It had been a while since I’d met any people outside my family since the second wave of covid hit the country, and every one of my friends was stuck at home because of the lockdown.
Then on a Saturday Sajjan called to ask if I’d go along to Dhakal Chaur above Jhor which was famous for its huge Nepali flag and the view it offered. And since the flag had been torn and removed and there are lots of places around which gave similar or more majestic views. I talked about going to Tarkeshwor. We agreed and decided just the two of us to meet at Manamaiju Petrol Pump at 11 am and head to Paanch Maane and then start our hike.
On our way, to Sano Bypass, we decided to buy snacks and 2 small bottles of beer because nature’s more fun when you’re a bit buzzed. We rode to Paanch Maane, unsure whether the armies would let us enter the Shivapuri Forest Reserve.
On reaching Paanch Maane and parking our bikes we asked the locals if armies would allow visitors over there. They told us to talk to the armies humbly and say that we were locals coming to nature to ease our frustrated minds. While having the conversation we saw two guys walking out of the entrance and we asked the same question to them as well. They responded with a similar answer too. And then Sajjan got hesitant about whether to bring alcohol inside or not. Then we decided to chug them at the entrance and walk half sober. Aaich thus our hike began.
As Sajjan is a photographer his primary motive was taking pictures of nature. He started shooting right after we got onto the trail. I had been to Tarkesor previously too many times but this time the trail seemed a bit different. The armies seemed to have put a door at the entrance and made the trail a bit easier and more beautiful. They have stood up a Tarkeshwor viewpoint as well which gave a better view of the Kathmandu Valley.
To reach Tarkeshwor mandir from the entrance it would take a maximum of around 30 minutes while for us it took more than an hour. Tipsy walking while taking shots, laughing, giggling, and talking shit was the best part of that day. Once while we were taking photos of ourselves we encountered some armies on patrol. Then I remembered that time we had been to the Jharna at Kavrasthali. A gang of armies had stood us up for an hour lecturing us and rambling and showing us their superiority inside the jungle while we’d done nothing that would harm nature or anything of that sort.
This time however they didn’t say anything about us coming to the forest without a ticket but warned us not to take pictures with a camera but instead take it with our phones as cameras were banned inside the forest reserve. We were grateful for it not turning into anything ugly like the previous time, thanked them, and walked to the temple while not giving a shit on what they had just said to us. We’re still taking photos with Sajjan’s camera.
We reached the temple at around 1:45 and put on a tika even though I’m a non-religious person. Sajjan took some pictures and then we decided to come down. There’s a jharna inside that forest too where we’d wanted to go to. We didn’t have much time left on our clock so we had to cancel our attempt of reaching the jharna but enjoyed every bit of time we spent over there. And after a while, we decided to get home.
We walked for 5 minutes and rested for 5. In doing so it already had turned 4 when we got to the place where we’d parked our bikes. Then we came straight to my home, put pictures that we’d taken on my laptop and then Sajjan left after a while.