AMA-YANGRI — A Hidden Gem
Dilemma
What will you do, when you have been living abroad for the past 15 years and then back to your own country to travel many places and then a person comes along and says to your face, “If you haven’t seen Ama Yangri, you haven’t seen Nepal.”
Warning
Like always, it’s long folks; detail of our journey, have patience, sit back relax and give it a read. If you are not getting good sleep, then reading the journey of ours can entice a good one. Peace.
Prologue
13 February 2020, I was minding my own business and surfing(wasting) around the internet. While my childhood friend Ravi Thapa on his visit to Nepal after 15 years was struck down by the suggestion. He sent out a message in a group chat asking if anyone were interested to visit Ama Yangri. It was prompt as the date of travel was the next day, I honestly declined about the idea, thinking it would take at least 4–5 days. Ravi was asking for a guide if no one were interested. I asked around a couple of friends and most of them suggested to hire a guy once reaching Tarkeghyang.
I even Viber out to one of my respected Kishor dai(big brother)(biggest as he is like a mountain himself) who lives in Spain for 6 months and 6 months here in Nepal. Upon requesting a guide, he simply said; “You are funny Dadhi(this one is me), if you take a bus from Bouddha, Jorpati, you’d reach Tarkeghyang in a day; and then it is just 3 hours of hike to Ama Yangri. Why on earth, young people like you who love to travel in need of a guide?”
Turn of Event and Decision
Since Kishor dai slammed the information of how long it takes to complete Ama Yangri Hike(Trek is just too absurd), the urge to go there started to build up. I called Ravi right away and told the information as provided by Kishor dai, but; we’d travel on my bike( I love to travel on bike folks, yup, that's the way it is; deal with it). Since it was a one night stay or a max of two; we had the lightest packing of things possible. The plan was to wake up early and hit the road by 8 am.
14th February 2020, Kathmandu-Tarke Ghyang (78 Km, maps.me)
While most love birds had their own plan this day(its Valentine day people), two crazy ones were up to conquer the hill over The Helambu Region.
Ravi called me early morning and asked if we could go by bus, but the window to catch the bus had already passed; hence the bike it is.
Suggestion No 1
If you want to go on a bus, get it before 8 a.m., it is a suggestion for anyone interested.
As the destination wasn’t far off, one thing we agreed on was; have a meal at house and meetup at round 11:00–11:30 a.m. Thankfully or more to say luckily, I had my bike serviced just the day before and before everything; the bike itself was in top condition. I got at Ravi’s house at around 11:00 a.m., he had prepared a small bag for the trip and we were all set.
It was 11:30 a.m., we got into the bike and stopped for ATM machine for some cash as we won’t get any card reader in the place we were headed for. We did stop at few more places searching for Dry Meat, Ravi had a knack for it, but we failed to get a good one nearby.
After an hour of the ride, we reached Sankhu; an ancient Newar town located in the north-eastern corner of Kathmandu Valley in about 17 km from the capital city Kathmandu. We stopped for at a Titaura(tasty spices made of fruits) shop. The shop owner directed us to a shop where we could buy Dry Meat (yesssss, Ravi; from inside). We bought some Dry Meat and had a tea break. A bit of chit chat with the local people and then we were on the move again.
Took another hour to reach Jaharsingh Pauwa, had to ask local people there for direction and move on. We left the good pitched road behind and the road now was bumpy with potholes, reminded more of an off-road adventure.
Through dust and smog, took us 1 hour 30 minutes to reach Melamchi. The word Melamchi is very popular(satirically) among us Nepalese. Our great political leaders(I don’t know what's great about them, think only they know their own greatness) had been promising residents of Kathmandu valley water supply from Melamchi for past 3 decades. Still, the project continues; every one of our generations is certain that our next generation might get the taste of water from Melamchi but not us.
And politicians be like,” Melamchi is coming.”
Vote seeking propaganda, at its best.
Well, enough of political bullshit. We stopped at one of the restaurants, had a couple of cold drinks and fried fish. The price of fish seemed to have skyrocketed and we had no option but to pay. We paid of saying, we will never return to the shop again in our life. (a LOL moment).
From Melamchi, the road got worse. Driving at around 15–20 KM/hr and occasionally asking people for the direction we reached Timbu. We saw the check post of The Lamtang National Park, but to our surprise, there was no one. We waited quite a while as if needed we wanted to pay the charges for a drone shoot but to no avail, we just had to move on.
From Timbu, it was all about the elevation; driving was fair and easy; except at places where I had to drive over the stone-paved rough road(it was the road, guys; trust me, will you?). We stopped at few more places, admired the view; opened up maps.me(mobile app) to see if we were on the right trail.
It had started to get dark and we had to elevate more. We came across a signpost of The Yangri Peak Hotel and we were at peace, we needed rest for the day. We had a tea break at the entry shop of Tarke Ghyang. Three guys from Sankhu too were there, we shared some pleasantries; they too were headed for Ama Yangri the next day. After the tea break, we got to the hotel.
We placed our belongings at the room and went towards The Kitchen(the happening place for us). The Kitchen had central firewood place and it was all warm, just the thing we needed. There were more people in the kitchen, some of them from the project of some sort who were collecting data from the hotel owner, three guys from Sankhu and a few more local personal. We had some spicy mashed noodles (Sandheko Chau Chau) and a couple of beers.
And then we had some healthy debate.
Contact Information
Wang Dorje Lama (Hotel Yangri Peak): 9848944003
The people collecting data were concerned about how the linked road damaged the tourists visit while Ravi was on favour with blacked topped road. Had there been a good road, much people from Kathmandu alone would have made a visit to the place. The debate went on for hours, I; being a good listener(maybe a writer too, self boast; hell yeah.) listened while the shop owner asked me to say something. He was telling me that all the talking was done by Ravi and wanted to know more of my thought. I simply laughed at the remarks.
After settling down without any settlement, it was time to have dinner. The place didn’t provide the meat of any sort; so vegetarian food at its best. They had a heap of rice on our plate, we both cut out a big portion and had just the volume we needed. Few more chit chat and we were at the room, it was 9 P.M. and far from the internet reach; we slept peacefully.
15th February 2020, Tarke Ghyang-Ama Yangri(11 Km, Bike + Hike)
We woke up at 6 a.m., freshened up and headed to the kitchen. We already had a suggestion regarding the breakfast early last night so it was almost ready as per our timing. Breakfast included two boiled eggs, two omelettes and a roti each (damn, we were stuffed); on top of that, we had a big cup of tea (burps, excuse me). We were still confused regarding whether to take our bike to the nearest place possible or to hike. The hotel owner suggested us to go on our bike, so; bike it was. Meanwhile, the three guys from Sankhu were starting a bit late. They had said that they were hiking, so we separated.
Will It Start or Not?
We stuffed the necessary things in one of the bags and left another at the hotel and were about to start. The bike seat was all frozen and I had to scrape off the ice off the seat. I was worried about whether the bike would start or not, as the night was damn chilly. Self-start would simply not work as predicted and I tried kick start, it took me almost 10 minutes for the beast to wake up. I was sweating already. While Ravi was having a good time of the vicinity where fog would envelop the place, then again clear out to show mountain at the horizon. A glimpse of the mountain as the fog vanished was itself motivating and mesmerizing.
It was 7 a.m. and we were riding up the hill. Initial 20–25 minutes of the ride was fairly easy, then we were witnessing muddy tracks with the remains of snow and ice. Riding with pillion was difficult at places and Ravi had to push the bike time and again. One hour of riding and we were sweating like a pig, well a little less than a pig; but hey, WE WERE SWEATING. On the bright side, we had good video shoot of our bike ride. As we rested to grasp some air, we heard some noise and it was clear that the Sankhu guys too were on the bike. We tried to wait, but they were taking the time to reach us; maybe the muddy road, so we pressed on ourself.
At 9 a.m. we were at a place where the downward path was all covered in ice, I was not worried about getting down; but getting up on our day back. With Ravi backing up, down the icy path. It was damn difficult folks, so another suggestion for all of you riders.
Suggestion No 2
If you face an icy path, leave the bike and just walk. You can dare, but it might not be worth it. Well, hey the memory might be good; but so does the suffering too. We leave the decision all upto you and you only.
We got into an open field, the last final place where the bike could go. We had a bit of rest, water and looked at the Ama Yangri top where we could be in 2 hours. The open field itself was covered in snow and beautiful, but how we got our bike there is a whole different story.
10 minutes of rest and the hiking started. The open field led to a forest where we had to step very carefully as the snow was loose and our legs simply sank at many places.
The night before the hotel owner was telling us about two guys who were to return but they didn’t and our 30 minutes of the hike we encountered the same two guys. Both of them seemed good hiker/trekker as they had proper gears, even spikes on the shoes. They had set up the tent on top and stayed there for whole two nights, damn we were thrilled to know about that.
Conflicting Advice
As we shared information, one of the guys advised us not to proceed further as the snow path was much dense and deep; while another suggested to proceed with caution. We were there to proceed no doubt, thus parted with the guys and pressed on towards the top.
One hour more of the hike and the snow path opened up towards the barren rocky path. It was much easier but we were transitioning slow, or slowest. But the view, oooohhh the view, was getting beyond our expectation and imagination as we climbed up. We rested at multiple places, watched those clouds; clouds were literally floating below us; we were up in the sky.
Who would carry the bag?
At the high ground, carrying even a gram feels like a kg. We were taking turns carrying the bag. Every 10 minutes we were switching bag. One who is free of the bag was leading. Think I carried the bag less time. LMAO.
I was leading the climb and came to a place with a temporary shed. The view was more breathtaking than before, I saw mountains all on the Northside and the clouds on the South. Ravi was about to rest and told him to get to the place I was standing to have the rest. He mustered up the strength and got to the place, only to be blown away. Witnessing the grand scenario we both lost words to share, we just sat down with sparkle on our eyes to get drenched in the beauty of the place. Oh, the place! What a place.
All of our troubles vanished away, we were standing tall with a proud chest, our troubles vanished with the swift-flowing air, our troubles were below us like the clouds, we were floating in the air; we were happy, satisfied, more to say, we were blissed out. As we shared some philosophical views, both of us were sure that even death is below us. The power of nature makes you ponder on your very own existence.
We had heard the Sankhu guys coming up with speakers and as we rested at the spot, they caught up to us and moved ahead. We, being mesmerized, stayed at the place, had some video shoot out; enjoyed the moment even more.
!!! Drone Horror !!!
Ravi was capturing the view on his drone, flying all over the place. All of a sudden the controller flashed with noise saying battery is getting low and the drone is trying to land. It was literally a shit moment. I had no idea of what to suggest while Ravi wanted to hand me the controller and himself go look for the drone. We had a panic attack, a mini heart attack if I must say. We could hear the drone in a distance, but the direction of noise was treacherous; didn’t know which direction to look for. We both were like, shit, shit, shiiiiiittttt.
Ravi again navigated through the menu of controller and sent a signal indicating the drone to return to the location of the controller. We heard the noise getting strong and to our surprise the drone was visible right on top of us.
Phewwww!!! Talk about shitty situation and this was the mother of all. We then just packed the thing. Anxiety attack at its best. Daammmmnnnnn!!!
Think we stayed more than an hour there, then we started to move up the hill. As we moved up, guys were already returning back; we bid farewell and pressed on.
As we moved up, I was wondering how would the night view be; with clouds all beneath us, black sky on top, how much stars would we see. The sheer thought of it encouraged us to make a phone call to the hotel owner and asked for a tent, sleeping bags, not raw food but the cooked food and water.
Then the owner be like, ”Do you guys need beer too?” and we were happy beyond measure and said, “Get two of those too, please.”
And that's how we were certain, that we’d be staying on top of the hill that night.
Suggestion No 3:
There is no water source in between, make sure you carry stock and make wise use of it. Yup, from start of hike to the top; no water, nada, nothing but snow(idea!!!).
It was around 4 p.m., we reached the top, had much photos and videos. Had a drone fly around covering the low ground on the top as well. We were cautious guys, it came from experience. With nothing much to do than get amazed, we waited for the tent and other things to arrive. We did start a fire and made ourself warm. At 5:30–6:00 pm, porter found us and our tent was ready in half an hour. Our food included, few boiled eggs, fried rice, fruits like banana and oranges, beaten rice, dalmoth and two bottles of beer.
The only thing that worried us in that majestic place was the porter wasn’t there to stay, he was returning back. It was already too dark. He had a torchlight and had to return anyway. We handed him our stuff of carrying, even the drone; so that we could bring back the tent, sleeping bags ourselves the next day with ease.
Two friends, on top of the hill, over the clouds, on the sky, with stars sprinkling and covering the sky as darkness pitches further more; only those who stay on top can feel, for rest, it’s simply beyond imagination.
As the air started being chilly, it was much difficult to stay outside on the open. We had our dinner and got into the sleeping bags.
WHAT IS SLEEP?
It was my first ever experience in a tent and a sleeping bag. The sheer notion of not having a pillow was torture for me. I was turning over again and again like a clock hand. Ravi too was having the same thought. We both could feel the coldness of ice from beneath the tent but weren’t able to do anything about it. The thing I knew at times was: Ravi snoring peacefully while I was having trouble sleeping throughout the night. Thought I was awake the whole time.
Meanwhile, Ravi knew that I was snoring peacefully and he was having trouble sleeping throughout the night.
Also, the fluttering prayer flags, the howling winds spooked us throughout the night.
To conclude the sleep, one of us knew another was sleeping with ease; but both of us knew we did not sleep at all. We slept in installment as far as the snoring heard by one another.
16th February 2020, Ama Yangri-Melamchi(41 Km, Hike+Bike)
I remained inside of the tent, Ravi already was out for a pee break and got into the tent. I had asked Ravi what time it was and it was just 4 am in the morning, damnnnn when will the clock hit 6 am? I was holding with my pee break and made it through the 2 hours period. What a relief people, what a relief.
We were out of the tent and checked the view yet again, honestly, the view earlier day was way too better for us. It had already started to get warm and with more mobile photos and videos; we concluded. We made the trip, got to the top, stayed in the tent, a success story to be told about.
We made the firewood one more time, warmed the fried rice, had a great breakfast watching the horizon; from the top of the hill. With tent and sleeping bags packed up, it was time for us to bid goodbye.
It was around 9 am and we were now descending down the hill. I got one stick for walking aid; I had to take care of my healing knee cap, so extra care while lowering down. Except for some places with snow, walking was fairly easy; the cold of the night had hardened the snow and we could walk over the snow. In just about half an hour, we were now at the base of the barren hill and were about to enter the area with trees and snows. I waited for Ravi as I was descending quick. But as we were about to go through the snow, Ravi got in front of me.
THE HORROR ON THE WOODS AND EPIC RESPONSE OF THE HOTEL OWNER
Did you get the picture?
Ravi was probably 20 meters ahead of me and he turned back and reached out towards me in a hurry. He told me to scram off as there is a bear in the path.
What? A FREAKING BEAR? ARE YOU SURE?
For a moment I was frozen by the thought of bear lurking around. We ran up the same path, got over some big rocks. Ravi was already up in the tree. With heart beating haywire, I checked my mobile, thank god the signal was there. I called the hotel owner and asked for rescue. Our conversation is as follows;
Me: Dai(Big brother), we need to be rescued.
Hotel Owner: Why? What happened?
Me: There is a freaking bear on our path.
Hotel Owner: Did you get the picture?
Me: We are almost shitting our pants and you are asking of picture of the bear.
Hotel Owner: It’ll do nothing, just keep on yelling out loud and it will go away.
We kept on yelling out loud, struck the rock with the sticks that we were carrying. After 20 minutes or so, Ravi asked me if we would go down. Well, I wasn’t the one to see the freaking bear but with no one around, we needed to get to the lower ground. With a heavy heart and slow pace, we got to the place where Ravi had seen the bear and it wasn’t there. We kept wishing on not to encounter it again. We hurriedly rushed down, our sense of hearing was now that of the protagonist in the movie Limitless or Lucy. We could hear the rustling of the leaves, with shivering thoughts and checking around as we kept moving down.
With mind pondering and wondering we got to the open space where we had parked the bike. I was worried if the bear had chewed through the bike tyre, like that we see on some jungle safari.
The bike was intact, that was a relief. The greatest relief was, it started on a single kick. Now the only trouble was to get over the icy path that stretched uphill for about a kilometre.
The Icy Up Hill Torment
Pillion ride was out of the scene, Ravi carried most of the things(tent, sleeping bags)while I drove the bike. Ravi had to leave the things and push the bike many times before we could cover probably 100–150 metres. With stamina drained, bike getting stuck on the path; both of us were deeply fatigued. We had no option but to call the hotel owner yet again.
Ooops, there’s no signal.
I gave my phone to Ravi, as I could not leave the bike; for it, would simply fall down on that muddy icy road. Ravi went back towards the open field, or more to say to the place towards the bear where the telephone signal was strong. He managed to get to the owner on the other side and asked for rescue, Ravi literally asked to send over a truck. The owner told us that he’d send a guy instead who would carry the baggage and push our bike off the trouble too.
THE LONGEST WAIT
We left the bike standing on the what's left of the road, much like a swamp if you were to ask me and got on dry land ourselves. Ravi was lying on the ground and he was snoring already; damnnn I love that kind of fast sleep.
Rustle of the leaves, Ravi sleeping; damn is that the bear?
What’s more haunting was the feeling, “What would we had done, if the bear was on the top of the hill while we were sleeping?”
It was the longest wait of our life, the person came in about 50 minutes; we rejoiced already.
The Shoe Story Of Helping Hand
Our helper upon seeing the path and the assigned task was very worried. He had imagined we were stuck on the ice path alone, but not the muddy path. But to his surprise, it was the dirty combo of both; he had his sports shoes but not the mud boots. Well, one has to do what one has to do; no options available.
PUSH, OHH!! WHAT A PUSH
I got on the bike and the support guy pushed the bike, damn, he had power; I had a hard time controlling the bike as it was moving forward much faster than I had anticipated. Ravi was capturing the moment on his mobile but was left behind. He was prepared to throw away the bags at the bear if it appeared, that’s what was going on his mind. We had three, one-minute break between the struggle and we were finally cleared off the icy path. If you ever make a win over the world and be proud of taking over the world, that’s exactly what we felt getting off the icy hell. Ravi and I would have been busting balls if it was up to us alone.
We owe it to the person who got covered in mud, helped us escape the hell(maybe I am being much dramatic); our sincere thanks yet again from the very bottom of our hearts.
The helper guy carried our baggage and moved, only to find him leading us every time. Mind it, we were now on a bike while he was walking. But the mountain man knew every shortcut in the back of his head, so, it was bound to happen. He even waited for us at the much damaged muddy road to check if we could clear it. The man had a big heart to help people in need. After clearing the path, he got into another shortcut and we’d meet at the hotel afterwards.
Drive was fair and easy, compared to what we went through. In about half-hour or so, we reached the hotel; only to our surprise, the helper guy welcomed us from the top of the hotel. And we were like Damn!!!!! (Damn, has been my favourite word these days, do bear with it, or more like run away from the bear). Our huge respect.
It was around 3 pm and we were at the hotel. We showed them the videos and photos of the place from the top of the hill and they were amused themselves. We had a big cup of tea, cleared the bill of the restaurant, paid the helper a bit more than we agreed upon the telephone. With the best memories, we then bid goodbye as our target for the day was to reach Melamchi. We did exchange our Facebook contact to get connected. At 4 pm, we left Tarke Ghyang.
CONFUSED ROUTE
Trailing back was fair and easy but we were riding on a track that was different than we had used. Nonetheless, we got to the base where the path merged and we got to Timbu. Checking out the map and confirming route with people we were able to get to Melamchi, but it felt as if we were driving the secondary road than the road we rode the last time. Ravi checked for a good hotel and found Hotel River Side, Melamchi. It had already got dark when we reached the hotel.
CELEBRATION
As soon as we parked our ride, we had a couple of beers to make it officially over. Listening to the swift-flowing Melamchi river on the side was no less than tranquillity. We recalled the events that we went through. The initial ease, then a bit difficulty along the off-road track, getting a tent on top of the hill and chilled beer, the frightening experience of a bear encounter, trouble through the icy path and finally at a luxury place.
The hotel had a cosy room with hot water and air conditioner, which was not a requirement; but hey, we wouldn’t say no as well. With a stomach full of dal-bhat, we headed to our room; watched the videos that we had made and it was time to get to sleep.
17th February 2020, Melamchi-Kathmandu(45 Km, Bike)
Felt like I had the most amazing deep sleep. I was feeling completely fresh the moment I woke up. Ravi was still asleep, hope that he felt the same. I was out in the balcony doing some stretching and saw the staff of hotel cleaning the open space with a water hose. I got down and requested the staff if I could wash my bike too. My bike was in need of a proper wash. You can check the following video and see it for yourself.
CLEANING UP THE BEAST
Before Wash Up
The Wash Up
Meanwhile, Ravi got freshened up and we had a very good breakfast at the hotel. A double-decker egg sandwich, damn it was a big one; yup, tummy stuffed with a yummy sandwich.
Around 9:30 am, we had cleared the bill and by 10 am, we were on the road back home. We took a different road to return home. From Melamchi we got to Zero Kilo (Panchkhal), we had a small break at Kera Ghari, lassi being famous here we had a glass each. Without any break in between, the route included Dhulikhel, Banepa, Sanga, Bhaktapur and finally Kathmandu. I dropped Ravi at his home, exchanged good words with his parents and I too was off to my home.
At home, my mom was quite angry with me for I told her that I was staying out for just a single night but arrived on the fourth day. I hadn’t told my dad about the travel so he was pissed off, which I had to manage somehow.
CONCLUSION
So, how was the trip you’d ask?
Let me summarize it for you.
AMA YANGRI (3371 metre)
AAMA(MOM) ANGRY
DAD PISSED OFF
SON HAD AN EXPERIENCE OF HIS LIFE
That concludes our tale. As I am writing about the travel Ravi would be back at the states, but the memory we had of the trip would transcend time and space. My sincere thanks to Ravi for coming up with the destination. I had been to many places in Nepal, but this particular trip of AMA YANGRI for me is THE BEST OF EVERY TRIP I HAD.
Until we meet again, my best wishes to my childhood friend; keep on being awesome.
Also thank you all for going through the story, your patience is appreciated. If you read the story in one sitting, my hats off ;). Peace Out and set the gears, travel the place.
And if you want to read more of 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
