Shruti Pokhrel On September 7, Saturday, the hiking club had organized a one day hike to Namo Buddha, a pilgrimage site highly esteemed by people all over the world and located about forty kilometers away from Kathmandu. There were thirty five hikers which consisted of grade eleven, teachers and the coordinators. Our route for hiking was Dhulikhel – Namo Buddha. Since it was our first hiking, we all assembled around Deerwalk premises at 8:30 am sharp and the bus departed at about 9:00 am. With music, dance and lots of fun on the bus, we reached our destination and all of us were well prepared to face the heat and involve in walking a path different from our monotonous one. We started from the thousand stairs. As soon as we started ascending the stairs, we were exhausted and took some short breaks. Facing the scorching heat of the sun, we reached the famous stone of Dhulikhel and began to capture the moments. The scenic beauty from up there was just fascinating. We enjoyed the scenic beauty while moving ahead towards our destination. After walking for a while, we sat for a while not only to enjoy scenic beauty but to relax and replenish our energy. On the way, we walked so carefully and frequently looked at our sneakers to check if there were leeches. After about four to five hours of our hike, we could see the Buddhist prayer flags, the curved golden roof and the glimpse of Namo Buddha. We all were exhilarated seeing that but as soon as we came to know that more hills are to be ascended, we started moving a bit faster. With the blazing mid-day sun, we walked very carefully since the vehicles were rushing in the sludgy roads. Finally, we reached our destination and it was about 4:00 pm. When we wandered around the temple, we could notice that Namo Budhha has peaceful and delighting environment. The scenery was spectacular. The hundreds of religious flags around the stupa released their religious requests as the breeze ruffled through them. All of the hikers then started exploring the temple by going through the monastery and its sections. When we entered the temple, we could see religious paintings (Thanka) and the magnificently large statue of the Lord Gautam Buddha. We killed all our tiredness in the state of tranquility around. We then decided to capture the moments and clicked some group pictures in the alluring view around. Then, we moved towards our bus with the company of cool southern wind which was blowing gently. As soon as all got into the bus, we started descending the hills with our tired body and refueled memories. It was already 4:30 and we hadn’t had our lunch so on the way to Kathmandu at VIP Thakali Restaurant, Banepa, we had our lunch. We reached the Deerwalk premises at around 7:00 pm. Our destination for hiking was congruously selected and there is no need to exaggerate it. The hiking was great due to the destination and the company. We were exhausted but at the same were very delighted to be filled with memories that are going to last for a lifetime. Let’s hope for another hiking with these beautiful people. 

Princy Jaiswal On September 07, 2019, we gathered together in Deerwalk complex at 8:30 am to begin our hiking experience which was organized by the hiking club. We were very excited about the hike. Our journey started with the departure of the bus at 9 am with 32 students and 3 teachers. After traveling on the bus for around one hour, we reached Dhulikhel at 10 am at the initial point of our hike. Dhulikhel is a small beautiful touristic town, located at height 1550m, 30 km away from Kathmandu along Araniko highway. We had to climb 1000 steps to reach the focal point of the trip. After completing the 1000 steps we reached to the top of the hill. At the top of Dhulikhel, the view was very attractive and we made a lot of memories with our classmates and teachers. We took some pictures and started our journey by walking through the small beautiful villages and forests, till we reached the Namobuddha monastery. Namobuddha monastery is regarded as a sacred Buddhist pilgrimage place. The environment of Namobuddha was very clean with no pollution, natural air, fresh climate making everyone feel cool and healthy. The place was very quiet and pure. We spend some time in the monastery and took some group photos. We had our lunch at VIP Thakali restaurant near Banepa. After having our lunch, we started our way back home. It was very wonderful hiking and we had a lot of fun together with a new experience in our life.