Thu, 28 Mar, 2024

The Hiking Club Conducts Two Days Hike for the First Time in DWIT

By Abhishek Khatiwada

Photo Courtesy: Abhishek Khatiwada The ‘One Day Hike’, which was scheduled on 18th January, 2015, was postponed to some later date in order to organize the long awaited ‘Two Days Hike’ for the very first time at DWIT. The ‘Two Days Hike’ was scheduled on 17th and 18th of January, 2015. 10 hikers were randomly selected from among the DWIT students who had applied to participate in the hike. Surendra Adhikari, the Campus Chief, and Bijaya Shrestha, the Academic Program Coordinator, accompanied the students in the hike. The finalized route for the hike was Sundarijal-Mulkharka-Chisapani-Sano Illam-Chauki, and the theme for the hike was ‘Photography’. On 17th January, at around 9 am, all the hikers gathered on the DWIT premises and headed towards Sundarijal. The hike started from Sundarijal at around 10:15 am under the coordination of Surendra Adhikari, Bijaya Shrestha and the DWIT Hiking Club Representative, Abhisekh Khatiwada. Before the start of the hike, Mr. Adhikari announced that he was going to reward the student who comes up with the best photo. Everyone started capturing every moment. Since it was two days hiking, final destination for day one was Chisapani. Everybody was excited as it was the first time for many of them. Waterfall and power plans at Sundarijal made the hike even more energetic. Hikers headed towards Chisapani trial which was 14 km long from Mulkharka. Trials were mainly up hills with stone paved steps. [caption id="attachment_4230" align="aligncenter" width="560"]Photo Courtesy: Abhishek Khatiwada Photo Courtesy: Abhishek Khatiwada[/caption] Hike continued through national park forest. It was a long walk. The time estimated by the Campus Chief had already passed by. After about 6 hours of hike, a clear view of Chisapani was seen. Cold wind was hitting and west was decorated by beautiful sunset. One of the hikers, Bishal Timilsina, said “Truly a great experience. It feels great to be away from the city's dust and pollution for two days. A big Thumbs Up for the Hiking Club!” Chisapani was a beautiful place with beautiful mountain ranges standing upfront. The hotel the hikers spent the night at was not so big. The area they stayed had no electricity since three days.  Everything was however overcome by a camp fire and barbecue. Sitting around the campfire, the hikers reminisced and shared interesting old memories among themselves and enlivened the atmosphere with songs and jokes. [caption id="attachment_4241" align="aligncenter" width="540"]Photo Courtesy: Abhishek Khatiwada Photo Courtesy: Abhishek Khatiwada[/caption] The next morning, beautiful mountains were shining through the window pane. The place was a heaven with cold water (Chisapani). Besides the hotel, there was Maiti Nepal Help Centre which was set up to address the issue of girl trafficking since Sidupalchowk was one of the most affected districts by such trafficking.   After a small breakfast, the hikers checked out of the hotel for yet another day of hike. All the hikers were capturing the sunshine; the road was full of frozen dews. Day two kicked off from Chisapani. The destination was Everest tea garden, also known as Sano Illam. Hikers climbed downhill and reached the base where trout farming was done. There was a traditional water mill which was used to grind maize, wheat and other agro-products. It was completely new for many of the hikers. Children were playing with self made small toys, which looked amazing in this age of technology. Surendra Adhikari suggested the hikers to climb uphill rather than taking a wide road. A no track hill was really challenging. Hikers climbed between the tea bushes. Everyone commented that the experience was exhausting yet fun. After a short tea break, the hike continued. Some hikers spotted an old lady walking with load of fire woods on her back. One of the hikers remarked, “This scene very well portrays that the life in village isn't easy. That energy of her surprises me.” After walking for about 15 minutes on the paved road, it was again decided to take an uphill trail to reach Chauki. Hunger was hitting everyone. After an hour walk, finally seeing Deepak Gurung, the one who helped us with transportation, gave us a huge relief. Next stop was a resort in Lapsiphedi where the hikers took lunch. [caption id="attachment_4232" align="aligncenter" width="560"]Photo Courtesy: Abhishek Khatiwada Photo Courtesy: Abhishek Khatiwada[/caption] Hikers came back to the college premises from Sankhu road. One of the hikers, Shibesh Duwadi, said “All in all, loved every second of it and I'd urge all of my classmates to sign up for the next one.” Furthermore, Muskan Lamsal, another hiker, said, “It was nice. However, there were some time management issues. The route was indeed tough. Overall, it was a superb hiking.” (Abhishek Khatiwada is a volunteer reporter at DWIT News.)