Lilisha Shrestha visits beautiful and majestic Kalinchowk

A trip to Kalinchowk was a decade long plan but I never had a chance to make it work. Finally last week my sisters, friends and I packed our bags and headed out. We were, at last, on our way to Kalinchowk.

The six hour drive to Kalinchowk via Kuri bazaar following the Sunkoshi and Bhotekoshi rivers made for the perfect drive. The last two hours, however, were a bit scary as the roads were under construction.

We reached the hotel and the first thing we did was head out to explore. After hot cups of tea, we set out on an adventure. There were only a few houses scattered and the place was exceptionally peaceful and serene. The wind was so strong that for a moment we thought it would blow us away. It was getting dark so we called it a day and headed back to our hotel. Everyone went to bed early after dinner. We wanted to get as much sleep as possible for our planned hike to Kalinchowk Bhagawati Temple.

The next day after some refreshments, we started hiking to our destination from Kuri village. It took us about an hour to get to the temple which lies at an altitude of 3,800 metres above sea level and one can only imagine the breathtaking views from that height.

The view from the Kalinchowk Bhagawati temple left us speechless but we couldn’t stay long because of the heavy wind and impending rain. We left the temple and stopped at a local tea shop for our morning tea. Having our breakfast and engrossed in our usual banter we experienced the first slight drifts of snow. This was the first time all of us were experiencing snowfall. We were excited and started taking pictures and videos. Soon after snowfall, the hills and paths were covered with snow. We couldn’t stop taking selfies at each step and didn’t want to leave the place so soon. We slowly made our way downhill enjoying the snowfall.

After the hike we came back to the hotel as we had to leave for Charikot which was our next destination to visit the Dolakha Bhimeshwor temple. Soon we left Kalinchowk and reached the temple after two hours. Bhim is one of the most popular and highly worshipped deity here at Bhimeshwor temple. It is said that Bhim resembles three different Gods: Bhimeshwar in the morning, Mahadeva during the day and the Narayana in the evening.

The trip was worth our while and I am sure we will remember every moment of it for the longest time to come. The temples, the walks, the endless chatter and most of the snowfall remains forever etched in our heart.