my adventures

Perfect time to 'gun them down'!!!

2011-08-15T11:59:00.000-07:00

Ok agreed, lfc players were on a bit of pressure for delivering that 'flying start' to the fans.
Agreed that, the selection of squad was not the best of the decisions from King Kenny.( I personally think we had better alternatives to Flanno and Hendo).
Agreed that, us fans should not be carried away by summer spending spree and be realistic towards the season goal.

Our season opener against Sunderland did not come as much as we liked, but a point is more or less acceptable given all above reasons.
But next week, next week we have an opponent which is in such a situation every team would choose to play against given their current situation. Arsenal is a formidable team and Emirates is a tough place to beat them. But look at their situation for the upcoming game against lfc.

They have just lost their talismanic captain and are [on verge of] losing their star player(their best player last season) in Nasri.
Manager losing support and under heavy pressure from fans unrest.
Game against lfc is sandwiched between CL qualification tie against a tough opponent Udinese. (They will have added pressure to qualify for CL. After all, it has been Wenger's only defence for several years)
There high profile signing(who was looking promising going forward against newcastle on saturday) will be missing and Song might as well be suspended.

No doubt, Arsenal are an elite team in Europe and have the capability to beat any other team on their day with their fluid game and youth energy.
Its a bitter fact that we have not beaten them at their home for quite some time. But this game against them could not have come any better time than this. This is the time to beat them. If we are to show that lfc is serious to get back on its perch, if we are to show the doubters that lfc is (again) a force to reckon,
we can't settle for a draw or curse for bad luck for a loss. WE HAVE TO WIN THIS. We have to show the real character and get 3 points from Emirates.

Missed chances, 2nd half slump or bad refereeing decisions can not be the excuses for the next week. 2 points from 2 games is not acceptable for a top-4 targetting team.
I'm sure King Kenny realizes all this (he is better than me after all) and will field the best 11 against Arsenal next week and take the game to them and ensures all 3 points. Faith in KK.
YNWA.

D2 Hiking- 'Escape to Sundarijal'

2010-04-09T00:31:00.000-07:00

Another sunday, another hiking-day. I had given in my name as well. The time I woke up, and got myself ready to go to office, it looked like I was going to be late comfortably by some 15 minutes than scheduled time, but I was not in hurry(15 minutes after scheduled time is supposed to be very early isn't it?). But I just made it, another couple of minutes later had I entered the office-gate and I would not have been writing this report and nor would have been present in several of the pictures below. So, little lesson for those laid-back latecomers.... BE ON TIME!

OK, enough lesson and now back to reporting...
The van engine had already revved up and I quickly jumped inside. After a quick "Jhandai chutteko.. :P!!" series of talks, the wheels started rolling.
We picked up ShishirA and SudeepK on the way(at Chabahil) to complete our hiking team of 11. We felt obliged to stop by to make sure we had enough supplements for the hike. We set off loaded with full supply of food and water.

A light bit of chitchat and in no time(almost) the van got us there as far as it could(though Jeevan might disagree to this as he was already asking "Khai pugena??" shortly after we left Jorpati behind) . Everybody got off and it stationed itself quietly in the parking area. Meanwhile, the hikers entered a small local shop for light breakfast. SuyeshN wasted no time and made himself busy with his new Nikon D90; huge pile of 'jeri' his target of the moment. He was shooting the stack of sweet from different angles rotating round and round "Mauri Jastai".

After few chuckles on various well-established jokes (such as "Auto-delete feature") everybody was ready to start the walking. After exiting the shop, few hikers turned left and gave a quick glimpse to the van: a look of confirmation that they will be back and it will have to drive them back home.... the van seemed to agree. From where I saw, It sincerely rested among the row of vehicles protruding only its face and seemingly already eager for us to return...

The hiking 'kodi'-nator had set plans for the hike. He immediately diverted us towards the bridge on the right rather than taking the conventional flight of steps, we were climbing up from the right side. On the way, a small board advertising a local restaurant caught our attention and we got reason to start our hike with a laugh. Our destination for the day was some specific "Jharna" and with that declared, the 'Kodi'-nator delegated the role of leading the way to his frontsman whom he liked to call "Rajkumar Dikpaal" - AbhisheshJ. (If u remember this line from the famous Nepali tale in our primary class text-book "Yo baato chito pugcha tara bich ma jungle parcha ra baagh-bhalu ko darr huncha...."). So, he led us saying we have to reach certain "Lama Hotel" and then "Jharna" was not far from there. Joy and laughing prevailed most of the way as something humerous kept on coming up to keep us entertained. Apparently we lost our path towards so-called "Lama Hotel" as Abhishesh decided that we should return and take right instead of left from the last junction that we met.

On the way, we came across the "Shivapuri Natural Reserve" entry check-point and was a help to ascertain we were walking the right way this time. A board there took our attention, it read- "Rs. 5 per person, ... Rs. 15 per motorcycle". But a bhatbhate made it way through making a cracking noise and it saved us some 100+ rupees. The check-post also corrected us that it was infact "Karma Hotel" that we were heading for.
The journey then was enjoyable with tree leaves screening the intense sun-rays, cold-running water by the side of the road, and melodious music of water hitting the stones- progressively intensifying as we climbed. Some stopped occasionally to take snaps whereas others were captured walking. The road was mildly steep with options of sharp turns some distance ahead or small 'short-cuts' in the mid-way. Some chose the former while others the later, not necessarily following the same pattern the next time it arrived... We waited at different places for others to catch-up and also found others waiting for us. On our way, Stones big enough to knock you down were rolling against us in our hill-climb(Group of NirajS above were rolling the stones). Luckily none of us fell victim of it.

It was almost time that we felt little tired when we reached the milestone- the Karma Hotel. We rested there for a while and ordered us a good meal for the afternoon. With that, we headed towards the much anticipated "Jharna". She was hiding behind rocks, not visible from the road despite being only few metres away. Only few will be able to sense her presence and stop by to admire her beauty.

So then, wasting no time, many people wanted to dive into 'Jharna' but 'Jharna' only takes in her embrace the lucky ones. The lucky ones this time were RiteshS and SuyeshN; the 'embrace' however turned out to be little too expensive for RiteshS. ;) We all had nice time around playing with the water, sun-bathing on the huge rock.

Time was running out and we had ordered lunch for 2pm, everybody was getting hungrier as each minute passed, so we bade farewell to lovely Jharna for the day. All of us were striding now to get back to the Hotel as hunger was acting dominant over the bodies. The lunch was accompanied by entertaining 'guff-gaffs' from different members. With likes of KapilP, BhaskarS, AbhisheshJ, NirajS and RiteshK, entertainment guaranteed on any day! And oh yes, I have to mention the 'Jyanmara Khursani' served alongwith the meal. I ate it for the first time, and is it hot?? You bet... Just for the records, it forced tears even out of eye's of KapilP- the tough one.

Everything done, the hiking was over for the day, and we were already heading back, this time from the normal 'stairs of Sundarijal'. We stopped for the last time at a local shop some couple of 100 metres away from bus station to have some coffee. The guffs did their trick there as well and kept us all laughing. Amidst, I spotted our captain KapilP rolling his eyes over all the participants and I had a suspicion. Inevitably, the eyes rested at this writer's sight and those big eyes stayed darted there for a minute... a voice came out loud then "Rajiv Babu, yespali ko hiking report 'mandle' garne kaam chai timro timro jasto cha ni!!" and that was it, the words were marked on stone- unchangeable and here I am writing this report...

originally posted for EU hiking

Martyr's Memorial A division League-2066

2010-03-02T02:10:00.000-08:00

Round 22 Fixtures & Results
BUC	7-1	SJYC	13 Jun 13.30
MMC	3-0	SKMC	13 Jun 15.30
NAC	3-2	RCT	14 Jun 13.30
MC	vs	APF	14 Jun 15.30
TBD	vs	TBD	15 Jun 13.30
TBD	vs	TBD	15 Jun 15.30

Today's Matches(14th Jun, Monday)
1.30pmNST(Full Time)
Nepal Army(3)------Santosh(14'), Hiranya(17', 26')
Ranipokhari(2)------Dipesh(71'), Ramesh(87')

3.30pmNST(Full Time)
Machchindra(0)---------------
Armed Police Force(8)--------GaneshL(4',6',17'),Niraj(20',44'), Kumar(p, 26'), TopBdr(28'),Deepak(78')

Latest Results(13th Jun, Sunday)
1.30pmNST(Final Score)
Boys Union(7)------Resham Rana(9', 25', 37'), Rupesh Chettri(14'), Raju Rai(31', 76', 88')
Jawalakhel(1)------Doran Sherchan(45')

3.30pmNST(Final Score)
MMC(3)--------Lee Jihon(11', 64'), Oh Suchg Hwan(52')
Sankata(0)--------

News

MATCH FIXING, A DIRTY GAME LOOMING OVER NEPALI LEAGUE. SUCH A SHAME.
APF win over Machchindra 8-0, BUC relegated along with Sankata.
Army win 3-2 against RCT
Sankata out of A division as they lose their final game to MMC
Boys Union 7-1 Jawalakhel. BUC played their cards, Now its upto APF vs Machchindra, who will be relegated.

League Table(updated 14th Jun, 2010)

Position	Name	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	NPC	21	13	8	0	33	7	26	47
2	Three Star	21	11	7	3	38	13	25	40
3	NRT	21	12	4	5	38	27	11	40
4	Army	22	11	6	5	38	21	17	39
5	MMC	22	8	6	8	30	32	-2	30
6	Machchhindra	22	7	6	9	20	27	-7	27
7	Jawalakhel	22	7	6	9	27	43	-16	27
8	Friends Club	21	7	4	10	25	38	-13	25
9	RCT	22	6	5	11	24	31	-7	23
11	APF	22	6	4	12	28	36	-8	22
10	Boys Union	22	6	4	12	28	39	-11	22
12	Sankata	22	5	2	17	20	35	-15	17

Round 15 Results
NAC	2-0	NRT	19 Apr 13.30
SKMC	0-1	SJYC	19 Apr 15.30
MC	1-0	NTSC	20 Apr 13.30
LHMMC	3-1	APF	20 Apr 15.30
BUC	3-2	NIBLFC	21 Apr 13.30
RCT	0-2	NPC	21 Apr 15.30

Round 16 Results
SJYC	1-5	NAC	22 Apr 13.30
MC	0-3	NRT	22 Apr 15.30
NIBLFC	0-4	SKMC	23 Apr 13.30
RCT	1-3	NTSC	23 Apr 15.30
NPC	3-1	APF	24 Apr 13.30
LHMMC	2-2	BUC	24 Apr 15.30

Round 17 Results
RCT	0-0	SJYC	25 Apr 13.30
NAC	1-1	NTSC	25 Apr 15.30
LHMMC	3-3	NIBLFC	26 Apr 13.30
NRT	5-3	APF	26 Apr 15.30
NPC	2-1	MC	27 Apr 13.30
SKMC	1-3	BUC	27 Apr 15.30

Round 18 Results
SJYC	1-1	APF	28 Apr 13.30
LHMMC	0-3	NTSC	28 Apr 15.30
BUC	2-0	RCT	29 Apr 13.30
NIBLFC	2-3	NRT	29 Apr 15.30
MC	0-2	SKMC	3 Jun 13.30
NAC	0-0	NPC	3 Jun 15.30

Round 19 Results
BUC	1-1	NTSC	4 Jun 13.30
NRT	3-1	RCT	4 Jun 15.30
APF	0-1	SKMC	5 Jun 13.30
MC	4-0	LHMMC	5 Jun 15.30
SJYC	1-1	NPC	6 Jun 13.30
NIBLFC	3-1	NAC	6 Jun 15.30

Round 20 Results
RCT	1-1	SKMC	7 Jun 13.30
NRT	1-2	NTSC	7 Jun 15.30
MC	0-1	BUC	8 Jun 13.30
NAC	1-2	APF	8 Jun 15.30
LHMMC	3-3	SJYC	9 Jun 13.30
NPC	4-0	NIBLFC	9 Jun 15.30

Round 21 Results
APF	1-0	BUC	10 Jun 13.30
NAC	3-1	SKMC	10 Jun 15.30
MC	1-2	SJYC	11 Jun 13.30
MMC	5-3	NRT	11 Jun 15.30
NTSC	0-0	NPC	12 Jun 13.30
NIBFC	0-0	RCT	12 Jun 15.30

Round 21 Results
APF	1-0	BUC	10 Jun 13.30
NAC	3-1	SKMC	10 Jun 15.30
MC	1-2	SJYC	11 Jun 13.30
MMC	5-3	NRT	11 Jun 15.30
NTSC	0-0	NPC	12 Jun 13.30
NIBFC	0-0	RCT	12 Jun 15.30

No League Table for Martyr's Memorial League ??

2010-03-01T21:44:00.000-08:00

Hitting up espnstar and premierleague every day to get the latest and hottest of English and European football, but when I tried to find league table for Martyr's Memorial League(which started last week after quite a break) I did not find one.(I can find daily match updates on papers and other sources though..). So, I thought why not maintain a table of my own(and for you guys as well!!). This thing is gonna continue for some 40-50 days(I think). So, hopefully I will be able to update it daily; spare me if not...

To start off with, I gathered the names of 12 clubs in A-division this season and went through past several days' news to get the results. Gathered all the final scores and here it is.. I start off the league table after 14 games already been played.

Revisiting the History: Gorkha

2008-07-12T23:18:00.000-07:00

I have not revealed it to many people, probably not even to myself, but there is a history lover within this 5'10" lanky, skinny and (seemingly) "take-it-easy" kind of guy. I've always been fascinated by the story(ies) from the history. How things turned out to be now, the present....

hehe,, ल ल झकास शुरुवात भो ब्लग को । अब मूल विषयतिर लागौं ।

The thing is about the hike to Gorkha durbar on Sunday, 6th of July, 2008. It was one of those regular hike from the office, which has almost been like a culture at D2. Some new innovations from the boss, and now "the culture" has undergone social change.

Theme based hiking as now it is called where every hike has a theme. I wont go into the details of "theme based hiking". All that matters is next few series of hikes have a common theme of "revisiting history".

Gorkha durbar visit was the first of the "revisiting history". And boy was I excited to be a part of it. (The joy exponentiates esp. when you earlier get rejected for some cool places... i have to mention Jiri.... damn).

It's little surprising that this was my first hike from D2 after almost 4 months here. That'd be some 17 hikes... omg.
But it's never too late... might be the first hike was to be a special one like this.

Gorkha - place where idea of greater Nepal was concieved, probably the origin of our nationality sustained to this date, the origin of unification of the country (I feel like putting bullets on their head, when I hear people talking of dividing our country.)

Though the descendents of Shah are no more King of Nepal (for different reason, n he doesn't deserve to be either), but likes of Ram, Dravya, Narbhupal and PrithiNarayan has done lots for us,.. I believe.

Ram dai took us to the gorkha bazaar in 3.5 hours from the office premises. Gorkha though at high hilly region and mostly covered with clouds(that means no bright sunshine), was very hot. I guess humidity has a significant impact on weather.

Bazaar is a nice small place; typical small town with stone pavements.

It was about an hour's uphill to the ancient durbar. But on the way is a recently turned "prithvi national museum" and boy is it well maintained!!.

The wooden doors and windows appear like they are daily oiled, and the walls daily cleaned. The surrounding so beautiful and the location so perfect. We had no options but to spend hours there.

The inside of the museum houses ancient stuffs ranging from weaponry to musical instruments, to utensils and paintings depicting the famous activities of Shah Kings. The paintings are truly mesmerizing...

The main durbar was somewhat abandoned(I felt like) despite its engima, and the presence of gorakhkali temple and Gorakhnath temple(It is said that Gorakhnath baba came into the dream of PNShah and the unification idea started).

The building is majestic in view, and I have to admit the walls defend the fort very well. The 'top of the hill'location ease up the job of the wall as well. Surely, Shahs that time were great kings.

Nearby was another small hill(what i notioned as a 'local maxima' hehe..) with siddha paaile at the top. That place is awesome; the view of the durbar is really great, the bazaar, daraudi khola and the view of the mountain range is truly magical. (Though weather didn't fully support us).

Trip to gorkha was very enjoyable and it in fact fulfilled a childhood/hidden desire in me.
I'd love to go all the hikes of this historical themes, but its very unlikely to make it for the next time(most probably to Nuwakot). But then I'm eyeing for palpa; the one after that.

Now that the kinghood is a history now, but these ancient places are our asset and they should be well utilized. I don't know but museums/resorts are great justification for these national heritages.

More pictures can be found at my web album of Gorkha hike.

Trishuli Rafting II : yet another adventure

2008-06-02T06:25:00.000-07:00

".... five years ago, back when at I.Sc. IInd year, rafting in very same river; I vividly remember those moments..."

the rafting crew

It took me very little time to locate Jwalanta, Shankar, Ankur and Suvash (the fantastic four) in the mass in front of NTC Bhadrakali. Nepali typical, being out of schedule is very usual; here it implies as much to me as to the organizers. Though scheduled to leave@ 6.30 am, the engines pushed the wheels only after 7.30.

the fantastic four, (in profile - the "luring" mountain)

one hour time pass @ Bhadrakali, NTC

Till then, about one hour of fun, jokes, laughs, and chic watch(nomination of prospective 3 raft partners). Brief sessions of photography now and then. We almost found the perfect set, but their bad luck (we believe) that they boarded different bus.

JD - thanx for all those pics

Fun is everywhere, if you are in mood; the bus was no exception. As also verified by one of the co-travellers at the end of journey, we talked, had jokes, composed dohori lyrics, laughed hysterically, and what else..... safely can be concluded, we were the only group shouting in the bus.

Oh ya... to be short, only the points mentioned while of the breakfast restaurant.
kheer chana,
the amazing antenna,
recursive fotography ma kati ota foto aauncha?,
the luring mountain ;),
and lots of fun within.....

@the commence point

We took no time to get to the river bank and preparing for everything. As we all knew 8 person/raft, we needed 3 extra. That was the only thing stopping us from rafting already, So, we started shouting frantically "3 3 3 .. 3 needed... 3 people... 3 girls.... " : eager huh??

the "almost" crew members

Finally, a dutch couple was what we got as our co-members; Tamara was beautiful typical hot chic (graduate in communication) and Jan Jaap was tall- handsome- short film, ad producer.
Had some briefing from our raft captain (Captain Katak) and hurriedly set off. (I gave off few tips as well; being a one time experience holder)

captain Katak

The group got together soon and 8 of us were talking and laughing not very far away. Initial rapids and we all "... I excite...". "Borat" is a popular movie.

We learnt some dutch language... which turned out to be the punchlines of the day... Anks, the jumping jack

"Hoe khathet"?
"Med mai khathet khut".

I personally felt that the rafting itself was not as excited as the previous one.. but then saying so would be totally unfair to those moments while @ some rapids!!!!. I believe, remaining guys don't bear very different opinions.

"Shankar going wild"

But that in no way implies that the trip was boring... overall the day was simply great!!
Our team reached 'first' at the end point. Already dying of hunger, we hurried for the lunch...
and some great chat with the dutch couple...
as usual... fun everywhere.

after lunch talk

"..biryaani ... biryaani...."
"that gesture imitation.. (clapping hands and opening palm forward as to ask something....)"
"the dutch couple gathered a great deal of statistics about nepal ...."
"Nepal's average age is below 20 years???"-- a lil bit of confusion, but that was logical..
"Maurijuana and hashish are legal in Holland, "---whhhaattt??
"Sea food for us is same as soup(kinda jeera taken after meal) for them... hehe"
...
... and lot more!

Well lunch is over and its sixth octant of the day... already been a couple of hours at the restaurant... and by then we were eager to return.

The Dutch couple are to leave for Pokhara the next early morning. And t hey said they hired a bike 225cc(which one is it?) to travel around Nepal..

Little dilemma while choosing the bus but managed after awhile.
On the bus, i guess, everybody was tired enough to take a nap; i noticed Tamara, JJ, JD and Suvs taking rest at different instances...

A short break to have some tea... I'd only mention that
- the tea was not filtered(everybody except me left the three quarters or more of it)
- and the confusion while paying the money...
(Tamara thought she had some money to pay at the shop, but it turns out that all the bills paid by the group.
So, she asked "who do I owe some money?"
I very much liked the instant answer that followed, "To God". Wow!! It was Anks I believe...)

The journey continues...
Tamara was not used to bus travelling and specially on the hilly roads; so common in Nepal.
Little surprises that she was extra scared at the turnings. One whacky turn raised the fair level to alarming heights. Her comfort level was especially degraded by the writing she read before travelling to Nepal, "Road accidents are very common in Nepal, and so is death as consequences".
I couldn't fully deny when she inquired me about this.. but I did try to take that fear away from her. (Hey, don't make any wrong assumptions... JJ was there other side of her to hold her hand, to embrace her.... poor me..... hehe)...
...
...
Another memorable incident...
the bus was turning around the UWTC corner, towards Sundhara and it was around 8 in the night; late enough for the dance bars to start the business. An erotic signboard of similar "shower girl bar" caught eyes of JJ, and he pretended to be lured by the board and jumped off his seat as if to go for the "ride". Tamara was able to maintain composure and seemed calm and showed herself unaffected by JJ's act.
I added, "Ya JJ have fun at shower dance, Tamara will go n have fun with me.."
The laughing had not yet stopped when Ankur interrupted...-
"You wanna make some money?"
"Yae... haaaaww maaach???"

can't stop laughing

That line of Tamara, for me was the joke of the day; Ankur dumbed by the response he got, could not reply back..... laughs everywhere.

After a couple of minute.... all the guys parted, shaking hands and bidding farewell to the Hollanders, but not forgetting a promise - to meet on the facebook!!!

Anks, JD, JJ, Shanks, Suvs and Tams, Thank you all for such a memorable day!!!

Speed photography!!!

2008-05-11T22:42:00.000-07:00

The occassion was a follow up visit to the LTSP e-Library installaion site at Koldaung Devi Ma Vi, a government run secondary school in thumpakhar VDC, Sindhupalchowk District.
The LTSP was setup by Help Nepal Network(HeNN). We were associated to it as volunteers from IOE FOSS Community (FossNepal).

Shishir and I were assigned to go for the visit. Since there were only two of us, and the site was very far (would've taken two days, was it on a bus), Shishir decided to go on his bike targetting to return on the same day.
So, two of us set out on early saturday morning. Apart from the similarities of same technical background; Shishir- a speedy biker, and me a speed freak. So, the journey was goin to be some fun.

You don't need to pledge for air hitting your face at speed of 100K when you're travelling with Shishir on a bike and that too on a highway!!! You love it , you hate it, you're eventually gonna get it!!!

That constant burst of air blasting your ear
Here are some speed fotography done from Shishir's bike in motion!!

Few motion clips can be found here.

I wanted to push myself to the limits; by doing this, I've pushed my limits further

2008-03-23T21:57:00.000-07:00

It was Friday late evening. The hectic day at office was already finished and I was all ready to get back home. Was waiting for frens in the office lobby; that was when I came to know about the plan of bungee - Madhav told me. I was excited to hear the word 'bungee' - we(me with some frens from college) wanted to go bungee and had committed to go someday… So, this was the instant reaction "Can't we go as well???" Sujan dai came in n said "why not? we were three, now it'll be four of us!" and ran upstairs and brought a form for me to fill in. The next day's plan was to go n play football at Pulchowk grounds. I was excited the whole week for the sports. I was in two minds, but I signed the form. I came to know the cost, It was 2500 bucks!!!!! That almost changed my mind…

On the way back to home, I talked bout it with Babins; after the talk I completely changed my mind and I was again going for the ball game the next day. Me n Babins parted our way, confirming to be present on the grounds. I had all excuses for Sujan dai webbed up in my head. But, somehow on the local bus, my mind switched state once again; 'I am goin to the last resort tomorrow, don know how, but I will be bungeeing tomorrow. But what am I sayin at home, to mom… I don know, but whatever… I AM DOING IT, THAT'S IT!!! '.

I think this was one of the most quickest of the plans that I made for something like this.

Thought of calling frens, esp JD to join the adventure (He was another most eager guy among the frens to go for the bungee). But u know, I myself was not sure of it, so could not talk to them for it. (Now I regret that, I should have taken chance n called them).

THE DAY

It was 4:30, early Saturday morning. I hate to wake up early n u know things get no better when u have to do it on holidays. But I had no choice, had to be at thamel (Kathmandu guest house) by 6:00. As my home was on the way, I could have joined the team on the way (That way, I get some more time to snooze), and I tried to manage for it the day before. But, since the plan was set up so late, it didn't work out n I had to go to thamel.

4 of us, (others were Ganesh dai, Saurav dai, n Sujan dai; all seniors from the office) set off for the experience of the life time, along with a herd of tourists. (Later I found out there were people from England, States, Israel, Holland, Australia, Denmark, and I don't remember other) All together there were 40+ in the gang. 4 of us were the only Nepalese in the gang. Among them, Sujan dai was only single individual, I was somewhat familiar with, other two dai were talking with me for the first time!! Thought, the journey cud've been different with frens.

But anyway, we set off from thamel on bus at 6:30! My seat partner was Ganesh dai, had lil chitchat with him on the way. When we passed my home, I badly missed my bed…

Saurav dai is a fun man!!!!

He is a great person to be with. Jokes n fun all the way. He doesn't let you feel that u are way junior than him. Turns out that I (seems to me) was the one who knows most bout the way (u know being from Bhaktapur, u are nearer to banepa dhulikhel…)

"hami ka pugyo?"

"jagaati katyo dai, banepa aauna lagyo…"

"yo dolalghat pugna lagya haina?? Dolalghat ta ek ghanta ma pugcha ni Kathmandu bata…."

"ka pugnu dai, banepa nai pugya chaina, dolalghat ta atleast 2:30 3 hrs lagcha dai ktm bata, ke kura garya??"

"ho ra.."

….

……

But I had only been upto dolalghat before n hence knew nothing about further.

Ganesh dai was telling bout his booze up last night n that he only got to sleep for two hrs. and he told me that the journey on vehicle was worsening his situation "kya hang bhairacha, ma ta ek chin sutchu yaar".

So he leaned his head back in the seat.

As I estimated, we reached dolalghat at around 9 9:30.

We stopped for breakfast at a local restaurant. Tourists started chewing their "foreign stuffs" they brought. Some went for coffee, tea, etc. We also had light stuffs and we got time to gaze at those tanned skinned foreign chics.

"ini haru pani kun desh ko nakkali haru hola hai?"

"Uttauli pareka nakkali haru…"

Lol lol lol……..

In no time, Ganesh dai was talking with a bearded guy. Saurav dai said, "now he will take no time to tell everybody that he is from D2 n this n that". "By the time we reach the resort, all of the crew will know that he was boozed up yesterday"….lol lol lol lol …

We approached as well, n this guy was from US, Boston, place where D2 head office is located. Saurav dai started explaining him about the D2 n that it works for this n that, and that guy could be our client n blah blah….

We traveled along the side of bhotekoshi river. Bungee is over this river. While on the bus, I was observing the wild Bhotekoshi flowing opposite to our direction, cruel hills on either side. Truly, Nepal is heavily gifted by nature!!!

After about an hour or two (I don't exactly remember…) we were at the last resort, the tirthasthal of extreme sports. The resort was on the other side of the bridge. The bridge was very long.

My first words after we got on the bridge: "oi!!!! Yo ta TV ma dekha bhanda nikkkai gahiro po cha ta dai…". Really the depth was chilling. The freak of nature Bhotekoshi was jus like the lane separator on New Baneshwor road…. It took me about 30 sec to be assured that it WAS a human being lying on a huge rock (appeared no bigger than a pebble) in the bank down there!!!!.

My first question after this: dai, how many people have changed their minds after being here?? "thuprai hunchan ni.. yesto height dekhe pachi ta…"

"dai , do we get our money back if we don't jump?" "tyo ta paindaina bhai…"

Now what would u do?? Jump that bone chilling 3x dharahara height or lose 2500 bucks for nothing. Really, I won't call him/her a chicken shit, if somebody gives up 2500 bucks.

Trust me, 'darcheruwa, darpok, namard, gutless, coward,…' these are words to define somebody else, not to those who pull oneself back from THIS jump….

The resort was nice.

Had lil briefing by the bungy master. Weight. 60 kgs hurray!!

Two groups by weight category, In the second group.

First lady jumped. OH MY GOD Thought somebody fell down.

Saurav dai swung. Him Already tensed. Didn't wait for the last minute brief.hurried to finish things up.. "jay parla parla, sala kud gaye pyaar ke khateer!!" Sujan dai n me concluded swing was more dangerous than jump.

One guy was like superman. Other jumped from back. Diff people diff jump. Some scared, some classic, some stylish. Ganesh dai couldn't jump, sadly. My respect for him increased, for he did what his mind said. A normal and sane mind would never permit you to cross even the bridge bars!! He crossed the danger line and stood on the edge.

Talked with chics n lads. One was from UK from Bristol city. Talked bout football, how could I not mention Liverpool. Had some chat bout Bristol city rovers and 2nd league n premier league. The FA cup, the Barnsley.. (hah Chelsea n Liverpool!!)

Time for our jump.

My turn. All pumped up. My mind free. Nothing in my head. You can no way jump, if you started thinking logically about the consequences. That's why my mind was empty. Video shows me lil cocky tryin to suppress my nerves. Master did the final check. AOK.

Crossed the bridge bar. You need balls and u have to be insane at the same time to cross that red line and stand on the edge!!

I don't remember how fast or slow was my heart beating, or was it beating at all. As the master told in the last minute briefing, go further to the edge, arms wide spread, wave to your frens, chics were cheering, wave at camera, 1 2 3 go……whhhhhhhhhoooooooooooooooooooooooooo

(The hardest thing to do was to cross the red line and leap your feet off the railing edge, anyhow I did that)

"go ta go mula le dori po ramrari bandhyo ki bandhena ganthey" I thought. But my mind diverted in no time. I was free falling. Never felt free like this before. Those few seconds I was…can't describe I was….. I was in the air literally!! Whoa that is some experience of life!!! I didn't feel like a bird for I couldn't control my flight. But I realized gravity and strongly felt the air resistance. That was lil science practical for me hehe.

The rope was elastic and when it snapped back, gave me a heavy jerk, I thought "lha muji, chudyo ki kya ho??", but it wasn't and then I was swinging up n down.

Eager to grab the bamboo, I couldn't rely on the rope n I was feelin like my feet were ripping off my leg.

And this was it. The great experience.

Waited for sujan dai. Cheered for him. He jumped great as well. Return to the journey was another adventure, about 45 min hike up difficult steep jungalee bheer.

Another shocking news, to get the video dvd, we had to pay 1000 bucks more n u get a bungee tshirt for free.!!

We all knew that it was sarasar loot but no one would argue much you know, after all, it is something to cherish for your whole life n the video is the proofing memento of it.

Had lunch, and rested in the resort, flourishing the moment.

Set back to Kathmandu at around 4:00 for about 4 hrs of journey.

And Ganesh dai, why u need to tell everybody that it was you who didn't jump

"you know the guy who didn't jump…" "yeah" "it was me" "oh so sorry"…..

By the time we got back to Kathmandu, almost all the 40 in the gang probably have known that ganesh dai didn't jump, C'mon Ganesh dai!!!!

So, another great moment in life lived!! A great thing to do. Great way to prove that u can be a freak, to show your insanity!!

One reason I jumped was to know my limits; and by doing this I think I have pushed my limits further away!!

I am definitely going again and again, I'm sure my frens will be planning more seriously after this, and I don't want to be missed out on that occasion either!!!!

Lakuri Bhanjyang Hike

2008-03-03T21:08:00.000-08:00

March 2nd, 2008

attendees:
-lekhnath
-madhav
-paul
-jwalanta
-mahesh
-dinesh
-chetan
-puspesh
-me (rajiv)

hike route:
dhungin-lakuri bhanjyang(pahad ko bato, not motor bato)-camp-back to lakuri-gufa ko bato-bheer ko bato(dinesh what say!!)-jangal hudai godavari macha kendra

-6:00-7:15
gathering at the overhead bridge n waiting for frens...
i met chetan on the way (at the shahid gate micro park).went forth to overhead bridge.
JD, lekhnath, paul, and mahesh were there already..
called for few frens (esp. jeevan but fonai lagena...)
pushpesh aayo ani madhav pani...
had a light breakfast...
-7:30
off to lagankhel
7:45-8:30
dinesh lai tehi bhetiyo
almal@lagankhel ie kinmel etc....
8:40
off on lubhu lamatar bus..
that damn khalasi le student discount nai diyena...(:<
9:20
reached dhungin
9:25
started the hike
-There was road way up to lakuri but we went the straight jungle way...
chetan exhausted in first 15 mins!!!(bani nabhayera ho... pachi ta babaal kudyo ni chetan man)
on the way hot discussion on the water flow pattern from a pipe with technical reasoning...(kasari testo aako re keta ho??)
10:15
reached the bhanjyang
is this it?? not even 1 hr n hike finished?? c'mon people... it's not happening
so decided to go further....
but, which way to go?? panauti-another 13 km, bhaktapur -suryavinayak walk or jungle to godavari...
first had some fruits... and went upto the camp.
Searched for the tallest hilltop...found one and stayed there to get view of the valley from a new angle, while the stressed muscle got relaxed and the body restored the energy.
But the fog was the villain there, hardly gave us a view at all...
I was trying to figure a reference point (the airport). Tyo aerplan tya pugepachi ka harauncha ka??
though we didn't found the airport, our body n soul found the relax and peace there.
We stayed there for about 1 hr and got back to the (i'd like to call it as) lakuri point.
12:15
we had lil discussion about where to go... and decided to go to godavari, but first to the gufa as one signboard stated there.
At the point, we met another hike gang probably the +2 boys.
Shared lil opinion with them on their request and set off for gufa.
The gufa was a fluke (at least for us), coz we didn't find one. the trail we followed must have been abandoned long ago. Nobody should walk that way, trust me or ask Dinesh. ke cha bichaar dinesh tyo bato ko bare ma??
the +2 gang was following us and we shouted them not to come along... and i think they listened to us. (they must have returned back).
But we decided to go ahead no matter what, the guys were determined and kept moving... man this portion is what makes this hiking a memorable and exciting one!!!
After about 45 mins or so, we found a more common trail where we met an old couple (gai bastu charauna aaka!!).
we talked with them for a while. "hare kina testo jangal ra bheer ko bato aako ni, utabata sajilo bato nai thiyo...".
I was thinkin, "bato bata hidna lai hiking kina aaunu paryo ni hehe," but we replied nothin but smiled like dumb asses..
few minutes rest there and then we continued from there as well.
Reached the local maxima of the hill(u know wat i mean) in next few minutes and we could see the macha kendra from there.
Now, the remaining trip is all downhill role!!! whoooooo ... and now who is leading the group??? i remember the song 'ukali ma pachi pachi orali ma aghi aghi...'.
All the guys were pumped up and rumbled down the hill broooom bhrooooom!!!
On the way we stopped to get the laligurans and had some group snaps with the flower in the hands.... (JD must have some pics of this in his foto blog)

2:30 around we reached godavari base. and then we went to that mandir with a pond (what is that mandir called).
The pond was like spa for us(well not a hot one though!!!), khtta pani ma rakhera kya relax bho... and our exhausted legs were treated, never felt better.

AND, did i mentioned that we hadn't had our meal yet?? oh, we all were very hungry, went to a local restaurant, and plunged some stuff in our empty digestive well.
The discussion of the whole day went on in the restaurant.

4:30 we left the restaurant and visited the godavari park. bad timing, it was closing time,
but we went in ...
A hot discussion on how the fountain was set up... again with technical reasonings to back up the claims..
kasari re puspesh?? fountain experiment!!! and what bout the theory of conservation of energy???

And that funny incident....
JD u are crazy, disturbing the couples- looking for couples and striding towards them shouting BHAAAAGO!!!!.
In fact we all are jackasses, but who cares, it was fun.

5:30 and we are returning. paul went to his ol'school, puspesh went along. but few others were already in the micro bus.The vehicle started movin and 6 of us left the paul n other two guys to come in another vehicle.
I called paul to inform n that was not much of a trouble.

One very memorable hiking.na dherai lamo, na ta dherai chhoto, thikka ko. Not much pain in the body, but great memories in the mind; almost a perfect hike!!! (JD n chetanman, u guys must not disagree much, what say!!!)

The picture gallery can be found at Jwalanta's picasa gallery.