Hiking from Syangja to Sirubari and Majh Kateri via Maidan

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Hiking from Syangja to Sirubari and Majh Kateri via Maidan

Route

Syangja Maidan – Putalikhet – Sirubari

Date

4th Jun 2010 - Friday

Coordinator

Participants

Anup Poudyal, Arbind Kumar Karna, Bal Krishna Lachhimasyu, Biraj Man Shakya, Chandra Man Shrestha, Dijup Tuladhar, Eliza Shrestha, Mahesh Regmee, Manish Dhakal, Manee Pandey, Mukesh Shah, Rashmi Pandey, Ravi Sharma, Reena Joshi, Sagar Raj Adhikari, Shankar Subedi

Report By

Photos By

Creative Support

Title	Utopia of the Nation - Sirubari
Start Date	06/04/2010
End Date	06/06/2010
Duration	12
Distance (km)	10 kms
Hike coordinator	Sagar Adhikari
Participants	Anup Poudyal, Arbind Kumar, Karna, Bal Krishna Lachhimasyu , Biraj Man Shakya, Chandra Man Shrestha, Dijup Tuladhar, Eliza Shrestha, Mahesh Raj Regmee, Manish Dhakal, Manee Pandey, Mukesh Sah, Rashmi Pandey, Ravi Sharma, Reena Joshi, Sagar Adhikari, Shankar Subedi
Photos by	Anup Poudyal, Bal Krishna Lachhimasyu, Dijup Tuladhar, Rashmi Pandey, Ravi Sharma, Shankar Subedi
Captions by	Anup Poudyal, Dijup Tuladhar, Ravi Sharma, Sagar Adhikari
Report by	Anup Poudyal, Manish Dhakal
Creative Support	Dijup Tuladhar, Prerana Pradhan

Team

	Origin	Location2	Destination
Name	Syangja	Phedi, AaamDada, Thulo Padhera, Maidan	Kharshu, Majh Kateri, Panchmul, Sirubari
District	Kaski
Zone	Gandaki
Longitude	E 820 4.98698’		E 830 45.5807’
Latitude	N 280 6.4812’		N 280 7.8958’
Altitude			1700 m
Recommended Items to See		Hills, forest and locality	Mountain Range, local people,
Recommended Places to Eat		Any local hotels	Any local homes
Recommended Places to Stay			Sirubari community homes
Recommended Activities	Hiking and Photo Journalism	Hiking and Photo Journalism	Hiking and Photo Journalism
Recommended means of transportation	VAN/Bus
Available means of transportation	VAN/Bus/Bike
Weather
Culture	Influenced by Gurung Culture		Influenced by Gurung Culture
Distance from previous Location	130 kms	10 kms	10 kms
Means of Transport	VAN
Duration	8 hrs on VAN	4 hrs	5 hrs

This is Sirubari Anup recollects: Sirubari village is a totally unspoiled Gurung settlement set in the hills at an altitude of 1700 meters above the sea level. The climate is ideal between September and June with warm days and cool nights.

"Yo Chai mero best ho hai."

It was Friday evening and all of us were pretty excited about the 2 days hike. Since it was my first 2 days hike from D2, I was not sure how things were going to be for rest of the days but I was sure that it will be a thrilling experience. Almost all the hikers gathered in the office premise by 8.30PM. We left the office around 9.30 PM. Even though, there were not enough seats on the bus, we did adjust properly. Though it was the time when people generally hover around their nightmares, none of us were sleeping during the whole night. Actually we were enjoying some beautiful numbers from Ravi’s collection. Around 6.30 in the morning, we reached Pokhara and headed directly to Syangja after having tea. It did not take more than 2 hours to reach Syangja. We started to hike at around 8.30 in the morning from Putalikhet. The route was fantastic. It was a graveled path filled with pebbles and limestone. At the beginning, the trip did not look so difficult but as we moved ahead, the level of difficulty started to rise with our toil. The steeping stairways, exhausting paths, bare land and scorching sun giggling from the sky were just making the hike unpredictably difficult - that’s why we named it "THE JYANMARA HIKE".

a member of one of the families sharing same food and environment with the natives

We were walking in two groups. Ravi and the team including Biraj, Mahesh and Bal Krishna were leading us from the front. We continued to climb up the hill boosting each other’s morale. I was the one trying to give up but thanks to the team for continuously supporting me with their courageous words, funny jokes and energy drinks. We reached Sirubari at around 5.30 PM and were amazed to see the warm welcome from the villagers. We could not get the kind of reception we had been expecting as we appeared suddenly in the village without informing them, nevertheless it was a nice and warm welcome from the Gurung community. We were surprised to see the people living in such a harmony supporting each other so well. We came to know that the concept of building a modal village was initiated by a retired British Army. Since 1997 this village has been an ideal place for tourists to experience the life in a village as a member of one of the families sharing same food and environment with the natives. We were taken to the houses where we were to stay in groups of 2 as family members. We were offered dinner at around 8.30PM. The dinner was inexplicably delicious with yummy traditional daal-bhat and meat. I felt like I was having dinner in a Thakali restaurant in Kathamndu. We woke up at 6:00 AM in the morning next day and gathered in a place which they called ‘Gumba’ for farewell ceremony. At round 7 AM, we left Sirubari with beautiful memories and blessings from the villagers. With 3 hours nasty drive along the road; we reached Putalikhet at 10.30 where we found Ram dai desperately waiting for us. We headed to Pokhara, had lunch and then reached Kathamandu at 10 PM singing in the bus. Though the hike was amazing, we missed some events due to very short duration. However, we enjoyed each and every moment like hiking under the burning sun, frustrated seeing the hill on the front yet to be climbed, dancing on the cliff for someone, giving up and again standing on the feet and finally the stay at Sirubari. I am still looking forward to visit Sirubari once again. The journey of a lifetime- Manish On the 4th of June, 9:30 p.m., 16 enthusiastic hikers set out on a hike that would soon be "the trip of a lifetime". It was my first time travelling at night and it turned out to be extremely enjoyable (though it was a little tiring). We reached Mugling at around 1:00 a.m. Saturday morning where we had our late dinner (dinner on morning sounds yummy: D). The journey continued, and in an undisclosed location, Ram dai had a short which he truly deserved. We guys, except for the ones sleeping on the van, had a little night strolling and that was when Biraj was named "The Columbus of Jhadis" for his uncanny habit of finding out Jhadi (a bush) at will.

Each and every people we met on every village we crossed were extremely helpful and offered help

We had our morning tea at Pokhara and then breakfast at Syangja. After that, at 8:30 a.m., the much awaited hike to Sirubari started. We got on our gears and started the march up the hills. After a little way up front, the pack was divided into 2 groups – the real hikers and the hikers; I was in the latter. After 3 hours, we reached a village called "Dhakal Gaun" and it really felt like home to me (being a Dhakal myself). Each and every people we met on every village we crossed were extremely helpful and offered help in the form of water and guiding us the way to our destination. After 4 hours of walk, we reached a place called "Thulo Padhero". 4 of our hikers were so sapped out by the scorching sun that they decided to take the remainder of the trip by bus. We marched on and on up the hills and every hill we were about to reach seemed like the last one – but we were wrong on many occasions. By then, Sagar was already named "Jyanmara Coordinator" by Manee.

"Yo nani kasari ayo hola"

Finally, after 9-10 hours of grueling hike, we reached Sirubari where we were given a very warm welcome2 of the Gurung "Bajais" (grandmother) were astonished to see Dijup and kept on telling "Yo nani kasari ayo hola" hiding their beautiful faces by their hands. The place really felt like home to all of us and the food was absolutely delicious. There I also discovered that people worship both Buddha as well as Hindu gods (Ganesh and Shiva) – only if our so called educated friends had the same feeling, we would not have any kind of religious warfare.

..being in a mixer and it was nothing less than that

Sunday morning arrived and we left Sirubari with a farewell no one of us had ever received before. At 8:00 a.m., with a garland on our necks, we decided to leave Sirubari by bus. There was an elderly couple on the bus and they even asked me "Nani ka bihe garna jana lako" – I said I was on my way to Kathmandu with a smile on my face. Shankar dai, having had the experience of riding the road on bus (remember the 4 who took the remainder of the journey by bus), had told us that the ride feels like being in a mixer and it was nothing less than that. Nine of us decided to get off the bus on "Maidan" and walk upto Syangja. We reached Syangja at around 1:00 p.m., and got on our office van. Pokhara was the venue for our lunch and we left for Kathmandu at 3:30 p.m. On the journey back home, we played "Antakshari" which really helped us in killing time. Finally, at 9:30 p.m., we reached Kathmandu and the hike concluded.

The journey of a lifetime

For me, the hike is be memorable mainly for 2 reasons – 1) The extremely friendly people we met on the way and 2) The 10 hours hike, each and every moment of which is still fresh in my memories. Thank you all of my 15 friends for making this hike really "The journey of a lifetime". Please click on the image to see its large version.