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Title	2013 May - Deerwalk Hiking from Khawa to Chordung Cheese Factory via Jiri
Route	Driving (Kathmandu >> Khawa), Hiking (Khawa >> Jiri >> Chordung Cheese Factory >> Jiri), Driving (Jiri >> Kathmandu)
Date	May 18 - May 19, 2013
Hike Duration	7 hrs
Coordinator	Niraj Thapa
Participants	Biswas Lohani, Kanchan Raj Pandey, Manish Man Singh, Manoj Shrestha, Milan Lohani, Nimesh Deuja, Niraj Thapa, Shakun Shrestha, Subash Aryal, Sushil Kapali, Ujjwal Manandhar.
Photos By	Kanchan Raj Pandey, Manish Man Singh, Niraj Thapa.
Report By	Milan Lohani, Sushil Kapali
Creative Support	Kanchan Raj Pandey, Rinesh N Bajracharya
Edited By	Rinesh N Bajracharya

Milan Lohani Exploring new places might be the hobby of every individual as it is mine. I was excited to attend my very first hike with Deerwalk, and Jiri was decided on as the destination. It was a well managed trip as compared to my other hikes. 18th May, early in the morning, removing the blanket of darkness, as the sun rose, I rushed to the office with Kanchan and Sushil. Few of the hikers were already at the Deerwalk premises. It was 7:10 am when we left the office. We picked up the remaining hiking members from Baneshwor, Koteshwor and Sanga as we drove towards our destination. There were eleven of us in total. Music beats began to get stronger in the van. We bought enough dry food and water at one of the stops. We had our breakfast at a place named "Banana Forest" along the Highway. The hotel was famous for its “Organic Lassi” and “Organic Coffee”; I chose Lassi and it was kind of disappointing . The response for coffee was positive though. After the “organic” drinks, we left towards our destination. We entered the Dolakha District at around 11:55 am. The long drive slowly started to take its toll. There were two types of members in our team. One who were asleep and the other trying to sleep. But then I was the third kind, wide awake and enjoying the scenery. In this way the journey continued. At Charikot, we had our lunch around 1:20 pm. We had planned to start our hike from Maina Pokhari, but the climate changed the game as all of a sudden it started to rain. We reached Maina Pokhari at 3:50 pm and by then the sky had got clear and it had stopped raining. We asked the way to Jiri to the locals there, and they suggested us not to walk the route we had planned on. Following their suggestion we drove ahead to a place named Khawa at 4:20 pm, from there on we began our walk. There was a spot on the way with open fields where we had lots of fun. The guys had a race and Ujjwal came out as the winner. With laughs, fun and spirits high, the hiking continued. We walked for about 2 hours and reached the Jiri Bazaar. Jiri, lying at an altitude of 1905 meters, is a VDC in Dolakha District of Janakpur Zone in the north-eastern part of Nepal. It is the gateway to Mount Everest. The place 'Jiri' was named after the local ethnic group there, Jirel. We chose a Hotel for the night’s stay; it was already 6:50 pm by then. At the hotel, we had lots of fun, and good food was of plenty. On 19th May, early in the morning, we tightened our shoe laces and started to hike from Jiri Valley to Chordung Cheese Factory. On the way, we realized the reason why this place was compared to Zurich. It was heartwarming to see the sun striking the green grass and big rocks. The visually brilliant environment was filled with a serenity divine. The beauty abound, I cannot put them in words. We roamed around soaking in the scenery and the place was worth all the hardship done to get there. After a long hike, we reached our destination at around 8:40 am. Cheese Factory at Chordung is located at an altitude of 2633 meters. The workers of the factory welcomed us. We could have got a chance to see the workings inside the factory, if it was not their day off. Still the factory owner explained the procedure of making cheese from scratch. We had some local cheese before returning to the hotel at 9:30 am. After lunch, we returned back to Kathmandu, it was 12:30 pm by then. In short, the hike covered a simple story, but not the easiest one to explain. The long drive turned out to be a bit monotonous and boring. But the moment the hike started, there were no dull instances. Jiri is place like no other; its abundant beauty will win your heart. It might be a bit of work getting there; but ones there, you will be truly rewarded with the scenery that awaits you. Its pleasing to the hearts as it is to the eyes; you won’t be disappointed, trust me. Sushil Kapali May 18th, 2013 : Jiri is a village development committee in Dolakha District of Janakpur Zone in north-eastern Nepal. Jiri was our hiking destination, and it was my 1st hiking experience from Deerwalk. I was really excited to go to the place so called the Switzerland of Nepal (Jiri). As per our planning, we arrived at Deerwalk premises at around 6:30 am in the morning. At 7:10 am we started to move towards our destination. We picked up some of the hikers from Baneshwor, Koteshwor and Sangha respectively. The journey was filled with jokes and music. Banana Forest was the 1st place we stopped at for our breakfast. Some of our hikers ordered Organic Lassi and the others enjoyed their Organic Coffee. After having our breakfast we continued towards our destination. The journey was too exciting and adventurous. By the time we reached Charikot, we were very hungry. After waiting for 15 minutes, we finally got our meals. About half an hour through Khawa, we decided to walk. The most memorable things about this hike was the time when we started walking. We had a race amongst some of our members. I couldn’t participate as I was busy taking pictures. Moving ahead we saw a helicopter in the middle of a field. We rushed towards that place and began to take pictures. Some of our members began to climb on the tire while posing for snaps. Hope they got nice profile pictures for their Facebook accounts. Finally, we reached Jiri and we chose a hotel for the night’s stay. The next day in the early morning, after having a cup of tea, we began to climb a mountain to reach the Chordung Cheese Factory. Climbing a mountain of 2633 meters is really a nice experience in itself. Finally, we reached our destination, “The Chordung Cheese Factory”. We had a nice conversation with the cheese making crew. They told us about the process involved in making cheese. The people there were very generous and polite. Summarizing the hike in totality, I would put it this way - “Awesome”. !!!!

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