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Title	2013 Jul - Deerwalk Hiking from Chobar to Champadevi
Route	Driving (Kathmandu>> Chobar), Hiking (Chobar>> Champadevi>> Chobar), Driving (Chobar>> Kathmandu)
Date	July 6, 2013
Hike Duration	6 hrs
Coordinator	Shyam Sundar Swonepa
Participants	Bibas Sitoula, Brisha Pote, Kedar Khadka, Kishor Raj Adhikari, Madan Subedi, Netra Prasad Neupane, Rajesh Chaudhary, Ram Bahadur Bhujel, Ranjan Gyawali, Samar Dhwoj Acharya, Sanshila Gurung, Shyam Sundar Swonepa.
Photos By	Bibas Sitoula, Brisha Pote, Rajesh Chaudhary, Shyam Sundar Swonepa.
Report By	Kishor Raj Adhikari, Ranjan Gyawali, Samar Dhwoj Acharya
Creative Support	Kanchan Raj Pandey, Rinesh Bajracharya
Edited By	Rinesh N Bajracharya

Samar Dhwoj Acharya Hiking never gets boring because there is always something new to see, learn and experience. So, I was already excited about going on hike with my friends and co-workers from Deerwalk the moment I read the e-mail from our hike coordinator, Shyam Sundar Swonepa. On the day of the hike, I woke up early (something really really difficult to accomplish) and reached Deerwalk premises at 6:50 am. Being a rainy morning, I was to wait for other members until the rain settled down a bit. Soon all the members arrived at the office and after a short photo session, we started our journey to Chobar. On the way to Chobar, we started our meaningless rants and started cracking jokes about each other. Since we "Intern" guys were already a month old at Deerwalk, we were already getting involved in making fun of each other. Shyam and other supporting staffs were simply awesome. Bibas was in-charge of video camera and started shooting everyone. Shyam and Rajesh were busy taking shots of our natural expressions. The rain had not stopped yet and we stopped at "Manakamana Bakery Udhyog" for breakfast. We then resumed our journey and in around half an hour, we reached Chobar and stopped at "Puspalal Smriti Bagaincha". The rain had also stopped and it was perfect weather for us. Finally, the wait was over. We took a few photographs there and then decided to start our hike. Since there were two paths, we were confused about the route for hike to Champadevi and asked one of the local residents. Her reply was: "Jaana ta jun baato gayeni puginchha, tara juka syaaun syaaunti hunchha, kasari jaanuhunchha". Once we heard about leeches, everyone started to collect and rub "Tite Paati" (Mug-wort) which is known to be leech-repellant. Some of us were quite sure that the leeches of the area had already started to adapt with the plant and decided not to waste time and effort on it. Then we started moving uphill and after 20 minutes walk, all of us became aware of the density of leeches in the area and realized how much we had underestimated what the local resident had told us earlier. Leeches were everywhere in our shoes and pants and everybody started whining. Nearly for an hour, we iterated the same set of activities: run for a while, stop, watch the shoes and pants, remove all the leeches, whine for a while, and then continue. There was a moment when everybody nearly agreed that we should not continue uphill anymore. However, we did decide to continue. After all, the golden rule of hiking is "to get to the destination" no matter what be the case, regardless of any difficulties we might face. The weather was getting cold and wet because of the rain and altitude. After around two hours of walk, we reached the top of the hill and continued our hike. We knew that we were near the destination. After hiking for half an hour in the wrong direction, we decided to return back the opposite way. Had we chosen the right direction, we would have reached Champadevi in due time, but it was fun nevertheless. Once we reached Champadevi, Ram started showing his amazing dancing skills and all of us were having fun watching his "epic" dance. After staying for around half an hour at Champadevi, we started to move downhill, back to Chobar, where we had parked our vehicle. We had not realized that moving downhill would be more difficult than moving uphill. Everyone was slipping down every once in a while. After walking downhill for about an hour and half, we were back at Chobar. After more than five hours walk, we were very tired and hungry. We all decided it was time to return back to Kathmandu and feed our appetite. On the way back, we were all tired but were energetic enough to crack few more jokes. We decided to go to "Thakali Bhansha Ghar", Sinamangal for lunch. After having lunch, it was already six and we got to the office at around 6:15 pm. In short, the hike with awesome people from Deerwalk was fun and exciting. I never had any dull instances throughout the whole trip. P.S. this was my first hike from Deerwalk and I am excited to go for more in the coming future. Ranjan Gyawali Monsoon doesn’t always mean water logging, flood, land slide and traffic jam, it even brings adventurous hiking for all the monsoon lovers. Marvelous hiking spots with green hills, lush forest and waterfalls calling monsoon lovers to hike and explore all those rocky hills. It is always harder to wake up early in the morning, especially in weekends. The hike consisted of the interns and the admin team. More than walking it was like running from the leech attack. Walking above the cloud to reach the top of the hill one can experience this location as a central scenic place to view Kathmandu valley. It was another great experience to see “Deer” running in the forest just about 100 meters from us. What amazed me the most was that “even Kathmandu seemed beautiful from top of the hill”. Our young energetic interns were leading the way and listening to the wonderful experiences and painful struggles of the Ram and Kedar. Our hike coordinator, Shyam was always concerned about every participant. It was another great moment with Deerwalk. Kishor Raj Adhikari My Second hike with Deerwalk brings up many memories, especially with all the difficulties and trouble that had to be tackled on the way. Journey started from Deerwalk premises at around 8 am for the hike from Chobar to Champadevi. After having breakfast at ‘Vatkeko Party’ we moved forward to Machhegaun. We stopped at ‘Pushpalal Park’ and after short visit we started to walk. Our actual hike started from there, and at the beginning a local women warned us about the leeches. Lots of leeches began to attack after only two minutes of walk, and to avoid the leeches we increased our hiking speed. The path was dangerous. We passed through the thick bushes and small trees where even the sunlight hardly passed. After walking about two and half hours, we reached ‘Bhjanjyang’ from where we saw three paths. We followed uphill path hoping to reach Champadevi. We walked for about an hour but there was no sign of Champadevi Temple. We were already at the top of the hill when we saw a signboard labeled ‘Baneshwor Dada’, Kathmandu valley was hidden inside the fog and literally, we were above the cloud. There were none to ask directions to, so we kept on to our route. At the top I was expecting clear weather so that I could see wide range of Kathmandu valley and long range of mountains. We were out of food and water at top and there was still a long way to return. The way back was more difficult than riding up. No food and water, slippery slopes, thorny bushes and attacks of those hungry leeches. Finally we were there at ‘Pushpalal Park’ with blood lines and leech. It was only then that we realized that we had taken the wrong route. I donated my blood for more than 60 leeches, which definitely will help them to survive for many months. Thanks to every participant for making this unforgettable trip and thanks to my Goldstar shoes for helping me to successfully come down through that slippery slopes.

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