stairs but we didn’t let ourselves feel shattered and continued to move our footsteps.
Yet, it was a lucky day as we could enjoy the view of Taudaha from the height. We were famished after a long hike and decided to energize ourselves by eating something. We took a little break to refresh ourselves so we looked for a place to sit, unwrapped packets of Wai Wai and sipped some water. We spent some time unwinding and relaxing our legs. After eating our snacks, we continued to walk to reach the destination. We found out there were two ways, trail to the left and trail to the right. Left trail leads to Bhasmeshwor danda and the right trail leads to Chamapdevi hill. We headed to the right side, which meant we chose to head toward Champadevi. I realized that it took us about two and a half hours to reach the ridge of Champadevi all the way from Pharping.
We figured out that we were at a pretty high elevation of 2278 meters above sea level. We could observe the panoramic view of Kathmandu valley in the distant background. Besides, we could also see Chandragiri hill on the left side and Phulchowki on the right side. Later on, we decided to go downhill. The magnificent landscape from the top made us feel like this hike to Champadevi was unbelievably soothing. While we had already ran out of water and were exhausted, we did not stop and continued to descend. I could even hear the rumbling sound in my stomach as I had not eaten in a while. After descending for an hour, we reached Champadevi Paau Temple where we got on our school van and moved to Taudaha. About 4:00 PM, we had our delicious meal at Taudaha Viewpoint hotel enjoying the beautiful view of the lake. We left from there at 5:00 PM. I consider this one of the toughest uphill hikes that I’ve ever experienced but also worthwhile.
Thank You.
