It was chilly November morning when I heard an alarm ringing at 4.30 am. It was friday 22nd and was day for a motorbike trip to a relatively closer place 'Kalinchowk' ~4000 metres high Hill; well Mountain in normal language.
Soon after was a dream place to lunch MUDE! as all were saying its the best place to take lunch because of cold weather everything they prepare is tasty. Okay said me and we entered a cottage with old nameplate in it 'Anjali' restaurant. there was no Anjali just the grannies of her and the old man was drunk as hell. we ordered meal including rice, lentils, lettuce and goat meat, as a normal Nepali man wants to eat when outdoors. I felt very nice about the meal as I was there for the first time having my meal, it was my 2nd time on the route. Some 10 years back I was there but it was not that big place. as far as my memory tells, there were just less than 10 houses compared today's town with highly sophisticated hotels too. Being in Mude, you must try the potato. 'Mude ko Alu' is famous among all the passersby. Was thinking to stay there and take a power nap, but the limitation of time dragged us towards the most awaited 'Kalinchowk' peak.
Cold Kathmandu was hard to drive and was even harder to be on the back seat as the roads are not in condition. the wriggling roads around hills are not easy to difficult for a decade, at least. This trip was the most awaited one as my friends have been waiting for me.
5.30 am was the time we left home to our destination. The first stop was 'Sanga' pass for tea break. everyone was feeling okay as it was not too cold and the roads were relatively good. I suggest everyone to wear good cap, gloves and sunglasses so as to be bit away from the air swirling during the motorbike ride. We passed 'Dhulikhel' shortly one of the bikes was having problems. Every trip leaving Kathmandu valley needs to be suffered. May it be 2009's Pokhara tour or Hetauda the same year. Alongside the suffering there are loads of experiences to follow and those moments of lifetime. This time, the tour to Kalinchowk peak was not an exception. Smoke, the only thing visible out of the motorbike. My cousin and the best friend was really very concerned about his bike as it had never happened before. Being a sub-engineer of automobiles, he began checking the problem. I then started clicking some of the scenic beauties of the area.
Shortly, the problem was somewhat solved as the brakes were too tight which caused friction and thus the smoke had to come anyway. The road then is very nice relatively as it was downhill. the wriggling roads binding the mountain as the snakes do it with the trees. Sometimes I feel the roads and the mountains are in deep love discarding each and everything. I bet you will never feel as bad as you are the passenger rather than a drive of a motorbike. It hurts a back so much that you want to pause as many as 20 times in 20 kms. Tea pause again was in 'panchkhal' a fertile land for potatoes to be sold in Kathmandu. Just thinking to ease my back, I asked to stop there for a while. Everyone was agreeing on that proposal. after a short break, we then started our journey. We, Nepalese, are tea lovers and is found every corner of the country. Coffee is very rare if you are away from big cities.
Holding my back pain, we arrived Khadichaur, a busy bazaar on the banks of Bhotekosi river. It is a point where the roads from China meets the road coming from Ziri, Switzerland of Nepal.
Khadichaur was our breakfast table at 8.30 in the morning. I guess it was a best time for to relax from the hectic ride.
Soon after we head towards the big hill more wriggling and narrow path towards the coolest part of the area called Mude. on course to Mude, there were much more stopovers for me and was a nice occasion for my cousin for snapping some pictures. The mountains, I mean the snow capped mountains were not shy this time to face the sun and were smiling at us.
En-route to 'kalinchowk' , was a nice place called 'Kharidhunga' some Kms away from Mude. There used to be big quarry for 'khari' stone which is soft and used for cement I guess. No more details now in my mind about the stone, I might update this later on. Anyways, it was a great place to enjoy some cool water and a fag. Meanwhile a joint was more than a thing found.
Its time to continue our journey ahead though the wriggling hills on the roads just like snake moving. gazing some of the most beautiful scenery and leaving them just behind we moved ahead and ahead. Yet some of them came into the frame of camera loads were left untouched. I will add one of the passerby scenes captured by me, hope it is not too boring.
I leave upon you to describe the picture in your point of view.
There are twists and turns in life and for me there are many more as everyone has. No sooner we left the Jiri Highway, we again got some problems regarding the bike. Wow! this is the best thing happening to us. I was sure about some problems to follow us, sooner or later. We had to travel more 9 Kms but the road was dusty, and the soil were loose. We had to overcome some hills too. at the middle of nowhere, we were all in problem. I thought it was not a big problem, we then continued with same pattern. As the roads were steep uphill, we thought, the bike has less powerful engine, that's why one of us has to get off the bike and in easy areas we can ride it. I was easy in hiking too. Wow! hiking with a motorbike! great !
November sun was not that scorching a pair of extra clothes and a bottle of Tennessee Whisky, could carry all the 9 Kms, I was thinking.
The picture above might not describe the truth but it was the easiest path during that 9 Kms trip i.e, one way. Taking pauses in every 20 mins, we reached a place full with monkeys. was nice to see those monkeys. I was the only one hiking and all three of my mates were taking pauses in every 400 meters, waiting for me. The monkey watching thing had already begun as six eyes were already watching them play in the woods and the rocks.
Monkeys gave us some relief and motivational energy to conquer the hills. Dear O'Dear! middle of nowhere among the woods, the problomatic bike was such in a bad condition that one needs to push it from back in order to climb up. I got a good job! All the lunch had at Mude was to convert into energy anyways. Dusty roads and loose stones were icing on the cake. After 1 hour of pushing up the bike and walking uphill, we arrived at a place where there was a resting place and a small cafe. We could find some tea and some instant noodles. Instant Noodles are probably the widely circulated food items around the Country. We needed to rest and so did the bikes. 1 hour of resting in the dim sunlight and chilly breeze was enough to regenerate the guts. We asked the shopkeeper : 'how far are we from Kuri?' he said, 'in bike 20 mins'. Kuri is the foothill of Kalinchowk peak from where we needed to walk up for 2 hours.
We made our mind that it is going to take one and a half hours for us as the problem remained the same. Continued the journey with some courage added up the wriggling, dusty and steep path. That was one hell of a time for all four of us. After uninterrupted effort, we came to a flat land where we could ride two persons on the bike. It was around 3900 meters high place with a good view but still we were 10 mins away from Kuri.
Watching the beautiful sights around, finally we arrived Kuri. Tiredness had no limits but still we needed to find a good hotel to live in. Roamed around the village to find out the rates and good rooms with value added services. We finally agreed to stay at a hotel named 'Kalinckowk village resort'. We agreed to share a room with four beds in it. I never expected so clean hotel at that height. 600 Nepali Rupees (~ €6) for the room was a good deal. Food was 150 each with two types vegetables, lentil and pickle, good deal. We were surprised to see the prices as they were very nominal. After a cup of tea we wanted to roam around the places and see the surroundings as we were very close to the nature.
Kalinckowk is a peak with a temple on top of the peak. Yearly many thousand people visit the Goddess temple as per their beliefs. Kuri village is not a village itself, its a place where a few people come and set up business i.e, hotels to gain some profit. The Village falls under 'GauriShankar Conservation Area' which also includes GauriShankar peak ( 7134 meters ). So for establishing a building there has to be permitted by the administration and one has to pay fees every year. There is also a provision that you cannot degrade the nature and the resources. We got the info while we were walking through the village after that cup of tea.
After a short walk around, we returned back to the resort, it was already nice environment. There was a fireplace and people were already enjoying the warmth of fire and some local drinks. Of course music is a necessary part of life wherever we add on. We joined the party while we wanted to try 'Tongba' traditional warm beer made with millet. One of the most important evenings I had in a long time. We were singing and dancing and drinking tongba near the fire as we all had forgotten our pain all the way round. We topped up with a couple of joints to color the party.We wanted to spend the whole night but to remember the peak to climb the next morning, 11 pm was enough time to eat supper and then to bed. Outside the fire hall, it was very frosty and cold, We needed to put our hands in our pockets and run towards our room. Everyone was fast asleep, no need to remember the day.
Next morning was a morning of new life, woke up at 6, I saw frost all over the places. the water outside was frozen . WoW! what a place? Asked for some warm water from the kitchen so as we could wash our faces and get freshened up. No sooner we finished our washing, we started our uphill trekking. It looked like we are going to conquer in 30 minutes max. We are all used to walk but this time we could not walk that freely. Its high altitude and that is why we all needed to have some breather in every 5 minutes. The last half hour to the top was just impossible to drag ourselves. Fortunately mobile shops saved us. Some packed juices we took and 20 minutes rest was a heavenly time. Finally! after 3 hours of struggle with the thin air and altitude we were able to reach the top. During the hiking uphill, we could see loads of people marching downhill. I wondered, when did they start their journey, 3 in the morning? Reached the top then and payed homage to the Goddess 'Kalinchowk Mai'. As soon as we reached the top, it was a never been before feeling. All those hills which were troubling us yesterday seemed very low. Even the snow clad mountains seemed low from the height we were stepping.
We would like to stay on top for the rest of the day but some obligations and limitations lured us back after a cup of tea at the top. We galloped down hills and reached Kuri within no time. We had to check out at 12 from the hotel, but we opted to leave earlier at 11 as we need to maintain the bike at the nearby town Charikot.
I was thinking the same pain to recur when we go back the same way, but wonderfully the broken bike worked well, might that be because of the cold weather overnight or the rest for the bike. I thank the bike for working well that day. We did not stop at any place and rushing for the highway. In less than 1 hour we reached Charikot bazaar. It was a Saturday so almost all the workshops were closed. we roamed around the town to find some place fortunately it was a luck to find one workshop. The mechanic said there is a problem in clutch plate and needs to check for a while. We were all free so we were in search of Cash Machine as were out of money.
After 1.5 hours of struggle, the mechanic succeeded in changing the clutch plates, the bike was in perfect condition. We, then, went to a temple nearby 'Dolakha Bhimsen' very powerful god as Nepalese believe. We needed to rush back to Kathmandu because my cousin has to be in office on Sunday morning but we had not yet had our lunch after a few cookies in Kuri.
Back at Charikot, we enjoyed a full lunch for Rupees 150 each. not a bad deal either. I ate as much as 3 times, super hungry was me.
After the tasty lunch we headed back to Kathmandu on full flow. Our stop were very less as it was getting late and we needed to be home as soon as possible. Throughout the way we faced many election victory rallies which bothered us a bit. Stopped at 13 kilo, for a cup of tea when it was almost 6 pm. We were in a rush to reach home so continued our journey towards home. Some interruption at Banepa made us late for 20 minutes. Nevertheless we reached home at around 9 pm safe and sound despite some back pain and hassles. This was one of the best ever journeys I have done till date. I will always remain this journey as a part of my life.
I would like to thank all my colleagues for being with me during the journey. The team here stands tall, from right to left.
Umesh Ghimire (Cousin)
Rameshwor Kuinkel (Cousin and my best friend)
Sudip Adhikari ( One of the best friends)
Sanjeet Suryaprasad Kuinkel ( Myself)
