A thrill seeker’s accounts from the visit to a serene land
While I was travelling to Pyuthan from Kathmandu for the first time, I was totally blind of the scenery around as I was traveling in the night. As I used to open my eyes at every bus stations and look outside, what I could see around was only forests. Sima Regmi, one of my friends had told me that her home is in Dang, and she too wished to go there for Saturday break with me. So, I got to meet her family, and lucky me got blessings from the 94 years old, her grandfather.
Then began the tough and dangerous trail, from Pyuthan to Bhaluwang. The narrow stretch of road with lots of turnings used to give the feel of a roller-coaster ride, and the strong winds caused me headache, making me feel slightly furious about the situation. But, it was a part of the adventure, my risky way with a little fear about life.
I vividly remember the class while I was in grade 8, where we studied so many things about ostrich and its eggs in the English course book. Eventually, on this trip, I got an opportunity to visit an Ostrich farm in Dang. After the visit, I came to know that the concept of ostrich farming began in Nepal in 2008. As I asked the proprietors of the farm, I was informed that there are currently 640 ostriches there in the farm, and eggs of the bird roughly weigh from 1-1.5 kg, and are priced at Rs. 2000 per Kg. The outer covering of the egg is composed up of hard layer, and can also be used for decorative purpose.
After half-an-hour of watching the ostrich farm and their morphological structure, we came outside and took an auto-rickshaw. From there, we headed to Kamal Pokhari lake which is situated at Rajaura, Tulsipur. By its name, there used to be lotus flower on the lake until some years ago. But these days, the lake is being used as a pond to carry out fish farming by the local community.
When I was moving out from Kathmandu, I was just thinking of escaping the polluted ‘Dustmandu’ for a while. But, what I found was that pollution is not only limited to the cities, it is spreading all over the nation like an epidemic. Nevertheless, it was good to see Dang valley developing as an industrialized town, and surrounded by famous places with cultural and religious points of views.
Wish to visit the valley once again!
By Kusum KC
The writer is a student of Public Health at National Open College. She is currently on a comprehensive field practice of Public Health at the District Health Office, Pyuthan.
