For the first of June, and after a lot of house hunting and walking through the dusty streets of Kathmandu, our friend Niranjan took the excellent initiative to invite us for a hike 40 minutes out of KTM, to Champa Devi (2,278m), the highest peak on the Chandragiri Ridge south west of Kirtipur. Early start to avoid the heat, up in the mountains (well, they would probably call them hills here, but for us Belgians...). Leaving the village and monastery of Pharping, the trail initially makes its way through a pine forest. Most of the walk is along a ridge that offers spectacular mountains views with a bird’s eye view of the Kathmandu Valley. The top of the hill is enshrined with a sacred site, where locals perform their rituals on auspicious days.
The path is very well maintained and often consist of steps, taking around 2 and a half hour to get to the top, with great views over the west Kathmandu valley and the surroundings, though pollution did temper with the visibility, making it impossible to see the snow covered Himalayas.
I can't imagine the effort needed to make these staircases....
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