Travel Diaries

Day 1(KATHMANDU TO GORKHA & BANDIRPUR)

“Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all of one’s lifetime.”

Every once and a while, we as an individual try & spare some time from our busy lives & let go of that wanderlust. Considering this point, we 9^th graders of Jagat Mandir Higher Secondary School would like to kindly share our small yet adventurous experiences which still hold our breaths & hold us captivated ever since 26^th Mangsir 2074(Wednesday).

Early in the dawn maybe at 6:30 am we students gathered together at our school’s ground with stuffed bags & hearts full of doubts & suspense. Neither of us knew how this journey of ours will turn out but little did we knew that we would find ourselves in a different place with different attitude. After having our breakfast, at 8:30 am we rushed towards the bus capturing ours seats & 5-hours-long bus travel started. On our way to Bandipur, we had lunch in Mustang Paradise. At 1:30 we reached Gorkha Museum where we went through entire place exploring paintings, cultural clothes & weapons. After few minutes we reached a temple where reconstruction work was going on. Then we headed towards Bandipur, all tired by travel who were hungry for food & adventure.

Everyone went to their respective homes & had their dinner. At 8:15 pm everybody gathered for Look Dohori where our school’s team & villagers’ team held a competitive faceoff where girls & boys of our class flaunted their dance moves. At 9:30 pm everybody went to their respective homes & slept with content hearts & excitement for second day.   

Day 2(BANDIRPUR TO POKHARA)

Early morning at 5:30 am, we all gathered at main home of Samira Home stay & went for small hike to nearby hill for sunrise view. We all walked across the stairs through chilly breezes & clicked many photos. Then we returned back to respective homes for breakfast & gathered to reach bus. Then we reached Siddha Cave by walking on foot at 9:30 am. Siddha Cave, one of the most amazing & adventurous cave which is created by nature left us with wondered hearts & speechlesms experiences. On the way to Pokhara After few hours walk down the stairs we reached our bus & headed towards Pokhara. On the way at 1:10 pm, we had our daytime lunch at Thapa Hotel. We went to Pokhara View House & Information Room where various crops & household appliances used by Pokareli people were showcased.  We reached our hotel The IVY INN at 4:30 & we’re divided into 5 groups for boys & 3 groups for girls including teachers & non-teaching staff.

Maybe at 6:30 pm, students who were interested for cycling went in two groups leaded by Deepak Sir & Khem sir respectively while rest of the other enjoyed night view through alleys & roads of lake side leaded by Murari sir. Students who didn’t go for cycling went to lake side enjoying hot coffee while students who went for cycling enjoyed going through busy roads lighten up by music & paper lanterns. After all gathered at dining room, we had our dinner & stayed late night by knocking at others doors, dancing & pranking with phone calls. After few hours, everyone was sound asleep. Little did we knew that next dawn would bring us more surprises & adventures.

  

Day 3(POKHARA)

Next morning at 6:00 am, we went to Santi Stupa for morning view. Then, we went to Pokhara Mountaineering Museum where we explored customs & utensils used by various ethnic groups as well as contributions & hard work of many mountaineers. We also learned about many mountains & landforms. . We had jerry, puri & tarkari on the way. At 10:30 we reached Hotel IVY INN and had our lunch. Then we went to Devi’s Fall & Gupteswor Mahadev where we clicked lots of photos & videos. After that we went to Bat/Chamari Cave where some of our classmates cried & some laughed in happiness of coming through the small ending.

After that we went to Phewa Lake & waited for our turn for boating. We went across the lake to Tal Barahi Temple & worshipped with our greatest devotion & regards. Some of us enjoyed the natural beauty of lake while some of us were busy buying souvenirs & other stuffs. Then at 4:30 pm we students demanded & received food after waiting for few hours by a food truck. We ordered for Mo: mo while some of the students even bought sausage at their own accord.  After having our evening lunch in chilly dusk, we went back to our Hotel where everyone were busing switching their dresses while some of us were  dancing & singing songs.

At 7:30 pm, all of us went for an evening walk on the lake side where we enjoyed live music walking through streets which were lightened up by paper lanterns. We realized that either it’s now or never. Since we only live once, we better let go of all pain & anxiety. After our 1-hour-long walk, we returned back & had our dinner at 9:10 pm. After experiencing this amazing day, everyone were back to sleep.          

Day 4(POKHARA TO GHANDRUK)

As been told to us, we woke up at 6:30 am & packed our bags. Since only one more day was left, most of us were upset that how fast we came to an end of our tour. On the way, Deepak Sir left us & went back. We reached Sarangkot at 7:10 am & enjoyed the amazing morning view. After that we went to Bindabasini Temple & worshipped with all our heart. While returning back we had our breakfast (jerry, samosa, puri, tarkari & tea) at 9:10 pm. After we  all were fully satisfied by food we went for our 6-hour-long bus journey to Ghandruk. On the way, we had our daytime lunch at 1:12 pm. everyone had their lunch even though most of us were tired by the bus travel but we were refreshed by Look Dohori & dances. We also went to Suspension Bridge which made some of us terrified.

After we reached the bus stop, we walked for nearly one hour through stairs & rocky roads where we saw a lot of Khachads carrying load from & to Ghandruk. After we reached Hotel Rodhee at 5:30 pm, we could clearly see mount Annapurna & mount Machhapuchre in front of us. After being divided into respective groups, we were sent to our respective rooms. At 8:30 pm, we gathered at dining room for having our dinner and it was followed by campfire accompanied by Antakchiri between Rajan Sir’s & Murari Sir’s groups. Various old & new songs were bombed by both groups with laughs & embarrassing moments. After few hours everyone went to their respective rooms while some of us sat together sharing our experiences within these three days. Within few hours everyone was sound asleep.       

           

Day 5(GHANDRUK TO KATHMANDU)

Since we were asked to wake up at 7:00 am, we were quite late as we were exhausted by fun & excitement of day before. After having our delicious breakfast, we went for an hour long walk to the nearest hill at 8:15 am. After returning back, we had to pack our bags & walk straight down from where we started our walk day before. Even though many of us tripped & trembled, we reached our bus stop. We loaded our bags & suitcases then we headed back to Kathmandu at 9:10 am.

After few hours, we had our morning lunch at 1:30 pm. All of us were sound asleep where only few of us were busy takingphotos, throwing pranks on others & singing songs. We were literally tired by the travel which took so long time. We nearly travelled for 15 hours by bus. We also went through a river & stopped for a while to view Eagles & Vultures who were playing around near the river bank.

After few hours we reached Malakhu at 6:30 pm were we ate delicious fishes all caught by local fisherman. Most of us bought some of those packed & pre-cooked fishes to take back home. After travelling for so long, we reached Kathmandu at 10:30 am & reached our school at 11:10 pm where our parents & guardians were eagerly waiting for us.

Within these 5 days, we 9^th Graders realized that we are still too young & free to be holding responsibilities of our family. We need to enjoy every single day where money isn’t an issue at all. We need to work it out & realize that experiences hold far more value than money will ever hold. Hustle hard but always remember you only live once & what you take when you die are experience of chances you took & regrets of chances you didn’t take.