“The trail and the gaze” | Nagarkot, Nepal

By: Mohd. Khizr Khursheed, Team Consultant at Vesna Tours | khizr@vesnatours.com

They say travelling is insane and sometimes intoxicating but for travel industry folks, it’s like a normal day in office or roads or err.. airports (pun intended). Yes we give 100% commitment to our work and remain focussed 24x7. But there always comes a moment which even leaves us awestruck and we just can’t stop appreciating our incredible profession.

In the last few years, I got the opportunity to travel to a number of cities within India but the first international trip came my way in 2019 and it was….Nepal. A 10 days’ workshop for a US based organization at Hotel Marriott, Kathmandu with a super-active boss as a company was memorable. There was a planned overnight trip to a hill station “Nagarkot” and I was instructed to lead the group of 14 people.

It was one and a half hours’ drive to Nagarkot from the hotel. The bus journey was smooth till the time we entered the hilly area. Dangerous turns on semi constructed roads was no fun. I had literally no idea about the nature’s beauty till the time we went to a View Tower (a place where you get a full view of the hills). The place was amazingly beautiful and the view from top of the tower was breath-taking. There was calmness all around and that very quietness made it so relaxing. There was a paucity of time. It was almost sunset. We had to rush back to the hotel and I made every minute of my stay there count. Our hotel ‘’Mystique’’ had a reputation of having a best sunrise view in the entire region. We all retired early as wake-up call was set at 4 am. The temperature touched 2 degrees Celsius in the morning but the thought of living up the experience of drawing the sun sandwiched between the mountains during primary school days pushed me even more. After anxiously waiting for some time, I could see the beautiful yellow circle emerging out of mountains and that moment was surreal. The experience of watching something extraordinary ended after few minutes and the walk down the hills was in the plan. The roads were narrow and turns were scary but the thrill of seeing the nature so closely overshadowed everything. There was stillness and calmness. Soon I met a local person who guided me to the nearby tea stall. Earnings in the hilly areas depend majorly upon tourism and the life of locals is harsh. I had limited time on my side and after half an hour, I started walking back to the hotel. The whole experience of being that close to the nature was exciting and charming. The memories are still fresh in my mind and visiting Nagarkot again is in my bucket list for sure. The following Chinese proverb was true in every sense for me: “Don't listen to what they say, go see’’. Know Nepal tour package of Vesna here.