---

Title	2013 May - Deerwalk Hiking from Gokarna to Budhanilkantha via Nang-kyi Gumba
Route	Driving (Kathmandu >> Gokarna), Hiking (Gokarna >> Nang-kyi Gumba >> Budhanilkantha), Driving (Budhanilkantha>> Kathmandu)
Date	May 26, 2013
Hike Duration	4.5 hrs
Coordinator	Ishwor Sapkota
Participants	Arjun Bahadur Panday, Bijay Gauli, Kishor Raj Adhikari, Ishwor Sapkota, Prakash Acharya, Rajendra Prasad Gyawali, Ranjan Gyawali, Surya Bahadur Bista.
Photos By	Prakash Acharya, Surya Bahadur Bista.
Report By	Kishor Raj Adhikari, Prakash Acharya, Ranjan Gyawali
Creative Support	Kanchan Raj Pandey, Rinesh N Bajracharya
Edited By	Rinesh N Bajracharya

Kishor Raj Adhikari Within a week of joining Deerwalk as an intern I got the opportunity to go hiking with my fellow co-workers. I was so excited that despite of late night stay due to the Champions league final, I somehow managed to wake up early and was there at the office premises by 6:40 am. Next thing I had to do was to wait for the other members. Slowly everybody began to gather and our departure was only off by a bit. Journey started from our office premises at around 8:00 am. We drove to Gangabu to grab the camera as none of us had one. We picked up our co-coordinator, Ishwor Dai from Boudha who stocked up the necessary supplies for the hike. Getting off our ride, we warmed up and bought some water and Real Juice; then we headed out for the targeted location, Nang-kyi Gumba. Including me, there were 8 participants in total for the hike and only two of them had I ever spoken to, Ranjan and Prakash. I eventually came to know the rest and it became more comfortable and fun thereafter. Everyone in group were just 'simply awesome'. Walking in group with beautiful scenery around was a great experience. There were plenty of satire being thrown around in the group and most of them were directed towards Ishwor; all in good fun though. After a short rest and being fueled up by snacks we continued our journey. Shortly thereafter we invaded the jungle and created our own way through it as walking on regular routes seemed boring. Wide range of Kathmandu Valley covered by fog was visible from the way and looking at the valley sitting on a stone at the edge of a cliff was reminiscent of some Hollywood movie. It began to rain while we were approaching the destination and I was “singing in the rain”. We walked in rain for some time and reached our destination, Nang-kyi Gumba. We looked inside and out of the Gumba but there were no cafeterias around. We saw a plum tree and had some plum. There was a 'Sherpini didi' , who instructed us about picking up the plum-'Biastarai tipnu hai, maile dherai dukha garera sareko, katcho katcho natipnu pakeko matrai bistarai jharera khanu, baraima najuna'. The fruit added some energy and we began to continue our walk towards Budhanilkantha. We took shortcuts and passed via rural parts of the valley too. It was around 2 pm when we reached Budhanilkantha. Office van arrived to pick us up and we decided to go for some hot meal. We had typical nepali food at Thakali Bhancha, Basundara and the trip ended as so. To summarize the hike, I was expecting to walk more but the trip was ' short and sweet'. I enjoyed it every step of the way and had lots of fun while getting to know my fellow co-workers who had participated that day. Prakash Acharya Finally the most awaited day since my joining of the company came, my Deerwalk Hike. The day was 26th May 2013; about a year since I had joined the company. Hiking is one of the cultures set by Deerwalk in which the employees of the company recharge their batteries after the hectic and tiresome hours of the weekdays. The destination of our hike was Nang-kyi Gumba which is located in the way to Shivapuri National Park. Upon reaching Gokarna, from where we started our hike, the trails were simple. After some time the trails changed and it became a bit difficult. After walking for about 2 hours we stopped for lunch. We fed on the items that we had carried. After resting for about 15 minutes we started our hike to reach the destination which was visible at the top of the hill. The hiking then became more interesting as the trails kept on changing. The weather was not limpid and thus perfect for hiking. On starting our hike the weather was clear, after some time it became cool and humid. When we were about to reach our destination it started to drizzle. This was the most amazing feeling. On the way we saw some monkeys jumping from one tree to another. Though the way was through jungle we couldn’t see any more animals. May be this was because of pollution created in the Kathmandu City. Finally we reached our destination and visited the Gumba. The lamas have just finished praying and we went inside to take some photographs. We ate some food there and started to descend. At first on the way back there were stairs, which were a bit difficult for us to walk. After that we walked on the plain and then we started taking shortcuts through hills. We took two shortcuts from there and eventually reached a settlement. We finally completed our descent to Budhanilkantha temple which is a well known holy ground for the followers of Lord Bishnu. We had some cold drinks there before leaving to have our meal. On seeing the trails that we had travelled from our starting point to the destination, the route was from the tiger-striped trails to zebra-striped ones. This was one of the memorable hikes of my life and memories made that day shall stay with me for a long time. Ranjan Gyawali Although it's not even one week since I have been in Deerwalk, luckily I got chance to go hiking with my “brothers”. I have always been interested in hiking and have been to many places; but to Nang-kyi Gumba, this was my first time. Thinking hiking would be a good way to refuel oneself after a busy week at the office, I applied for the hike. I was in and boy did I have a good time. As it was my first hike from Deerwalk, I had no idea that it would be so great. At the very start, Ishwor, the co-coordinator, told us “Never leave anything, never take anything”; and the theme was set. It impressed me a lot and we collected all the plastics, bottles and everything else, that we used along the way and brought it back to city with us. Everyone has to contribute for the conservation of nature and its beauty, and so did we. Being surrounded with intelligent people is always great, even their jokes have lessons. More than the scene the words from the seniors were beautiful. Words full with encouragement and guidance to help us be more productive was just great. More than anything it was a great opportunity to get close to the seniors and to understand Deerwalk- the company more closely. I would like to thank my team members from the hike for their support and the way they made me feel welcome, and the care they showed has warmed my heart greatly.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

•