Masters Sikles (Che-leh) Trip - 1st Excursion - 2016 DEC 14-17

About Sikles

Sikles, a nature boomed place, lies at an altitude of about 2000m above sea level. It is one of the largest Gurung villages in Nepal housing about 700 households with about approx 2500 residents. It lies in north-east of Kaski district beneath Lamjung Himal and Annapurna II, the eastern border of Namarjung VDC, south of Sildujure VDC, and west of Sardikhola VDC. The locals call their village ‘Chili’, a derivate of the Gurung word ‘Che-Leh’. which means ‘flat pasture’. The Gurungs, who were primarily agro-pastoralists, who settled here, must have chosen the area as relatively flat. Sikles is popular for its well maintained ritualistic flair of traditional Gurung village. Village lanes are narrow and flanked by stone and mud houses traditionally grouped in a ribbon pattern. In the past, houses were roofed by pine planks, which are now slowly being replaced by slate stone and more recently by corrugated iron sheets. Most houses are two-storied with the upper floor mainly used as a granary and the ground floor left for kitchen and family living. Additional small houses called Tharpa are used for sleeping and downstairs for cattle. This village has its own micro-hydro plant of 100kw since 1995.

Sikles consists of 5 neighborhoods i.e. Sarva, Kongi, Harpu Lama, Dharpang, and Gairi Thar. Sarva Thar decides the dates to initiate different matters including the beginning of agriculture, different villages leveled rituals and a seasonal rotation of cattle.

Motive: Educational tour for RD faculty, Master level of BMC.

Tour coordinator: Bhaktapur Hospitality & Tourism Training Center.

Trip: 2016 Dec 14-17

Members

Subash, Sanjay, Sabin, Salik, Bikash, Rohan, Dhurba, Susila, Nila, Binita, Sangit, Roji

Personal Trip Dairy

This was my first trip which I was going to escort for the first time ever. Here, my trip experience goes like this.

Day 1 2016 Dec 14.

I woke early in the morning in order to reach BMC premise for gathering from where we were going to begin our trip. I was in a dilemma when I found only 20 students were going to attend the trip. So, I consulted with Pravakar sir and Risave sir for the trip. As per their discussions, we concluded to begin our trip with 12 students. We had our breakfast soon and at 8 am, we moved for Pokhara. I was concerned about handling the overall trip. The master levelled students who were senior to me, were very excited for the trip. We received Dhurba dai from Balkumari and fun in the bus began with his songs and jokes. We had our lunch at Blue Heaven discussing about the trip.

@hotel blueheaven

Before leaving this place, we snapped some group photos and then, we travelled non-stop until we reached Begnas lake. Before that we picked up Sabin dai from Dumre and RJ,(code name for Sanjay dai), was very happy to meet him because the reason, which I knew later, was that they were best friends. At Begnas lake, we spent 15 mins and then straightly destined to hotel Jharana. Laxman sir, the owner of hotel Jharana welcomed us. Laxman sir allocated roomed for us. The students were chilling themselves with joys and humors. We went to have our dinner where meanwhile I was shocked from the size of dinner plate which was larger than from our normal plate’s size. Maila dai came to our place where we were chilling. He described our Sikles trip in brief and after that he left. The guys were being crazy with their hands wide opened and tried flying in the air like a bird, (which I named c2h5oh trip walk ). In order to make them refreshed, one of the female student, Sushila didi, to whom, I talked after 12 years and was surprised seeing me at BMC premises before, (hahahaha ), decided to visit lake side but I objected because it was a 3.5km distant walk from dam side. Everyone was eager to walk; so forcibly, I had to join them. I was just worried for them because they were joking and dancing in the middle of the road and whenever cops  arrived, I had to repeatedly warn them to act normally. After reaching lakeside, everyone got tired because they failed to notice that they had been walking for about an hour. Checking time, we decided to move to hotel. They were getting annoyed because of walking only and at 11:30 we reached the hotel. Everyone entered their respective room, and I too got in my room for rest.

Day 2 2016 Dec 15.

This is our second day of the trip, and everyone woke up early in the morning in order to move to lake side for boating and visiting Taal Barahi temple. We booked two boats and headed for the temple. Everyone was enjoying the boating and after spending 30min in lakeside, we headed for Bindabasini temple. We spent only 10 min because we were in a rush to reach the hotel for our breakfast. After having breakfast, the students got ready for a check out. At 9:30 am, we moved for Sikles. We travelled for an hour by bus, and reached the hydro power at 11am. Maila dai informed us to be ready for hiking, and we walked along the bank of Madi river for hours until we reached Sondha, where we had our lunch. I was feeling that the guys were getting exhausted; so, I asked Maila dai how far Sikles was. He answered it would take 2 hours for local people; which meant that; for us, it would be more than two hours. The guys moved forward whereas I was walking at last enjoying the nature; listening to my favorite songs. Walking for minutes, we reached the suspension bridge. We were enjoying the walk, in suspension bridge and after crossing it, there I saw up hills, which we had to cross in order to reach Sikles. Moving uphills for hours, I found everyone was getting tired; so, we took rest below a shade where Prajapati sir began to sing a song and Anju mam joined him by dancing.

We had rest for 15mins and walked until we reached at a temple lying on the way. We were so closed to our destination, so everyone was moving continuously. But I was in a pressure whether we would get enough room or not. Thinking about the room, I forgot about everyone and just walked until I reached at the place where everyone was resting. I asked Maila dai where our hotel was and he replied: there it was pointing me the hotel. Wowww….the surrounding was so amazing and spectacular that we felt relaxed and calm from bottom of our heart. Maila dai informed me that room had already been allocated. I felt so relieved from my pressure. Relaxing for hours, we had our dinner at 8pm. Everyone was so glad to have such a perfect, delicious dinner. While I was having my dinner, I got an information that one of our sister was not feeling good. Hurriedly, I approached her and asked about her problem and then, I came to know that because of walking for hours in the sun, she got severe headache. Consequently, I told her to attend the camp fire so as to get relief by diverting mind. At the camp fire, the guys were dancing in their own way which made me laugh until the camp fire was over. Not again… like yesterday, ‘c2h5oh trip’ of four of the guys started sing with louder voices. I requested them to enjoy in a low volume. RJ dai asked for two minutes of our time to share his speech. After that, we moved to our respective rooms but RJ dai was asking for two more minutes for his speech. Looking his action, Rohan dai, Salik dai and Sabin dai along with me; we starred at each other’s face and started laughing because RJ dai was repeating same speech for many times. I was informed that rest of guests were getting disturbed. So, I requested him to conclude his speech. I felt relieved after stopping the noise but not again… Salik dai and Sabin/ RJ dai were wishing goodnight to each other and everyone too. I told Salik dai its good morning, not goodnight and realizing the time, wishing act ended. Due to this, I think everyone got peaceful environment for sound sleep.

Day 3 2016 Dec 16.

Wowww….it was a very nice morning; I could tell. I woke up early to view the morning scenary. It was such a heart pleasing moment that my tiredness washed away. Sushila didi was already prepared for sightseeing; when I had to inform our yesterday’s late night perfomers to get ready to go for sightseeing. We walked for hours to reach the view point where Maila dai briefed us about the place and after briefing was done, everyone got busy with taking pictures. We spent 30min and moved back to the tower for viewing the entire Sikles villages. After that, we moved back to hotel where we had heavy breakfast. While I was having breakfast, I got to know that 4 of the students had not returned yet. So, I went on to get them but I could not find them. Later on, I knew that they were in local houses for data collection for their survey report. Before moving ahead, Sushila didi wished to wear a typical Gurung costumes. They were excited to click pictures. After completion of photo session, we moved to ‘Eco Museum’, where we viewed the Gurung cultures, traditions, costumes, musical instruments and flora/fauna present in Sikles. We continuously walked for hours in order to reach Sondha where we had our lunch. I communicated with everyone that it would take hours to reach bus stop and then, we would lead to Bandipur. Crossing Madi river and walking along its bank, we reached Sabi at 4 pm, where our bus was waiting for us. I requested Nila dd to snapped my pictures  while waiting remaining members,

Durga dai, our driver was very happy to see us after 24hrs. Eventually, I told him to move on for Bandipur. He asked me about the trek and I told him that Sikles was very beautiful and peaceful. Due to injury, I stayed beside driver dai so that I could have by some rest. Before we arrived at Bandipur, we had tea on the way where everyone was just chilling and enjoying themselves. But I was feeling extreme pain in my knee due to which I could not join them in their fun. Travelling for hours, we finally reached Bandipur at 7pm and I informed Risav sir that everything was under control. I faced a small problem during allocation of room whereas the students went to have dinner. I was resting in my room and suddenly, I heard loud laughs from the dinner room; I did not know what actually the matter was. I went to have dinner where 4 of the female students were waiting for us. I asked about the reason behind the loud sharp laughs but they told that something funny happened to Subash dai. After dinner, I joined master students where all of them were conversing about the whole trip. I asked the sisters/ female students about the room and they replied everything was fine; but I felt they were not fine because I knew their discussions about the hotel structure. I asked Subash dai about the dinner incident and he just began to laugh and told me that was a funny moment. After checking the overall situation, everything seemed under control and so, I headed for my room to sleep.

Day 4 2016 Dec 17.

This was our last day. I woke up earlier and I found that no one has waken. So, I decided to get my bag packed. At 6:30am, everyone got ready in order to reach the view point; which was our last hike of the trip. We had our tea and began our hiking to the view point. I recognized some known and unknown faces. As I walked few meters, there, I saw one of my teacher from my college. He was just shocked to see me. I described him everything and I moved on to the view point with Durga dai. At the top, everyone was enjoying the scenery and capturing the moments.

Spending 30 min, I informed everyone to move back. At 9am, we departed from Bandipur. On the way, everyone was feeling sad to bid farewell to Sabin dai at Dumre. Before leaving, he offered us breakfast. He was so supportive and faithful towards his duty and friends. Among us, RJ dai was the most hurt one, who had to say goodbye to his best friend (25^th years old friendship). I informed the remaining guys that we would have our final lunch at Blue Heaven and so, we had it at 12pm.We took 15mins break after lunch and continuously travelled until we reached Naubise. During the travel, Prajapati sir, Subash dai, Dhruba dai were dancing with joy. I was enjoying their crazy dances. While we had a short break time, I got information from Risav sir that Nagdhunga is having traffic jam and I hurriedly informed Durga dai. He suggested us to move on and so, I requested everyone to get in the bus. At Nagdhunga, we found that number of vehicles were lower than previous day’s, so we moved on relaxing but on the way of Thankot, Durga dai just shocked us by driving in a way as if we going to face an accident. I was feeling fear inside but seeing rest of the people horrible faces, I could not suppress my laugh. Durga dai, unknowingly, asked me what happened but I already knew the reason, and so, I told him that everyone was just scared. We reached Kalanki very soon, and there, we bid farewell to Rohan dai. Then, at Balkumari, we dropped our principal Dhurba dai, and at Koteswor, we fare welled Anju mam. Farewell was still going on. We bid farewell to Binita didi and Subash dai at Thimi. The bus was getting empty as one after one left us. We went to Shanti oil pump for final fueling. Risav sir was waiting at oil pump where we fare welled Pravakar sir and moved to BMC for bidding final farewell to rest of us.

               Overall, I found this trip very interesting and full of fun because every member was so supportive to me and I felt they were sincere towards their friendship as well. I wish for their prosperous future.

                    

                                         Look To This Day 

                                        For it is Life, the very Life of Life. 

                                        In Its brief course lie all the Verities and Realities of your existence; 

                                                     The Bliss of Growth; 

                                                     The Glory of Action; 

                                                     The Splendor of Beauty; 

                                                              For Yesterday is but a Dream, 

                                                              And tomorrow is only a Vision: 

                                                               But Today well lived makes every 

                                                       Yesterday a Dream of Happiness, and 

                                                       Every Tomorrow a Vision of Hope. 

                                                       Look well, therefore, to This Day! :):)