Up until 12 PM, there had been no plans for the day except to stay at home and work on tasks from the office. Then Sajjan, a friend of mine texted me on Facebook that he and his friends were visiting Jhor and asked if I wanted to come along. As I did not have much to do and I felt dull, I decided to go and breathe some fresh air.
On Monday, 22nd of June 2020, I along with 3 friends visited the waterfall at Jhor Mahankal situated 9 km away from Samakhusi Chowk. I had been told to come to Sajjan’s home at Gongabu and we’d go from there. It had been a while since I had not been to Gongabu. I knew a shortcut from Manamaiju but the road used to be bad. Despite knowing the road being bad and having it rained the previous night I was still confident that I could however reach Gongabu from there. The reality turned out to be different. As I got ahead in the alley, the true condition of the road began to show up. It was full of mud and puddles with no sign of tire marks. Then I realized that no vehicles or bikes have been through that road. Ignoring such signs I proceeded forward not caring that I sometimes had to step my feet in such a swamp. You’d be wrong if you thought the trouble was now over and I successfully reached the other side. Upon reaching like 100 meters further from the other side I found the road barred and blocked. I had to turn around the same swampy road cursing my luck and will forcibly try to cross such a road by taking a shortcut. I took a different route. Upon reaching Sajjan’s home, I found him waiting for me outside. We rode to Manamaiju bridge and picked others and headed to the destination through Greenland School to Tokha and finally to Jhor.
Lots of bikes could be seen parked in a row beside the road. And the steep walk downwards to the waterfall began. Despite lockdown just being eased up, we went there with the thought of not many people being there but it turned out different. A Lot of people from different age groups could be seen there, from little ones to the oldies. Lots of couples also could be seen there as this place is in nature and one of the best places for being on a date. There were some restaurants, huts, and cottages too. The foods there are okay and not that extraordinary. But even mediocre foods taste delicious when hungry, isn’t it?
There are two waterfalls over there. One above the other. Both waterfalls are formed from the same stream. There is a religious cave as well with a small temple where Lord Shiva is worshipped. The waterfall on the top resides just beside the temple and the bottom one about 100 meters beneath.
As it had been the rainy season and it just had rained the previous night the water there was brownish. The girls told us that they would not get under the waterfall on the top and told us to use the bottom one. As we got to the bottom people could be seen there enjoying themselves even when the water was cold. We waited for a while for people to finish their session and now it was our turn.
The girls got ready and jumped under the waterfall. We guys were there taking photos of ourselves, of them, and of nature. It felt nice for getting to breathe some fresh air after being about two months locked inside our homes. I felt grateful for the moment. I found out that girls enjoy the waterfall more than guys. Many people started coming up and us enjoying ourselves enough we decided to head back and eat Newari food. We moved above, the girls changed their dress at the changing room which was available at the cost of 20 rupees. Now the thought of having to climb those steep stairs bothered us. Somehow we climbed those stairs, got on our bikes, and headed back. We searched for Newari khaja ghar at the bus stop below but couldn’t find it so we decided to head back to Tokha for it.
Upon reaching Tokha we then began the search for a nice place to eat Newari khaja-set and momos and drink some Chyang(Rice Beer). We spotted a place and headed inside and asked the owner to bring our food and Chyang. She brought it and we began feasting ourselves on the delicacy. The food was good and we got a little bit tipsy and all of a sudden there was a heavy rainfall so we decided to drink a bit more while waiting for the rain to reside. There were some good and genuine talks happening among ourselves. The rain got low and it was getting late so we thought of heading back. We paid our bills. The food there was good and the price was fine. We then left Tokha.
Again upon reaching Grande area a huge rain hit us. Not having a raincoat this time, the rain got us wet and we thought of stopping moving ahead, and taking shelter somewhere. We stayed somewhere around 15 minutes in front of a shop and seeing no sign of the rain getting light we headed to our homes. I dropped a friend at Manamaiju bridge, said goodbye to all of them, and got on my way but this time I took a different route through Nepaltar which I should have taken earlier while going to Sajjan’s home. It was dark while I got home and it was still raining. I was all wet that even my inner wear was soaking. My mother told me to wash the bike for it being all muddy. I washed the bike, had a shower, changed my clothes. My mother was calling me for dinner but me being full from the Newari food and Chyang I told her that I was not eating. I got to my bed and having Chyang and being tired I fell asleep. The day was memorable.