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“Our hope came true when clouds began to scatter and were blown away by the breeze”

It was raining when we reached Godamchaur, the base of Murali Mountain. The rain and blurriness in weather could not stop Dhilung and Suresh from taking quality pictures of the village life and nature. Our hope came true when clouds began to scatter and were blown away by the breeze- and sun rays could be seen now. We were ready to climb up Murali mountain ,locally popular as Bhashmasur Mountain, the word “Murali” besides its regular meaning as flute, also stands for small, thin and perfect Murali Makai(maze). Since the hill was small and beautiful, it was later termed “Murali mountain”.The weather was cool and pleasant after the rain and was just the best for hiking. The hill was covered with pine trees and a thick undergrowth of dried grass, pine spikes and fallen pine cones. Each of the blossomed flowers with butterflies roaming around was successful in giving the impression of a beautiful lady in her romantic youth.

“..let’s hope there won't be a long queue for petroleum in Nepal after few years.”

As we walked towards the top, we could see that the barks of pine trees were cut in stripes for resin collection. Pine Resin is used to make turpentine oil, i.e. TAARPIN, a natural fuel that can be used as a substitute to petroleum products.It is also used to make incense sticks and in perfume as well. So there are plenty of opportunities for Nepal to extract the fuel locally and reduce dependency on other countries for the fuel since pine forests are common in Nepal and they are renewable as well. So lets hope there won't be a long queue for petroleum in Nepal after few years). There were many trails along the way; although we couldn't figure out the exact reason for making it or who made it, we could make a guess that it can be for rolling the wooden carts to carry resin. We reached the top of the hill after about an hour of continuous walk. We could get excellent views of the valley as the weather was also crystal clear after the rainfall. Himalayan range was shining on the light and cool breeze was blowing touching our hair gently [may be touching scalp gently for Vishnu dai :) ]. We were very fascinated by the scenery of snowy peaks, Phulchoki hill towards south-west with the Television tower distinctly seen and the view of whole range of Kathmandu Valley. On top of the hill were resting Hindu gods in the form of stone idols in open hood temples. We could see some beautiful doves and a hawk (perhaps from D2Hawkeye) as well. Jokes, satires and pranks act like spices to hiking and we enjoyed that too.

“..we found ourselves in a critical situation- some of ours trousers had gone, some of our half pants and shoes were muddy but still the fun achieved was worth it. ”

Now comes the most interesting, adventurous and hilarious part of the hiking. We had to climb down but the hill slopes were quite slippery due to fallen pine needles(leaves). But we dared and decided to ski along the slope – pine skiing just like ice skiing. As we started skiing with the pine leaves, we found that it was so slippery that we couldn't control ourselves sometimes and it turned out to be such an adventurous and exciting game till we reached the bottom of Murali Mountain. We enjoyed taking videos and photos during the skiing, and our expressions captured by the photographs can reveal the extent of our fun. On reaching the base of the mountain towards western side, we found ourselves in a critical situation- some of ours trousers had gone, some of our half pants and shoes were muddy but still the fun achieved was worth it. We then walked through wheat fields along the small irrigation canal exploring the village life. But we were sad to see the brick factories in large number, one of the major pollution factors of the city. After taking an indirect path rather than a straight way, we reached Godavari Village Resort where the hikers could put off their tireness into the cold water of the swimming pool. Talking about Godavari Village Resort, it is a perfect combination of natural beauty, modernization and sculpture. “Words cannot exactly describe the splendor of Godavari Village Resort. One has to be there and see oneself to believe one's eyes. Such is the grandeur of Godavari Village Resort which offers one of the best services, facilities and surroundings which is all unique both for foreign visitors and Nepalese alike. “ This is the slogan of the resort management and it is true as well. Set on the banks of a lazy meandering stream, amidst a lush green terraced valley, with the magnificent backdrop of the mighty Himalayan snow clad peaks, the Godavari Village Resort offers the finest traditions of Nepalese hospitality combined with international standards of luxury. The Resort's recreational facilities include a swimming pool, clay tennis courts, billiards room, skittle alley, fitness centre, jacuzzi, sauna and massage, as well as mountain biking and arranged walking tours for the more adventurous. We enjoyed swimming and the delicious buffet lunch there. It was a lot of fun playing DOOM with a ball inside the swimming pool. Ravi and Sudip got a chance to learn swimming as well from swimming master Dhilung. Swimming competition between KapilP and DhilungK was also interesting.

“..and the news was that the government had sacked the army chief thus resulting in instability in Kathmandu Valley”

We were not in the mood to quit swimming but some bad news curbed our plans- and the news was that the government had sacked the army chief thus resulting in instability in Kathmandu Valley and there was possibility of curfew. So we prepared ourselves in a hurry and returned to Valley to our respective homes amidst confusions and alertness. For people who are looking for a short hiking route nearby Kathmandu valley, Murali mountain and surroundings can be one of the best choices. At last, I would like to invite all young people, D2 colleagues and seniors to hiking where we can explore life in Nepal, nature, get inspirations from successful entrepreneurs, have fun and lots of adventure. So let's be health conscious and let's promote internal tourism of Nepal through hiking. Let's have hiking every week. Cheers!!!

01 Moving for secrecy	02 Deprived
03 Showery	04 Morning Glory
05 Serving to heat	06 Time interval
07 Precious of Godamchaur	08 Ground Manager
09 It was pleasure walking here	10 Setting in motion
11 Heading to Murali	12 Time to capture
13 View of Harisiddhi	14 Nice and clean Bhasmeshwor base
15 Busy in business	16 Hills may be useful in due course
17 Taken away by the view	18 On the name of shared characteristics
19 I am bleeding me	20 In respect to shoots
21 Murali Rest House - FOC	22 Sentry go over Murali
23 Murali Dance by Suresh	24 Golden spikes bed
25 Having a good time	26 Murali Ground forces
27 Not very happy to leave the Murali top	28 Guerilla Training
29 Happy enough for letting it go	30 Other side of Murali
31 if you wish slide down instead of walking	32 Joint effort
33 Mr. Pandey met an accident	34 Calm and tranquil
35 Final touch	36 A distant hill is Fulchowki
37 Learning by heart tha Murali Mount	38 Available for practice
39 Totally different	40 Depleted of strength for shooting
41 Joint Venture	42 The trail we walked through
43 Lined up	44 Melodic walk
45 Run down	46 Follow me
47 Left right	48 Hotfooting
49 Resulting in misfortune by nature	50 Twinkle twinkle day star
51 Left alone	52 Manoj
53 Nice place for business and farming	54 A public institution for the care of orphans by Aama Samuha
55 In the race of business	56 Dhana Lingum
57 They are thinking of something	58 A move to an anticipation
59 In the cordial garden	60 What would you like to do Mr. Pandey
61 A clear appearance	62 Quench the flame
63 Rhino dive	64 Smileys dive
65 Karate dive	66 Two way dive
67 Just for change	68 Catch me if you can
69 Time-delay measuring system without Cronoscope	70 Recognize them and win the prizes
71 Water polo	72 Chit Chat with Mr. Steve
73 LG the life guard	74 A push for having a specified value
75 When we were passing through this area all the contractors of Nepal were inside this Red Building	76 Come by and we need you