Manisha Adhikari
We arrived at 7:30 at the 109 restaurant located inside the Deerwalk Complex Premises. We boarded the EV for our trekking destination at 8:30 after a friendly conversation, a wonderful breakfast, and delicious milk tea. We started our hike at 10:30 from Bhimdhunga. Deerwalk Dhading School in Dhunibesi was our goal.
We began our hike on a motorable road that gently curved. We were all relieved to see that a downhill trail made up the majority of our hiking journey. The village home was widely scattered, and we often diverted off the main route to enter it. Interviewing people about the political party they plan to support in the upcoming election was enjoyable. At first, they were hesitant because the majority of them believed that we were there from some political party to influence their votes. When they realised that we were mere hikers and were there just for a chat, they opened up. We really enjoyed the chat.
There were gardens with mango, litchi, and jackfruit trees all along the trail. We passed numerous farms where the locals raised goats and buffalo. Along with a few cows and buffalo, nearly every household kept ten to fifteen goats. In the house's courtyard sat a pot of scalding hot cowmilk. We took some radish and "bhogate" from one of the vegetable beds. Instead of working in their vegetable patch and farming, many of them were sunbathing and using social media in front of their homes, which allowed us to watch the change in village life.
The villagers told us that they use chemical fertilisers and insecticides even for the small vegetable patch they use at home. Nobody looked interested in utilising organic fertiliser and insecticides because everyone in the area uses harsh chemicals, which are necessary for the tiny plants to survive. This demonstrated how difficult it is to get organic food on the market.
We wandered out into unfamiliar areas since the track around the main road was too dull. It was a lot of fun hiking through wild grass areas, bushes, and tiny paths. Wild, prickly burrs penetrated our pants. We also crossed a river. We enjoyed makai, bhatmaas, badam, gundruk, chana, chips, bhujiya, and oranges during our brief snack break. We resumed our journey after refuelling.
We got to DDS about 2:30. We enjoyed a delightful meal with Khasi ko Masu, local cauliflower, and rayo ko saag that were grown on school grounds. We took a quick tour of the school's compost pit, vegetable patch, and DDS.A grand quiz competition among SEE students from 9 different schools of Dhading was being hosted by DDS. Making TikTok with Reshika's choreography was enjoyable. We finished our hike with a warm, delicious tea in 109 restaurant.
