Deepak Kumar Karna
Deepak Kumar Karna Most of us were in Deerwalk office premises by 7:30 AM, all ready to go on a hike. Everyone was excited about the hike. The organizer was busy making calls to some of the hikers to make sure that they could be picked up along the way. The hikers, in no particular order, were – Pramod, Mahendra, Resha, Nisha, Dambar, Kanchan, Renu, Deepak, Uttam, Basant, Subash, Manila, Rajesh, and Sumit. The planned route was from Osho Tapowan to Jamacho Gumba. On the way to the starting point, we had breakfast. We had an unexpected change in plan. We decided to start the hike from Nagarjuna National Park instead, so as to avoid problems commonly encountered during the rainy season in our originally planned route as suggested by the local people. We were at our new starting point by 8:30 AM as expected. We bought tickets to enter the national park. We had two choices of route to get to our destination – one was with steep stairs but shorter, while the other was considerably longer but less difficult. Since we were on a hike, we chose the steeper one. Climbing the steep set of never-ending stairs was taking a toll on all of us. Few of us were walking faster than the others. Others were slow but steady. Each of us had a bottle of water and a chocolate. The folks with backpacks were carrying the snacks for the journey. We enjoyed munching on our snacks along the way, occasionally making fun of each other. To be sure that we were not off track, we were confirming with the locals the route we were taking. We finally reached the destination at about noon. As the water and snacks had run out, we were expecting to find a place to get water and something to eat once we reached the destination – but only to be disappointed. So we had to resort to eating the leftover dry fruits and chips. Hungry and thirsty, we could not stay there for long. After taking some pictures, we started our retreat to where we had started. Although there was a shorter way to get to the starting point, we had to take the route we came through, so Pramod could pick up his office ID card he had left at the entry point. As return journey was all downhill, we were at the starting point in no time. At some places the slope was so steep that we could hardly control our speed. Midway through the return journey, downpour started which made the trail slippery, making our descent even harder. We, however, enjoyed soaking in the first rain of the monsoon season with abandon, without the worry of getting sick. Back in Kathmandu, we stopped by a restaurant in Gongbu to have lunch, before heading off to the office. The restaurant served us really delicious food. We topped up the food with drinks and ice creams. This hike may have been the shortest Deerwalk hike so far – with the total distance walked about 10 kms. Nevertheless, in terms of difficulty it might rank among the top. Overall, the trip was incredible and a memorable one.
Mahendra Duwal My first hike from Deerwalk coincided with the first rain of the monsoon season. On the morning of the hike I was going through a mix of excitement and apprehension. I was a bit worried lest the rain should spoil the trek. Luckily for us, the rain did not come until we were well on our trek. The journey started with all fun and games – with jokes cracked all along the way. The sense of humor of the team, especially Dambar’s, was awesome. As the uphill trek started, I doubted that I could make it at all. But after about three hours of steep climbing, I felt I could climb some more. On the way, Kanchan and Rajesh played a prank on some of us – running downhill frantically as if chased by a leopard. Boy, wasn’t that scary! But it was fun. They could win an award for their acting prowess. Before the hike, I thought that it was all about walking uphill and downhill. Never did I imagine that hiking was so much fun. As the hike was coming to an end, a thought was going through my head – that I would send in my name for every hike, irrespective of whether I get selected or not. I had so much fun.
