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Title	2013 Jun - Deerwalk Hiking from Abu Khaireni To Bakreshwor Via Manakamana
Route	Driving (Kathmandu>> Abu Khaireni), Hiking (Abu Khaireni>> Manakamana>> Bakreshwor>> Abu Khaireni), Driving (Abu Khaireni>> Kathmandu)
Date	June 29-June 30,2013
Hike Duration	16 hrs
Coordinator	Kiran Dangol
Participants	Ashish Maharjan, Deepak Gurung, Kiran Dangol, Minesh Maharjan, Naresh Maharjan, Nischal Sharma, Sampurna Chhantyal, Sushant Pandey, Suraj Byanju, Suraj Pant.
Photos By	Ashish Maharjan and Kiran Dangol .
Report By	Nischal Sharma and Sampurna Chhantyal
Creative Support	Kanchan Raj Pandey, Rinesh Bajracharya
Edited By	Rinesh N Bajracharya

Sampurna Chhantyal We were pretty excited for the hike from the beginning and the destination was Manakamana, one of the most visited places in Nepal. On June 29, 2013, the office van took off from Deerwalk at 7am. All the hikers were well prepared for the trip with their back packs. We stopped at some of the places on the way to relax and take some snaps. It was fun traveling in the vehicle, cool wind breezing through the window, laughing and cracking jokes all along. It was around 12pm when we reached Abu Khaireni. While lunch was being prepared at a nearby restaurant, we decided to roam around the Abu Khaireni bridge and the bank of the Marsyangdi river. The local boys were diving and swimming in the huge river. We were thrilled watching those kids having fun. Deepak taught us how to hunt crabs. Very shortly he found a crab (small in size) but we all were excited nonetheless. We were amazed when one of the local boys caught a huge one for us. Minesh was ready to take it home. After lunch we were ready to continue our hike from Abu Khaireni. At the beginning the humidity in the air made the hike difficult, but with time we got used to the weather. We were altogether 10 hikers, among which 5 were seniors and the rest juniors. Suraj led the group most of the time. We marched towards the destination while playing antakchari. By 3pm we were half way through. Energy drinks, chocolates were there to reenergize us. The most amazing thing that we had was “Lassi” (made of cow's milk) at a cold store in the middle of the hike. Having the Lassi with the pleasant greenery and fresh air around made our day, though few of the hikers chose not to have it. As we moved along leaving the road behind, the weather started to get cold. Naresh was the most exhausted among the hikers as he was carrying the heaviest back pack. We kept assuring ourselves that the destination was close enough to push on. Sharing the experience about the previous hikes with each other was another fun part of the trip. We reached our Manakamana at around 6pm. “Manakamana Mai ki Jai!”. We felt like we had achieved a big goal when we got there. We put our back packs in the hotel, freshened up, took some rest for a while; then gathered outside the hotel to roam around the temple. This was day-1 at Manakamana. We looked forward to continue our hike the next day. Nischal Sharma The pleasant morning of Manakamana was a treat for everyone’s eyes. Everybody got up early to worship the goddess Manakamana, the incarnation of Goddess Parvati. We stayed in queue for nearly half an hour before the temple gate opened, then we got a chance to revere the goddess. After that we had a short breakfast, where we got to know about the Bakreswore Mahadev Temple situated at about two hour’s long hike from the temple. It is believed that the tongue of Sati Devi, Lord Shiva‘s wife, fell into this place when he was roaming the world carrying her dead body in his arms. Nobody wished to miss a chance to visit such an immaculate and holy place. So we got ready and started our second hike towards Bakreswore Mahadev. The roads were just amazing. We could smell the freshness of the green forest on our way. It seemed as we were walking in the clouds. We had to walk through the Manakamana Temple, climbing mountains and passing through remote villages of the region to reach the place. This rare haven was very much present into its pure and natural form without any kind of artificial interference. All people worshiped the Lord Shiva and then got we got a chance to visit a cave nearby guarded by a Sadhu. He explained that the inside of the cave had been destroyed in previous earthquake, so the cave that was supposed to be huge was not so. We had a look inside the cave and found many statues of lord Shiva there, which was pretty amazing experience. We then returned back as we had to make it to the base of Abu Kaireni. The steep and sloppy roads were never easy for us and then the heat of the sun added to the toughness of the task. Though, we didn’t stop and just marched towards our destination taking all the shortcuts that we could, some worked while others lead us nowhere. We finally reached our hotel at Abu Kaireni after the two hours of walk. We had our lunch there and then we left for Kathmandu, singing and dancing in the vehicle. This two days hike was a great experience for us. We had lots of fun together and overall it was a journey to remember.

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