| Username |
Post |
| ashu |
Posted
on 14-Nov-01 10:43 PM
Hi all,
One of the pleasures of living in Kathmandu in this weather (chilly in the morning but sunny, sunny in the afternoon) is that it is a suitable weather to go on either
a day-long or an overnight hike to some place out of Kathmandu with one's friends.
Below is a trail info that may also be use to others in Kathmandu or those planning
to go on such a hike in future.
This trail info comes' by an old friend from Bhatapur: Yogi Kayastha, a Germany-educated solar energy expert and our long-time hike-ad-campig
guru.
Hikng and camping are two great ways to get to know Nepali countryside, while having fun with friends.
Enjoy,
oohi
ashu
ktm,nepal
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Here is detail itenery of our fourth hike “Historical Trail”. This
was once the major trail for all the Kathmanduites to go to India before
Tribhuvan Rajpath was built in 1956. Once the Tribhuvan Rajpath was completed
in late fifties, this once-major-route became obsolete and is left to be used
only by handful of local people living along the trail to come to
Kathmandu.
Now we are going to experience half of the KTM-Bhimphedi historical
trail along which our grandfathers and great grandfathers used to walk to
go to south of Nepal especially to Varanashi and consquently to different
parts of India.
Hike Number – 4: “Historical Trail” hike.
Date:
Meeting Point: Shahid Gate Bus Park (Near southern over bridge).
Time: 8 AM sharp.
Things to bring: Essential - Sleeping bag, warm cloths (at least a
sweater or a jacket), and whatever you need in the night and in the morning.
Optional – Water bottle, hat, camera, binocular, knife, snacks,
Day-1: Kathmandu - Daxin Kali – Phakhel - Kulekhani – Markhu.
( 1 hour by bus to Daxin Kali and 5-6 hours walk to Markhu).
We will take a bus to Daxin Kali at Shahid Gate. About an hour bus
ride will take us to Daxin Kali where we will have darshan of Daxin Kali
then do pet puja for the day. We MUST leave Daxin Kali no later than 10.30
AM if we want to reach our destination before it gets dark.
We will start our hike from Daxin Kali. The beginning of the hike is
gentle uphill, which will continue until we reach Bhakhel Bhanjyan situated
at an altitude of 2000 m. From here we will see beatiful veiw of of the
Mahabharat Lekhs running east to west. We will slowly descend down
300 m to Phakhel Chaur.
After crossing two more passes we will finally reach
the Mahalaxmi Khola. We will walk along the bank of this river all the
way to Kulehkhani dam if we cannot catch a local tractor or jeep from
Sallebeshi.
Our first days destination Markhu bazaar lies about an hours walking
distance from Kulekhani dam.
Day-2: Markhu – Chitlang – Chandragiri Pass – Thankot
( 4 - 5 hours ).
One can take a bus back to KTM from Markhu but the interesting thing
is that it takes almost same amount of time to reach Thankot whether you take
bus or walk.
We will walk around Markhu bazaar and even go boating in Indra
Sarovar Lake formed by Kulekhani dam. After breakfast we will follow Chitlang
Khola up north to Kushle Chaur. Until we reach old historical Newar village
Chitlang, the trail is fairly easy with no ups and downs.
Chitlang is an old Newar settlement with a history going back to Licchavi times. We will spend some time in Chitlang exploring this ancient village. Then
starts the strenous uphill walk to Chandragiri Pass from where we will see the
bowl shaped KTM valley. From Chandragiri Pass the trial is all downhill
until we reach Thankot Police Post.
(For vivid description of the route of second day hike from the
opposite direction read “Over the Mountain of the Moon: The Kathmandu
Kulekhani Connection” by Kamal Tuladhar in RNAC’s inflight magazine Shangri-La,
April-June 2000 issue.)
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE HIKE:
1.THE ANCIENT ROUTE: This is the historical route joining KTM with
all the southern part of the Nepal before 1956. We will be walking along
half of this ancient route.
2. PHAKHEL VILLAGE: This village used to be the major stopover and
hiding place for most of anti-Panchayat hard core Congress and Communists
activists. We will be following the trail used by these
anti-Panchayat political activists.
3. KULEKHANI DAM: Completed in mid 80s, this dam had submerged a
village after which this damn dam is named.
4.MARKHU & CHITLANG VILLAGES: Ancient Newar villages used to be
major stopover for traders before entering or after leaving Kathmandu until
1958.
5.CHANDRAGIRI PASS: This is the historical pass from where the last
Malla king of Bhaktapur Ranjit Malla looked back at the valley for the last
time on the way to Varanshi and is the same pass through which porters
carried Jeep and Lorries for Ranas until the Tribhuvan Rajpath was completed.
THE END
|
| GP |
Posted
on 14-Nov-01 11:04 PM
Kathmandu Weather :chilly in the morning but sunny, sunny in the afternoon.
This was probably my 2nd stay in KTM in the months of Oct-Nov in last
17 years and first after 13years. I used to think KTM a very cold place
even after travelling to few coldest places in the worl. In this travel,
I took a jacket thinking that KTM is really chilly in morning and evening
if not in day time. When I landed in KTM, I was wearing Jacket, with
a thin white shirt, I found myself tortured with my body sweating.
I was so surprised that all my imaginations about cold in KTM was
wrong and I found it so warm, and peoples are moving with half
sleeves at the middle of November. When I was in Pokhara, I
could find some tourists taking off their T-shirts, and New Prince
Paras roaming in Fewa lake using his motor boats in High speed,
and passed just behind the manual boat I was riding with kids.
Everyone got scared with his boat speed, because its wave
on lake surface coult turn the small boats. He too was not
warm dressed.
In KTM or Pokhara, I had to forget the jacket and its
useful ness. I found why KTM is pleasant place in the
world, neither very cold, nor very hot. In cold countries,
peoples have to enjoy in their short summer, "Winter KO
BHAG Pani", and if we accumulate the total enjoyment
that we can get in Nepal, its not less than anywhere in
northern countries. That is one reason why am I not
interested much to move to Northern world, but,
much interested to return to Nepal. My conclusion is
that if you are from Northern countries, the chilly
cold referred by Ashu is not even comparable with
the cold around Oct. in Northern countries, and it
is surely a chilly cold to those who are not from
Northern countries.
Happy Dipawali.
GP
|
| Shail |
Posted
on 15-Nov-01 09:51 AM
Hi Ashu,
Thanks a lot for posting your hiking itinerary. If you go to more cool places in Nepal I'd love to hear it. It's embarrasing to admit but I'm from Kathmandu and I really haven't travelled around Nepal. I probably have travelled to more places outside of Nepal than I have within it.
My ignorance became apparant to me on this one incident. Once, I had gone out to a hiking trip to one of the national parks within America with my American friends. These friends are well travelled in Nepal. So on this trip I make this simple remark about how that's one of the best natural views I'd seen. As soon as the words escaped my mouth, all my friends spun around and stared at me amazed.
"What are you talking about, that's nothing, haven't you seen views in Nepal, they are so much more beautiful than that!"
I guess a Nepali would react the same way if he heard a New Yorker from Manhattan travelling to Kathmandu and remark how tall the buildings in Putali Sadak was.
Any whoo, made my realize how much I needed to explore the beauties of my own country. So I'm making a list of places worth going, so if you think of places, lemme know please,
Shail
|
| bahire |
Posted
on 15-Nov-01 11:01 AM
aashu ji
Its great to have you in this gbnc forum coz of ur skillfull writing, though provoking remarks and bibadaspad statements. With contributors like you i have lately sensed that the forum has greatly matured and is ostracizing those morons who want to incite racial and sexist conflicts. However every now and then when you write u tend to include irrelevant information, for example:
>Yogi Kayastha, a Germany-educated solar energy expert and our long-time......
I dont know what you want to prove, but i have noticed this every time you wanted to tell something about ur friends- u have this tendency to give his CV without thinking whether it is relevant or not. . We know u have great connections and u roam around with intellectuals. you dont have to remind that every time. As long as yogi kayasth is a hiking guru , i think, it really does not matter whether he is a solar expert or....., no offence to kayasth ji.
I dont know the write word for that( no granddiloquence!) but its an arrogant way of showing humbleness. I am not envious, as some one may suggest, but i feel uncomfartable and i feel this greatly perturbs your flow of writing.
any way thanks for the hiking info. I have always enjoyed hiking in unpopular trails where things would be economic and serene beuty greatly untouched by beer cans and toilet paper. one of them is palpa to ranimahal(1-2 days) or up to ridi.. thanks ashuji
|
| Sunakhari |
Posted
on 15-Nov-01 11:19 AM
Amen to that.
|
| ashu |
Posted
on 16-Nov-01 11:30 AM
Bahire wrote:
>aashu ji
>
>Its great to have you in this gbnc forum coz
>of ur skillfull writing, though provoking
>remarks and bibadaspad statements. With
>contributors like you i have lately sensed
>that the forum has greatly matured and is
>ostracizing those morons who want to incite
>racial and sexist conflicts.
Thank you for your kind words.
These " provoking remarks and bibadaspad statements" are
here to stimulate further thoughts and further discussions, and
I ENJOY/LOVE/LIKE my role as a facilitator-participant of such
discussions.
>However every
>now and then when you write u tend to
>include irrelevant information, for example:
I LOVE including "irrelevant information" too.
Irrelevant is a relative word; one person's
relevance may be another person's
irrelevance, and that's life.
>>Yogi Kayastha, a Germany-educated solar
>energy expert and our long-time......
Sorry, I did not include more info on Yogi, so
here it goes: Yogi is a remarkably funny guy who
gives one of the world's best tours of his native city
Bhaktapur.
The father of two lovely young daughters,
Yogi has done much -- over the last ten years -- to enrich
his friends ko knowledge of places in and out of the
Kathmandu Valley. A hike or a camp with Yogi is
never boring and is always a lot of fun.
If you are ever in Kathmandu, I'd love to introduce you
to Yogi, for there's much we can all learn from fellow Nepalis
like him.
>I dont know what you want to prove, but i
>have noticed this every time you wanted to
>tell something about ur friends- u have this
>tendency to give his CV without thinking
>whether it is relevant or not. .
I am very proud of my many friends -- including Yogi, whom
I have known for ten years now -- and being a loyal
guy who likes to stick to his friends through good times and bad
times in THEIR lives, I would do anything to TRUTHFULLY
promote them positively in public whenever I can.
If this approach is disagreeable to you, then you have the fine
option of IGNORING what you yourself find irrelevant about my
postings, and life will go on just fine for all of us.
I, for one, fully intend to promote my various friends here so that
other like-minded people out there (in Boston, Canada, Japan or
wherever else) can also tap into my networks to expand their own
personal and professional circles of friends too.
>We know u
>have great connections and u roam around
>with intellectuals.
This is true.
>you dont have to remind
>that every time.
Frankly, I LIKE to send out reminders :-)
> As long as yogi kayasth is
>a hiking guru , i think, it really does not
>matter whether he is a solar expert or.....,
Yogi is a multi-talented guy, and there is much
we all can learn from him.
>no offence to kayasth ji.
No offence taken on behalf of Yogi.
>I dont know the write word for that( no
>granddiloquence!) but its an arrogant way of
>showing humbleness.
Yes.
If you say so, why not?
Being "arrogant" (however one defines it!) is
neither a sin nor a crime, and it does NOT come
at the expense of other people.
Personally, I have decided that I really do WANT to work with other so-called
"arrogant" Nepalis from anywhere on the planet because my experience is
that those Nepalis are often the ones who very smart, are very
well networked, have tons of self-confidence, have a sense of fair play
(in a Western sense), have a great sense of humor, are able to laugh at themselves, and you always know where you stand with them, and you
cannot fool them with nice-sounding bullshit.
I have discovered that their being natural at what they do often unnerves
other Nepalis who are quick to lable them as "arrogant".
So, if you know of other so-called "arrogant" Nepalis from anywhere, please let me know. I'd love to network with them and learn from their self-confidence and
their pride in what they do competently.
>I am not envious, as
>some one may suggest,
Good to know that you are not envious!!
> but i feel
>uncomfartable
Well, if you feel comfortable, you may wish to lie on a couch after
reading my relevant and irrelevant postings here.
That way, you WILL feel better.
>and i feel this greatly
>perturbs your flow of writing.
Thanks for worrying about this.
>any way thanks for the hiking info. I have
>always enjoyed hiking in unpopular trails
>where things would be economic and serene
>beuty greatly untouched by beer cans and
>toilet paper.
Great to hear that.
>one of them is palpa to
>ranimahal(1-2 days) or up to ridi.. thanks
>ashuji
You are welcome.
I look forward to this hike as an opportunity to get to know more
about Nepal.
oohi
ashu
ktm,nepal
|
| hanso |
Posted
on 16-Nov-01 01:15 PM
his guy( ashu) sounds so mean in his reply...man stop playing with words, u are just earning despise ...
|
| Bhaire |
Posted
on 16-Nov-01 03:35 PM
ashu ji
Thanks for your kind reply. i appreciate ur patience for taking an effort in carrying out an autopsy on my reply, how i wish you could spend that time in thinking what actually u wanted to convey to the readers.
This is a common forum, so you can not simply advise others to put their ass on the couch if they do not feel comfortable with all the shit u write. Once in a while your reply makes sense and as a surfer of this forum i politely asked u to remain in that form. As a responsible contributor, your first concern has to be directed towards the audience. When u are exercising ur net-mental( fundamental) right of free posting please use ur conscience, which u always boast that u have in excess( however ur reply manifested what u lack as a responsible contibutor.)
I am not personally interested in replying on these kinds of unproductive issues. I dont expext ur reply too. You just remind me of Bhairab aryal's Mapai. Ashu show little bit of Harvard heritage that u claim to have. Show how people after coming back from the US, despite their professional competence, mature into a wise and humble thinker. You are the pakka stereotyical image of US return nepali .
bhaire
PS. You also remind me one of my friends who we called bigreko redio(BIRE), which would never turn off and almost impossible to fine tune too
take it easy dude
|
| former boston basi |
Posted
on 16-Nov-01 04:09 PM
Very well said Bhaire. I agree with you 100%.
|
| anupa d. |
Posted
on 16-Nov-01 07:36 PM
Hi all
I was just going thru the postings when i realized that people are getting more personal than exercising intellectual stimulation while posting a reply. Still there are some people who show rays of hope: I found Ashu's posting in one of the threads. But when i saw his crude, shrewed , sadistic and sarcastic reply to baire's comments, I realized its easier said than done....finally ashu showed his hyppocratic color.
Below is what ashu had posted in another thread.
>When the chips are down, so to speak, I glance at this
>poem on top of my desk, that it never fails to
>inspire/energize me.
>oohi
>ashu
>ktm,nepal
***********************************
What is success?"
To laugh often and much;
To win the respect of people and the affection of adults and children;
To earn the appreciation of honest critics, and
endure the betrayal of false friends;
To appreciate beauty;
To find the best in others;
To leave the world a bit better, whether by healing a child or a garden
patch, or by redeeming a social condition,
To know even one life has breathed easier because you lived.
That is to have succeeded."
|
| _BP |
Posted
on 16-Nov-01 07:42 PM
Awright! Who started this? I thought this was about a peaceful hike. Break it up. I think we should let people say what they want, as long as it is not profanity. At this stage of life, we aren't going to change each others' way of expressing him/herself. I personally don't enjoy hikes very much, but I don't mind if people write about it in great detail. Come on now.
|
| joie de vivre |
Posted
on 16-Nov-01 07:51 PM
BP: Judging from the numerous grumbles here, there, and everywhere, I think you're fighting a losing battle here... (not that I've anything against hiking or even Ashu. God knows he's not done anything to me to warrant my anger).
PS - I'm remembering the chat session earlier this afternoon :)
|
| _BP |
Posted
on 16-Nov-01 08:45 PM
Dear jdv:
You know, for the first time, I went back and looked at the old posted messages on Kurakani. I had no idea of the history of this thing. You are right. There is no way of stopping this. But whatever, a good time can still be had by all here.
|
| joie de vivre |
Posted
on 16-Nov-01 09:09 PM
BP: I'm sure you're onto something when you say Ashu's a great guy but looking back at some of what he has to say in response to other people's postings, makes me want to ask - don't you think he sometimes brings all this (abuse? hatred?) on himself?
|
| ashu |
Posted
on 16-Nov-01 09:55 PM
Bhaire wrote:
>This is a common forum, so you can not
>simply advise others to put their ass on the
>couch if they do not feel comfortable with
>all the shit u write.
Now you are talking!!
And to point an inconvenient example, only recently you yourself felt free to "simply advise others" on what to put and NOT to put in their
postings? :-)
Is this a case of what's for me is not for thee?
This is a FREE forum, my dear friend.
I am as free to post relevant and irrelevant stuff here as you are, and we
can both enjoy this site without telling each other what's relevant and
what's not in our postings. :-)
This is the point I want to drive home to you and others.
> As a responsible contributor, your
>first concern has to be directed towards
>the audience.
Says who?
Look, I have NO illusions that I write for an audience out there.
I say that because I can never predict how different people
are going to read and react to the same postings. And so,
I have learnt to accept that unpredictabiliy of response as a part
of this Web culture.
And so, quite honestly, all I can say is that I write for my own enjoyment,
and if people like my stuff, fine.
If they don't, well, they have the option of NOT reading my stuff.
It's as simple as that. Nobody is FORCING you or anyone else to read
these postings.
So what is your problem?
This idea is as simple as it seems counter-intuitive to some
people.
>When u are exercising ur net-
>mental( fundamental) right of free posting
>please use ur conscience, which u always
>boast that u have in excess( however ur
>reply manifested what u lack as a
>responsible contibutor.)
Look, I am NOT responsible for YOUR feelings after reading
my postings. If you cannot handle your own feelings in public, and need to
take it out in some way, well, tough luck!
That said, OK, let's say that I am indeed an "irresponsible contributor" (whatever the hell that means), so what do you want me to do?
Stop posting from tomorrow?
If so, then, aren't you then telling others what to do?
>I am not personally interested in replying
>on these kinds of unproductive issues.
But you ARE replying here, aren't you?
This is a FACT you cannot deny and run away from.
> I
>dont expext ur reply too. You just remind me
>of Bhairab aryal's Mapai. Ashu show little
>bit of Harvard heritage that u claim to have.
> Show how people after coming back from the
>US, despite their professional competence,
>mature into a wise and humble thinker. You
>are the pakka stereotyical image of US
>return nepali .
Well, whatever the image of "pakka stereotyical image of US
return nepali", my experiece is that each of those Nepalis is
different, and that's fine with me.
You have really run out of points to make,
haven't you?
>bhaire
>PS. You also remind me one of my friends who
>we called bigreko redio(BIRE), which would
>never turn off and almost impossible to fine
>tune too
>take it easy dude
Again, I am INDEED taking it easy.
But are YOU?
Again, you have run out of points to make, haven't you?
oohi
ashu
ktm,nepal
|
| GP |
Posted
on 17-Nov-01 01:35 AM
Ashu, my one phrase suggestion to you,
"Don't Retreat" and "Go Ahead".
Rolls Royace car parts are manufactured manually
forging. They beat, turn and again beat until the
metal becomes tough, and thats why Rolls Royace
car parts to Jet Engine are said to best in the world.
And, quite better than the parts forged directly from
furnance (= fresh university graduate).
Just make sure that you don't go far away from main
topics.
A Well wisher.
GP
|
| arnico |
Posted
on 17-Nov-01 02:11 AM
I spent a few hours thinking about whether to respond or not... whether adding to this thread will improve or worsen things... but I guess I cannot resist writing:
Ashu, I think your initial reaction to Bahire's point is quite uncalled-for. (S)he POLITELY pointed out something that in his/her opinion would IMPROVE the quality of your posts. (S)he did not attack you. (S)he does not deserve an attack from you.
I agree with Bahire: I too think it would be better if Ashu, or anyone else, STAYED AWAY FROM discussing PERSONAL information about people on a public forum. Perhaps where someone works today is valid public information... but where someone went to school, how many children they have, where they live... DO NOT POST SUCH INFORMATION ABOUT OTHER PEOPLE in a public place! If they want to share that with the worldwide readers of GBNC Kurakani they can post it themselves.
Here I am NOT just referring to your postings in this thread or your reference to what kind of school I went to... but even to things like who San, our webmaster, went to school with. Is that clear?
But why not??? Two reasons:
1) It lowers the quality of OUR sajha GBNC Kurakani website. It distracts from the quality of the discussion (would not it have been better to have this thread continue about other nice hiking trips and about how much of our country we do or do not know...instead of letting it go the way it did?). And if used in personal attacks, it POLLUTES our website.
2) The person posting personal information about other people loses trust from his or her friends. If personal information cannot be treated with respect, then people will be hesitant to share anything with you that is close to their heart. Is that worth it?
|
| _BP |
Posted
on 17-Nov-01 03:38 AM
I agree with GP --> through fire is iron forged.
And I also agree with Arnico --> nothing you can add will make this thread worse. It has already hit rock bottom! But those were wise words.
|
