Bijay Gauli
The morning of 25th November 2012 was not the usual one for the fourteen of us who were very excited and getting warmed up for the hike to Yarmasing gadhi (gadhi means fort), under the leadership of our newly elected President of the Corporate Activity Club (CAC), Rupesh Karki.
Lying 108 km away from Kathmandu Valley, Yarmasing gadhi is located in the eastern end of Nepal. It is about 5 kms away from the famous trade market Khasa Bazar, which supplies a lot of accessories and luxury goods to many parts of the country at a reasonable price.
Yarmasing gadhi is a fort that marks the strategic wisdom of Janga Bahadur Rana, who while defending against Tibet some 250 years ago, used the height of its location to his advantage. We were aware of the importance of the location and the structural design of the fort before the visit.
Beginning at around 8 am with lots of laughter and smiles, we stopped for breakfast at Kerabari which was a few kilometers down from Dhulikhel. Despite missing the office bus, Ashara and Anjan joined us there. The journey became more interesting with the scenic beauty of Sindhupalchowk; and the magnificence of the serenely flowing rivers, Indrawati and Bhote Koshi.
The journey became more interesting with the scenic beauty of Sindhupalchowk; and the magnificence of the serenely flowing rivers, Indrawati and Bhote Koshi.
We were a bit late reaching the hiking spot due to the rough roads at places hit by landslides, and the routine police checkings for drunk driving at some places. However, we started walking uphill at around 12:30 pm with all our junk food tightly packed and passed the suspension bridge at 108 Kilo a bit later.
During the walk, we talked to a few local people and noticed how thinly populated the area was. Jeevan distributed few packets of biscuit and candies to the school children who were enjoying their break at the local school premises. When we reached the top at around 3pm, we were amazed by the landscape and the splendid surrounding view. All our tiredness and pains vanished due the sheer beauty of the place. Most of us got busy capturing pictures while giving poses and saying “cheese”.
We climbed down the fort at around 4 pm, and after having some tea at 108 Kilo, started our journey back to the town. We stopped at Barhabise where the delicious local dinner quenched our hunger along with the growls in our stomach. We were back in Kathmandu by 10pm. The hike was as amusing as I had hoped for, and the memories of the trip and the people we met along shall stay with me for a long time to come.