Aashapuri Mahadev Hike in Sangha, Bhaktapur

A weekend trip to Ashapuri temple shot on a 2MP Nokia phone. Instead of taking the general route that goes straight to the temple we decided to climb up the hills detoured into the forest and made the best out of the day. Back in 2010 the whole area was much less populated. 

 

Back when we were young we did do this kind of thing a lot where we never took the straight path and always detoured and climbed random hills and went off trails. Always made the trip a lot more fun.

The dried pine needles everywhere on the trails meant that you could use them as dry snow to slide down the hills and honestly works amazingly, although I wouldn't do it considering how many things could have gone wrong with going full speed downhill in such a dense area. 

Growing up and watching Bear Grylls, we thought it was a good idea to put charcoal on our faces for sun protection. Not the best thing to do if you are in a remote area of Nepal where the Maoist insurgency was quite recent. A local warned us about how it was a very bad idea and let us wash our faces at his place.

The Kailashnath Mahadev Statue is the tallest statue of Lord Shiva in the world located in Sangha (starting route for the Aashapuri Temple) and was opened in the same month we went on this hike. So it was lucky for us that we were able to see this statue and visit the park only a few days after it had opened in June, 2010.

Travelling on the roof of buses was actually quite common outside of the Kathmandu Valley. Limited number of buses and more demand probably was the main reason, but we just thought it was fun. I wouldn't comment on the safety aspects of it, but the fresh air and the open views were good benefits. Open top buses with better speed limits and safety features would actually be a great idea for Nepal's terrain.