Fri, 29 Mar, 2024

Hiking From Sundarijal To Chisopani

By Umang Gurung

The recent hiking event of 20th July, 2014 had 12 participants from the DWIT batch 2017 and one chief coordinator, Amrit Silwal. The hiking club finally organised this hike after postponing it for two weeks. The route was Sundarijal to Chisopani. This was such a difficult route that at the end of the hike, most participants called it the “wildest hike ever”. Also one hiker had difficulty while returning  and had to be supported by two other hikers. The hikers departed from the DWIT premises at 6:30 AM. After buying water bottles, snacks and having a light breakfast at Sundarijal, the hike started at 7:45 AM. The route had a lot of stairs, most of which came at the beginning giving the hikers a difficult but active start. They had to take many breaks along the way.  Everyone started taking photos early on. There was an extensive photo session, both group and solo, at the waterfall in Sundarijal in both the uphill and return trip especially on the big rock adjoining the waterfall. hike #1 The first landmark was a small dam which was the highest point three or four hikers had reached when they had visited the place before. After crossing the dam, the hikers came across settlements where people were doing daily household chores. A school was on the way and it had an interesting quote painted on the side of a building which read “Marriage can wait, Education cannot”. After the settlements came the jungle. The jungle was full of insects taking every chance to bite on any uncovered part of the body. The hikers encountered five or more leeches which were immediately dealt with. The mood was playful with jokes and songs. Everyone was having a good time. Walking deeper and deeper into the jungle, the hikers found a big earthworm. It was almost 9 inches long and 0.7 inches wide. It was the first time any of the hikers had seen such a big earthworm. Three hikers walked faster, leaving the rest behind and reaching Chisopani first. The road was almost 75% uphill but around Chisopani, it moved downhill. The uphill was tiring but the downhill hurt our feet. The rest of the group finally reached Chisopani after 4 hours at 11: 45 AM. They took an hour of rest in a hotel where they had snacks with tea. It started pouring only 10 minutes after they’d reached Chisopani. When the rain abated a little, they resumed their trip back to Sundarijal. Two people shared an umbrella but it wasn’t able to help much on the way. Many were drenched in the rain. The return trip became harder because of the slippery paths even though the rain had stopped after two hours. The road back was downhill and everyone was fatigued which meant the rocky road would be merciless. Legs were shaking and feet were aching but the hikers continued with minimum breaks. It was tough. For the aforementioned hiker, it was too much and only with the help of two very helpful fellow hikers, he was able to make it back to Chisopani. While walking back, they heard that a couple fell into the river by accident and only the guy had survived. The police were searching for the body of the girl who was assumed dead. Everyone felt deeply sorry for the couple who had become another victim of the river. As the driver told them later, many such young people die annually slipping into the river. The exhausted and hungry hikers returned to Sundarijal by 4:00 PM. They ate their meal at a restaurant and then the Deerwalk micro-bus took them back to college. The hikers found the hike to be a memorable one because of the difficulty and the great time they had spent with their friends. It was somewhat of an achievement to have completed it. It was an adventure. They agreed that they would not miss the opportunity to go on such hikes again.