Title	Kalinchowk – Blowing in the Wind
Start Date	11/13/2010
End Date	11/14/2010
Duration (hrs)	18 hrs
Distance (km)	30 kms
Hike coordinator	Ravi Sharma
Participants	Anuj Bhandari, Ashish Bhujel, Ashish Tuladhar, Awanish Ranjan, Dijup Tuladhar, Dipesh Shrestha, Pawan Pandey, Pragya Ratna Bajracharya, Pramod Kumar Rai, Ravi Sharma, Roshan Sharma, Subin Shrestha, Sudeep Ghimire and Sudeep Khatiwada
Photos by	Ashish Bhujel, Awanish Ranjan, Dijup Tuladhar, Dipesh Shrestha, Pawan Pandey, Ravi Sharma and Subin Shrestha
Captions by	Ravi Sharma, Roshan Sharma, Sudeep Khatiwada
Report by	Anuj Bhandari  and Pragya Ratna Bajracharya
Creative Support	Dijup Tuladhar, Prerana Pradhan, Sangharsha Bhattarai
Published Date	11/30/2010

	Origin	Location2	Destination
Name	Makai Bari	Deurali, Gairee, Kuri	Kalinchowk temple
District	Dolakha
Zone	Janakpur
Longitude			86°2’2”East
Latitude			27°45’29”North
Altitude			Approx. 3800 M
Recommended Items to See		Hills, forest and locality	Mountain Range, local people, Kalinchowk temple
Recommended Places to Eat		Any local hotels at Makai Bari, Deurali	Any local hotels at Kuri
Recommended Places to Stay			Any local hotels at Kuri
Recommended Activities	Hiking and Photo Journalism	Hiking and Photo Journalism	Hiking and Photo Journalism
Recommended means of transportation	VAN/Public Bus
Weather	Moderate	Foggy, Windy and Cold	Windy and Cold
Culture			Influenced by Sherpa Culture
Distance from previous Location	130 kms	12 kms	3 kms
Means of Transport	VAN
Duration	6 hrs on VAN	8 hrs	2 hrs

[A wide view from Kalinchowk]

Report Section
Mother Nature and I – Anuj
It was indeed a call, a call to me by Mother Nature, to her place. I urged myself to go and step on, so I went. I was happy I did. She seemed asleep; night was there to welcome us. Tired and exhausted, I whispered-

Mother Nature I’m at your place
Please hold me… oh! trembling legs
I feel you asleep under the indigo-sky blanket
Hear you whisper as the breeze come across my face

[Before-Sunrise]

Sound of the footsteps and my own breathe were the only harmonies I could hear.  It was weird. Light rain is what I often enjoy. I am not sure if I really enjoyed it that time. I was waiting for her to speak. And she did finally, in her own ways…unspoken, unheard but with adequate symphony from eternity. Son, come along, u have gone too far
See I have turned old and my eyes are tired
These are the places u played, enjoyed
See your footsteps I have prescribed on my chest

I felt glad. I was not misled. I did not miss my way. I was on her lap where I would take a nap. Where I would dream;where she would soothe me; where my eyes would relax, where my trembling legs would rest. I was missing something. My tired soul, I murmured-

Mother, the night still has the same grace
The stars are twinkling, moon has same face
Though I see the unacquainted darkness
Why this is so frightening where are my bygone days…

She was quiet, night was swaying around. It was irresistibly cold. I guess she wanted me to rest. She always knows the best time to answer questions. Her silence reminded me of this. Night was over. The legs were still praying for some rest. I ignored. I wanted to perceive her from every angle before the first ray of the sun. I hurried to the top. She looks amazing from the top. How would I miss this chance? It was a tough climb though. Blessed by the Kalinchok, resting at the top, I finally did. I have always been blessed at hard times. It was nice to see her sleep on the white-cloud carpet, under the exceptionally blue sky-blanket. She looked amazing, silent and beautiful, peacefully asleep. I watched her without a blink. She looked old but still appealing. She looks even better when she smiles with the sun rays. Sun peeped slow and steady in its own way, as always. I could see her wake up, slow and steady, on her own ways, as always. Then I could see only the change, not good changes of course. I could not wait. I want her to answer me right away-

[Gaurishankar]

Dear mother, have u grown too old,
Why don’t your mountains put on the snow,
Why don’t the birds sing for you now,
Why don’t the faces wear brotherhood glow?

With the unstoppable flow of questions, I was light. When the words are told, heart takes a comforting breathe. Waiting for the answers was intolerable though. On her morning voice, I heard her sob and say-
Son, I have always remained the same
Only your brothers have changed them
I lay on their dirty hands, I am their prey
And with the ugly heart they make me fade away
I cursed myself. I could feel my ugly heart. I was one of them, with dirty hands, even if I never wanted things to go against her. She was helpless, I was useless. I stood still, biting my nails, cursing myself!!!

Kalinchowk

Remembering Kalinchowk Hike – Pragya
“Just follow the electrical poles and you’ll reach Kalinchowk in no time”, someone on the van declared as we were getting geared up for the hike at a place called Makaibaari. “Could it be that easy?”, I thought silently as I loaded my already heavy bag with spare bottles of drinking water and other snacks.”A couple of hours then, isn’t it?”, I claimed intuitively. Little did I know about what was to follow.

As the first of those ‘navigational’ electrical poles appeared, I wondered if I could keep count of the total number of such poles till we reached the top. But alas, the weight of my bag and the steep uphill climb began to take its toll far too early than I would’ve liked. In no time, the handful pole count dissolved into perspiration and disappeared into air. The next time I saw another of those poles, I dearly wished it were for cable cars instead.

By the time we reached “Deurali”, fellow hikers had already started a voluntary water distribution campaign among themselves in an effort to lose some weight off their bags. More than a third quarter of the journey yet remained to be travelled, as we set off from “Deurali” at around 4 p.m. after having lunch. As darkness crept over the jungle, the gradual drop in temperature and sporadic rainfall hindered our progress significantly. Soon the liters and torch lights became our eyes to the path ahead. The spare plastic bags, on the other hand, were used to shield our heads from the unforgiving chill of the blowing wind. The rest of the hike followed somewhat the same pattern. We were chasing pit darkness and cold winds in our march towards our stop for the night, a place called “Kuri”. On our way, we stopped at “Gairi” for usual snacks and refreshments and RUM to beat the chill. We finally reached Kuri at around 11 PM, nearly an hour after the early pacesetters got there.

[One Too Many Mornings]

It’s not often that you can boast of having seen the clouds hover below your sights, and that’s exactly what we witnessed as we stood in awe, praising the beauty of the nature.

[Simple Twist Of Fate]

Overall the trip was a pleasant experience. I would definitely love to revisit the place, especially when the roses bloom over the jungle. Coupled with the majestic views of the Himalayan ranges, it would indeed be an experience worth saving for a lifetime.

[Still the Same]

Trip Itinerary : Kathmandu to Kalinchowk Hike
From-To-Activity		Start Time	End time	Distance	Means
Day 1
Kathmandu	Dolalghat	7:30 AM	9:00 AM	40 km	VAN
Breakfast at Dolalghat					Nrs 50/80 Non-veg/veg Breakfast
Dolalghat	Charikot(Makai Bari)	9:45 AM	1:00 PM	45 km	VAN
Charikot(Makai Bari)	Deurali	1:15 PM	2:15 PM	2 km	Hike
Lunch at Deurali					100/120 Non-veg/veg
Deurali	Gaire	4:00 PM	8:25 PM	8 km	Hike
Gaire	Kuri	8:25 PM	10:10 PM	4 km	Hike
Dinner					Nrs 100 Lunch set with Egg
Night stay at Kuri					Local house (Nrs 300/Room/Night, with 2 black tea)
Day 2
Kuri	Kalinchowk	5:15 AM	6:10 AM	1 km	Hike
Rest/Sight Seeing/worship at Kalinchowk
Kalinchowk	Kuri	8:30 AM	9:15 AM	1 km	Hike back
Kuri	Deurali	11:00 AM	2:10 PM	12 km	Hike back
Deurali	Charikot (Maidan)	2:20 AM	3:15 PM	3 km	Hike back
Charikot (Maidan)	Dolakha Bhimsen	3:45 PM	4:20 PM	5 km	VAN
Dolakha Bhimsen	Charikot (Makari Bari)	5:00 PM	6:30 PM	5 km	VAN
Charikot (Makai Bari)	Mude	6:45 PM	7:30 PM	10 km	VAN
Dinner at Mude					100/150 Dinner set with Egg/Chicken
Mude	Kathmandu	8:00 PM	12:30 PM	75 km	VAN

• 01 Down The Highway
• 02 Are You Ready
• 03 Highway 61 Revisited
• 04 Never Gonna Be The Same Again
• 05 You can trust on me
• 06 No Time To Think
• 07 Grear Up
• 08 Neighbourhood Bully
• 09 Wait for Spring
• 10 Is There Anybody Out There
• 11 Herbs
• 12 Touch me not
• 13 Warming up
• 14 Ramble On
• 15 The Wonders At Your Feet
• 16 Rocks And Gravel
• 17 Let’s Stick Together
• 18 A pillow of winds
• 19 Will I walk the long road
• 20 First step to destination
• 21 Deurali ko Chautarima
• 22 Lost in Thoughts
• 23 Deurali bazar
• 24 Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right
• 25 Buckets of Rain
• 26 Hard Times
• 27 Paths Of Victory
• 28 Trishul
• 29 Through Smudged Lenses
• 30 Unbelievable
• 31 Beyond The Horizon
• 32 Beyond Here Lies Nothing
• 33 Destination Kalinchowk
• 34 Shine on you crazy Mountains
• 35 Goodbye Blue Sky
• 36 Ring Them Bells
• 37 Saving Grace
• 38 Coming From The Heart
• 39 Sings Of Life
• 40 God Bless Kalinchowk
• 41 Forgetful Heart
• 42 Tribute to Lord Shiva
• 43 Kalinchowk Mata
• 44 Counting Poles
• 45 Here in Nepal you got to see scenaries like this
• 46 I Feel A Change Comin’ On
• 47 Tired and exhusted
• 48 Blowin’ In The Wind
• 49 Not Dark Yet
• 50 Man Of Peace
• 51 Series Of Dreams
• 52 What if the drop of water would never dry up
• 53 The Height of Kalinchowk
• 54 The Mind’s Eye
• 55 Dazed And Confused
• 56 Distinct
• 57 Two Soldiers
• 58 Bye and Bye
• 59 Shelter for devotes @ Kalinchowk
• 60 On The Road Again
• 61 Gates Of Eden
• 62 Bom bhole
• 63 Guess I’m Doin’ Fine
• 64 With God On Our Side
• 65 New Morning
• 66 Come My Way
• 67 One More Cup Of Coffee
• 68 Set the controls for the heart of the sun
• 69 Way to find out
• 70 Thanks for the stay
• 71 From a different Perspective
• 72 Look Back
• 73 Million Miles
• 74 Dry Run
• 75 Forever Young
• 76 Cross The Green Mountain
• 77 I shine for you
• 78 Shelter From The Storm
• 79 DSC_0749
• 80 A Great Day From Freedom
• 81 We’re Gonna Groove
• 82 Again in right way
• 83 Spirit on the Water
• 84 The Water Is Wide
• 85 What Do You Want From Me
• 86 The long way to go
• 87 At Loss For Words
• 88 Dolakha Bhimsen
• 89 Crimson winds
• 90 Mamma I’m Coming Home