A Touch Of The Cloud- Nagarkot, Nepal

Tripoto
15th May 2014
Photo of A Touch Of The Cloud- Nagarkot, Nepal 1/6 by UsInWanderland
Photo of A Touch Of The Cloud- Nagarkot, Nepal 2/6 by UsInWanderland
Beautiful green fields in Nagarkot
Photo of A Touch Of The Cloud- Nagarkot, Nepal 3/6 by UsInWanderland
Photo of A Touch Of The Cloud- Nagarkot, Nepal 4/6 by UsInWanderland
Serene Greenery in Nagarkot
Photo of A Touch Of The Cloud- Nagarkot, Nepal 5/6 by UsInWanderland
In Nagarkot
Photo of A Touch Of The Cloud- Nagarkot, Nepal 6/6 by UsInWanderland
Nagarkot

Perched atop a hill sits Nagarkot. It’s surrounded by rice fields grown in terrace farming, so they look like tea gardens, only equally beautiful. If Nagarkot were a queen, she would look like she has worn this elaborate leaf green gown, the tow of her heels pointed proudly up, her crown half-green and half-white topped by a feather that waves with the wind. I don’t have the apt either technical nor philosophical words to describe what Nagarkot evokes in me. I felt all my senses working overtime when I heard clearly the sounds of some strange bugs, of the birds that sang without reason. I let the grass wet from dew tickle me. I touched the moist leaves of the trees along the way. I smelled soil, flowers, chai- all at once. I saw a fog of the cloud crossing the road. I ran to touch it and felt a strange sensation.

Yet Nagarkot is not about pleasures. It’s about joys. The joy of talking to the school-going kids who refused to speak to me in Hindi, they preferred the only English they knew. The joy of lying down on a meadow, and noticing the blue sky looking back at me between Devdar trees. The joy of zooming out a lens to steal a peak inside those kaccha houses that brilliantly balanced themselves on the rocks of the hill. The joy of just taking a nap under a tall tree, in absolute silence, broken only once in a while by the aggressive breeze.

It’s definitely one of those places where you go and face a few hard questions asked to yourself like: Isn't this the actual true life? Why don’t you live like this? Why cannot you leave everything else and make a living here?

Ihave always known but realised this again here. That why joy is beyond sensual pleasure. Joy stays in memories. It renews itself, brings a deep smile, refreshes the soul and evokes pleasant feelings.

I am probably going to read these words in my diary during my next travel and laugh them out. But ever since I have returned, I have woken up with thoughts and scenes of this town. And I have refused to wake up!

About Nagarkot: It’s a town/village situated on a hill top about 35 km NE from Kathmandu. You can hike the whole way up if you ask the taxi/bus to leave you near the Millitary Academy. On foot, it should take around 4-5 hours. Or you can take a taxi upto the Nagarkot Bus stop and start hiking for the Nagarkot Tower. This is a picturesque path and will take an hour to hike.