Thanks a lot to Kali Dai for bringing me the idea of Rara trek although we couldn’t make it together. This was going to be my second trek of year 2072 and I was already excited. Long vacation from regular duty, visiting Rara Lake and walking around Karnali zone- a less developed region, were on my bucket at the same time. First step towards the trekking is to form a group. I asked Mohan, who was always interested on trekking and we became two from one. Manjul was interested too but his leave was not approved. However, I was positive about Manjul joining us. With Manjul, Binay was also joining us and we were to be 4. I talked with my brothers from Jumla, Bhairab Budha (Junior to me during my overseer on Pokhara) and Prabesh Acharya (Junior to me during my B.E. on Cosmos) to collect more knowledge about locality and trekking routes. We decided to start our trekking on 19th March. We had long discussion and took few days to decide on trekking route and transportation. 

Day 0 – Shopping and Packing

We had already bought the ticket for first flight of Saturday from Kathmandu to Nepalgunj. It was day before trek, but evening shift on office means I had to stay on office till 10:00 p.m. So, I bought Snickers, Pistachio, Oatmeal, Noodles and Chewing gums for trekking before going office. After returning home from Office at 10:30 p.m, I started packing my bags. I almost scratched my cheek while shaving at midnight. It was 12 by the time I finished my preparation.

Day 1 – Kathmandu – Nepalgunj – Surkhet – Patalkhola

Manjul, me and Binay reached airport around 7:15. It was 7:30 when Mohan arrived. It was first flight of Mohan’s life which got 15 minutes delayed, allowing him some more time to get comfortable. We landed Nepalgunj Airport around 9:20. We took Auto-rickshaw from airport to Buspark. We enjoyed the rickshaw ride on hot day with cool air except that my bag’s strap holder was broken. As soon as we got off from rickshaw, we booked micro bus for Surkhet and took lunch nearby Buspark. We couldn’t find replacement for my bag’s strap holder so I made a knot. We travelled from Nepalgunj to Surkhet on FORCE. It was an amazing travel with all of us getting to know each other more.

We reached Surkhet around 2:30 p.m. We asked local for available transport service up to Nangma, Jumla. One easy option for us to reject was, to take private van costing us 32,000. Other option was public bus service. One bus was leaving at 4:30 p.m. on same day but seats were not available and another on 6 a.m. next day. We asked Bus driver and staff to check if they could manage 4 seats for us. They interchanged other seats and provided us tickets for B 1,2,3,4. A huge thanks to them. After purchasing ticket for Nangma, we had some Samosa, Selroti and Chop. Mohan and I bought Beer for us and started our journey with Tuborg. Cheers ! ! ! After 3 hours of travel on narrow road, with some fear and on loud music, we reached Patalkhola on Dailekh district. We came to know that, because of the narrow and tough road, bus are not allowed to travel at night time. So, our first day’s travel was going to end on Patalkhola. Lunch and dinner were getting tastier as we were travelling up. We walked on moon light on road until we scared ourselves by talking about Tiger and Bear we could encounter while trekking. After returning, we slept on room which was available for free with dinner. On first day, we had travelled 4 districts, Kathmandu, Banke, Surkhet and Dailekh.

Day 2 – Patalkhola – Nangma – Manma – Gothijyula

We woke up at 4:30 and completed our daily routines. We left Patalkhola around 5:15 a.m. and continued our travel on same Bus on Karnali Highway. On the way, we had Samosa, Pakoda and Fish from Karnali. Mohan and I had lunch on Dailekh, while Manjul and Binay decided not to have. We were travelling on one side of Karnali river and other side was Achham district. I decided to enjoy the scene and went on to replace Khalasi  for 2 hours.

Soon, we crossed Dailekh and road touched Kalikot district. Start of the Kalikot means start of the dangerous road! Looking at the road and surrounding, we reached Manma Bazar, headquarter of Kalikot district around 1 p.m. Our bus stopped at Manma for some minutes, held by one passenger who went to bank to deposit money for his brother. We called our home and informed we safely reached Manma. The road ahead from Manma bazar was looking scarier. We talked with bus owner how the road ahead was. He told us that it’ll be like helicopter view if we look outside from Bus. Mohan exchanged side with me to avoid the scary scene seen from his side. The view there was really scary because of the height and curves. Manjul and I checked on every turning hoping scary road to end soon. But we were seeing the similar road for long distance. Asked bus owner, how long the scary road was, he answered 3 hours. Then, Manjul exchanged the seats with Binay. Binay and I were on Driver’s side and Mohan and Manjul on Conductor’s side. The scariest of all is when driver speed up Bus on such breathtaking road. Having traveled many mountain districts and many roads, this road from Manma to Bali was 100 times stunning and breathtaking. Hearing the briefing of various accidents occurred on same highway, we reached Nangma Bazar, Jumla. Our original plan was to stay on Nangma and start trekking next day. But, locals suggested us to take bus up to Gothijyula. That means, our original plan started changing. We called Narendra dai on Gothijyula, whose contact number was provided to me by Prabesh, and asked him to arrange hotel and dinner for us. We reached Gothijyula around 8:30 p.m. Warmed our hands and body on woodfire. We asked best route to walk through with Narendra Dai. We took dinner there around 9:00 p.m. Our wish of recharging our electronic gadgets was not fulfilled as hotel only had solar power and charge was almost gone. Before going to bed on wooden house, we all agreed to wake up early and start trekking tomorrow.

Day 3 – Gothijyula – LumKandh – Chuchumara Lek –  Murmu Rara

3rd day of our trip was our 1st day of trekking. Our initial plan was to walk from Nangma to Gothijyula on this day, but now we were going to hike from Gothijyula instead, so we were 1 day ahead of the initial plan. We wanted to start trek at 6 a.m. but it was 6:40 by the time last man, Mohan woke up. We divided Snickers and noodles that I was carrying.  After taking organic tea at hotel, it was 8:15. Locals said that they usually reach Rara on 5 hours and assumed us to reach Rara on the same day as well even we started late. First hour of the trek was easier one. Side by the brook, straight way, and we all agreed on taking 10 minutes break every other hour. After 45 minutes of walk, we were introduced with straight and upward trek. We started searching local trekking pole. On the way, Mohan asked one sister if he could take the stick from her home, she responded on local ancient “Leeu“. And, Mohan was twaaa.  We understood her response after some time and told Mohan that he can take that. Later on, Manjul talked with her and she brought one of the finest trekking pole from home and gave it to Manjul.

We then started vertical walk which would go up to Lum Kandh Lek. I knew, our plan of 10 minutes break on hour of walk was not going to work. I think we took 5 minutes break on every 5 minutes of walk somewhere. To lengthen the walk, Manjul forgot his sleeping bag on one of the stop. Thank God, it was just 10 minutes far. Sooner, Binay’s water bottle could not resist against gravity and was dropped around 100 meter below on the trekking route whose alignment we assumed to be almost 90 degree. There were no footsteps and no trekking route on that mountain, four of us walked on four different ways. Mohan was walking from other side of the mountain. When we almost climbed the mountain, we saw that there was walkable route nearby us which we missed before climbing the mountain. Thank God that none of us fell down.

It was 1:30 by the time we reached Lum Kandh Lek. I called Narendra dai from Lum Kandh Lek and ensured that we were on right place. However, none of us were sure on which way to take from there. Somewhere very far from Lumkandh, we saw herd grazing together. Because it was very far, we couldn’t ensure if there were shepherd too. Assuming that we’ll meet some shepherd there, we decided that I will walk little ahead, meet someone there and asked the way from there. The main trekking route form lumkandh was entirely covered by snow and we made our own footpath on jungle. When I reached closer to the flocks, I shouted loudly and asked if there is someone around. I heard response from a man who was asking me to come where his sheep were grazing. I took rest there for some time waiting Mohan, Binay and Manjul. When I saw Mohan and Binay after few minutes, they were calling Manjul’s name. I thought all three were coming together. They kept on calling out Manjul. There was no response from Manjul. Not at all. Our first guess was he might have caught stomach problem and is on the way. Manjul rarely gets angry. But when he is angry, he is terrible. So, I thought he was angry with us for not waiting him and he stayed somewhere on the trail. Since there was no response from Manjul for a long time, we decided that Binay and I will go back to search and Mohan will stay there to look after our bags. We were afraid he might had altitude sickness or slipped down. We kept on calling him out and looked at the ground with the fear he might have slipped. It was relief when Manjul responded after couple of minutes. He was returning to us. Our guess was right, he had slipped to the snow and wet. Thank God, he was not severely injured. He had some pain on his body which restricted him from walking on our pace later on. We all talked with shepherd that I called out earlier and asked for the detail path up to Rara Lake from that point. It really was a big relief for us to meet him there. We shared some Shivabuti that we had with him and gave him some money for helping us. There was an hour of trail which was easier. Then, we should climb another mountain called Chuchumare lek. There are no hotels, home or any shelter on the route that we chose. So, we were eating only Snickers and Noodles. Our water bottles were already empty and we had very less energy left with us. Binay and I were walking some distance ahead of Mohan and Manjul. Binay and my plan was to have camping at Chuchumare top. We were planning to melt snow and cook noodles on that and spend the night on Chuchumare top. We were already eating snow to quench our thirst. Our wish was to see some snow on the path with clear weather. God gave us more than what we asked him. We had a perfect sunny day, and snow everywhere. When we reached top of Chuchumare lek, it was 5:15. It was 5:45 by the time Manjul reached there. The wind at the top was unbearable. All you could see around was snow. We took some warm clothes, put gloves on and decided to walk up to Majighatta as it was not favorable for us to camp there.

There was so much of snow around us and entire trekking path was covered by snow of around 1 meter thick. We had very less energy left with us and nobody thought about playing with snow. We just kept on walking over the thick layer of snow and captured some snaps there. It was dark by the time we started walking downhill from Chuchumare top to Majighatta on snow trail inside Jungle. Thank that it was a day before full moon. I’d taken contact number of Army person on Rara National park. I called him and asked how long would it take for us to reach Majighatta, village near by Rara lake. His response was 2 hours. I thought we’d take 4 hours at least with heavy bags, low visibility, and tired body and without rice from last 24 hours. Manjul was good on walking downhill. So, Manjul and I walked ahead with brighter light with the responsibility of identifying the trail. Many times, we thanked Mother Nature for that snow on our trail as footsteps on snow helped us decide the path. No noise, no-one around, no lights around, no sign of living around, we just kept on walking on jungle on night. I beg pardon to Mohan for not taking enough rest on this trail. I think his leg was cramped. I am sorry Mohan. After an hours of walk, we reached an area where there were very few trees. As soon as we thought we completed jungle and are close to the village, trail lead us to another jungle. We just kept on walking on night. We were giving rating to each trekking day. When asked what would be the rating for this day, everyone said it would depend on whether we’ll get some rice or not. There was no doubt for all the rating to be 10/10 if we’d get a chance for dinner. Binay was on 9.5 I believe. We all became happy when we heard a dog barking from long distance. I had never valued a dog barking like this in my entire life. Many times this happened: something that looked like rooftop from distance was just a snow when we reached close. After many such confusion with snow layer, we saw some light around 9:00 P.M from a hut. I went there and talked with people there. They said that we were close to hotel. What a happiness, what a relief! We walked sometime and saw small cottages. Again, asking guys to rest on the way, I rushed to check if there was anyone. Knocked all the doors, shouted “Dai”, “Didi”. As there was no response from two of the houses there, we were upset again. As soon as we decided to move ahead, I heard a female voice coming. I asked her if she could cook for us. Though she’d already slept, she agreed to cook for us. We all sat around fire stove when our food was being prepared. Dinner was yummy. Mohan and I had 3 plates of rice. We were not in the mood of camping on this day either because of tiredness. She showed us a room nearby the kitchen which also had a charging box! One of the happiness on trekking is to get a chance to charge your gadgets. I put my mobile and Camera on charge. I massaged my body with Ajwain oil. Just like other days, plan for tomorrow was to wake up early. This was one of the best day of the trekking where we had so many hell of experience.

Day 4 – Murmu Rara – Rara – Rara

One thing I learned on this trek is, waking up others is really a tough job. Throughout the trek, I always woke up first. Manjul and Binay were ahead of 4th placed die-hard Arsenal fan Mohan :). After we woke up, we took double cup of herbal tea each. Best thing about Karnali is herbal tea. It is tastier than herbal tea we take on cities. At 8:00 a.m., we started chasing Rara. After walking for half an hour, we reached where were destined to. Having visited Phewa Lake and Begnas Lake many times, I thought Rara is also like them but bigger one. But, no, Rara is completely different! What a beauty! What a place! I was completely amazed and speechless. As soon as we reached closer to the lake, we put our bag aside, rushed to touch the purest Rara. We then took snaps, videos and enjoyed the beauty of beautiful Rara. There is a walking path around Rake to reach up to Danphe hotel, only hotel closer to the lake. We were in no mood of going far from Rara, so we walked along shoreline for 15 more minutes. As soon as we reached hotel, we ordered 4 lunch sets. Some of the seniors visiting from Kathmandu suggested us to take boat before lunch. Normally boating is allowed in 9-12 on morning in Rara. After 12, waves on Rara are strong and it can be risky to boat. Officer on National park wrote letter to Nepal Army requesting them to provide boating service to us. There is only one boat that Nepal Army row and take you for 10 minutes trip on Rara for free of service. After boating, we returned to hotel for lunch. We decided to setup tent as it might be late and dark when we return after taking full round of Rara. So, we started setting up tent. Binay engineered tent setup and we worked on. As soon as, tent was setup, I entered inside the tent. I still remember that view from tent’s side wall towards beautiful Rara. I wish my house was right there where we setup tent. I bet you’ll wish the same. Waking up with Rara and sleeping with Rara. Just imagine! While I was lost on imagination, I heard someone talking with us outside. He was the same person that we wondered couple of minutes ago. We were wondering because he was around fifty and in simple dress but was carrying Canon 70D. He introduced himself as journalist of Nepal Television and was asking if anyone of us can talk bit about Rara. I was inside tent, Mohan, Manjul and Binay were suggesting each other’s names before they suggested my name. I agreed and came out of the tent. I didn’t really believe he was NTV journalist.

He asked me to hold dummy NTV mic and told that, everything will be managed from his 70D. Though I didn’t really believe it will be broadcasted on NTV, I explained something about Rara. I don’t know what I spoke. At last, he told that footage shall be broadcasted on following day’s NTV news.

After setting up tent, we planned to take a round visit of Rara after a short rest. It was a Sunny day and we were feeling lazy to start walking, although our inner desire was to view RARA from every angle. We ordered Tea and discussed about taking porter on return trek. While everyone else agreed, I really didn’t like this idea. I thought, it might not feel like real trekking without trekking bag on back. Anyway, I agreed on hiring porter. I asked if we can stay one more day on Rara. Manjul and Binay agreed while Mohan didn’t. I tried to convince Mohan but couldn’t. Then, we started walking shoreline around Rara. We were mesmerized on every steps, on every single scene we see of Rara. After walking for half an hour, I felt like walking on beach of some ocean. There were waves from Rara and I liked how they touched me and returned back to Rara! We played with waves for a while. Everyone took snaps and video. Later, we decided not to walk from shoreline but walk faster on regular path if we were to complete the round around Rara. On every step, you want to stay there and watch Rara, but, we kept on walking on as our target to complete one round to Rara (around 16k.m.) on same day. There was snow on many places of the walking trail. At one place, Mohan and I had a racing competition over snow without slipper/shoes, which I easily won. Because it was sunny while we started, all of us were on half pants and T-shirt. After 3, we started regretting on coming on half pants and T-shirts. As we kept on walking, Strong and cold wind was hitting us. Rara is bigger than what you just see with your eyes. You realize it only when you walk around. An area of lake that appears 5 minutes to you take 15 to 20 minutes to reach there. Regardless of wind and cold weather, we kept on walking looking at the beautiful Rara. We finally completed round of Rara around 6:30 p.m. It took us more than 5 hour to round Rara walking on faster pace. After having one full round of Rara, only thing I have to say is, Rara is beautiful from every angle. You’d love every step you walk around Rara.

We were happy walkers when we reached hotel around 7:00 p.m. There were new guests who arrived from Kathmandu on hotel with whom we shared some information on trekking route. We listened to classical Nepali and Hindi songs from my playlist enjoying full moon and beautiful Rara. Mohan couldn’t enjoy this one as much as we did. I wished, CDMA phone was off so that Mohan would also be with us there all the time. We had dinner around 9:00 p.m. We had planned to taste local apple wine but because Mohan and I were already knocked out with something stronger, we decided not to take that one. It was an awesome evening; Rara, full moon, clear sky, classical songs, good friends, Manjul singing songs for us and we somewhat jhyap. We had everything that we wished on this day.

Day 5 – Rara – Jhyari Lek – Ghuchchhi Lek – Bhulbhule – Chautha

My First stay under tent and sleep inside sleeping bag was a nice experience. Rara on side by tent was making it more awesome. As soon as we woke up, we looked at Rara and started walking around Rara again. We were waiting to see sunrise on Rara Lake. Every moment of day and night, Rara is different, beautiful and gives peace and relaxation to your mind. After watching Rara’s beauty and capturing some sunshine on Rara, we returned back to hotel. Porters we hired were promised to be on hotel by 6:30 a.m. But, they were not there until it was 8:00. At one time, we had thought on our mind that we’ll have to carry our bag, tent and sleeping bag once again. Hotel staff was going towards village, we asked him to send our porters to hotel or find new one. When he was leaving, two men were coming towards us, they were our porters there. Everyone happy, including me. We needed to bargain with our porters for the money that was agreed yesterday. They even refused to go at one moment. We needed them and we hiked the payment that was agreed upon. Our planned time of walking earlier on the day changed and we decided to take lunch there. It was 10:30 by the time we left hotel. Walking on side of Rara, we were bidding farewell to Rara.

Rara was looking even more beautiful than we saw her over last 24 hours and all we could do is just mesmerize. As we were walking towards our destination, we were slowly leaving Rara. We were deeply attached with the beauty and calmness of Rara in 24 hours. We all started singing many songs like we were getting departed with the loved one. After walking 1 hour around Rara, it was time to finally bid farewell to Rara. We all promised to come back again and stay more time with Rara. We increased our pace and kept on walking looking at the mountain and forests. Mohan was scared by Dog where Mohan’s response was, “Oh! Wait! It’s not me you are targeting!” Porters were way ahead of us and we were following them. We were taking less rest and were walking on pace than Day 3. It is straight upward from Jhyari Pina village to Ghuchchhi Lek on a dense pine jungle. It was 4:30 when we reached top of Ghuchchhi. We were told that Chautha is not so far from there. We started walking downward from Ghuchchi. Nearby Ghuchchhi is Bhulbhule where there is Army camp. Army inquired us and then provided us water to drink.

After walking two more hours from Bhulbhule, we reached Chautha around 7:30 p.m. Chautha is a small village consisting of 10-12 houselholds. Chautha has its own hydropower which also supplies electricity to nearby villages. Porters and I were 15 minutes ahead of other guys. We walked faster so that guys behind us also could walk faster. At one home cum hotel, we asked if they would provide us shelter. They were cooking nettle (sisno) for dinner. We put our bags on room, became fresh and plugged our devices on charge. We went down to the kitchen to get warm from wood fire. GOSH! there was television there with DishHome. Manjul quickly searched for sports channel if there were any game of our interest were being telecasted. Santosh, son of that house told, ‘Suddo le sports channel sab faank pardiyo’. He was angry with his dad for removing sports channel and only recharging cable for home package.

We were feeling like watching TV after years. We read the scrolling news on all the channel. After reading scrolling news, we started watching Nepal Television. Sooner after we started watching NTV, GOSH! There was reporting of Rara Lake. Camera man had captured us while we were setting up tent, while we were carrying our bags and all. And, ultimately my interview about Rara lake as well. I don’t really know what I spoke about Rara. I was actually excited to see myself on NTV. Everyone agreed that carrying tent and sleeping bag was worthwhile after that coverage on NTV 8:00 P.M. news. We were told that, Kabiraj Karki, that old man who captured our moments was one of the powerful journalist around Mugu and Karnali. We didn’t believe yesterday that he was really sending that footage to NTV and today, we were seeing ourselves on NTV. Anyway, this was really exciting.

The night on Chautha was getting really good and entertaining. Santosh was talking more and more. He likes to call himself ‘Bale’ of NTV’s popular comedy serial ‘Bhadragol’. Santosh is really a funny guy and clever one as well. He brought a fruit that we’d never seen and asked us to guess its name. It looked like taro (पिंडालु), it often looked like potato, and sometimes like sweet potato. Dinner on Chautha was one of the best food we had on our Rara trek. There were more varieties as well. Santosh gave that potato like fruit too. It was really tasty, we all asked to give us some more. Later we knew that its name was ‘Ground Apple’. On Chautha dinner, we got a chance to taste two new things on our life, nettle and ground apple. Santosh’s talk continued even after dinner, we kept on listening to him. Another awesome day on trekking and we went to bed.

Day 6 – Chautha – Neurighat – Khali – Danphe Lagna – Chyare – Khalanga

I woke up at 5:30, went bathroom and then woke up Manjul and Binay. I warned them to keep singing on while on restroom as there was no lock from inside in restroom. We paid our bill which was 1,210, bought 3 kg of Ground apple to take home and started walking at 6:30 without even having a tea. Our target was to have tea and breakfast at Neurighat. We reached Neurighat at 9:00 a.m. We ordered tea and cookies there. Our porters only had single cup of tea. Binay had two cup. Manjul, Mohan and I had 11 cup of tea together. The Danphe Lagna height, our walk from Neurighat was the most awaited and most talked walk of the Rara trek by locals. We didn’t find this as difficult and as hard as Chuchumare Lek, maybe because we were not carrying our bags. We reached Danphe Lagna top around mid-day. Most of the walking road was covered by snow and water that was just starting to melt from snow. We took another cheaper and tasty lunch at Danphe Lagna. For 6 of us, it cost us only around 700! I really did not like the rate charged by people on Karnali. It is too less than what they should be charging. I think, they must be develop some business skills in order to improve their living standard. Karnali is not developed as compared to other hilly region of Nepal and people here must work hard to earn their living. After lunch and rest at Danphe lagna, we started walking again. We were now chasing Khalanga. After half an hour of walk, we saw an amazing view of Khalanga valley. Khalanga was too far from us but it was looking awesome. Binay actually liked it as much as he liked Rara. We were on top of the mountain and we had to reach Khalanga bazar through Chyare. Chyare is very big ground on the way from Danphe Lagna to Khalanga. Main attraction of this top of Chyare, especially for those who are returning from Rara is, there is mobile network! Everyone including me got engaged on phone for long time calling near and dear ones. My biggest fear before the trek was my ankle injury which I had got during futsal game. Thankfully, that didn’t reoccur. But, yes during walk from Chyare to Khalanga, I had my ankle twisted 3 times.

Before Sunset, we reached Jumla Khalanga, also known as Chandan Nath. Khalanga was bigger and more developed than what I had imagined. I think, Jumla is as much or more developed than Parbat district, where I was raised. Jumla khalanga is bigger and developed than Kushma, headquarter of Parbat district. When we reached Khalanga, we booked air-ticket for next day’s flight to Nepalgunj. They said flight time is not fixed from Jumla to Nepalgunjg as it depends on weather of other Karnali district and Jumla itself. There is a single plane and its flight turn of Jumla-Nepalgunj comes only after Nepalgunj-Humla, Nepalgunj-Dolpa and Nepalgunj-Mugu flights. After recent plane crashes, single engine plane were banned and there were only two choice from Jumla to Nepalgung; Tara Air and Nepal Airlines. Only Tara Air provides daily flight to Nepalgunj from Jumla. After booking ticket, Mohan confirmed Shrestha Hotel near by airport, which was suggested by his friends on Pulchowk. Our porters also stayed with us there and were returning tomorrow morning to their home. At hotel, all of us took first bath of the trek. We had last chance of testing local apple brandy wine and asked if hotel had one. Because it has 41% alcohol, it wasn’t wine and we decided not to drink. All of our remaining foods were divided and we packed the bag.

Day 7 – Khalanga – Nepalgunj – Kathmandu

We all woke up in no hurry this day. Around 8, we left hotel to visit Khalanga bazar. Last night’s dinner on hotel wasn’t good one so, we decided to have lunch on other restaurant. We visited Chandan Nath Temple and Bhairab Nath Temple at first. Then, we searched hotel for lunch. We ordered 3 lunch for us and sat for breakfast on hotel nearby Chandan Nath mandir. At first, we ordered a plate of Aalu Chop and tea for us. Aalu chop was really tasty and I think, we ordered 4 more times. After breakfast, we went for lunch. It was somewhat better than yesterday’s dinner. Manjul had fruit platter.

After lunch, we returned to hotel room and waited for plane. After a long wait, finally we saw plane coming to Khalanga airport around 2 p.m. It wasn’t hard for us to guess that this was the plane we’ll return to Nepalgunj. After 10 minutes of plane’s landing, check-in started and we got into the plane. Plane’s seat were not so comfortable. Manjul had grabbed a first seat behind one pilot. I got seat behind another pilot. Manjul and I were wondering looking at all those control box. Pilots started the plane, we tried to observe every activities our pilot was doing. I remembered god as soon as plane left the ground. As plane was taking height, our heartbeat was taking height too. Probably airhostess noticed that Manjul and I were looking at cockpit, she closed the curtain behind the pilot. I never imagined to see cockpit view from so close. Our heartbeat was stopped for a while when the visibility was none outside the plane. I was afraid when I saw pilot reading Himalayan Time’s TGIF edition on such a less visibility. After 35 minutes of adventures flight, which was like a mountain flight, we safely landed to Nepalgunj airport. We took the autorickshaw from airport to Buspark. When we saw Bus that we had booked from phone, we wanted to cancel that. We were surrounded by so many bus staffs that kept us on confusion and dilemma on choosing right bus to Kathmandu. After long talk and bargain, we decided to return on Sundar A/C Bus. Our Bus was leaving at 6:00 p.m. and we had 2 hours until then. We wanted to have some Mo:Mo and Chowmien, so we went to Hotel Siddhartha on rickshaw. We had Mo:Mo and various delicious foods there. We waited our bus outside Siddhartha hotel. Within 10 minutes, our bus arrived and we got into bus. Seats were comfortable and we enjoyed the return trip to Kathmandu.

Day 8 – Kathmandu

Rest, Rest and more Rest.

At last, it is not possible to describe the beauty of Rara on words or Photo. I suggest you to visit Rara at least once in your life. The trekking route we chose was the most difficult one and there are many easier way to reach Rara. We chose to follow the difficult one, you shouldn’t. Rara national park has allocated area for camping if you want. Danphe hotel is capable of handling enough guests so you shouldn’t really worry about carrying your own tent and sleeping bags. In case hotel is pack, there are enough homestay and hotels just 20 minutes away from Rara at Murmurara and Majighatta. I’ll write all the possible routes that lead up to Rara on my next blog. Once is not enough, I will again visit Rara with my family.