In the Land of Mountains
By: Panu Konenen
The world is full of beautiful
landscapes, but there is only one
Nepal. Welcome to the cultural trail
of Kathmandu Valley.
Expats who have lived for a longer
time in Kathmandu know that one has
to get out of the city every once in
a while. Polluted air in the city
takes literally your breath away.
Fresh air can be found from the rims
of the valley, and after concrete
jungle you will find yourself in the
midst of really beautiful nature.
And what’s best, it is less than
hour’s drive away.
Nepal is famous for its Mt. Everest
and other snow-capped peaks. The
country is full of awesome trekking
trails. Unfortunately, from the
point of view of Kathmandu, most of
them are far away, not easily
accessible and time consuming,
especially if one wants to trek in
high altitude; lots of time will be
needed to acclimatize.
So to speak, for a Kathmandu dweller
a 15-day trek is not feasible.
Fortunately, there are other options
for outdoor-enthusiastic in the
capital: The Kathmandu Valley
Cultural Trail.
Only 30-minute drive from the busy
streets of Kathmandu lays Sundarijal,
water shed, where Kathmandu gets its
drinking water. Sundarijal means
pure, holy water, and although the
water in the stream looks drinkable,
it is not. Local’s bellies can take
anything, but westerner will find
himself from the hospital.
Sundarijal is the starting point for
the 80-kilometer and 5-day trek,
which takes travelers through some
of the best natural and cultural
tourist destinations of Kathmandu
valley. The trail is not very well
known, but with the help of
villagers’ advices and a decent map,
it’s easily managed without a guide.
Although a good guide can give your
trip some added value. Whether you
choose to take a guided trek or not,
the most important thing is that you
should never trek alone.
What is nice about the Kathmandu
Valley Cultural Trail is that you
don’t need to take all your trekking
gears with you, because along the
trail there are lots of cheap lodges
and restaurants. Good pair of shoes,
extra clothes, first aid kit,
sleeping pack, flashlight and your
personal staff, like mobile phone,
medicines and money, are only
needed.
Stone steps lead trekkers from
Sundarijal to Shivapuri National
Park. Shivapuri is one of the nine
national parks in Nepal founded in
2002 to protect valley’s water
resources. Park is also home for 177
species of birds, orchids, and even
leopards and bears. The entrance fee
for foreigners is 250 Rupees and 10
Rupees for Nepalese.
One of the biggest difference
between Nepalese national parks and
their equivalents, let’s say, in
most of the Western countries, is
that in Nepal you will find more
life from the parks – and it is not
only wildlife. From Nepalese
national park you’ll find villages,
businesses, restaurants and lodges.
People living in a conservation area
are not necessary a bad think,
although the damages are easily
seen: littering and illegal
forestry. First of all, it is
fascinating to see the life of
villagers. Chickens are running
around, traditionally dressed women
are washing laundry and young girls
are carrying water jars or sticks on
their back. It feels like someone
has turned the clock hundred years
back; then suddenly a porter shows
up with a big television on his
back. The basic facilities of modern
era are slowly finding their way to
the rural Nepal.
Secondly, when trekking in a dwelled
national park, one doesn’t need to
carry a huge backpack with tent and
everything. Inexpensive lodges and
restaurants will keep the trekker on
the trail.
The first village on the trail is
Mulkharka. The village spreads
alongside the trail and it is build
traditionally: The walls are made of
stones and mud, and roofs are
thatched; quite idyllic actually.
Some of the houses have a small
attached kiosk, where you can buy
soft drinks and snacks – also hard
drinks are available, which is one
of those special features of
Nepalese national parks.
There is also one restaurant in
Mulkharka. Menu is somewhat small –
similar with other village
restaurants in rural Nepal – you can
choose between daal baath (rice,
lentils, fried veggies and egg) and
chew mein (fried noodles). These
dishes are vegetarian. If you are a
meat-lover you can get a whole
chicken for only 400 Rupees, but
prepare to wait for an hour or so,
because the chef has to fleece the
chicken first.
The food served in village
restaurants is usually fresh, since
there are no refrigerators. It still
wise to remember the old colonial
saying: If you can boil it, peal it
or fry it, it is safe to eat.
The highest spot on the trail,
Borlang Bhangjang (2420 m), is also
in the Shivapuri National Park. The
starting point in Sundarijal is in
the 1460 m, so during the first
hours of the trek one has to climb
almost one kilometer. The first
trekking day ends in Chisapani after
16-kilometer walk. The trail
branches out from here to Helambu
trekking area and Nagarkot. On a
clear day the landscape is awesome:
on the left hand side you’ll see the
Annapurna massive, on the right hand
side dozens of other Himalayan
peaks.
Chisapani is also a great place for
mountain watching even outside the
season (the best time to see the
mountains is from October to
November), because it rains a lot
there. Usually the rain, on its way
to Kathmandu, comes down in
Chisapani, and next morning the
snow-caps are visible from your
hotel room’s window. It’s an
incredible vow-effect.
Chisapani offers few small lodges,
which are all similar, clean, simple
and inexpensive. You can get a room
for 300 Rupees and down stair
restaurants have amazingly vast menu
– Including pizzas, pastas and
burgers – especially when you take
into consideration that kitchens are
not equipped with ovens and
refrigerators and the nearest
supermarket is kilometers away.
During the last few years many rural
paths have been remodeled into
motorable dirt roads. The most
famous case is from the Annapurna
Circuit, where the final 5-day part
of the trail, from Jomson back to
Pokhara, was turned into a motorable
road. Because of that many trekkers
have chosen to flight from Jomson
back to Kathmandu: Trekking with
vehicles, although only little in
number is not what nature lovers are
looking for.
However, motorable dirt roads bring
rest of the world closer to
villagers. Visitor should place
themselves in the position of
villagers: Would you be ready to
walk for hours and hours to visit
your relatives in the city?
The second day’s route, 24-kilometer
trail from Chisapani to Nagarkot, is
mostly motorable dirt road. For the
first few hours it doesn’t bother,
because there is no traffic in the
national park and lush jungle and
snow capped Himalayas will keep your
senses occupied. Nevertheless, after
Shivapuri the trail takes you to
Chauki Bhanjyang, where few
motorbikes and local buses are
little bit distracting.
There is a good place to have a
lunch in the village. Buddha Hotel
has also few rooms, where you can
rest while waiting for your daal
baaht to be ready.
Water is a question of conscience
when trekking in a developing
country. Bottled water is safe, but
after you have squelched your thirst
you will end up with an empty,
environmentally unfriendly piece of
plastic waste. Using purifying
tablets to treat your drinking water
is recommended, but at the same time
many will find the use of tablets
inconvenient. On the Kathmandu
Valley Cultural Trail you will find
both fountains and kiosks where you
can refill.
Nagarkot is a good place to finish
the second day. Nagarkot is a
touristy hill station in 2175 m.
Nagarkot is considered to be the
best place in Kathmandu valley for
mountain watching. The best season
for that purpose is from October to
March. During the monsoon season,
from June to September, one will
need a Christmas miracle to see even
a glimpse of the mountains.
In Nagarkot you can choose your
accommodation from cheap guest
houses to affordable 5-star hotel.
Nagarkot is a one-night stand. Near
the village centre there is a
military camp, which has resulted in
Nagarkot to never become a
traditional town: Hotels are
scattered around the main road. If
you still have urge for hiking after
the long day of walking, around four
kilometer from the village lays a
view point, which offers a nice 360°
view to the Himalayas. The view
point is easy to find, just follow
the paved main road to the top of
the hill.
If you want to stay another night in
Nagarkot, there are nice day-walks
to nearby destinations, for example
to the beautiful temple of Changu
Narayan.
The next morning offers around
25-kilometer walk from hill to hill.
This day’s destination is Dhulikhel,
an authentic Newari town and the
next best place for mountain
watching in the valley. Newaries are
the biggest tribe of Kathmandu
valley. These excellent merchants
and farmers form almost half of the
2-million population of the valley.
Newari language is one of the
world’s most difficult languages. It
is tonal language and it varies
totally from Nepalese and Hindi. The
valley’s three UNESCO World Heritage
Sites, Kathmandu’s, Patan’s and
Bhaktapur’s durbar squares are all
built by Newari people.
The trail from Nagarkot to Dhulikhel
is yet to be established, so you
need to be careful not to choose the
wrong trail and ask help as often
you can. From Nagarkot there are
also trails to Nala, Banepa and,
even, Kathmandu. The trail to
Dhulikhel starts after Club Himalaya
hotel. For the first 2 kilometers it
is a small path, which joins the
main tail in Baluwa Pati, nearby the
village of Rohini Bhanjyang.
In Rohini Bhanjyang you choose the
trail on the left hand side. After
one kilometer walk, on the right
hand side, there is a small path,
which takes you through the jungle
and the village of Kankre to Tanchok.
Check from all the by-passers that
you are still in direction. The path
descends heavily here, so leaving
your best hiking boots home will
make you curse the decision here.
From Tanchok the trail continues to
Opi. Alongside the trail there are
several farm houses, which offer you
a change to see how centuries old
farming methods are still in use.
From Opi there is still a
5-kilometer walk trough terrace
fields and jungles to Dhulikhel. The
path ends near the Himalayan Horizon
hotel, 500 meters from the Dhulikhel
bus park.
There are many hotels and resorts in
Dhulikhel – the price range is wide,
from killing cheap to affordable
luxury. One of the most interesting
resorts in the area is Dhulikhel
Mountain Resort, 4 kilometers north
from the town centre, which has been
a pioneer in sustainable tourism in
Nepal since 1981. Traditionally
built resort has, for instance, a
cultural show for its visitors,
performed by underprivileged dalit
caste youth from nearby village. The
caste is still an issue in Nepal, so
conscience visitor should support
businesses that have a clear policy
to develop the position of
underprivileged castes.
If you don’t want to continue on
trekking, Dhulikhel is also a great
place for white water rafting. One
of the best rafting rivers in Asia,
Bhote Kosi, is only hour’s drive
away. Contact your hotel for more
information.
The fourth day is nice and easy
12-kilometer trek from Dhulikhel via
Namobuddha to Phaltali. Namobuddha
is a popular destination for Tibetan
pilgrims, because, according to the
legend, Buddha saw a starving tiger
family there and in his compassion
offered himself for them to be
consumed. A stupa, a Buddhist
sanctuary, was built to mark the
legend.
Around the stupa you can find small
shops, which all are offering the
same basic lunch, daal bhaat. A
steep 10-minute walk from the stupa
takes you to the Buddhist monastery
of Tangho.
(Here: Something about Phaltali!)
The ending point of the trail is in
Panauti. The town is in short of
accommodation, but there is plenty
to see. Panauti has one of the
oldest temples in Nepal, Indreshwar
Mahadev from the end of the 13th
century. It has been rebuilt twice,
on 15th century and 1990’s after
devastating earthquake in 1989.
One can overnight in Panauti, but
the accommodation options are few
and town itself is dirty and
somewhat dull, so it is recommended
to take a public bus back to
Kathmandu. The drive is short unless
the traffic jams nearby the
Thribuvan international airport. If
that happens prepare to wait an hour
or so and stay cool – you are on
holiday, remember? |
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