Lava Kafle
Through narrow road and surrounding jungles, narration continued into the countryside. Rudra asked questions every now and then while the rest attempted to provide the appropriate answers. Bhoj expressed mature views while I childish. Lekhnath gave logical reasoning while Kapil made fun remarks. Pramod smiled and explained the inner vision. Ashish, the photographer of the day, was busy clicking the camera and threw his opinion only when not interested in photography.

Besides hiking, another purpose of our trip was to survey various spots that could be bought for http://www.deerwalkestates.com/. We inspected around five spots that day and the hope is that we will finalize a deal soon.

Near Bhimdhunga, a person approached me and hugged. It was Sauru Pokharel who was my friend since 1994 while studying Intermediate of Science at an Army College. In addition to bringing back fond memories of our past, he disclosed the land prices in the area for our benefit and departed.

We took a diversion from the main road and started discussing about education in the country. Rudra expressed his desire to help Nepalese universities and colleges deliver high-quality computer science education. He also promised that he would teach an elective course to BScCSIT students of Deerwalk Institute of Technology (DWIT) in the future.

Halfway through our journey, we stopped at a small restaurant at Bhanjyang to quench our thirst with cold drinks and light snacks. We then started uphill on a neatly aligned staircase of carved stones. After the steps ended, the path started becoming confusing. We lost our way a couple of times and we had to retrace our steps. We somehow reached Indra Daha which was not our intention but we felt fine about that. We pushed ourselves further uphill and, finally, hidden behind thick corn stalks, we found our destination: Kaji Kalu Pande Park.

Kaji Kalu Pandey was a heroic general under King Prithvi Narayan Shah, who had died in a historic battle with Kirtipur. The park was also his cremation ground, as per his wish, which offered a clear view of the valley as well as the surrounding hills. After taking photographs, we descended toward Balambu. On the way, we encountered a long thin black snake. The snake frightened most of us but, luckily, no one was bitten.

As the evening grew nearer, it started raining and the dirt road became slippery. Finally, we reached a spot being considered for purchase by Deerwalk Estates. There, we consumed generous amounts of snacks and beer while relishing the magnificent view of Kathmandu valley. We then drove back to Kathmandu. Rudra and Lekhnath went home while the rest of the team continued the revelry of the day at a restaurant in Kakani; enjoying Naan with Chicken Butter Masala.