If you are in Banepa or Dhulikhel for a few days, you must go hike the Gosaithan hill located at the east of the Banepa city. The view above from the top of the hill with a huge drop off to the east will reinvigorate you. On a clear day, you can see many waves of smaller hills to the east and glimpse of mountains from northeast. The cool breeze will rejuvenate your lungs and make you cherish the fresh air. Also great as a early morning hike.
The top of the hill lies at the height of 1700m above the sea level. The city of Banepa is at 1460m, so you have to walk along about 3 km through the Budol village to the elevation of about 250m. This is not much and it may take you 30 minutes to 1 hour to reach the top depending on your health.
The fascinating thing about the trail is that when you reach the top, the east view will look like a complete drop off. There are no hills blocking view for miles in the east horizon. What you see is a wave of smaller hills until the far end of the horizon. It is quite a sight to behold and savor.
Once you reach near the top, you can take the stairs to the view tower to get even a better view of the scenery. On a clear morning, you can see beautiful glimpses of the mountains to the north and a beautiful sunrise on the east.
Some days, the fog may envelope the entire scenery making it impossible to find anything fascinating. The most preferable time to go for a scenery is in the winter when it is dry and the sky is clear.
How to get to Gosaithan hilltop tower?
There are multiple trails you can take. You can take a bike through the south up from 28 kilo along the Araniko highway. There’s a road (partially cemented) from the north in between the road from Chandeshowri to Rabi-opi village, or the old walking trail from budol. There’s also new stairs that leads visitors to the view-tower from behind the Chandeshowri temple. If you are walking, stairs should take the shortest time, but it is also a steep hike.
It all depends on how much time you have or how fast you want to get to the top. Just besides the footsteps of the stairs to the view tower, there is an outdoor exercise setup with monkeybars and some pull up bars. They are great to test yourself. The change in scenery makes me want to go there regularly.
When to visit?
There’s a mela/carnival on Janai Purnima every year if you like to see a religious gathering with lots of crowd. If you’re the kind that likes the greenery and scenery, early hours in the clear winter days are the best time to see the mountains in the North. If the weather and the time is right, you can see the morning sun shine on the mountains in the north.
In the month of Falgun/Chaitra, Rhododendrons blooms within the forest near Chandeshowri temple and it is common for locals (mostly teenagers and children) to go and forage its flower. However in recent years, with the roads and stairs leading to deforestation in the area, it is getting harder to find them.
At the time of writing this article for the first time, there were not many buildings nearby. The temple and view-tower was surrounded by a dense forest on all direction. There were only two mostly abandoned picnic spots on either side of the hill and no water source or a bathroom. But now there is now a wide area built like a picnic spot, a couple tea shops, a sanskrit school nearby and a wide road passing near the view-tower. Aagantuk resort is also right below this road. It is a wonder, how fast roads are built in Nepal, when you know people. So it isn’t as isolated as it used to be. This has somewhat decreased the charm of the place for me but it has made it more accessible. This place still has a special place in my heart. It is my happy place and it most likely will make you happy as well. So if you get the chance, take a deep breath and go up there.
