Following Manjushri- Round the Valley in 8 days IV

Day 3: Deurali to Indrasthan

6:00 am – 4:00 pm (Tuesday. April 13, 2010)

47

Without opening your door,

You can open your heart to the world.

Without looking out your window,

You can see the essence of the Tao.

The more you know,

The less you understand.

The Master arrives without leaving,

Sees the light without looking,

Achieves without doing a thing.

The first part of the walk from Deurali to Chandragiri is through well defined and gentle trail. There is a steep final climb that goes through well defined but narrow and overgrown trail near the top. Make sure you are wearing full sleeved shirts as the trail is overgrown with shrubs with thorny leafs. It takes around one and a half hours to get to Chandragiri peak from Deurali. At the time of writing a road was being built to Chandragiri from Chitlang Bhanjyang, a pass with road access to the north-west of the peak.

Shrine at Chandragiri peak possibly of Nava Durga (nine goddesses of power)

A shrine dedicated to Lord Shiva at Chandragiri peak

The under construction road from Chitlang Bhanjyang to Chandragiri peak

Pugmarks of a large leopard on the road

Chitlang Bhanjyang

This area is of historical interest. It is said that King Prithvi Narayan Shah, the unifier of modern Nepal, had come to Makwanpur while still a crown prince to fetch his first wife, Indra Kumari, the princess of Makwanpur. He was however denied to take homes wife after he and the King of Makwanpur Hemkarna Sen had an argument. On his way back to Gorkha, he surveyed the Kathmandu Valley from Chandragiri peak, giving way to a desire to conquer the beautiful valley.

Chitlang Bhanjyang was among the four major passes of medieval Kathamandu, the other three being Baad Bhanjyang (now more commonly known as Nagdhunga Pass), Pati Bhanjyang (10 km north of Sundarijal) and Sanga Bhanyang (to the east along the Arniko Highway). Controlling these four passes was what allowed King Prithvi Narayan Shah to blockade and eventually conquer the Kathmandu Valley.

Currently however there is nothing either in Chandragiri peak or Chitlang Bhanjyang to testify to its historical importance. At Chandragiri peak there is a small shrine dedicated to Lord Shiva and at Chitlang Bhanjyang there are a couple of abandoned huts. Both places, specially Chitlang Bhanjyang offer good places to camp though.

The road through Chitlang Bhanjyang connects Thankot to the north to Chitlang village and then Tribhuwan Highway to the south.

From Chitlang Bhanjyang one has the option to either walk down the dirt road to Thankot village or to take a trail to a small peak to the NNW of Chitlang Bhanjyang and then walk north along the ridge to Nagdhunga Pass.

The dirt road to Thankot passes through good forest and after one and half hours comes to Thankot village. It offers numerous places to eat and replenish supplies as needed.

Thankot from the dirt road to Chitlang

Walking north from Thankot one should come upon the dirt road that goes up to Indrasthan. This road does perfect justice to the word “dirt road”. It is an extremely dry and dusty area and the cactus planted along the road at certain sections only adds to the desert ambience. During windy days and there are many in a pass, one can see the dust from this area travel as far as Kalanki.

A cactus tree on the road to Indrasthan

There is a small pond and some temples at Indrasthan. From Indrasthan it is a short walk up to the flat hill top. At the western end of the top there is the tomb of Kaji Kalu Paade; in the middle there is a telecommunication tower with a small army force and at the eastern end there is a small piece of flat land with a small clump of bamboo. This eastern end is a very good place to camp as it has one of the best views of the Kathmandu Valley below. However, make sure to notify the army camp nearby if you intend to do so.

Gateway to Indrasthan

A stone tablet commemorating Dahachok festival in Visit Nepal Year 1998. (notice the prescription drug vials to the left of the tablet)

The main shrine of Indrasthan being guarded by a sea serpent

The dried pond at Indrasthan

The story as to why Kaji Kalu Paade’s tomb lies here is pretty interesting. He was the top general of King Prithvi Narayan Shah and was a matured statesman who held in check the heedless ambition of the king. After having conquered the area around Kathmandu Valley, the king wanted to invade Kirtipur, a well fortified town atop a hill to the west of Chobhar. Kaji Kalu Paade warned the king that the time wasn’t yet ripe for the invasion. But the king was not only adamant but also brought into question the loyalty and bravery of the kaji. Thus, affronted Kaji Kalu Paade took the lead in the invasion of Kirtipur (1757 A.D.). In the battle that ensued, Prithvi Narayan Shah’s Gorkhali army were utterly routed. The battle also cost the army the life of its commander, Kaji Kalu Paade. As it was his wish to have a tomb from where his homeland Gorkha was visible, the king brought the Kaji’s remains to this hilltop and constructed a tomb for him there.

Kazi Kalu Paade's tomb

View of Nagarjun from Indrasthan (September 2008)

The top of Indrasthan. Bamboo grove campsite to the right. (September 2008)

Binaya and Reshma

View from the hilltop

Dust being swept into the valley from Dahachok

Use your imagination

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Personal Notes:

Start early. Reach Chandragiri (2561m) at around 8. Lot of bushwhacking at the upper stretched and lot of nasty leaf-stings. Very bad trail. A dozered road from here to Chitlang Bhanjyang. Very large pugmark on the road to hitlang. Chitlang all abandoned. Head down to Thankot. First full meal of Dal-Bhat in 3 days. Got there around 11 am. Left at 12 p. Extremely hot day. Climb up to Dahachok was a bitch. Tractor ride. Smiles when we ask for “Kalu paade ko tauko’. NO water in INdra Daha. Kalu Paade’s head memorial pretty well tended. Camped at the eastern edge of the hilltop. Beautiful view of Kathmandu. Very strong winds and a little rainfall. Tent gets all went. Dried and now SLEEPING.

Birds/Animals seen: Pair of Sparrowhawks hunting on swallows hunting on insects from a fire. Buzzzard. Kestrel.

(Dust from Dahachok)

56

Those who know don’t talk.

Those who talk don’t know.

Close you mouth,

Block off your senses,

Blunt your sharpness,

Untie your knots,

Soften your glare,

Settle your dust.

This is the primal identity.

Be like the Tao.

It can’t be approached or withdrawn from,

Benefited or harmed,

Honored or brought into disgrace.

It gives itself up continually.

That is why it endures.

Following Manjushri- Round the Valley in 8 days III

Day 2: Champadevi to Deurali

7:00 am – 5:00 pm (Monday. April 12, 2010)

11

We join spokes in a wheel,

But it is the center hole

That makes the wagon move.

We shape clay into a pot,

But it is the emptiness inside

That holds whatever we want.

We hammer wood for a house,

But it is the inner space

That makes it livable.

We work with being,

But non-being is what we use.

The ridge walk continues from Champadevi. It passes through grassy areas and is an easy walk, until one has to climb Baneshwor Dada (2509m). In the map it is the hill right between Champadevi and Deurali with bare easyern slopes. The climb up to this hill is pretty steep and passes through pine forests. The slope near the top is covered with short grass. The trail (if it can be called one) that goes through this slope has got to be one of the most precarious ones in the trip. It is barely a feet wide strip of slightly yellowed grass on a 70 degree slope. If one falls down this trail, there is nothing to slow the fall for around 40 meters. Having gathered momentum, one either hits the stumps of fallen pine trees or if unlucky passes through scrubs into the even steeper slope down below. If one is careful while walking through this section one will come across a bifurcation that doesn’t seem like one owing to the almost non-existent nature of the trail. The bifurcation is marked by a cut pine tree, whose upper part has been felled downwards from the ridge. There is one trail that goes straight past the tree and another one that turns right. It is the second one that goes down to a patch of cultivation that one can see from this area and is the right trail. It isn’t much of a trail and if you bushwhacking for around 15 minutes should bring you to the patch of cultivation. From here keep strictly north-west and you will pass through two more grassy patches from whereon you continue ridge walking. A moderate climb and a moderate downhill should bring you to stone a chortens and a dried stone gully like trail and will take you straight down to Deurali. There is a small habitation of around half a dozen households in this pass. There are also some shops and places to eat here. You will also see the pylons carrying high voltage electric lines from Kulekhani Hydroelectric project to Kathmandu. There are also the remnants of long defunct Hetauda-Kathmandu ropeway.

Deurali

A more recent addition is the 62 km road from Kathmandu to Hetauda that passes through this pass. This dirtroad is 17 kilometer shorter than the shortest other road to Hetauda. The contractor who constructed the road claims that it takes only two and a half hours to get to Hetauda along this road. If blacktopped it could be the better and quieter option for travelling to Hetauda from Kathmandu. (Places the road goes through: Satungal-Matatirtha-Deurali-Chakhel-Mahalaxmi-Kulekhani-Hetauda)

Either you can stay near the habitation in Deurali or you can climb up the knonll to the west where you shouldn’t have trouble finding a quiet campsite.

Camp at Day 2 on slopes to the west of Deurali

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Personal notes:

Started the day with a pack of biscuits and half a pack of glucose. When we started walking we had half a liter of water left. Was until Deurali until we could get water. Was a nice and easy ridge walk for the first part of the journey. Then it got steeper as we had to climb 2509. The trail right near the top was the scariest trail that I have even been on. It was barely a feet wide slightly yellowish streak of grass on an otherwise greenish pasture sloping at 70 degrees of angle and going down without any obstacle for around 40 meter and then on either pine tree stumps or into the bush thickets on and equally precarious hill side. Saw a partridge (20-25 cm) with whitish cheek and a black face on the way to this hill. The top of the hill had unnavigable wood filled liberally with bush (esp of a kind with leaves having thorns) and creepers. After failing to navigate through the peak we cam back to find another trail marked by a chopped pine tree of around 10 ft with the chopped upper part pointing in the opposite direction to that of the trail. Going down that trail involved a lot of bushwhacking. Fields. Very low on water and very little food. Dai doesn’t feel well. Can’t make it to Deurali for water refill. We get lost in a maze of trails. Come along a bigger one and see a village nearby. Head to it. Madhav Lama’s house. Simpani. Brother pukes. Turns out to be an interesting guy. After reas\ding a story from Devkota’s Katha Sangraha, give the book to his son, Bishal. Gives water and plenty of it even though his family has to walk half an hour to get to the nearest tap which is actually nothing more than a trickle. Get back on trail and reach deurali around 2 pm. Miss a trail which screws up things and the plan to get to Chitlang. Get back to the hill west of deurali and camp there. Morale pretty low at the end. Go to bed without dinner.

Satungal-Matatirtha-Deurali-Chakhel-Mahalaxmi-Kulekhani-Hetauda

62 km. 17 km less than the shortest highway. 2.5 hours to hetauda from Kathmandu.

Animal/bird seen: partridge, a small raptor that flies with a V and flies pretty fast.

73

The Tao is always at ease.

It overcomes without competing,

Answers without speaking a word,

Arrives without being summoned,

Accomplishes without a plan.

Its net covers the whole universe,

And though its meshes are wide,

It doesn’t let a thing slip through.

Following Manjushri- Round the Valley in 8 days II

Day 1: Pharping to Champadevi

1:00 pm – 4:30 pm (Sunday. April 11, 2010)

27

A good traveler has no fixed plans

And is not intent upon arriving.

A good artist lets his intuition

Lead him wherever it wants.

A good scientist has freed himself of concepts

And keeps his mind open to what is.

Thus the Master is available to all people

And doesn’t reject anyone.

He is ready to use all situations

And doesn’t waste anything.

This is called embodying the light.

What is a good man but a bad man’s teacher?

What is a bad man but a good man’s job?

If you don’t understand this, you will get lost,

However intelligent you are.

It is the great secret.

Map of Champadevi Range (Click for a larger image)

The dirt road to Hattiban Resort is off the metalled road to Dakshinkali. It takes around half an hour to get there from Kathmandu by bus and costs Rs. 20 per person. If you look east from where the dirt road starts you can see a huge monastery which is a school for young male monks, the Tashi Gumba. Right next to it is a smaller monastery for female monks, the Ani Gumba. There is a small tea shop at this road head. This is the only place to eat until one gets to Hattiban Resort.

Tashi Gumba (Photo Courtesy Jay Shrestha)

Road to Hattiban

It takes around half an hour to get to Hattiban Resort. There is a fork in the early section of the road. You should take the right one. The snaky road passes all the way through reforested chir pine forest which is very sparse. Be on the lookout for the Indian Hare along this road. Also keep an eye open for raptors. Steppe Eagles roost along the southern section of the Bagmati River in the Kathmandu Valley and hence are frequently seen in the skies above the forest. If you are lucky you might also see the Eurasian Sparrowhawk along the road. Treepies, magpies, tits and other generic birds are also seen in the forest.

The road continues up for some distance from Hattiban Resort passing through campsites to the right. The forest gets a little better as the road turns into a ridge trail. As a matter of fact the entire trail up till Chitlang Pass is a ridge trail. So if anytime you are getting a little too far from the main ridge chances are you are on the wrong trail.

View from trail to Champadevi

Looking south from trail to Champadevi

Taudaha

Wild Iris on the road to Champadevi (June 2008)

View of Kathmandu Valley from the trail to Champadevi (June 2008)

Once you are past the first knoll, you should come across a stone paved trail which was under construction as of April 2010. This trail goes all the way up to Champadevi (2249m). The trail that joins this ridge trail from Khahare (a village to the west of Taudaha) was also being paved. It meets the ridge trail just where the climb to Champadevi starts. The climb to Champadevi gets progressively steeper but isn’t that long. There is a small shrine at the top, a shed slightly to the south of the shrine and an open ground good enough for camping in the ridge to the west of the peak. The entire hike from Pharping to Champadevi took us three and a half hours (carrying around 20kg).

Shrine of Goddess Champadevi

We saw a Peregrine Falcon going about its evening hunt from our campsite below Champadevi.

According to mythology Champadevi is the elder sister of the goddess Dakshinkali. It is also said that one should visit Dakshinkali after visiting Champadevi or else risk anger of the goddess Dakshinkali.

Another legend relates the origin of the entire Champadevi Range that stretches from Pharping to Chitlang. There was once a great drought in the Kathmandu Valley. As the drought showed no sign of abating for year after year, the king was counseled by his astrologers to seek help of the nagas (water serpents). Hence the king brought Karkotak Naga, the king of the nagas, to the Kathmandu Valley. Since the valley lacked a suitable place for the naga to reside in, the king ordered a very deep hole to be dug. This hole filled up once the rain started creating a lake perfect for Karkotak Naga and his treasure. Today this lake is called Taudaha. The mud that was unearthed created what is the Champadevi range now.

Jung Bahadur Rana, the first of the Ranas, is said to have dived into Taudaha to get the treasure of the Karkotak Naga only to give up due to the depth of the lake. Whether such mythological treasures exist there or not, this small lake is definitely a treasure house for waterbirds during the winter months.

Taudaha (Photo Courtesy Jay Shrestha)

Ruddy Shelduck at Taudaha (March 2010)

Eurasian Wigeon (March 2010)

Gadwall (March 2010)

Great Cormorant (March 2010)

Great Cormorant (March 2010)

Great Cormorant (March 2010)

Sunset Over Camp

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Personal notes:

Bad start. Right at the beginning of the road to Hattiban Resort shoe gave up. Was around 10:30 am. Had to go back and change shoes. Ride on the top of the bus was fun. Got back around 1:00pm. Dai was waiting at the fork in the road itself. Was sunny as sunny could be and the bags were as heavy as it could be. Was a bitch. Took an hour to get to the resort with frequent stops. The trail is mostly even until the final climb to Champadei. But still was hard with the backpack. Towards the end I was getting used to the load. The trick is to walk real slow and stop very infrequently. That was what two guys who were working on the road up to Champadevi were doing. They were carrying around 25 liters of water on their backs and were walking evenly. Was good my knees didn’t give me much problem [I had an accident a few days before we left and the wound in my right knees was still recovering]. Camped on a slope to the west of the Champadevi Shrine. Peregrine territory. From the way it was going about it might as well have been hunting swifts. Water shortage. 1 liter of ORS and 1 liter of glucose water is all we have left. And that needs to last till until we get to Chitlang Bhanjyang tomorrow. Need to start real early tomorrow. Met a big time SOB on the way. Asked him how long to Champadevi. Was working on the road. Without even looking up said “Tapaiharulai 3 ghanta lagcha, hamilai nai 1 ghanta lagcha.” Was a good tip in hindsight. Made it in 2 hourswith almost half the time in rest as we were in no hurry.

Had a good fire going for two hours. Went to bed around 8:30. Couldn’t sleep till 10:30. Listening to the jungle sounds at night. The ubiquitous hop---hop-hop-hop [Oriental Cuckoo] and the bark of a barking deer. They sky was allright.

Animals/Birds seen: 2 steppe eagles, an accipiter, peregrine falcon.