Jaya Ojha What a great way to celebrate my first month at Deerwalk. It had been so long since I went for a hike and two weeks into working at Deerwalk, I was invited for it. We all gathered at the Deerwalk Complex on Saturday, early in the morning at around seven. From there we left for Balaju Bypass where we had our breakfast. Thereafter, we started our hike to Shivapuri Nagarjun National Park to reach the Jamacho Gumba which is situated on the top of the Nagarjun Hill. The place seemed to have been safeguarded by the Nepal Army. They had made it very clear that it was an eco-friendly environment and we were not supposed to dispose our wastes in plastic bags, so they gave us green bags to throw our litter in. It felt good to learn that there were people who cared about our nature. Just as we entered the park, we were greeted by a good number of stairs that led us to the top of the hill. The first ten minutes was the hardest. Our body had to cope with the grueling steps that kept going on and on. But at the same time, it felt refreshing to finally be able to get away from the smog filled city air and breathe the fresh air. The ambiance around us was very spirited. Our hike uphill was filled with witty banters, jokes and a real appreciation of nature.

Our hike uphill was filled with witty banters, jokes and a real appreciation of nature.

As we kept on, it intrigued me to find various shades of green in juxtaposition almost as if they were designed by some architect who placed them perfectly. Finally, at around eleven a.m., we reached our destination. The serene view was completely worth all those exhaustive steps. We saw our Kathmandu valley from the view tower. We stayed there for a while and basked in the sun and enjoyed some snacks with the group. Eventually, we started our descent. It felt effortless for some time but as we kept on, our legs started to wobble almost making us imbalanced. Thus ended our “short and sweet” hike. It was a great day to go for a hike. It might have been tiring for some of us but the view we got from the top was worth every drop of our sweat. Since this was my first hike, I felt very much welcomed by my new friends and mentors of Deerwalk. I got to know them in a much deeper level. I feel proud to be a member of Deerwalk family and hope to join in more of these wonderful excursions in the future. 

Nirajan Rijal This was my hiking after a long period of time and I was all excited about it. So we were all set for a one-day hike to Jamacho Gumba which is located at the top of a hill in Shivapuri Nagarjun National park. It is a Buddhist Monastery. We started our hike from the office premises at 7 am and picked our remaining colleagues from Balaju Bypass. After having breakfast, we distributed the things we were going to carry during our hike and we were all given our share of stuffs. We were all set for our hike as we approached the gate of Shivapuri Nagarjun National Park and bought our tickets. Shivapuri Nagarjun National Park is looked after by the Nepalese Army. Beyond the entry gate, there were hundreds of stairs that led us to reach the top of the hill. It didn’t feel easy by any means at first but after half an hour or so our body got used to it. Few mini-stops in-betweens helped us a lot. After climbing the stairs for about 90 minutes, we finally reached our destination. The view from the hill top was worth all the difficulty we had while climbing up the stairs. The majestic view of the valley from the hill top was something to treasure. We stayed there for a while and took some pictures as memory of our hike, had our snacks and it was time to return. It was relatively easier to go down the stairs as it took us an hour or so to reach the gate of Shivapuri Nagarjun National Park. It was a delight to go for the hike with new faces. I got acquainted with very wonderful people in this memorable hike. It was a great pleasure to be a part of this fun and beautiful hike.