Traveling has been always my favorite
thing in life, either it’s a few-minute drive from home in the outskirts of
capital city on Saturdays or in far flung villages for reporting, the
willingness to explore the undiscovered always remains high. Last May, my
happiness knew no bound when I got approval to embark on field reporting to upper
Rukum, which is regarded as one of the best places for the availability and
harvesting of Yarsagumba, the Himalayan Viagra.
Our two-day micro journey started from
Kathmandu and ended in Khalanga, headquarters of Rukum, a fast-developing town
filled with concrete buildings and mushrooming shops.
 |
| Musikot Khalanga, Headquarters of Rukum District |
The very next morning, 16
of us adjusted in a four-wheeler, which was capable of carrying 10 perhaps, and
moved via newly-constructed Mid Hill Highway widely known as ‘Madhya Pahadi Lok
Marga.’ Not to forget, the construction of highway has not been completed yet, thanks
to our slow and steady government in terms of development.
 |
| Madhya Pahadi Lok Marga as seen from Rukum district |
I don’t remember exactly how many
times we got out pushing the stuck jeep while crossing rivers and rough
turnings, but the feel of adventure in air, landscape of greenery, the tall whispering
Salla trees, sight of red and pink rhododendrons, hills in horizon and jokes of
young medical doctors travelling with us made our journey to Takasera, a Magar settlement,
very interesting.
Disconnected
by road, connected by hearts
Far from the hustle and bustle of the city,
in the lap of Mount Putha, there lies Maikot, a village
with some 600-700 households. Being rich in culture and warm hospitality, the
place unfortunately has not been connected by road yet despite of various
attempts. People in Maikot are either dependent upon farming or small-scale
business or in harvesting and trading of Yarsagumba. It’s a pleasant surprise
to sense unity in their every small endeavor. Every face in the village looks
friendly and full of gratitude while they carry a feeling of offering, help or
care, now and then. The best part is you feel like you are in own home, no more
no less, surrounded by loved ones, when you are in Maikot.
 |
| Beautiful Maikot Village (A dominance of ethnic Magar community) |
Our next destination was Hanpa, located at some 3,700 meters
above the sea level, some 5 hours steep
uphill trek from Maikot. It is one of the difficult treks as we need to
pass a dense forest with not a single water resource; carrying water bottle
with few chocolates on pocket felt like a boon.
But once you get at the top, I bet you will forget the pains on
feet after watching the mesmerizing mountain ranges, spectacular blue sky,
dancing white clouds and the smell of breeze, not to forget the herd of white sheep
grazing all over the slopes.
 |
| Mount Putha as seen from Hanpa Hill (3700 meters above the sea level) |
We stayed in the area for four days due to some
technical glitches, doing nothing except having lunch and dinner and sleeping
inside a cozy tent. Thanks to my photojournalist friend Pratap Thapa for his
dohoris on Lamjung-style, that at least helped us to pass our time.
 |
| Cristeena capturing Pratap in Hanpa Hill |
Trekking is adventurous, but FOOD? Oh, it’s the only thing that
you miss about your home when you are away. Most of the conversations between
me and my friend Cristeena often revolved around Kathmandu’s momo, burger,
chicken chilly, pizza and many more because throughout our trip, we could only
get rice, daal and sheep curry as vegetables and fruits were not available in
the settlement-less region. But as they say time heals all, within 19 days of
trip, we had started loving the local food.
 |
| Cultural activities in Hanpa Hill |
Our journey became more interesting while moving towards Dule base
camp from Hanpa as we were not left alone. All over the Yarsa trail, we found hundreds
of people from various districts carrying dokos on their backs, filled with
firewood, tents, cooking materials and daily essentials. And the interesting
part is more than people; we found large numbers of goods loaded horses and
mules, the only means of transportation in the region.
Yarsa Trail
The most striking thing of this trail is it is not constructed
by the government, tourism promotion organizations or any NGO/INGOs; rather it
is the initiation of the local community of Ranmamaikot village development
committee. Locals have recently constructed a 2300 meter long trail starting
from Maikot to the pocket area of Yarsa, Pupal valley with an investment of
over Rs 20 million. I wish we had similar enthusiasm on people from other parts
of Nepal as well.
The next stop was Syankhola, the river bank nestled between
enormous dry mountains, located at some 4000 meters above the sea level. In the base camp, pickers gather and warm themselves with fire
to fight the freezing temperature while some enjoy the home-made wines like
‘raksi’ or ‘chhyang’.
However this time, the plain meadow served
the Yarsa pickers an unpleasant night-stay out of heavy rainfall prior to
monsoon and strong wind. As a result, 8 of us (media team) inside a single tent
were left awake the whole night while shielding our tent, as it happens in
fancy Bollywood films. Though we got into trouble, it became one of the most
memorable part of the journey for all of us.
On the very next day, we started off since early morning to our
final destination Pupal valley, that is nearly 4500
meters above the sea level. The trek became much
difficult for me due to problems in my both knees on the much-awaited day but
as soon as I reached the top, I forgot everything.
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| Pupal Valley (4500 meters above the sea level) |
 |
| Pupal Valley (4500 meters above the sea level) |
While reaching the valley after uphill trek of more than five
hours, we found the green grassy meadows turned into snow-capped structures.
Being surrounded by picturesque mountains and spectacular hills, the place seemed
like a gateway to the heaven. With the mercury having plummeted below
zero, I felt coldness till heart, but it was also filled with warmth of joy for
being able to step into the hidden land in the Himalayas.
 |
| Heaven within earth |
Suddenly, a loud ceremonial gunshot was heard from the top of the
hill after which caravans of people started running towards the highland with
an aspiration of picking Yarsagumba, their routine for the next few weeks which
has sustained their livelihood. The pickers including mothers with new-born to
elderly citizens, from school children to youth set-up their temporary shelter
in the highlands, making Pupal a colorful tent city for weeks. People believe
that their labor of two months will help them live their lives, the rest 10
months.
At a time when we, city-dwellers, complain about trivial things including
traffic jam, power cut, delay in meetings, boring speeches in programs, unusual
taste in restaurant recipes, slow internet and blab bla bla, I found the
lifestyle of people from that part of region completely opposite, making me
realize that life goes on without these factors and complains too.
 |
| Life in tents for weeks in Pupal Valley |
To be frank, I too spared some more than one hour to search the
valuable caterpillar fungus with my bright eyes, but all went in vain as I
couldn’t find a single piece. When I was being disappointed, some locals were
saying, ‘it’s also about luck’, I just smiled in response.
I had never imagined that life would be possible
in such an isolated Pupal valley, where there were so many NOs, no roof to
resist sun or rain, no warm bed to lay upon, no momo to kill hunger, no phone
network, no friends to catch up, no facebook or twitter and the no-series
continue. But yet, everything seemed just perfect and beautiful in the other
side of my beautiful country, which has much more to offer. To conclude in a
single phrase, it’s a ‘life-time experience’.
Face behind Yarsa
Festival
It was an idea of Laxmi Bahadur Pun to organize Pupal Yarsa Festival
2016 for which he received an overwhelming support by the locals of Maikot. From
managing the time of chief guests for the inauguration of festival to arrange
helicopter and from guiding over 100 volunteers to look after the security of
thousands of Yarsa pickers, Pun looked after everything at own. With a huge
determination to introduce Maikot and Pupal valley to the world, a social
worker by recognition, 61-year-old Pun has been active since decades. It is so
inspiring to learn that an individual, despite of heart diseases, has dedicated
his whole life for the sake of prosperity of society.
 |
| Laxmi Bahadur Pun |
So, do you want to have the similar
life-time experience? Book your dates for the next season:
Day
1: Travel from Kathmandu to Dang (bus/micro)
Day
2: Travel from Dang to Musikot Khalanga, district headquarters of Rukum (bus)
Day
3: Travel in a four-wheeler through Mid-Hill highway to Takasera
Day
4 and 5: Trek from Takasera to Maikot (12 hours)
Day
6: Trek to Dule Base Camp (7 hours)
Day
7: Trek to Syankhola (3 hours)
Day
8: Trek from Syankhola to Pupal Valley (5 hours)
·
Yarsa
season starts from May and lasts till July every year
·
You
can take alternative route while returning that passes via Dhorpatan Hunting
Reserve
·
Horse-ride
is available in case if you couldn’t walk whereas mules are standby for bag
packs
·
Home-stay
facility is available till Dule base camp
·
Home-stays
are free if you have lunch or dinner in the same place(lunch/dinner costs Rs 350-500
whereas tea/coffee costs Rs 100)
·
High-altitude
sickness are common
Things not
to be missed in your bag pack:
·
Portable
tent
·
Sleeping
bag
·
Rain
coat
·
Warm
clothes
·
Dry
food
·
Torch
light
·
Medicines
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