Journey to RARA

While we were residing at Rara Li of jumla, we were deciding to go to RARA. The next morning we took a bus towards RARA, the bus went directly towards Nagma by the bank of Tila River, from Nagma towards Surkhet and the other one goes towards RARA. After heading certain kilomiter from Nagma valley of Sinja began. It is the very same valley from where it is said that the Nepali Language originated.

Though we were last days of Jestha(Nepali Month) the rainfall had already began, due to the rain fall, the way was muddy and slippery and the bus while going forward, sometimes used to sleep the muddy streets in the muddy roads and come back a few meters itself. This journey was adventures as we were risking our life while going forward in this journey. The bus sleep continuously but still at some point the condoctor had to get down form the bus whith a spade  in his hand and clear the mud in the road. This way the journey on the bus was continues and we reached the old market of gothijyula. There were old houses in this place and people were sitting in the yard and making swaters with the of sheep wool. I have gone to so many bhangyans and felt that it is like one of them. After going around one hour from gothijyula the bus stopped at a small hotel for tiffin break. All the passenger form the bus came down to have something to eat. The food of the village- noodles with eggs. The lady shopkeeper the head of people and preparing noodles and eggs in black vasels. we were very much hungry by that time and the taste of noodles was worth remembering.

After eating those noodles, the bus again started to move towards its destination. By the bank of sinja river there were paddy field where the golden paddy was in its bloom, it was a pleasure to view these scenery. After going a little forward began the part of RARA national park.on one side of the road were the green grasses found in the altitude and on the otherside was singa river where the water was flowing. suddenly it begans raining, the road was temporary and made just below the uphill, thus it has many stones and if the driver get careless, there was high chance that we could get to the buttom of the hill in an instant.

The rain was falling continuously and people were talking that if this rain does not stop, we could not get to Talcha(a place). Like a people were saying, the bus could not go further a place called Jhyari and as there was a big landslide a little away from this place. it had already become night and the bus had to stop at Jhyari. There were only two houses(hotels) at this place. One by the road and the other a little above the road. I went to the one above the road and talked with the land lady, they agreed to lent us a room for rupees 500. After keeping the bags on the room I came down the sleepary way for my dinner. When I got down, the place of eating was filled with people. People were sitting in a rabbitskin place above the Pirka(a small wooden chair used for the purpose of setting in the village) and wear eating pulse, rice and vegetables. Do it was a rainy season, the flies were making flights around the food. After watching that seen for a while, the people who were eating, after they were done, came outside and we had a place to sit. we were chasing a way the fly with one hand, we were mixing rice pulse and vegetable and eating.

There was no point of getting discussed about it. As we were starving. There for the first time I tasted a pickle of chukidanglya. It was sour and was found in the jungle of this place. After eating the food we went back to our room and listening to the music of rainfall under the roof of zinks and slept for that night.

The next day on the early morning we came down for the tea. The people who had resided there last night had already started towards their destination. At the tea shop there were people who seen the like father and son. They were drinking alcohol from the early morning. while  talking with them for some time, I came to know that they two were to going to the RARA lake.

They were the workers and had to go village a little above to RARA. After talking with them, as they were also walking as same direction I also asked if we  could tag along, then we started a journey to RARA. Father and son were very friendly and they became the larger part of our journey. We had covered the uphill walk about half an hour, my wife realize that she had forgotten her mobile at the shop itself. When she started to talking about it, the son said he will go back and bring the phone for us.

So the son started running towards that shop and the three of us waited for his return. though we had not known him for a long time his gesture made us feel really closed to them. After he brought the mobile in around 21 minutes, our journey uphill began again. The way was covered with jungle and it was  a part of rara national park. We could see the verity of birds flying around and in some places there were ditches and it was made by wild boars. Our friends in the journey started narrating some of the stories where those wild boars attack people and killed them.

In the journey of uphill when we had covered almost three house we reached another bhangyang. Outside one shop in the bhangyang it was written “Rhododendron juice”. We ordered a small jug of juice and started drinking it. For those father and son rhododendron juice is not a new thing, they started ordering local beer and started drinking it. I could not able be thankful to what they had done by bringing the mobile phone from the shop, thus I paid their bills too for their beverages.

The hardship of life in their village and the localities. They really made this long way with their talks and laughter. After having their fill we again started moving uphill leaving bhangyang behind. Steep form this place, as it had rained from the last night, the way was really slippery. Uphill and sleepy was the unique part of this journey. If we become careless it was a definite thing to sleep and falldown. A little ahead some people were taking their bulls to let them graze in the pasture land. My wife started catching a tail of a bull like a stick it ourder to climb the uphill and she was teaching us a to walk in a very same way. it was a comic scene and all were laughing while I was remembering a mischief and was smiling within myself.

When I was six/seven years old and watching my village, my grandfather was ploughing the filed with two bulls. I started pleading my grandfather to ride the ox like a horse. Then my grandfather carried me and put me in one of the bull that was ploughing the file.  When I was riding on the bull  it started making a large sigh and shivered as if a large earthquake of 8 rector had gone. When it had shivered, my new hattichhap sandal drop down on the field that was being ploughed. I started shouting that my sandal had dropped but could not find the sandal. My grandfather started telling me not to worry as the next year when I came back there would be a tree of sandals and after hearing this I had returned back to home bear footed.

We were talking while passing the way, after a while we reached the open space of the national park and from there for the first time the view of RARA lake was visible. The old man that as accompanying us lifted his palm and made a gesture of kissing when he saw RARA for the first time. We were surprise when he did that.

He continued saying, ‘this is the very same lake that has devoured to of my sons both of them along with some of their friends had came here for swimming, when they were moving forward while swimming, they got drowned and their friend could not find them. All there other friends return back home but those two brothers vanish from this lake and never returning back.’ He had tears in his eyes when he narrative this story. We could do nothing but hug him and in order to sympathies him.

We could see water everywhere we made our gaze. On the bank of the lack, in some places wooden towers were made thus we started climbing to see behold the look of RARA. We had already reached our destination but those father and son still had more than 45 minutes walk to reach their destination. It was already evening and the sun was being engulfed on the western bank of the lake. Thus, made good bye and started walking towards the destination. We went to the nearby lodge in order to booked a room for the night and keeping the bags in the room, we started making as much journey as we could around RARA lake.