Uff! Back again to the same crowded, dusty, polluted place!! Oh yeah, this is the same place Kathmandu!
This happened to me after returning from a trip to Lamjung. Although Lamjung is my birthplace, I had never visited such a place before. This was really an awesome trip with my best friends.
From Besishahar, headquarter of Lamjung district, we headed towards the Lamjung Durbar. Finally, we reached that place. We saw the historical art and architecture. It’s really like a heaven from where we viewed Besishahar bazaar. I had never felt the sky so close! It was really an exciting moment where I was trying to catch the sky. After walking for about 30 minutes, we reached to Kaulepani. There, we were welcomed by the local residents there in a humble way. They sang songs to welcome us, put tika on our foreheads and garlanded us with flowers, as a symbol of welcoming us in their village. We were later escorted to the community hall where we were briefed up about the whole place and offered with their traditional food. The residents even put sacred string round our necks as a symbol of safety. After the meal, the residents danced and sang for us and made us to join them. Later, we were taken to our Homestay houses, where we had our dinner and spent the night.
Next day, we woke up early in the morning and enjoyed the beautiful environment and the serenity there. After gathering in the community hall again, it was time to say ‘Good bye’ to the villagers. We were given farewell in the traditional ‘Kaulepani’ style which included the singing of songs, putting tika on our foreheads, garlanding with doshalla and giving us selroti. Then walked down the hills about 2 hours to Besishahar and later headed towards the Middle Marshyangdi Hydropower Project.
On the way to the hydropower project, we saw a waterfall, and few tourists cannoning there. We also got to touch that waterfall and spent little time there. We saw the damped areas and various machines and equipments used for generation of electricity in the hydropower project. That was the end of our extravagant, memorable and extremely amazing fun trip. We really missed the opportunity to visit Ghale Gaun and the underground road of Bhotewodar- Dalal area this time because of time constraint.
It is said that beauty lies in the eyes of viewers. This is a nice place which is bounded by culture, tradition and healthy environment. It provides the learning environment, especially to those people who admire nature and culture. I also got to learn many things, know about various lifestyle, culture and enjoy in a family environment. These were the most valuable things I gained from the trip. I was totally crazy with the nature’s beauty and forgot all of my hectic schedules and life of Kathmandu.
Thank God! I am really lucky for having my hometown in such a district. The friendly behavior and the surprise respect from the people of the Homestay place made me feel cool. I came to know that even though the villagers are less educated and less facilitated than the residents in Kathmandu, they had something that made them special. They did not just help to conserve our rich culture and tradition, but also helped to create an impression to the tourists from all around the globe about the well-mannered people of Nepal. I am totally impressed by the people. I got to get immersed in their culture and even got a wonderful opportunity to get donned in their cultural dress. It made me go back to my school-life, the time when we used to be busy in make-ups and dressings to perform in the cultural programmes organized in the school and the community.
Though, now back in Kathmandu, these moments are still reeling in my mind, and will remain unforgettable!
Photo (Feature) Courtesy: Nabin BaralÂ
By Kusum KC
The writer is currently studying Bachelor of Public Health at National Open College.Â
