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Hiking from Palung to Simbhanjyang via Daman
Hiking from Palung to Simbhanjyang via Daman

Theme: Misty Mountain Hike Hiking Route: Palung to Daman to Simbhanjyang Date: June 15, 2008, Sunday Participants: BabinsS, BahadurB, HiteshK, KamalK, LunaG, MaheshS, ManojR, ParasT, PawanP, PrajwalS, PujaKC, RajK, SanjeetB, SitaP and, ShankarS Caption by: Shankar Sharma, Luna Gurung, Sanjeet Baidya, Sita Pun Photos: Shankar Sharma, Manoj Rokka, Luna Gurung, Kamal Karki Report By: Kamal Karki and Prajwal Shrestha , Pawan Pokhrel Creative Support: Dhilung/Pallavi [Kamal Karki and Prajwal Shrestha] Everyone was excited for another theme based hiking from Palung To Daman. Palung, which lies on the way to Daman, is famous for its vegetable cultivation. Daman, which is a popular tourist destination, is famous for the splendid view of Himalayan region. After picking up everyone on the way, we were altogether fifteen ready for a challenging hike to Daman. The morning was clear unlike the evening shower we had the previous day. We had a quick breakfast at Naubise, a place where the Tribhuvan Highway and Prithivi Highway separate. After a two hours ride, we reached Palung at 10:30am, our starting point for the hike. The place welcomed us with aroma of fresh vegetables in the fields. We could see farmers in the fields busy at their work. This reminded all of us the dependency of the Nepali population on agriculture. The journey started from a simple walk on a highway until we met an old lady who showed us another difficult route to our destination. Since we were there for a hiking experience, we followed the lady’s direction. We climbed up to reach a place from where we could see the beauty of the valley. The fields stretched wide and green, ready for another harvest. On the way, we shared experiences with a World War II veteran who had fought in Japan. The man was in his late-eighties but still strong to walk the ups and downs of the terrain. Slowly the clouds began to shower, and the hike became more interesting. The rainfall was mild but we enjoyed walking in the rain, occasionally taking the snapshots on the way. Nobody missed the chance of storing their experiences in their camera. We reached Daman, altitude 2322m at around 2:00 pm. The rain and mist completely blocked the scenic view of the Himalayas. Nonetheless, it added a different experience to our hiking and we decided to extend our hike to Simbhanjyang, altitude 2488m. We ended our hike by distributing notebooks and pencils to the students of Risheshwor Primary School at Daman. Lack of physical infrastructure, untimely delivery of books and insufficient number of teachers were evident in the school environment. On the way back, we played antakashari which made us forget all tiredness and sweat of the hike. Overall, the hike was adventurous, exciting, natural and memorable. We would all like to extend sincere thanks to the coordinator and to the team for making this hike a successful one. [Pawan Pokhrel] Gathering at D2, a short table tennis session, and a breakfast at Naubise are the regular pre-hiking tasks with which we started our day. We covered a two hour microbus ride and reached Palung at around 10 am. Fifteen exuberant hikers started the hike with a thirst to indulge in the essence of nature and capture every bit of beauty on the way to Daman. “Tapai haru le mero yo halat ma kina photo linu bhako?” a women’s disagreement when ManojR took her snap – made us laugh for a while. At Citiny, we met Ramjee Adhikari who had lots to tell about his service as an army personnel in Japan during World War II but we had no choice than to bid him goodbye and head towards our destination Daman at an altitude of 2322 meters. The pattering rain made our journey more than blissful. The rain continued till we reached Simbhanjyang. On the way I proposed for a ‘rainy-race’ and PrajwalS and RajK supported me. I was elated for being third in the first ever ‘D2 Rainy Race’. The journey continued with a lot of “guff”, laughter, and photo sessions. The blood donation to leech became an integral part of our hiking. Though, our destination was Daman we couldn’t stop our joyful moment there and further continued our hike to Simbhanjyang. The surrounding was amazing as a thick haze of cloud was hanging above us. Mahesh was overwhelmed and lost in the cloud for a while at a height of 2488 meters. After spending some time in Simbhanjyang we returned back to Daman. Poonam Pariyar, a student of Risheshwor Primary School at Daman, ushered us to his school. We distributed notebooks and pencils to the school children. They were very excited to have copies and pencils with ‘D2Hawkeye’ printed on it. I asked the boy why he did not attend his school on Sunday and his answer was “I washed my school dress”. “No Dress No Education System!”That was a reality check for all of us. Finally, we had our lunch at Gauri Shankar Guest House and then started our journey back. The hangama continued on the way back home till we reached Thankot with guys playing continuous Antakshari. Frequent jokes from Hitesh, Sanjit and ShankarS, SitaP and her high pitch laughter along with the majestic scenario made our hike memorable and exciting. The sublime beauty of nature made us completely forget our tiredness. I ended the day in complete peace and with a feeling as if I have returned from different world. Please click on the image to see its large version.
Thankot Temple
01 Thankot Temple
Road Block
02 Road Block
Cloudy Mountain
03 Cloudy Mountain
Highway Down the Lane
04 Highway Down the Lane
Monsoon Clouds
05 Monsoon Clouds
Winding Road
06 Winding Road
Hard work
07 Hard work
Pine tree cluster
08 Pine tree cluster
Hiking begins
09 Hiking begins
Getting started with photography
10 Getting started with photography
sowing paddy plants
11 sowing paddy plants
vegitable plantation
12 vegitable plantation
farmers preparing field for plantation
13 farmers preparing field for plantation
ploughing
14 ploughing
A local church at Palung
15 A local church at Palung
harvesting potatoes
16 harvesting potatoes
Vegetation
17 Vegetation
Palung to Daman
18 Palung to Daman
Assending
19 Assending
A local residence
20 A local residence
Hiking Trail
21 Hiking Trail
Cauliflower
22 Cauliflower
Faleko Nashpati
23 Faleko Nashpati
Chitchat with World War II vetran
24 Chitchat with World War II vetran
makai bari (maize plants)
25 makai bari (maize plants)
A future Engineer (Self made lorry)
26 A future Engineer (Self made lorry)
A glimpse of palung
27 A glimpse of palung
Cityni village
28 Cityni village
Atop the Rock
29 Atop the Rock
Ready for rock climbing
30 Ready for rock climbing
Moving on
31 Moving on
Self proclaimed hero
32 Self proclaimed hero
twist and turn
33 twist and turn
Centipede
34 Centipede
Sanjeet-s favourite pet
35 Sanjeet-s favourite pet
Sita collecting mushrooms for dinner
36 Sita collecting mushrooms for dinner
I am taller
37 I am taller
The panorama
38 The panorama
misty forest
39 misty forest
In the rain, on the road
40 In the rain, on the road
lonely road
41 lonely road
by road ko bato ma gadi gudaudai...
42 by road ko bato ma gadi gudaudai...
Daman - Proposed Destination
43 Daman - Proposed Destination
parkhi basen
44 parkhi basen
The terminator
45 The terminator
CCTV
46 CCTV
duo drenched in rain
47 duo drenched in rain
mission accomplished
48 mission accomplished
Love at first site
49 Love at first site
self proclaimed heros part II
50 self proclaimed heros part II
Yahoo we did it
51 Yahoo we did it
haunted mountain
52 haunted mountain
and the ghost
53 and the ghost
serching for lost friend
54 serching for lost friend
more ghosts
55 more ghosts
Open source everywhere
56 Open source everywhere
 warming up with tea
57 warming up with tea
mist gets denser
58 mist gets denser
standing tall
59 standing tall
posey
60 posey
Lake
61 Lake
source of water
62 source of water
kal kal sal sal
63 kal kal sal sal
Daman at it-s best
64 Daman at it-s best
Beauties and the Geek
65 Beauties and the Geek
Verdure
66 Verdure
Blood sucking leach
67 Blood sucking leach
Heading for a cause
68 Heading for a cause
just 70 kilo
69 just 70 kilo
life is not easy for some
70 life is not easy for some
Hariyo  ban Nepal ko dhan - Kalile samma
71 Hariyo ban Nepal ko dhan - Kalile samma
Walnut
72 Walnut
On the way to school
73 On the way to school
School premises
74 School premises
Shri Hrishishewor Primary School
75 Shri Hrishishewor Primary School
View from school
76 View from school
Class 5 blackboard
77 Class 5 blackboard
World behind the window
78 World behind the window
peeping through the window
79 peeping through the window
 A 25 year old nursery student
80 A 25 year old nursery student
Nepal-s national flower
81 Save Nepal's national flower
a discussion with the principal
82 a discussion with the principal
decending
83 decending
pea pods
84 pea pods
eating to be eaten (a local turkey)
85 eating to be eaten (a local turkey)
bee
86 bee
Nepali thali
87 Nepali thali
A-Shiv statue
88 A-Shiv statue
B-chicks
89 B-chicks
 It-s Home made lorry again
90 It-s Home made lorry again
Caution - Men at work
91 Caution - Men at work
on the way back home
92 on the way back home
cotton clouds
93 cotton clouds
New Nepal
94 New Nepal
Way back to home
95 Way back to home
hills
96 hills
Sunset
97 Sunset
sunset at naubise
98 sunset at naubise
Please click on the image to see its large version.


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2008-06-09 /
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