 |
| Pic 1: The Holy Gosaikunda Lake (4380m) |
No wonder the Corona Pandemic has an intersectional effect all over the
nation. Being a guide as well as an avid mountain lover and not being able to
explore and trek as I used to, I have felt this whole year as having invisible
chains on my feet. It seemed to have the pandemic is getting over but silently
alarmed for its second phase with drastic increment in the COVID positive cases
with new variants in the neighbouring country having the open borders.
Trekking, exploring or even hanging out in these situations in my family is
like going against their guidance and decisions these days. So I had been stuck
in my house, learning this and that and doing Tiktoks; though I’m not good at
acting or dancing or even popular ones. I had planned for the Gosaikunda a year
back before the pandemic; trying to make the Kyangin-Gosaikunda circuit in March
but couldn’t make it from MulKharka due to waist high snows. There was news of
two of the locals dying on the Lauribina Pass when there was no fence like
there are today, and the Nepalese Army had prohibited anyone to go the
Gosaikunda afterwards in such snow. It is said that if you say you would visit
the holy ground, it is like you have “vowed” with God and you must fulfil it.
Things barely go as planned and perhaps it might be when all the planets or the
stars come together to bless you or you are born lucky. In my case, both things
do not count.
 |
| Pic 2: The Entrance to Gosaikunda |
Like is said in the fairy tales,
it was like one fine morning. A friend of mine rung me around 8:30 AM and said
“Oye! Jaam hidd Gosaikunda.”- (‘Oi! Let's go to the Gosaikunda’). She is a
friend whom I had met on guide license training conducted by Nepal Mountain
Academy (NMA). I became so excited and talked with my mom. There was no
response from my mom so I took it positively and at 11:00 AM we both girls went
to Balaju and booked our ticket to Dhunche. Everything happened
suddenly. Only after I got back home
excitedly for the trek, I was heavily scolded by my mother, brother and father.
I was asked to stay in quarantine after the trek. I have my Fuwa (fupu), my
refuge. So I called her up and briefed her on the situation. Everything
arranged but later that evening my friend’s brother rang me. I had never talked
to him before but requiring to talk to him brought fright in me. However, I am
kind of ‘Gufadi’ (chatty)
so I ended up the call with Daju in 3 minutes making him impressed. The other
day, I left my home (Godawari) at 5 AM to catch the bus at 6:10 AM at Kalanki.
My friend had already reached there since she had to come from Kritipur. We had
reached quite earlier which bought us time to have our petite breakfast before
our departure.
 |
| Pic 3: The map to Gosaikunda |
We had not planned where we would stay or how long we would walk. We just
had a screenshot of the map but had talked with friends who had been to the
Gosaikunda before. I know this is kind of crazy for just two girls to trek like
this but seriously, we both feel Himalayan belts are way safer for female. I
wish this feeling proves true all the time for all the people. Sabi (my friend)
and I, reached Dhunche at around 1 PM. We started our trek at around 1:30 PM
from Dhunche where you would see this map to Gosaikunda. In a private vehicle,
you would reach 1 hour to 1 and half hour earlier and the vehicle access is up
to Sapche.
 |
| Pic 4: The Ghattekhola |
It was a very nice walk till Ghatte Khola, walking alongside the river. It
took us 40 minutes to reach GhatteKhola. I enjoyed walking alongside that clear
river and talking about the Melamchi water coming in Kathmandu. There are a
handful number of hotel in Ghattekhola. If you arrive late in Dhunche, then you
can opt to stay at Ghattekhola. From that point onwards, it’s just the uphill.
It is always sweaty and tiring to walk uphill but strangely for my friend, she
likes walking uphill and can walk fast as village men, kind of ‘Shawty got some
superpower’. We met many people from national ministries as well as others on our way. Some were
climbing up as our fellows and some were descending after their successful
trek. We never missed hydrating ourselves and fill our bellies with some
fruitcakes or fruits. Walking uphill requires energy and since you are climbing
high, slow and steady is the mantra to adapt to altitude. Never hurry! We had
seen several pilgrims and trekkers on our way back, as it was the time for Holi
and people got a holiday, getting nauseous and lacking appetite climbing up. We
suggested everyone drink a lot of water and eat something on the way to make up
for the bit easier walk.
 |
| Pic 5: The lone hotel at Deurali |
Though it was written 2 hours to reach Deurali from GhatteKhola, it took
us 1 hour 45 minute to reach Deurali walking past beautiful forest areas. We
had information that there is only one hotel at Deurali and is quite expensive
to the quality of services they provide. We already had decided that we would
not be staying at Deurali but further up. In the middle of these two places,
there is one hotel as well. I could not catch the name of the place well but
this hotel can be a place to have a cup of coffee or petite lunch. When I was
in the UK, my friends joked with me telling only Nepalese to have ‘Short Cut’
or ‘Long Cut’ for ways but are either a long way or a short way for them. So
there are shortcuts to the main trails going further up from this hotel point.
Take the long cut as it is easier to walk than the short cut but it’s your
preference. There are no markings but the footways. However, both the ways take
you to the same destination,’ Deurali”.
 |
| Pic 6: Dhimsa |
Deurali in Nepali means Pass that stands on the top of a hill connecting
one side of the hill to another. We did not rest at Deurali and continued our
walk uphill. We did not even have walked 100 meters and we met my ‘Maol ko dai’
(maternal uncle’s son) descending from Gosaikunda who works at Napi Bivag,
Dhunche (Department of Survey). He asked about our plans and upon hearing them
he suggested us to stay at Chandanbari if we could make it on that day and not
to stay Gosaikunda itself on a later day for it is quite expensive and will be
difficult to sleep and eat due to altitude and cold. We heard him but we would
eventually be doing what the situation would suggest. So after talking for a
bit, we marched our way and reached Dhimsa at around 5:30ish in the evening.
Initially, we had thought to stay at Dhimsa but since we met the same folks
(seniors by the way as they were the officials from the Ministry of Law,
Justice and Parliamentary Office) marching towards Chandanbari, we two girls
also decided to march towards Chandanbari. Most of the friends and even Daju
had talked about Chandanbari as the place for accommodation and having
companions even if it gets darker, we decided to make our destination for the
day to be Chandanbari.
 |
| Pic 7: Hotel yak and Nak, Chandanbari |
We reached Chandanbari when it got dark at around 6:45 PM. Chandanbari has
quite a few hotels that you can choose from and most are nice. Chandanbari is
the only place having this number of the hotel on this route. My friends had
suggested going to Hotel Yak and Nak for the lady over there treats very well
and accommodation is nice as well. We went to the same hotel and the charge was
only NRs 1200 for the accommodation and food for two. We had a double bed with
an attached bathroom. The room was comfortable. The dining had an inner heating
system that we find in most of the trekking trails and had lots of plants. I
loved being there. There were a group of people who had descended the same day
from the Gosaikunda. They were around 9 people and had come up from far
Mahendranagar; quite a far place and quite a height for them. They shared their
experience and suggested us the same thing as had my Daju. We had not planned
the days for this trek and were quite flexible for the counts of days. We
initially wanted to stay a night at Gosaikunda but hearing and seeing them, we
made a twist. We decided to stay at Lauribina for the next day. Not just
Gosaikunda but SuryaKunda was also in our plan. We had a very good plate of
Daal Bhat and returned to our room to talk about the time of our departure for
the next day. We decided to depart at 5:30 AM but don’t know how it became
5:50ish when we started walking ahead from Chandanbari.
 |
| Pic 8: Morning view above Cholangpati |
The view in the morning was amazing. The walk had
made us turn our head back to see the golden mountains at some point of the
walk. Walking amidst the long big Coniferous trees with their good fragrance
made our morning very amazing. We were talking about ourselves and things
around us which had made us feel the walk to be shorter. The next point after
Chandanbari is Cholangpati. The way is not steep uphill till this point and is
just as a perfect warm-up for what next to come. It took us exactly 2 hours to
reach Cholangpati. It has 2-3 hotels. You can have a cup of tea coffee before
the next destination Lauribina which is nose straight uphill, meaning steep up.
We did not stop at Cholangpati and continued our walk. On the way, we found a
perfect stop near to a “Pati” (resting point) along the way to snap some of our
pictures. Capturing ourselves with the mountains and blue sky in the frame, we
continued our walk to Lauribina. It was difficult carrying the backpacks and
walking that steep uphill making us pause many times. Though we paused, it
never was more than a minute or two. We reached Lauribina in about 1 hour and a
half walk from Cholangpati.
 |
| Pic 9: Hotel Mount Rest, Lauribina |
It was about 9ish when we reached Lauribina and only one hotel was open,
the first one after we walk that steep,’ Hotel Mount Rest’. There were only two
little sisters in the hotel managing everything of the hotel. We talked with
them for a while and had our Dal Bhat. Food is expensive here and onward as we
can imagine the hardships to get the food there. It is a true blessing that we
have food and a place to stay when nothing is around. We left our backpacks in
the hotel informing them that we would stay there if we reach Suryakunda and is
late. It was around 10 AM when we left the hotel and started marching towards
Gosaikunda. It took us around 45 minutes to reach Buddha Temple.
 |
| Pic 10: View from Buddha Temple |
The way to the
Buddha temple is also nose straight walk. Glad that we had no backpack as heavy
as earlier but food and water. Buddha Temple provided a very scenic view and
from there the way to Kyangin Gompa, Thulo Syabru, Mulkharka and Cholagpati is
seen. It felt nostalgic to see that trail reminding me of the time when I went
to Kyangin Gompa and coming up to Mulkharka for the Gosaikunda. I suggest you
wear warm clothes and a warm hat to cover your head as the wind blows strongly
from Lauribina onwards that can trigger a headache.
 |
| Pic 11: Lauribina Pass |
Further from this point is called as ‘Lauribina Pass’. As the word itself
suggest, Lauri means stick and Bina means without. The pass is not steep as
earlier but is somehow steep and makes you feel very tired. Thanks to Nepal
Army who have fenced all the pass from Buddha Temple onwards to protect the
lives of the people ensuring less likelihood of the mishaps that had happened
in the past. It is the perk of a trek to meet with people and talk with them
while enjoying the scenic beauty and in addition to it, this is the holy
ground. Till we teach the holy lake, en route the pass, we encountered
Saraswati Kunda, a small greenish-blue lake and Bhairab Kunda, a bigger one
near Gosaikunda. Bhairab Kunda is the most beautiful lake to me but
underrated because of the holy value of the Gosaikunda. There are 17 lakes in
and around Gosaikunda including Gosaikunda itself. This ground is amazing and
captivating. We spent almost 1 hour and 30 minutes in Gosaikunda lake taking
pictures, enjoying the view and dipping ourselves in the lake. We did not go to
Suryakunda as I got bleeding from my nose and my fingernails started turning
blue, we descended back. We also had heard that Suryakunda was frozen and the
way up was full of snow too! Going down is always easy. We had our petite lunch
at the same hotel where we had left our backpacks and then headed to
Chandanbari.
 |
| Pic 12: The Bhairabkunda |
We reached Chandandari around 5:30 in the evening and stayed at the same
hotel. We could not believe we made it to the Gosaikunda in just 2 days and
returning home on the third. We then celebrated the evening with the Sukuti
(dried meat) and Tongba (a local drink). We could not take our dinner as we
were full and hence donated to other people. I had a sound sleep but my friend
is an early bird so I could not sleep from 5 AM. We made ourselves ready and
went to dining for our breakfast at around 6 AM but the hotel was so full that
we decided to move and have it on the hotel downwards. We left the hotel at
around 6:30 AM and reached Ghatte Khola at around 8:45 AM. We had food along
with us so we did not stop at any places before Ghatte Khola where we had our
tea. We called the bus counter to book our ticket as well.
Around 9:50 AM we reached to Dhunche Bus Counter. We got the 11 AM bus
ticket to Kathmandu. Thus, we had our breakfast, Thukpa for me and Dal Bhat for
her at Dhunche. I reckon the Thukpa there. I thought the meat was finished in
my bowl but it was coming. I can’t remember when I had such a good thukpa with
such a quantity of meat in it. The bus arrived on time but stopped for almost
an hour for having some misunderstanding with the police officer. Having all
the misunderstandings cleared and apologies, the bus moved. However, on the
way, the driver got the call informing the Prithivi Highway, the main road, had
a heavy traffic jam since the morning and would be easy if taken the Pasang
Lhamu Highway (Way from Kakani Ranipauwa). Indeed it was a wise choice from the
driver and we reached Kathmandu around 6 PM. This is the story of my trek and I
still cannot believe, it was done in such a small count of the day.
My Trek Itinerary: |
| Pic 13: New rate of the route |
Day 1: Kathmandu (1400m)
–Dhunche (1920m)- Chandanbari/ Sing Gompa (3300m)
Day 2: Chandanbari/ Sing
Gompa (3300m) – Gosaikunda (4380m)- Chandanbari/ Sing Gompa (3300m)
Day 3: Chandanbari/ Sing
Gompa (3300m)- Dhunche (1920m)- Kathmandu (Via Pasang Lhamu Highway)
Cost:
Bus fare: NRs 525
(Ktm-Dhunche one way)
NP Entry Fee: NRs 100 per person/ Nepali
Accommodation and Food: Per
person and package based/ differs
