Hi dear Hive community,
Finally it was time to leave our friends in Bhairahawa, close to Lumbini even they did not wanted us to go. After hundred time convincing our friends we were finally able to start hitchhiking again. We were very late and started only when it was already 12 o'clock. From Butwal we started walking to get a little bit out of the town. The first car stopped and we were on the right path to our next destination - Gorkha.
Gorkha is a place located in-between Kathmandu and Pokhara and it's famous because the king who united Nepal was born there.
Still we had quite a journey ahead of us as the 200 km will take more than 8 hours of traveling. After two rides and even one in the back of a truck, we reached in the evening to Chitwan. Here people usually visit the famous Chitwan national park with single horn rhinos which are only found in Nepal. We had a big choice of hotels and 5 star locations but as we were exhausted from the travels we sadly found the worst hotel in the area.
We will not get into details but it was dirty and loud with hundreds of mosquitos.
Our next day started early in the morning, the night was horrible and we didn’t get our quality rest. To be honest we were both just waiting for the sun to come out to leave the Cithwan and reach Gorkha.
On the way before starting hitchhiking to Gorkha, we stopped at a local bakery. We got some chai, samosas and buns filled with vegetables and cheese for the way ahead. The owner of the shop explained their way of baking - no eggs and some typical sweets made only from milk. He was very kind explaining us how they make things and gave as to try this famous milk sweets. All what they have tasted really amazing, the milk sweets tastes even a little bit to caramel.
We started to walk and very soon a medical engineer named Sandeep stopped to give us a ride. After an hour we reached the junction Aanbu Khaireni and our driver had to travel further to Pokhara. For lunch we spotted a beautiful place across a river where we sat down next to the river bank. Here we had our veggie buns with cheese. Sitting there and watching the river, we realized how much trash is lying everywhere around and floating in the river. This made us really sad, to see the irresponsablity of the people.
To reach Gorkha which was still 26 kilometers away, we took a local bus. We noticed there was not much traffic going up.
The bus was crowded and full of people. Tamara after some time got a seat next to a lady called Sonu. Quickly we became friends and she invited us to stay with her. There we put a tent on the rooftop with amazing view on the city and valley. Her family is a joined family, therefore it counts many members. They were all very welcoming and friendly, asking us to join them in the evening for a special celebration.
Gorkha is a big mountain town of around 50,000 people on 1500 meters with a view on the skyline of the mighty Himalayas. For Nepal it’s a very important place as here was born the king Prithvi Nārāyan Shah, who united the three smaller kingdoms into the independent country of Nepal which we know as today. During his expansion of his kingdom, he was no able to conquer places more south as the powerful East Indian company prevailed.
Excited to see the place we went through forests and steep steps. On the way we observed different plants and flowers. The most special one we found was a gigantic people tree. The air in the area was very good and we felt a lot of positive energy. Every now and then we discovered smaller temples in the forest. On top of the hill there was ancient temple called Gorkha Durbar with a lot of wood carvings and countless monkeys. There was a ceremony in a cave like small temple under a big rock. There were many people joining and enjoying the amazing views.
After the blessing we remembered that our hosts and new friends mentioned, to come back early. They were waiting for us to prepare us a delicious dinner. After that, a group of around 20 woman of all age came to the rooftop where they were singing and dancing. It’s an old tradition in the days of festivals. On top of that there were also other dance groups in the main squares. We had an amazing day full of happiness and enjoyment!
Before we went to sleep we planned to see the sunrise at the next more so we put the alarm at 5:30 to go up again and enjoy the beauty for the Himalayas. In the cold early morning we left and it was and unforgettable experience.
With the mountains and all was perfect.
We were just wanting to come back the next time to Nepal and spend more time trekking this giants.
Thank you for reading. Wish you a good day!