feedback

Markhu Hiking

Posted on Oct 8, 2017 by ghimireayush under Hiking

Tags: Markhu,Hiking,Kulekhani

Markhu is a small town at the northwestern shores of Indrasarovar, a manmade lake. It serves as a reservoir to the Kulekhani Hydropower Project and is over seven kilometers long full of serene beauty. Only a few hours away from the capital it serves as a great escape from the reality. But in-spite of the close proximity people rarely visit this place of eccentric beauty.

Here, in this article a detailed description is given of all the information necessary for a tourist, internal or otherwise.

Where is Markhu???

Markhu is in Hetauda which is headquarter of Makawanpur district of the Narayani zone. Markhu is more close to Kathmandu than it is to its district headquarter and is easily accessible via multiple routes.

How to reach Markhu??

How you reach Markhu depends upon your preferences. Either you can commute and take a short hike with beautiful and thrilling road to Markhu or you can directly commute to Markhu in a public or personal vehicle or you can go a little extravagant and take a cable car up the hill of Chandragiri and hike down to Markhu. Details are given below:

Hike to Markhu

If you wanna hike then at first you have to reach Tribhuwan Park in Thankot. Public buses are easily available to reach Thankot. Once you reach the Park, you will see a road going leftwards at the end of the park. Take that road and it will lead you to a bus stop after walking for ten minutes. If you get confused you can always ask a local. People there are friendly and helpful. From that bus station you can either take a public vehicle to Chitlang or start hiking directly.  

If you hike from the bottom there is a path through the woods that can take you to the top in an hour. Otherwise you can walk through the main road. At the top of the hill you will find a junction of two roads; one going downhill and the other turning left. you will take the road going downhill. The road going towards left will lead you to the upper station of Chandragiri cable car. There is also the official district borders of Kathmandu and Hetauda. you will find few tea-houses at the top. From the top there is another path through the woods which is very fun and thrilling. The path can be found few meters away from the downhill road going westwards. It may be a bit difficult to find the path so you need to follow the electric lines which goes through the same way the path goes. Once you find the path just follow the lines and it will straightly lead you the next settlement of Chitlang.

Chitlang is a beautiful village over a dense valley. The lush green area reminds many of the Shire. There is a very good Homestay named Gurjudhara Homestay to have homemade lunch and maybe even spend the night. If you continue walking from Chitlang for the next half an hour you will reach a school. Remember, there are two school in Chitlang and you need to pass the 1st one and reach the 2nd one. If you walk a little further from the school you will find a path going in to the woods. Follow that path.

The path spears itself through the jungle and will provide a very thrilling sensesation. The sense of adventure that we all yearn for. It is a short path and will take less than 45 minutes to complete. At the end of the walk you will find yourself facing down at the mesmerizing beauty of Indrasarovar as seen from Markhu.  

To make it easier and convenient you can even take the Chandragiri cable car, Thankot, from bottom to the top of the hill. On the top station there is a shop beside which there are stairs that lead to the forest. There you will find a path that will connect you to the earlier mentioned left turning road bringing you to the same place where we the two roads meet at the junction on the top of the hill. If you do this, I suggest you to take a one-way ticket only (from bottom to the top) for the cable car.

Ride to Markhu

If you wanna directly ride to Markhu then you willfind public vehicles (buses, vans, etc.) from Balkhu, Ring Road. It might cost from 200 to 500 Nrs for one way.

Or if you have your own vehicle then you can go from Thankot through the same way as described above. The road is wide enough but is currently under maintenance but will lead you to Markhu from Thankot via Chitlang.

You can also go from Balkhu via the road to Hetauda. You go through that road and will reach Kulekhani in around 2-3 hours. From there you will find the road to Markhu. It will take another half hour from there to reach Markhu.

What to do once you are there??

If you visit Markhu then I suggest you make it an overnight visit. The first day you can just sit beside the still waters and contemplate on your thoughts. Then the next day you can do the sight-seeing and boating and fishing, etc.

Where to stay??

You will find good local hotels around Markhu. The one with the good views are the ones just beside the road that leads you to the shores of Indrasorovar. This is the place where boating is usually started. The hotel at the top offers good deals and good views.

Places to visit

  • The shores of Indrasarovar
  • Go boating in Indrasorovar
  • The local school
  • The suspension bridge
  • The villages beyond the suspension bride
  • Goat Farm (Chitlang)
  • Kulekhani Dam
  • Chandragiri

How to return???

At the end you can take the bus from Markhu to Balkhu. The 1st bus leaves at 8 a.m. and the second at 2 p.m. This way you will make a round trip allowing you to chip in more travel and more experience in your life.

Photo Gallery

Have Your Say

comments powered by Disqus
more  information about Nepal

Sponsored Links


Related Posts

Popular Posts

Archives


more  information about Nepal