Aarav B.C.

On Jestha 15, our school decided to take grade 9 and 10 for a hike to Champa Devi Temple. We all arrived at the school at 8 am that day. We were ready for our hike to Champa Devi. Our plan was to start our hike after being to a place called Dudh Pokhari then descend from it and then head to Champa Devi. Everything was ready and we were good to go. We went off for the hike at 8 am. There were two teachers with us. We reached our starting point at about 8:45 am. We started our hike to Dudh Pokhari, our first destination.  During our walk we enjoyed and even had some sort of difficulty. We walked through a narrow slippery uphill to reach the very top of white house. During our walk to the whitehouse which was at the top of Dudh Pokhari, we fell down and we stood up and again started walking as it was too slippery due to rain. White house was quite disappointing to all of us but the view that we got to see from there was mesmerizing. We put off our bag pack and got some rest at the top. We ate our snacks, water and chocolates alongside enjoying the beautiful glimpse of Mother Nature. Every single one of us got tired by climbing the hill to white house at the top. But not everyone knew, it was not even the beginning. We declined from the hill and got on the track toward our destination, Champa Devi. We started our journey from the junction point which divided the way to our destination and a local village near Dudh Pokhari. After that the way got even worse and difficult than before. But, everyone was still full of courage and were walking continuously, and at a place we saw stairs that most of us were unaware about it. We consulted with the locals nearby and got to know the stairs leads straight to Champa Devi temple. They even suggested us not to go as it can be dangerous because of wild animals in the forests.  One of our teacher went up to that path to see if we could climb it or not. After a few minutes he came back and suggested that we better go from another route. So we all started descending from that route. No one had the courage to go through that path because the path was too hard for us to climb and there were lots of leeches throughout that path rather we decided to go from another route. After walking for another half an hour we decided to have our snacks. We all sat down and started eating our snacks. All of us were very hungry because we had been walking for almost 3.5 hours. Most of us were tired so did not want to continue the hike as it was getting much difficult. So we separated into two groups, one who would continue the hike and the other who would not.The others would go to Lake Taudaha and meet up with us later. 9 of us took the courage to continue the hike with Sarbeshwar sir. Right after starting the hike some of us couldn’t stand the leeches while some of them couldn’t climb because the path was very difficult. There were uncountable stairs which lead to the top. So four of them went back because they couldn’t continue any longer.  We were walking non stop, if stopped even for a second leeches would climb on to our shoes and they caused us so much trouble. One of the students even got bit by it. There was blood all over her shoes. Even though it does not hurt, it is a horrible experience getting bit by a leech.  So we were climbing the stairs non stop for 36 minutes, then we saw plain land up ahead. We rushed there, getting excited and exhausted. We still had not reached our destination, Champa Devi but we were halfway there. We were very exhausted. We opened our shoes to see if there were any leeches. We all had one or two inside our shoes. Sarbeshwar sir took care of the Leeches for us. So we did not have to worry about taking them out from our feet by ourselves. After that we again started walking. We stumbled upon a group of boys while we were walking. They were also heading for Champa Devi. So we started walking together. They were students of Tourism and they were finding out more about the Tourism places in Nepal. While walking our feet were hurting badly. But we did not give up. Sarbeshwar sir being an experienced trekker, he gave us some tips about hiking and trekking. And we learned lots of things and facts from him. We were enjoying our hike very much. We took many photos on the way. Finally, we reached Champa Devi. We had high expectations from it but it was not as we expected it to be. It was a  turn off when we reached there. But still we felt really good to reach our goal. We rested there for about 10-15 minutes. And then again we were off. We called the bus to pick us up at a place which was a 1.5 hour walk away from Chumpa Devi. We started walking. We did not go from the same route as we came from before because the route was too hard. There were many leeches there, so we preferred to go from another route. Descending was harder than we expected. It puts a great amount of pressure on our feet. But we still managed to get to our final destination. The bus came right after we arrived there. We went to the bus, shared everything that happened on our hike with other friends who did not go with us. We 5 made a bond and a memory with each other. We shared everything with our friends.  After seperating the groups, the other group continued their hike to Champa devi temple. While the other of us stayed in a temple for some time. After a few minutes some people returned saying they couldn't continue going to Champa devi because there were too many leeches. Then we went to Lete Thakali for lunch. Even though it was 5:30 we went for Nepali Lunch in Lete Thakali.  After eating we went back to the school and our hiking was over. Oh! What an exhausting day it was. We walked for almost 7 hours. But we had fun. We really enjoyed ourselves on the hike. It was a memorable day. We had never been on such a hard and exhausting hike but it was very fun and we will never be forgetting this memorable day.

Aayusi Shrestha

On Jestha 15, our school took grade 9 and grade 10 for hiking to Champa Devi Temple. Everyone had arrived before 8 a.m in school. Our plan was to start our hike from Dudh pokhari and then head to Champa Devi. Since everyone had arrived we were ready to go. Two teachers were with us on the hike; Santosh sir and Sarbeshwar sir. We all got on the bus and started listening to music and since it was raining it was good to watch outside the window. We reached Dudh pokhari at around 8:45 a.m. When we started our walk the road was slippery since it had rained.  While walking it was fun but also difficult. We decided to go to a place called Whitehouse and it was quite hard since we walked through a narrow slippery uphill to reach the top of the whitehouse. While we were walking towards the Whitehouse a lot of people fell and also almost all of us had leeches on our legs and shoes. The Whitehouse was not what we expected because it was quite disappointing. Even though the Whitehouse was not that good, the view from there was absolutely beautiful and we rested for a few minutes there. We also found a lot of leeches on our legs. We were already so tired but our hike had just started. While returning from the Whitehouse we slipped even more.  After that when we got down from the Whitehouse we started heading towards Champa Devi and on our way there were a few houses and since the leeches kept on biting us we asked several people if they could give us some salt. An uncle also suggested that we put the salt on the leeches so it dies and won’t be able to give birth to many other leeches. After that the way got more difficult and worse. Then later our friends and teachers saw the stairs and consulted with the locals nearby and found out that the stairs lead to Champa Devi. They also suggested that we don’t go that way because of the wild animals. We climbed almost 700 stairs and some locals told us that the stairs are dangerous and that we should return. One of our teachers went that way to see whether we could climb it or not. A few minutes later he came back and suggested that it would be better if we went from another route. After the suggestion we all started descending the stairs. No one wanted to go through that way because the path was too hard for us and there were also a lot of leeches so we thought it would be better if we went through the other path. After walking for almost half an hour we got really tired and hungry. We decided to have our snacks and rest for some time because we had been walking for 3 hours and then we all sat down and started eating. A lot of us were tired so we  decided to separate into 2 groups in which 1 group will continue till Champadevi temple and the other group go to Taudaha. Before separating we all took a group picture in front of a temple.  After seperating the groups, the other group continued their hike to Champa devi temple. While the rest of us stayed in a temple for some time. After a few minutes 4 of them returned saying that they couldn't continue going to Champa devi because there were too many leeches and it was hard for them to walk on that road. After some time Santosh sir then told us that now we will be going to Taudaha and then everyone packed up and once again  started walking. It was not too hard for us to walk till we reached the bus because we were walking on a road. We also clicked many pictures and videos to keep memories. After walking about 30 minutes we saw a shop and took a rest there. We bought some food there and ate our own snacks too. After everyone was done, we walked till the bus.  Some of us decided to go to Taudaha and some decided to stay in the bus. From the bus to Taudaha the walk was about 10 minutes. Once we reached Taudaha the lake looked calming and refreshing. We did not see any fish so we decided to buy some food to feed them. A lady told us that fish prefer biscuits so we bought biscuits and bhuja. After we threw some biscuits a lot of fish started eating them. We saw some dead fish in the lake too. After we were done feeding fishes, we bought some cotton candy and ate them. Before returning to the bus we decided to click some pictures. We looked at the view again admiring it and then went to where the bus was. Santosh sir got a call saying that the other group had returned from their hike to Champa devi so we went to pick them up. After they got to the bus everyone cheered for them. Everyone in the bus looked tired but also.  After that, while we were returning, we returned from Chobar. We all then went to Naxal to have lunch at Lete Thakali for lunch, even though it was 5:30 p.m. After reaching, we ordered food and then started eating. Once we were done eating we went to the bus and then went to school. After we got to school some of us went home while some of us waited for our parents to pick us up and our hiking was over. It was an exhausting day. We walked for almost 7 hours. Even if we were exhausted it was enjoyable and fun. We really enjoyed the hike and had a memorable time. It was the first time we had been on such a hard hike but to be honest even though it was tiring and exhausting we all had a great time. Everyone of us probably won't be forgetting this memorable day.