Basanta Thapa This was my first 2-day hike, and this was also my first trip to Jiri. Since Jiri was quite far away, we all gathered early at dawn and started off our trip. We stopped at Banepa at about 7:30 am and had some breakfast. From there, we started our long drive in the Winger. The weather was clean and fresh. We could see beautiful mountains and hills on our way. We stopped at Sindhuli for a while to take some pictures from the top. At about 12 pm, we reached Manthali, where we had our lunch. From there we climbed uphill to reach our final destination. The road to Jiri was on maintenance. In many places, bulldozers had dug the road and made it difficult to drive. Because of the road condition, we were late when we reached Jiri. It was about 5 pm. We decided to hike for at least an hour that day, so we started our hike of a few kilometers before reaching Jiri. That night we were all exhausted due to long travel. So, we decided to stay in our hotel and hike the next morning. The next morning we all started our hike to the Cheese Factory at about 5:30 am. We started climbing uphill from Jiri bazaar. It was still dark, and people had just woken up. In many places, we got confused with the route and had to take help from the locals. It was a difficult road. In some places, I had to hold on to bushes to climb the hills. It took us about 3 hours to reach the top. We got to see yaks there. Some of us bought cheese from the factory. We stayed for about an hour and headed back. We reached back to our hotel at about 11 am. None of us had anything to eat during the hike, and we were all starving. So, as soon as we reached our hotel, we grabbed our lunch. After lunch, everyone started packing and went back to the van. Before leaving Jiri, we also took a short tour of Jireshwor Mahadev temple nearby. We were heading back to the office when unfortunately the van broke down at Maina Pokhari. First thing we did was to find a mechanic who could repair it quickly. Also, we contacted the office and let them know about our situation. Then, we stayed there lighting a fire and waiting for the van to be back to the road. Locals were kind enough to provide us with wood to light a fire in the cold night, and they also gave us some makai bhatas to satiate our hungry stomachs. We stayed there till midnight when our van got finally fixed. And at about 3 in the morning, we reached Manthali. We all really needed some rest, so we stayed in a hotel at Manthali. The next morning we had our breakfast and returned to our office at about 9 am. We had our lunch at Dhulikhel at about 1 pm and finally reached the office at about 3:30 pm. It was quite an adventure. 

Depenti Karki It was a cold and gloomy Saturday morning. On 7th December 2019, squad B planned to go on a 2-day hike to Jiri. It was my first 2-day hike, and I was super excited about the trip. First of all, because I had heard a lot about Jiri, and secondly I had never got a chance to visit there. Jiri is a famous tourist destination which is also known as the Switzerland of Nepal. It was a long way to reach Jiri, so we decided to leave early. With a total of 15 people, we all gathered and left the valley at around 6:30 am. We then decided to have our breakfast at Banepa. After breakfast, we headed to our destination. On the way, we stopped at the famous Sindhuli Mirror road, enjoyed the view, and clicked some pictures. We had our lunch at Manthali at around 12 pm. There was still a long way to go to reach our destination. We resumed our journey again. We had a tough time to reach our destination because the road leading toward Jiri was on maintenance, and there were a lot of digs made by bulldozers. We needed to get on and off of our vehicle every now and then because the Hiace was unable to clamber up in that damaged road. We saw some beautiful snow-capped mountains as we were getting closer to Jiri. Finally, it was around 5 pm when we reached our beautiful destination, Jiri. The road was well maintained, clean, and well-lighted. There were also a lot of shops selling locally made cheese and churpi. We were tired due to the travel, so we rested for a while at our hotel and again went out for a tour of Jiri. It was almost dark and chilly outside, so we all decided to have some tea. We stopped by a hotel near Jiri bus park and enjoyed our tea with a warm fire. After a tour, we returned to our hotel and had dinner. Our campfire with a barbeque went till midnight during which we sang many songs and danced to them. The very next morning we started our hike to Jiri’s famous Cheese Factory. It was around 5 am when we all woke up and got ready for the hike. It was dark and foggy outside when we started our journey. It was a long walk, and we also had to take some help from locals to guide our way. After an hour of walking, there were no houses and only a stiff hill that we needed to cross. We went on and finally, after 3 hours of walk, we reached the Yak Cheese Production Center (Chordung, Dolakha). On 15 more minutes of walk, we went to see the yaks and clicked some pictures there. Some of us bought cheese, and we headed back to our hotel. It was around 11:30 am when we finally reached Jiri bazaar. We didn’t take snacks with us during the hike due to which all of us were starving of hunger. At the hotel, we fed ourselves and got back to the Hiace. We went on to visit Jireshwor Mahadev Temple and headed to Kathmandu. During our way back, the Hiace broke down at around 4 pm, and we could not proceed further. We searched for the signs of any mechanic nearby and waited until our vehicle got mended. There were some difficulties in repairing the Hiace. In the meantime, we had snacks at a hotel nearby and contacted the office to let them know about our situation. We were at Mainapokhari, Dolakha, a few kilometers away from Jiri. We all stayed in a field near our vehicle. Some friendly locals helped us with wood planks to keep us warm in that chilling weather. They provided us with Makai Bhatmas and also offered us dinner. We all ate Chow Chow that night for dinner. Finally, at midnight the vehicle got repaired, and we rolled off to Manthali. We had contacted one of the hotels and reached there at 3 pm. All of us were exhausted and quickly went to sleep. The next morning we woke up, freshened up, and went for breakfast. At 9 am, we rolled back toward Kathmandu. We decided to have our lunch at Dhulikhel and reached the valley at around 3:30 pm. Our 2-day hike nearly went on to become 3 days long. The overall trip was a roller coaster filled with a lot of adventures. I’d always remember the beautiful place and lovely experiences. Jiri was worth visiting, and one should visit this beautiful place at least once in their lifetime.