Joy of watching snow-covered Himalayan peak at sunrise

For some time, my elder son, Munad, was repeatedly telling me to pay a visit to Nepal, the land of Himalayas and green hills.

However, despite my nod, he could not find a convenient time for the Nepal tour due to his busy schedule at his office at BRAC International, the world’s largest Non-governmental Organisation (NGO), in the capital.

To meet the urgent requirements of his office, he had to rush to two African countries of Ghana and Sierra Leone ahead of Eid-ul-Adha.

In such a situation, my daughter-in-law, Nuhash, also a working lady, came forward to his rescue. She lent her whole-hearted support to him to fulfill his brave and bold move.

They promptly communicated with an experienced Nepalese travel agency to chalk out a plan of 5-day storm tour for a 5-6member family to Nepal during their brief Eid vacation. Accordingly, they arranged a package tour with the travel agency.

They did two months’ advance ticket booking of Biman Bangladesh Airlines and that of two residential hotels in the Nepalese capital of Kathmandu and its tourism capital of Pokhara.

Time passed quickly and finally the day of our departure for Kathmandu appeared. One day after the sacrificial Eid, we all set for Kathmandu by an aircraft of Biman in the afternoon. Two other members are my younger son, Setu alias Rakib, and his mother, Zibu.

We felt a sort of excitement of travelling. While observing the charm of white clouds in the sky, our plane touched Kathmandu’s Trivubhan International Airport within a span of one hour and 10 minutes.

It is worth mentioning that at one stage of our flight, a lady crew member cautioned the passengers by giving an announcement of probable disorderly weather waiting ahead. By the grace of Allah, we did not face such weather.

We descended from the plane. We found Kathmandu a beautiful city surrounded by green hills. On arrival, we were warmly greeted by a member of our travel agency who garlanded each of us with a cotton-made colourful scarf which is considered as a tradition of Nepal.

Outside the airport terminal, a driver was waiting for us with his vehicle. We could easily recognise him as he showed a name plate where my name was written.

He drove directly towards our predestined hotel named Apsara Boutique Hotel in the Thamel area, the heart of the capital city. We rested in the hotel till night when we took our dinner at a convenient hotel in the same neighbourhood by walking. At that time, brief drizzle occurred.

However, it stopped shortly and we came back to the hotel.
After a sleep, we woke up the next morning. In our hotel, free breakfast consisting of tasty items and fruits as well as yogart was served. While having breakfast we decided to dedicate the day for sightseeing and visiting the places of interest.

Around 10:00 in the morning, we came out of the hotel. Lots of Buddhist monasteries and temples as well as Hindu temples built on the hills of the capital with the statues of Bouddha and Hindu goddesses are situated.

In our vehicle, we visited Bouddhanath Temple and Shambhunath Temple by climbing 365 stairs. Climbing the temple on top of the hill the entire Kathmandu area flashed clearly, Getting down from there, we visited Narayanhiti Royal Palace Museum.

Before the visit, I took tasteful tea made of tea, milk and coconut in an earthen cup at the gesture of Madhu, the driver of our vehicle before restarting. On a stopover, we took boat rides in the Bishnumati River. In the meantime, lunch time came.

Our driver took us to Jimbu Thakali Restaurant in the capital’s Kalimati locality where we experienced traditional Nepalese Veg Thali. Afterwards, we went to the renowned Kathmandu Durbar Square at Basantapur to visit the former royal palace. It is worth mentioning that earlier Nepal was hereditarily ruled by the monarchs.

At that time, Nepal was divided into several fragments. King Prithibi Narayan Shah, the great king of Nepal, reunited the fragments into one country. Bahadur Shah is a memorable hero of Nepal’s unification. Presently, Durbar Museum is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Hanumandhoka Durbar Square is called the friendship area of the country.

There, a nine storied former palace is located.
After a hectic site visit, we set for the tourism capital by a tourist bus in the evening. Following a night journey, we reached Pokhara, situated 2,713 feet high above the sea level, There, another vehicle was prearranged for us.

It came timely at the bus stand. After a zigzag journey through hills, our driver took us to the sunrise view- point at Sarangkot, Gothadi, Pokhara-18, 5,249 feet above the sea level, to have a glimpse of the snow-covered Himalyan peak at Dhaulagiri-Annapunya Range during sunrise. Reaching on the spot, we assumed that we were on top of the world.

All of us were overwhelmed by watching the Himalyan peak, a rare sight indeed! We had no warm clothes in our body.

But the spot is a bit cold. However, it was a memorable moment for us. Our purpose of Nepal visit was almost fulfilled. Later, we set for Hotel Crystal Palace located on Street No. 15 of the tourist city for our stay.

During our stay, we made Pokhara valley sight-seeing tour. Two days afterwards, we set for our return journey to Kathmandu by road. During the journey, we saw a beautiful village named Bandipur.

On the way, we went to Chandragiri Hills, to have a cable car ride between two green hills, 2,520 feet above the sea level. The place is very deep indeed! During the ride, we were thrilled as well as scared. We murmured Allah’s name for a safe ride.

On conclusion, we came back to Kathmandu hale and hearty. We stayed in Nepal for five days and four nights and fell in love with the charming land and its hospitable people. Following a memorable tour, we bade farewell to our neighbouring country and came back to our homeland by a Biman flight.

Finally, I urge our government to make every arrangement so that people-to-people contact between our two neighbours increases. I bless my son and my daughter-in-law for making us respectable global citizens.

I remembered my elder brother, Shaheed freedom fighter, Captain R. A.M. Khairul Bashar, who wanted to tour the entire world after his retirement. But his desire did not come true for his untimely death for the cause of independence of Bangladesh during our Liberation War in 1971.

Shukur Alhamdulillah (Thanks to Allah) for giving me an opportunity of visiting at least a foreign land!

(The writer is a senior journalist and columnist. E-mail: zamkhairz@gmail.com)