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Hiking from Dakshin Kali to Pharping via Hattiban and Jai Nepal Cinema Hall
Hiking from Dakshin Kali to Pharping via Hattiban and Jai Nepal Cinema Hall
Steven

Abishesh Joshi


The excitement of next day’s hike was so overwhelming that I couldn’t sleep the whole night. But somehow I managed to get some sleep late in the night only to be woken up by the alarm ring that I had set for 5:30 am. I was excited and yet nervous about the treacherous trail that we would be taking. We were to scale uphill to Hattiban (Elephant Hill) and then hike downhill to Pharping Bus Park. So then, with constant anxiety, I arrived at the office premises at around 6:00 am only to have to wait another 45 minutes before everyone came in. We then packed our bags with notebooks and pencils that were to be distributed at some local school on the way as a part of the community service – the hiking theme. So at 7:00 am, we all got into the office van and set out for a supposedly tough hiking trip. After traveling for about half an hour, we stopped by at Tau Daha, our first hiking stop, for a light breakfast where we ate and drank energizing stuffs like egg and milk and bread… CUT… GUYS CAN’T YOU COME UP WITH SOMETHING BETTER THAN THIS…

 So then, after that clichéd story about the way one person felt about the hike, we all did sleep pretty well the previous night; probably most of us were under some alcoholic influence. It was suppose to be a hiking team of ten but some people were under more alcoholic influence than others and failed to show up the next day... with excuses like “dai, ma aja aauna bhyaunna hai”, “mero kaam paryo”, etcetera etcetera. Finally, when the office van left, there were six of us… continuously modifying the hiking route along the way. The original plan was to hike up to the Hattiban Resort and then walk down hill to Pharping. But the sudden change of plan led us to Dakshin Kali from where we started the actual walk. The so called tough hike was not as tough as we walked along the pitched road… well only up to Pharping. From then on the trail started getting tougher as we took on the hills of Pharping that led to Hattiban. The distance from Pharping to Hattiban wasn’t the longest hiking trail but we did take our time, stopping now and then, throwing jokes at each other, and looking for any school on the way. What we were not aware of was that Sunday, 14th September 2008 was Indra Jatra (Festival of the God Of Rain) and all the schools in the valley were closed. The note books and pencils that we intended to distribute were inside our backpacks throughout the way ?. With heavy bag packs, we finally scaled the Hills of Hattiban and reached Hattiban Resort in about 3.5 hours. The light breakfast we had at Tau Daha was just enough to get us to Hattiban Resort and by the time we got to Hattiban we were all starving to death. Had there been no resort at the top of the hill, the story would have turned out to be like the plane crash in Andes where survivors ate their not so lucky comrades. Having filled our empty stomachs and resting for a while we scaled down for about an hour down to the road where the ‘D2 Van’ was waiting. Oh… what a lovely sight …ha ha ha J. This surely was not one of those tough hikes, but having a close group of people made it an ‘Absolute Fun’. 


Hiking from Dakshin Kali to Pharping via Hattiban and Jai Nepal Cinema Hall

1. Early Arrival

Hiking from Dakshin Kali to Pharping via Hattiban and Jai Nepal Cinema Hall

2. About to hit the road

Hiking from Dakshin Kali to Pharping via Hattiban and Jai Nepal Cinema Hall

3. stopping by for a breakfast at Tau Daha

Hiking from Dakshin Kali to Pharping via Hattiban and Jai Nepal Cinema Hall

4. The hiking team

Hiking from Dakshin Kali to Pharping via Hattiban and Jai Nepal Cinema Hall

5. BhaskarS and his new Sony Alpha 300 DSLR

Hiking from Dakshin Kali to Pharping via Hattiban and Jai Nepal Cinema Hall

6. Misty Mountain Top

Hiking from Dakshin Kali to Pharping via Hattiban and Jai Nepal Cinema Hall

7. Panoramic view of Taudaha

Hiking from Dakshin Kali to Pharping via Hattiban and Jai Nepal Cinema Hall

8. Sanjeet the Scarecrow

Hiking from Dakshin Kali to Pharping via Hattiban and Jai Nepal Cinema Hall

9. Run Forrest Run..oops..Run Niraj Run

Hiking from Dakshin Kali to Pharping via Hattiban and Jai Nepal Cinema Hall

10. Almost there

Hiking from Dakshin Kali to Pharping via Hattiban and Jai Nepal Cinema Hall

11. Finally

Hiking from Dakshin Kali to Pharping via Hattiban and Jai Nepal Cinema Hall

12. Hazy morning

Hiking from Dakshin Kali to Pharping via Hattiban and Jai Nepal Cinema Hall

13. Ready to march

Hiking from Dakshin Kali to Pharping via Hattiban and Jai Nepal Cinema Hall

14. Garlands for the Goddess - On the way to Dakshin Kali Temple

Hiking from Dakshin Kali to Pharping via Hattiban and Jai Nepal Cinema Hall

15. Hundred thousand oil lights for prosperity

Hiking from Dakshin Kali to Pharping via Hattiban and Jai Nepal Cinema Hall

16. Devotees queuing up

Hiking from Dakshin Kali to Pharping via Hattiban and Jai Nepal Cinema Hall

17. Atheists... hehehe

Hiking from Dakshin Kali to Pharping via Hattiban and Jai Nepal Cinema Hall

18. Leaving Dakshin Kali behind

Hiking from Dakshin Kali to Pharping via Hattiban and Jai Nepal Cinema Hall

19. That sony alpha is heavy...

Hiking from Dakshin Kali to Pharping via Hattiban and Jai Nepal Cinema Hall

20. Tapain nai hanuman...tapai kai pucchar lamo (You are the monkey king, you've got the longest tail)

Hiking from Dakshin Kali to Pharping via Hattiban and Jai Nepal Cinema Hall

21. the mist clears up

Hiking from Dakshin Kali to Pharping via Hattiban and Jai Nepal Cinema Hall

22. One more group picture

Hiking from Dakshin Kali to Pharping via Hattiban and Jai Nepal Cinema Hall

23. Bells up high..remember

Hiking from Dakshin Kali to Pharping via Hattiban and Jai Nepal Cinema Hall

24. A patch of road inbetween

Hiking from Dakshin Kali to Pharping via Hattiban and Jai Nepal Cinema Hall

25. Ready to climb up

Hiking from Dakshin Kali to Pharping via Hattiban and Jai Nepal Cinema Hall

26. Ascent to Hattiban begins

Hiking from Dakshin Kali to Pharping via Hattiban and Jai Nepal Cinema Hall

27. And the sun finally shone

Hiking from Dakshin Kali to Pharping via Hattiban and Jai Nepal Cinema Hall

28. Group picture is just an excuse to take a break

Hiking from Dakshin Kali to Pharping via Hattiban and Jai Nepal Cinema Hall

29. Armed and ready to shoot

Hiking from Dakshin Kali to Pharping via Hattiban and Jai Nepal Cinema Hall

30. ...and another break...

Hiking from Dakshin Kali to Pharping via Hattiban and Jai Nepal Cinema Hall

31. you're my blue sky, you’re my sunny day…lord you know it makes me high when you turn your love my way…

Hiking from Dakshin Kali to Pharping via Hattiban and Jai Nepal Cinema Hall

32. Keep walking...

Hiking from Dakshin Kali to Pharping via Hattiban and Jai Nepal Cinema Hall

33. a local kid collecting fodder

Hiking from Dakshin Kali to Pharping via Hattiban and Jai Nepal Cinema Hall

34. belly boys

Hiking from Dakshin Kali to Pharping via Hattiban and Jai Nepal Cinema Hall

35. Waiting for the worms...leeches infact

Hiking from Dakshin Kali to Pharping via Hattiban and Jai Nepal Cinema Hall

36. yet another Hanuman

Hiking from Dakshin Kali to Pharping via Hattiban and Jai Nepal Cinema Hall

37. Hanuman showing off his skill

Hiking from Dakshin Kali to Pharping via Hattiban and Jai Nepal Cinema Hall

38. Three stooges

Hiking from Dakshin Kali to Pharping via Hattiban and Jai Nepal Cinema Hall

39. Jungle..haha

Hiking from Dakshin Kali to Pharping via Hattiban and Jai Nepal Cinema Hall

40. NirajS taking a shortcut

Hiking from Dakshin Kali to Pharping via Hattiban and Jai Nepal Cinema Hall

41. PradipnaG helping out

Hiking from Dakshin Kali to Pharping via Hattiban and Jai Nepal Cinema Hall

42. Its a long way to top (if you wanna rock n' roll)

Hiking from Dakshin Kali to Pharping via Hattiban and Jai Nepal Cinema Hall

43. Kathmandu Valley seen from Hattiban

Hiking from Dakshin Kali to Pharping via Hattiban and Jai Nepal Cinema Hall

44. Hanging by a thread

Hiking from Dakshin Kali to Pharping via Hattiban and Jai Nepal Cinema Hall

45. At Hattiban Resort

Hiking from Dakshin Kali to Pharping via Hattiban and Jai Nepal Cinema Hall

46. he he he

Hiking from Dakshin Kali to Pharping via Hattiban and Jai Nepal Cinema Hall

47. A little kid we met at Hattiban Resort.

Hiking from Dakshin Kali to Pharping via Hattiban and Jai Nepal Cinema Hall

48. Those bloodsuckers did their job

Hiking from Dakshin Kali to Pharping via Hattiban and Jai Nepal Cinema Hall

49. Another CyberSansar model for a change

Hiking from Dakshin Kali to Pharping via Hattiban and Jai Nepal Cinema Hall

50. Sony Alpha 300 DSLR-Nice piece of equipment

Hiking from Dakshin Kali to Pharping via Hattiban and Jai Nepal Cinema Hall

51. Dreaming of .... ha ha ha

Hiking from Dakshin Kali to Pharping via Hattiban and Jai Nepal Cinema Hall

52. Rainfall in Kathmandu seen from Hattiban

Hiking from Dakshin Kali to Pharping via Hattiban and Jai Nepal Cinema Hall

53. Kathmandu valley once more

Hiking from Dakshin Kali to Pharping via Hattiban and Jai Nepal Cinema Hall

54. smoggy Kathmandu

Hiking from Dakshin Kali to Pharping via Hattiban and Jai Nepal Cinema Hall

55. Leech bites won't stop me from smiling...time to leave btw

Hiking from Dakshin Kali to Pharping via Hattiban and Jai Nepal Cinema Hall

56. descending

Hiking from Dakshin Kali to Pharping via Hattiban and Jai Nepal Cinema Hall

57. watch your steps...

Hiking from Dakshin Kali to Pharping via Hattiban and Jai Nepal Cinema Hall

58. it sure is slippery

Hiking from Dakshin Kali to Pharping via Hattiban and Jai Nepal Cinema Hall

59. Wait for me guys

Hiking from Dakshin Kali to Pharping via Hattiban and Jai Nepal Cinema Hall

60. PrabinS rejoins the pack

Hiking from Dakshin Kali to Pharping via Hattiban and Jai Nepal Cinema Hall

61. SajneetB behind the lens

Hiking from Dakshin Kali to Pharping via Hattiban and Jai Nepal Cinema Hall

62. Almost there...

Hiking from Dakshin Kali to Pharping via Hattiban and Jai Nepal Cinema Hall

63. Finally... yet another besttttttttttttttt hike

Hiking from Dakshin Kali to Pharping via Hattiban and Jai Nepal Cinema Hall

64. PradipnagG

Hiking from Dakshin Kali to Pharping via Hattiban and Jai Nepal Cinema Hall

65. Sadhu

Hiking from Dakshin Kali to Pharping via Hattiban and Jai Nepal Cinema Hall

66. And the sun finally shone

Hiking from Dakshin Kali to Pharping via Hattiban and Jai Nepal Cinema Hall

67. Waouuuuu...Guptacharrrr

Hiking from Dakshin Kali to Pharping via Hattiban and Jai Nepal Cinema Hall

68. Jet Li wannabe

Hiking from Dakshin Kali to Pharping via Hattiban and Jai Nepal Cinema Hall

69. Still a long way to go

Hiking from Dakshin Kali to Pharping via Hattiban and Jai Nepal Cinema Hall

70. Redundant shot (suggest a caption)