July 2012
Previous posts
A journey into Tibet - Kailash Manasa Sarovar
1. A journey into Tibet - At Kathmandu
2. A journey into Tibet – Mountain flight
When I looked for a day trip from Kathmandu, several people
suggested Manakamana Temple. At 105 km from Kathmandu it was ideal location for
a day outing.
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Trishuli River at Manakamana |
It took us about an hour to cross Kathmandu city. Outside
Kathmandu was a check post where all vehicles need to be registered. It must
have been setup due to Maoist violence. Once we crossed the check post, it was
a continuous descent into the valley where we reach the base of Trishuli River.
The journey henceforth was along the river. The roads were in a good shape
which helped us to make quick progress.
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Manakamana cable car point |
Earlier one had to trek up for nearly half a day from the
base of Trishuli River to reach Manakamana Temple. That was long back. Now
there is a cable car which just takes about 10 minutes to reach the place. This 3.1 km cable car service has 31 carriers which
handle 600 people every hour. There are
also few carriers to carry freight. In addition to human beings, goats are
allowed in the cable car!!
It was 12:30PM by the time we reached the base of
Manakamana. We had to wait for another hour as the cable car is stopped between
12 noon to 1:30PM. The heat was unbearable. I always thought Nepal was
completely hilly but the place I was standing was just 800ft above sea level!!
The cable car was really a great experience. It crosses
Trishuli River and climbs at an unbelievable gradient!! The increase in
altitude can be clearly felt. The scenery gets better and better as the car
climbs. The road that we came, Trishuli river, valley are all clearly seen.
One has to walk for about 10 minutes from cable car station
to reach the Temple. The road is lined with eateries and shops selling pooja
items.
The Temple itself is very old and simple. It is a place
where animals are sacrificed in open. Now I knew why goats were allowed inside
the cable car!
I decided to skip the lunch on that day and have only
fruits. The eateries there sold oily stuff which I did not want to experiment
just a day before my departure to Tibet!!