Subash Aryal
We were on time but too late too! It was already 8:30 in the morning, and many of us were in Deerwalk premises waiting for the organizer to arrive so that we could go together on the hike with excitement. Too bad, there was miscommunication among us and we decided to meet him and rest of the hikers at Koteshwor. Wishing Aawart a very happy birthday, we all finally met at Koteshwor and forgot everything that happened because of communication problem. We, the hikers - Rupesh, Arjun, Kanchan, Dambar, Aawart, Subash, Nisha, Renu, Resha, Sajjal and Kedar Dai - drove towards Sangha Vanjyang. On the way we enjoyed Aawart's birthday’s delicious chocolates and reached Sangha Gate at around 10:30 AM. Though we were expecting to be there before 9:30 AM, we arrived late. We wished to be taller than the tallest We were going to start our hike from Sangha and our destination was Panauti. We had breakfast at Sangha Gate. Our experienced hiker Nimesh joined us there. We had breakfast together, did some shopping and started to hike at 11:00 AM from Sangha Gate. The main attraction of Sangha is 108 ft. statue of Lord Shiva holding a Trishul (trident) in one hand. This statue is the tallest Lord Shiva statue in the world. We were enjoying the green scenery around, taking snaps of the tallest statue, cheering and walking up. We all knew the destination but we were not really sure about the path to get there. Asking the local people about the route as well as exploring ourselves we kept on walking. We happened to miss the way and entered Kerabari (Banana Tree Field) and asked local people to assist us in finding the way to Panauti. People were busy in their work preparing food, looking after domestic animals - cows and goats. As it was a sunny day, the road was worth exploring, and we were making every moment memorable and full of fun. At around 2:00 PM we reached the top of the mountain. Thirst , orange tree, hunger and potato field After taking rest we had snacks and started to climb down towards Panauti. Asking the local people about the route we kept walking down. The scenic view of terraced field and orange tree field were what we experienced on our way. At Himse village we felt very thirsty and asked the local people if they could help us refill our water bottles. One local man, who was a Brahman, helped us with water and we all quenched our thirst. The view of terraced field was amazing. Local people were cultivating potato in the field. At about 3:00 PM we reached Kusha Devi and had tea and took some rest. People were ploughing the fields, some were carrying logs of wood, and some were traveling in local bus and some in trucks. We kept on walking enjoying every moment. Though we were about to reach our destination, we could not stop by and see the fresh oranges on the trees. So, we bought some fresh oranges which were so delicious and cheap indeed. Finally at 4:15 PM we reached our destination Panauti. We started to search for a hotel to take rest and have dinner. We found a small and clean hotel and took rest and ordered dinner. We all had dinner together and left Panauti at 5:30 PM. No doubt it was one of the best hikes. Though some of us were experienced hikers while for others it was first time experience, we together made it one of the best hikes ever. For scenic views, locality, authentic place, and for real hiking experience we all suggest Sangha to Panauti. One can really get a glimpse of real Nepal, full of ecological and cultural diversity indeed. Hiking Experience:
Renu Dangol: This was my first hike and has became one of my memorable hike from deerwalk. It was really unexpecting and interesting. During the journey, it was nice to see wonderful views on the way to Sanga-Panauti and I got chance to meet new people which was a fun. Though the hike was bit tough for me,I enjoyed each and every moment during hiking. Thank you all for your awesome company and making this hike incredible.
