Trekking in Rasuwa

Day I

It was my first trekking trip to Rasuwa, north from Kathmandu in 2006. Mingma Sherpa, Wilson Sharma and I made a memorable trekking trip from Sebru-besi. Thrilling experience of trails, friendly chats and funs among ourselves, funs with local peoples along the trails and beautiful landscapes, walking through the Lamtang National Park (1710 sq km) and difficulties made our trip memorable. You can forget happiness easily, but never forget the hardship and difficulties.

We stayed in Lama Hotel at the first night of our journey. I was not feeling comfortable after mid-day. I thought, "I would be alright after a good sleep at night, therefore I went to bed as early as possible after having dinner, leaving my friends at warm kitchen with hotel owners. I really wanted to stay with them and wanted to take part in their chats, but it was not possible.

I had felt a pang of pain at left pelvis joint after some hours of our journey. I could make a step with great difficulty. I couldn't figure out the causes of the pain. My thoughts hovered on many possible reasons. I had made a trekking trip after a long time. I had carried a good weight on my back. We had walked in the midday heat on the upward trail.

Day II

We made our journey early in the morning. I was not perfectly alright, and the pain started again as we advanced. I was wrong to anticipate that I would be fine. I felt myself unlucky. At one moment, I thought I should stop my journey and stay behind, but I didn't express it to my friends. I would have discontinued the journey, had I walked another hour or so. My luck had it. Nima was coming down the way with his small horse. We asked him to return with us. In fact, he was coming down to meet us. I, now, could ride the horse. Getting on and off as the conditions of the trail, and also the fun ride by friends, we reached our destination in time. We stayed Nima's hotel which was newly built. We were the first guests to stay there.

Day III

I felt thrilled by the majestic view of golden mountain tops seen from the valley down below. I saw Lamtang Lirung (7,248 m ). It was a cold morning, but the day was bright. Cool breeze now and then, you feel great. You thank God. You remember your friends and family. You long for them to be with you because you cannot explain to them the feelings and experiences through words.

I felt better and walked comfortably this time. The trail was sloppy and was not so difficult. We reached our destination Kenjin Valley (4500 m) within 3 hours. We took lunch, enjoyed about two hours under the cool, bright sun. You feel the heaven on earth. People showed us non-functional airstrip from the distance. I heard that hotels would provide free beds and only would charge for food. In my opinion, this practice is not good.

We left the valley reluctantly. Returning back, we saw a monastery along the trail. We went there, talked with lamas. We prayed. A different feeling came over us.

Day IV

Again, we rested in Nima's hotel, but this time our destination was downwards. A return journey is always easy. Walking under the shadows, whispering of rivulets and chirping of birds made us happy. The local belle called us from the distance; they were the same girls to whom we had talked and made funs while coming up. Mingma had taken video shots and some photos. We bade goodbye to them shouting aloud.

We rested for a while at Ghodatabela. Ordered some hot tea hurriedly at a hut like hotel. Drank fast and left the place because it was being late. We spent the night in a lonely lodge on the mountain facing another mountain, and in between a tributary of Trisuli River. During the night, the river's incessant wrestle with rocks made mysterious sounds all through the night.

Day V

We walked fast through the national park. We had planned to have lunch at Pahiro where we had our lunch before. We had a good rest of one hour. We enjoyed talking with belle of the hotel. Then, we started to our destination Thulo-sebru. The sun was unbearable. On the way, we ate Kafal and wild berries. In turn, leeches suck our blood while passing through damp places on the way.

Day VI

We started after having breakfast for Gosainkunda (4200 m). It was sloppy trail, every now and then we had to rest under the shadow of trees. Midday heat was with its full strength. Umbrella was a little help. But, the weather changed slowly, and darkness increased. We saw a temporary shed of cow grazer on the way. Drizzle started as we walked. We went to the shed and asked for something to eat. We only found hot tea, and rested as the tea boiled. As soon as the tea was ready, we drank it and we regain strength. I had taken a FM radio to listen the news, but it was useless. Sometimes, I could hear Indian songs from a Chinese station. Drizzling rain met us on the way again. We got the main trail after a difficult five hours upward journey.

We took lunch at a hotel which was standard at that place. But, soon fog appeared like a dense smoke from all around. We could hardly see our path. We could not enjoy the scenes at all, also could not talk much with friends. It was a boring trudge. We had to inhale foggy air and exhale warm vapors. It always makes my body temperature imbalance causing stomach problem. That's why I wanted to reach a hotel as fast as possible.

Tamang Communities live in Rasuwa. They follow Buddhism. This is a reason why meat items are rare in this area except in bazaars. We also didn't try to have it since we were pilgrims.

Day VII

We started upward walking our final destination, the Gosainkunda. The morning was chilled and foggy. Wind was strong with drizzles. As we moved higher the drizzles were transformed into white feathers that came flying to us, and touched our faces. We tried to avoid them in vain. Lauribina is a place where everybody leaves one's walking stick, and takes while returning.

It took about three hours to get the Gosainkunda. By the time, we reached there, the weather unveiled its foggy shroud, allowing us to see the grandeurs of the lake and the surrounding landscapes. Three of us took holy dips in the cold water of the lake. Then, we encircled the lake in around 45 minutes. While encircling the lake two water doves welcomed us. We thought it as a good omen. We observed the huge sleeping rock under the water in the lake. People believe it as Lord Shiva. We also went to see the Amarsingh Cave. The statue was newly founded, and an iron gate was locked.