Hiking: Inside Nagarjuna wood
Date: August 20, 2005
Distance: 13KM
Hours: 4hr
Participants: Bhaskar, Vishnu, Niraj, Anjana, Shreeniwas, Siddhi, Binay Muna (Mrs Sharma) and Shyam (friend of Vishnu)
Report: VishnuK
Photo: Team
Caption: VishnuK
Creative Support: BishwaK/DijupT/DhilungK

20th August, Saturday, Bhaskar, Vishnu, Niraj, Anjana, Shreeniwas, Siddhi, Binay Muna (Mrs Sharma) and Shyam (friend of Vishnu) gathered at the office by 6:15 AM. Some of them were busy preparing coffee to welcome other fellow members. After taking refreshing hot sip of coffee, all of us kicked off with enthusiasm to start the journey. Microbus left the office at 7: 00 and we reached the spot at 7:30 AM. We were welcomed by two sentries at the entrance gate. We bought the tickets and commenced our hiking inside Nagarjuna wood.

Very soon, a gradual stiff climb began, which lasted half an hour. That was followed by slanting trails for next 30 minutes. After a while we found a place like a park covered with soothing green grasses and surrounded by forest with different fauna. But Southern part was opened, which clearly showed clustered building of Kathmandu valley. We rested for a while enjoying by munching away the snacks-chocolate, yak cheese, biscuit etc. to keep our stamina to continue for rest of our journey.

We proceed towards a Buddhist stupa that was in our vision from our breakfast spot. We reached at the place within an hour. At the top of this hill we came across a tower, stupa, and monks’ study house that was built by Tamang Society of Taplejung. The ascend of tower had a room for 6 to7 people. There was a veranda out side the room also, where some of us were enjoying charming beauty of nature.

To add joy to our enjoyable trip Anjana and Shyam started to sing and Muna joined the duo. Anjana suggested to dance and other members followed it up. Bhaskar danced superbly and Anjana revealed out to be a good singer.

The excursion lasted for 4 hours and approximately covered 13 kilo meters (8.1 miles). It was a memorable journey to be cherished. Appreciation should be given to Bhaskar for suggesting the route and Anjana for making it lively and others for forming the gorgeous team.

Enjoy the photographs from the trip.

Please click on the image to see its large version.

01 630 AM	02 The lastcomer
03 Ready to go – Niraj, Anjana, Bhaskar, Shyam (Vishnu’s friend), Vishnu, Muna (Shree’s wife), Siddhi, Shree (Taking the photo) and Binay (parking his bike)	04 Newar – To be or not to be
05 A nice sunny morning to start a trek	06 Is this the road we are going to take
07 No, there’s a trek path – Only 5 km!!	08 Starting on the trail
09 Bhaskar is always aware when a camera is pointing at him	10 Slippery rocks on the way
11 What happened to my camera	12 Siddhi got somebody behind him this time!!
13 A bright colored spider	14 Hey! Wait for us.
15 This bit is slippery, beware!	16 Deep in the dark woods
17 The trail ahead	18 Niraj, get off, I am shooting the rays
19 Vishnu and Muna	20 Anjana leads in the flatter parts of the trail
21 We’ll be there in an hour	22 Not been here for the past eight years!!
23 The steps make a good seat.	24 Give me some water please
25 The trail was mostly flat, being steeply uphill in only two places	26 Mero euta single
27 This is one of the best trek paths you can find in and around Kathmandu	28 The ladies together
29 Flowers on the way	30 Move on guys
31 The beautiful sky	32 Binay fighting the leeches
33 Centipedes on the way	34 One member that you hadn’t seen until now
35 This was a beautiful spot	36 Bhaskar enjoying the bliss
37 Everyone wanted a single photo in this place	38 Different shades of green in the woods
39 We wanted to set up tents and stay until the next day	40 Shyam’s mobile had an interesting ring-tone
41 Niraj found a spot that he liked	42 Shyam, look in front
43 The valley beyond	44 Zooming in on the valley
45 How can we extend the time we spend at this blissful place Snacks	46 Hills in the mist
47 Helicopters would fly below us, but this plane was higher up	48 The destination
49 A bug was found. Need to enter it in Mantis!	50 Getting into the woods from the open once more
51 From light to the dark	52 These people are still reluctant to leave this place
53 Another bug – a major one	54 Moss
55 We’re nearly there	56 Siddhi had a problem with his calf
57 The valley looks crowded from up there	58 Binay still fighting with leeches
59 It was difficult to get a glimpse around while we were in the woods	60 Some of them have reached the tower already. Niraj wants to boast he was the first.
61 The last lot to reach the top	62 Part of the Jamacho monastery
63 Singing at the top	64 Siddhi resting – little did he know who would beat him a while later
65 A less populated area of the valley	66 Chestnut blossom
67 We could see the mountains	68 More mountains
69 The magical mist – covers everything up in moments	70 The horizon
71 The way to Ranipouwa	72 The clouds covering us from behind
73 Enjoying every moment	74 Singing and dancing
75 The congested valley	76 Surveying the hills for next week’s hiking destination
77 Anjana had the most eventful trip – falling down four times and spraining her knee	78 A peacock bidding us goodbye