Hiking from the cultural city of Bhaktapur to the secret Gundu Village

Our hike towards Gundu village had begun at 6 a.m. from Taumadhi Square, with a party of five persons, and this journey was before our greatest celebration, Dashain. We continued our hike by passing through the Pottery Square, Ram Mandir, and crossing the Suryabinayak road, heading straight for the north side of the Suryabinayak Ganesh temple, which is nestled in the forest hills.

On the way, we observed the people’s regular morning routines, and at the temple, devotees were busy worshipping gods and goddesses. We climbed the stairs to the main shrine of Ganesh, the emblem of good luck for every kind of voyage.

And we took the blessings for our beneficial journey and resumed our climb from the eastern side of the stairs, moving lower and meeting the highway that took us to an elevation where we could see the cultural city of Bhaktapur and the spot where we began our adventure, Nyatapola temple.

We were in the forest, where the hills had been cut down to make the path to the other side of the hills longer. After crossing through the hills, we came to a lovely settlement nestled in the woods. We came to the end of the highway and joined the small trails that led down to the different ambiance and beauty of the village.

We could view the agricultural farming region where the ripped golden rice field had added to the charm of nature. There were a lot of classic residences as well as some concrete modern ones. We travelled through the residences and observed the local activities; we also got to view household animals such as goats, chicks, hens, cows, and buffaloes; and the most impressive part was seeing the handicrafts.

We spoke with the residents and saw the fruits and vegetables being farmed, including pomelo, guava, sugarcane, pomegranate, banana, and many others. We also witnessed some rice harvesting and potato farming activities.

We hiked down after passing through the Gundu village sites; it was a cool silent atmosphere with rice fields on either side, and it was pleasant walking the other side, passing through a bunch of more houses on the way, and now we were heading towards the Subarneshwor temple, which is dedicated to Ganesh’s father ( Shiva temple).
We were walking along the river and crossed the bridge that led us to Temple. The temple was at the top, and we had to climb the hills to get there. Climbing the tiny woodland and seeing the breathtaking scenery of the entire hidden valley was both tough and pleasurable.

Finally, we arrived at the top, but the temple was on the other side, so we had to descend and then re-climb the stairs to reach it. What we saw after arriving at the temple was magnificent and pleasant.

We could see the range of snow peaks and mountains, as well as the Kathmandu area, albeit not everything was clear. Our hike resembled a loop, and we had already completed more than half of it. We worshipped at the Shiva temple and discovered a short narrative or tradition about the temple’s founding.

After receiving tikas from the Yogis over there, we continued on our way to our objective. This time, we took the back stairs down to the highway, where we discovered the settlement of Karki. We had a great day hiking, with ups and downs, and coming back with all the memories in our heads.

We had been driving for almost 3 hours when we realized we needed to stop and eat a small breakfast. After finding a place where we could relax and eat, we took a 30-minute break and slowly drove back to our house, taking the highway towards Pandubazar and crossing the Araniko road, and we were in our town.

It was almost 10 a.m. when we arrived at our house, so we hiked for around 4 hours through Bhaktapur’s secluded Gundu Village.