2023: Panch Pokhari Trek
!!! Warning !!!
This is the tale of how three guys made their way to Panch Pokhari, which began with a challenge but was ultimately overcome. It is one of those lengthy stories that has been written in great detail; thus, you should secure your seat belt before going to sleep for the night and read it before nodding off.
You can’t blame me if it starts to look more like a gallery as you scroll down, because that’s exactly what will happen. Mu hahahahaha ha !!!
If you want the best view available, you’ll need to utilize a laptop or a desktop computer.
You have been given fair warning.
DILEMMA: The Usual Stuff
27th April 2023, I had absolutely no intention of going on a trek, but my big brother from another mother, Sameer Dai, had already gotten permission for his leave to go on a trek. It was both of our ideas to cross items off the bucket list, and he was adamant that we go on the trek that he had been nagging us about. Before today, we were both positive that even if no one else did the journey, the two of us would go ahead and do it anyhow. It was somewhere about 5:30 in the evening when I got a call from Tejendra, one of my school pals, to have an immediate get-together with him.
Tejendra: Oh! Dadhi, where are you?
Me: At home.
Tejendra: Come ASAP at Rajeev(senior most brother from another mother)dai.
Me: Why?
Tejendra: Urgent meeting.
Me: What’s so urgent about it?
Tejendra: Just come.
Me: OK.
At Rajeev Dai, I learned that Tejendra, like me, was looking forward to going on a trek. He had been away from work for a while because he was experiencing an awakening that there was something more to life than the mundane routine of working. Additionally, he had contacted Sameer Dai, and Dai arrived a few minutes later after receiving the call.
It was such a tug of war, with both myself and the other person insisting that I must find a way to make it work. I managed a coworking space, and a few members were scheduled to stop by within the next few days, that was my first priority. Both of these guys kept telling me that there is a staff and another brother who can handle the place, and as a result, they did not accept my refusal as an answer to their request.
When it came to my internal dialogue, there was another conflict: I like going on adventures, and the location in question was the one I had the strongest desire to visit. You are probably aware that skydiving has always been at the top of the wishlist, but I think you understand the case. After a period of thirty minutes during which we were asked yes or no questions, I eventually felt as though I was walking around in a dark alley: it was finally OKAY, let’s go. You’ll never guess who was happy: the men who had persuaded me or me. They were far happier than I was. Talk about reaching your goals, hahaha.
Condition of the motorbike: THE HORROR
The first thing that needed to be done was to examine the state of the motorbike. It had been a while, and it was about time for the motorcycle to receive its routine maintenance, and what the mechanic discovered not only astonished but also worried me. The person who was doing the repairs explained to me that if it had been a couple of days later, the engine would have stopped working and there would have been no mobil left at all. It seems that I had no choice but to embark on the journey after all; hehe. I feel obligated to express my gratitude to the unknown.
After making a few minor adjustments here and there and performing a break check, we agreed to see each other the next morning at our usual hangout spot, the 7C cafe, at approximately 6:30 A.M.
A bit of info regarding Panch Pokhari (Source: Wikipedia)
Panch Pokhari is one of the main features of Langtang National Park, located in the Nuwakot, Rasuwa, and Sindhulpalchok districts of the central Himalayan region.
Panch Pokhari is situated at an elevation of about 4,100 m above sea level. This is a famous Hindu pilgrimage site in Nepal. Panch Pokhari trekking lies to the north of the Kathmandu valley; the chain of peaks called Jugal Himal that includes Dorje Lhakpa (6,966 m), Madiya (6,257 m) and Phurbi Chhyachu (6,637 m).
LET’S ROLL
28th April 2023(Kathmandu->Jaharsingh Pauwa->Melamchi->Tupidada)
At approximately 6:30 a.m., we met at 7C Cafe, filled up the bike’s tank to some extent, and with a cup of tea, we left. The ride through the city was relatively simple, but the confusion that ensued when a raincoat was forgotten at the cafe was akin to hysteria. I was returning to the cafe when I received a phone call informing me that the raincoat was packaged inside the bags we carried. A rush for no apparent purpose.
We drove through Chabahil, Jorpati, Sankhu, and Jaharsingh Pauwa, and rested. Since my Ama Yangri Trek trip a few years ago, the road was greatly improved. We dropped to Melamchi from Jaharsingh Pauwa, a few kilometers off-track but worth it given the short distance. Melamchi, which was devastated by the 2021 flood, was our snack break at 9:30 AM.
After lunch, we used a temporary bridge to cross the Melamchi River. The main bridge was washed away by the flood of 2021. Few houses were in the river during the flood, so I imagined the terror.
As expected, the bike ride along the river’s side was easy. No problem — I’ve always loved this kind of ride. Tejendra drove Sameer Dai’s bike alone because he had troubles and needed to be careful. Panch Pokhari’s entrance gate welcomed us at about 10:30 AM. Beautiful gate.
YUP, SHIT HAPPENS
The river shore was serene, with fresh winds, birds chirping, and a clanking sound. What? A clanking sound? It moved along with the bike, indicating a problem. I stopped the bike, Sameer Dai checked, and we saw the double stand was broken and dragging along the road.
We searched for ropes but found nothing. We patched using a plastic bag. As the tie-up loosens, we adjusted. The adjustment was made more than once, trust me.
Half an hour of drive and we stopped at a beautiful stone engraved memoir. We were at Bhotang.
Three hungry men searched for lunch around 12:30. We arrived at Chhimti 30 minutes after asking every passerby for a place for food and being advised to go 10 minutes more. This 10 minutes is a mystery, it kept on coming for quite some time. The food was wonderful, but hey, hunger is always better than food.
At the lunch place, we befriended a few people heading towards Panch Pokhari. There were a group of people, some students, some employed, some drifters like us; all using the local bus. The funny fact about all of us was, most of us were wearing the local brand, yup we were wearing:
THE GOLDSTAR TREKKING SHOES.
Joke of the day
Sharing our stories with fellow travelers was fun. Suddenly, I shouted.,
Who left the tap open?
Fellow Travelers and Locals: Which Tap? Where?
Pointing to the waterfall. People laughed because the natives called it THE DRAGON WATERFALL of Chhimti, but I called it a tap. Everyone laughed loudly for their Dragon was a tap for me. LOL.
Here, I present you the tap.
Few minutes of rest and we continued our journey towards Deurali, the last stop for the motorbike while fellow travelers walked as the final bus destination was the lunch place.
Do you want to see the close-up of the Tap? Here you go.
2 PM and we were at Deurali. They had a proper place with a shade for motorbikes, and a lot of natural walking sticks to choose from for the walk.
Finally, walking began.
As a slow walker, leading was amusing. Sameer Dai walks well, but he was slowing down to match Tejendra. He hadn’t hiked uphill in years. My comfortable walking shocked him. Exercise might have done the trick. We did have some guesses.
We reached Tuppi Dada(2600m), and it started to get dark. The earlier group that we met at lunchtime too reached the place and the tired body had to call it a rest. The hotel owner had prepared us a fireplace where we dried our clothes, wet mostly due to sweat. Talked about experiences of travel with strangers, a good way to pass the time.
We had thought about elevating more but the night was thickening quickly and it rained too. Thus, we stayed at Tuppi Daadaa. Dinner was normal Dal bhat (rice, lentils, curry). With a wish to rise as early as 5 am, we drifted to dreamland.
29 April 2023 (Tupi Dada->Chokar->Nosyampati)
I slept in installments but don’t know how guys did. Raining at 4 AM, I thought, here goes our early ascension. Thankfully, the rain stopped around 5 AM. People were rushing to cover the slope early morning. Everyone tried to wake everyone.
THE NEWS
Given the difficult path, a few individuals returned from Panch Pokhari last night without making it to Panch Pokhari. They reached Tuppi Dada around 10 PM. The word spread like wildfire, resulting in the dilemma ver 2.0: what to do?
I don’t want to offend feminists, but the group had 2 or 3 girls, and I’ve experienced walking with a quitter. Boys and girls endure physical pain differently. Maybe it's just my imagination but I had been in those situations. We might have descended if we believed the words without seeing for ourselves. Seeing is believing, not hearing.
The reality exists, it was hard for them; that is for certain, from their vantage point.
THE HELL WITH NEWS, COMPANY MARCH FORWARD
Yup, I had to cry out loud that one, hearing which one of the fellows from the other group yelled; yeah hell, we need this kind of motivation and they went ahead.
As for us, we had a cup of tea, with everything packed up; started to march onwards.
The trail was fairly easy compared to many treks that I had been to. The morning was just lovely.
One hour of walk, ups and downs and we were at a suspension bridge. Here, we had a decent break as from this moment it was all uphill.
After an hour of uphill climb, we got to the place called Chokar; the place we planned to be the earlier night. It was basically barren, no human beings to entertain us; so our stay at the Tuppi Dada was a wise decision.
Uphill walk, resting at places to catch the air. It was around half past 10 we reached Nosyampati. The weather had started to worsen with poor visibility and slight rainfall.
The funny thing here was, we had hoped to make it on our day 1, duuuh; a rush is never a good idea and whatever happened, happened for a reason.
Panch Pokhari was now just 3 hour's walk.
EVERYTHING HAPPENS FOR A REASON
We had to wait for the student group to eat lunch. We chatted with travelers besides the kitchen hall fireplace. Most of the 4–5 groups that reached Noshyampati wanted to reach Panch Pokhari on the same day as us. It started raining and then snowed, which was confusing because it was mild. Should we proceed or rest was the question.
Sameer Dai and I were already packed up for the walk along with the raincoat but,
Suddenly, Tejendra complained of a bad headache.
Given the altitude of just 3700m and the greeneries surrounding the place; it should not have been an altitude sickness but only the sufferer knows what suffering feels like. Tejendra just gave up there and then regarding our effort to reach Panch Pokhari that day. He was insisting us to leave him and the two of us go to the destination.
Must say it was an awkward situation for we are not the kind of friends to leave our friend behind just for the sake of some trophy.
We rented a room for Tejendra to recuperate while Sameer Dai and I had loads of time to kill. We chatted with other guests by the kitchen hall fireplace. To relax, we had a few shots of local liquor; yup, just a tiny one.
The environment outside was getting worse with much rainfall and thick snowfall; occasionally we could hear loud thunderstorms, and thus the saying,
Everything happens for a reason.
We were wondering how the guys who left for Panch Pokhari be feeling at that time.
HOW MANY HOURS CAN YOU SIT IN A CROSS-LEG POSITION?
We had lots of time to talk as Tejendra was napping. I chatted with Bijay and his companion from Sankhu’s four-man group. Travel, life philosophy, culture, lifestyle, politics, and spirituality were discussed. It was a question-and-answer session since everyone had problems.
I also asked why this, why that, and why me, but I eventually made peace with my problems. I had accepted the past and could handle more in life. However, I would never use phrases like actualization, realization, enlightenment, or others for myself because they are just words.
The conversation went on and on, it was about 3 hours of sitting Sameer Dai left the conversation for a nap himself.
I elaborately shared my thoughts while listening. An elderly meme (grandfather) happily listened and applauded our logic. We told Meme we would accompany him to Panch Pokhari in the morning and he can be our local guide.
Going back to sitting posture, do you know how long I stayed in a cross-leg sitting position?
It was freaking 6 hours.
I don’t recall sitting in that position for that long in my life, I had been to vipassana meditation; but still, it was much less than 6 hours, and I broke all of my previous records that day.
Sameer Dai returned after 3 hours of rest and he exclaimed,
Man, you can sit? Might as well grow some roots, lol.
As the night started spreading, it was dinner time; not being fond of rice in the evening, I had curries and lentils and that was about it. I needed to keep my stomach good for tomorrow too.
Few more conversations and at almost 9 PM we were off to sleep.
30th April 2023
We woke up at 5 AM and started packing to leave early. Tejendra was OK after a rest and had no headache. Other groups were also struggling to wake up.
Since we were returning the same way, hauling all the baggage would have been a nightmare and stupid. We considered having tea before moving, but no one was awake. Thankfully, the door was open and we kept our things in a kitchen nook. Our tactful decision inspired other groups to follow suit, hehe.
Meme, who should have been our guide had just opened up his eyes and told us to go along ahead for he would catch up to us. We were most certainly clear that he would catch up to us.
The three hours walk started.
It started with a stone paved path, but as we moved further, the path was covered more and more with snow. We had to be very careful in places as it was a slippery path.
When you keep on walking and the stairway clears off to show the mountain, it's time for a photo break.
AGE IS JUST A NUMBER
You remember the meme(the grandfather figure) right? We were walking for about 1.5 Hours when he caught up to us. Aged 66, he was simply gliding across the terrain while we were crawling.
The difference being a city man and a mountain man.
I was already ahead of the guys and as Meme caught up to me, I left the path for him to take the lead but he insisted that I should be taking the lead. Must say it was a very humble gesture.
After two hours of walking from Noshyampati, we reached Lauribina. It was a steep stairway with slippery snow on the top. The sideways railings were helping but the railing itself was incomplete. Check them out for yourself.
We had a decent break, maybe 15–20 minutes at the top of Lauribina. Panch Pokhari was now 0.5 km from us, time taken was estimated to be 15 minutes as per Meme but for us 30 minutes; yup, no competition with a mountain man.
The terrain was hazardous before the final ascent to Panch Pokhari. It was steep but had no handholds. This path would be difficult on our return back as well, that’s what we all had in our mind. Our legs sometimes sank to the knee, so we had to be careful.
We wondered if the group that gave up even reached Lauribina. You recall the story right? Walnuts?
The weather cleared when we saw Panch Pokhari from afar, giving us beautiful vistas.
Finally, the moment we all have been waiting for; the very reason why we embarked on the journey. About 3 hours of walk from Noshyampati, we present you the semi-frozen Panch Pokhari.
We followed Meme to his cottage and had a tea break. I had no intention of having rice as I was seeking something light and hence asked for noodles instead; noodles and egg, yup, perfect.
It would take some time for the fireplace to make its blaze so we headed towards the temple which was just down the cottage.
All hail to Panch Pokhari Mahadev (lord shiva)
Did you notice the fog in the picture? We hurried to the cottage as the fog descended. Noodles should have been ready too.
Enter, the Sankhu guys. We advised the Sankhu guys to visit the temple first before having lunch at Meme. They went to the temple and returned along with rain and fog with terrible visibility. The environment worsened.
THE LUCKY ONES
We were considered the lucky ones at Panch Pokhari for which we need to go back a day and feel the experience of the ones who left Noshyampati and stayed at Panch Pokhari. With rain and heavy snowfall, the path was very bad, on top of that the occasional thunder was like a cherry on top of the terror land. With the help of locals, they literally had to shovel their way toward Panch Pokhari. Ohh!!! The horror. Thank god, our friend had a bad headache and we stayed at Noshyampati.
And guess what, even though they were at Panch Pokhari the earlier night, the view; the window of opportunity was the same for us as much as for them. We reached Panch Pokhari at perfect time.
10 AM, with rainfall, subsiding to the least; we had our raincoats and started our descent.
The image that justifies the environment beautifully is:
It was literally,
VIEW? WHAT VIEW?
LOST
We had been walking for about 20 minutes and Tejendra exclaimed, “Guys, this is not the path that we came.” Indeed, we were moving more towards the ponds than the ones we came from. Though the place is too small to get lost in, the thick fog would make it difficult to think properly. The current weather was,
Finally, we were returning easily. Since it was entirely downhill, we had to be careful on steep spots. Visibility increased as we approached Lauribina. Heavy snowfall occurred before Noshyampati. Must say, we had a blast of a moment.
More climbers were making the climb in between. Asking the correct question was the most usual technique to communicate with other climbers, the question being:
How far is the place?
A few glimpses of our return back can be seen as:
Back in Noshyampati at 1 PM. After clearing the bills yesterday, it was only gathering the bag and getting down to the low ground.
SAVIOUR FROM GRAND BLUNDER
The hotel owner shouted at us telling us that they found a bunch of keys from the room we slept. To my horror, it was mine; the bike key was in the same bunch along with a bunch of keys to my office room. We couldn’t thank the guy enough.
Our target was to reach all the way to Deurali as gravity was on our side this time. But,
Tejendra had a bad sore at his calves, thigh and he was walking slowly. The frequency of rest increased such that there was no difference between ascend and descend.
Our mega target was to reach Deurali, hop in our bikes, and return back; which now had started to fade away.
The perks of travel, trekking, or a journey are such that not everything goes according to plan; thus, we need to improvise time and again.
It was already 5:30 PM when we reached Tangu Kharka(2878m), we were about to make it to Tuppi Dada. Deurali was almost 1 hour from Tuppi Dada.
YOU CAN ONLY DO AS MUCH YOUR BODY CAN
Rubber can be stretched to its limit, but if you go beyond that, it will snap. Tejedra struggled as his muscles ached and made movement harder.
What worse can a person suffering feel? Well, there is an answer to that. Tejendra saw,
Sameer Dai running down the hill like a person doing commando training. It was heart breaking, lol.
6 PM: Tejendra gave up the walk at Tuppi Dada. He suggested we stay in Deurali and join him in the morning. Another idea: go for Kathmandu but leave one bike for him to use tomorrow. It was a sight. The moment of silence was terrifying.
Two Sanku guys caught up to us and ran down to Deurali, planning to return to Kathmandu that night. Their office work influenced that decision. Where were their other two friends? They stayed back at Noshyampati. Don’t laugh, but being overweight has its costs.
THE OFFERING
Tejendra enquired about a local bhaale(chicken) and the hotel owner said they have and they were interested to pay their part too. The offering was, the night’s cost was in Tejendra’s name and if we stayed, we were to pay nothing.
The offering was tempting and the chicken was too.
Thus, tuppi dada is where we stayed. A few local liquors, few songs, good food, good talk, no need to ask for anything more. With the least amount of spices, the taste was simply best, hunger is best or food; it always keeps on ringing.
1 May 2023
We had our tea at 6 AM and it was time to say goodbye to Tuppi Dada. Tejendra had revived much, but now we had a full day to spend; no rush at all. After two and a half hours of walking and we reached Deurali.
Told ya, it took as much to descend as it took to ascend.
We were thinking about getting out of Deurali quickly but a downpour had us stuck. So, where should we have our lunch of the day? Yup, at Deurali.
After paying bills and bike parking fees, we left Deurali at half past 10 in the rain. Raincoat, bike start, and home. Yup, that was the plan.
We drove slowly, with decent breaks in between. A couple of photos before we reached Melamchi at around 3 PM.
New Return Route
From Melamchi we drove towards Zero Kilo (name of the place) at Panchkhal, had a coffee break, and followed the route of Dhulikhel, Banepa, Bhaktapur, Kathmandu, and finally landed at Rajeev Dai; the place where we formed the team.
Recall of the MayFly
During our bike ride at Panchkhal, we came across a swarm of MayFly; they were literally everywhere. There wasn’t a need to pull on the visor of helmet all these times but now we had to do it. It was irritating but you can’t complain against the nature, so, we passed through.
I don’t know about others' condition, but here is my condition along with what I needed to do with my bike the next day.
Finally, the home was the place to head for.
CONCLUSION
How it started, how it ended, and the memories in between will be always with us till the end of the world. People expect certainties while immersed in uncertainties and if we don’t cherish the moment, it will simply pass like a whiff of air.
A bucket list had been ticked off, an achievement for all of us.
Now a memory to talk about, from time to time.
FOOTNOTE (I am advertising myself here)
And if you want to read more about my travel you can find it down here:
TSHO ROLPA Diaries 2019
Unexpected Call, Worthwhile Trip To Bandipur
Spontaneous Solo Bike Ride To Kerung
2016: How we Travelled To RARA Lake
If want to know me more, do check out all my writing which can be found here:
Everything I had ever written in medium.com
