Unlike many other Nepali districts Rolpa has a distinct image of its own. Unfortunately that ‘distinctiveness’ is not necessarily positive and/or based on positive vibe. Think about Iraq and Afghanistan of the past decade. Rolpa once was Nepal’s ‘ground zero’. During the height of the Maoist insurgency that began in Rolpa’s Thawang village in 1996 (and ended in 2006 in Kathmandu) the district headquarter Libang had shrunken inside a 3-km radius ‘Green Zone’. The GZ was surrounded by barbed wire and protected/guarded 24-hours a day by the armed soldiers. It was dangerous to venture out of the Green Zone for government officials and anyone who wasn’t friendly to the rebels. The area outside the GZ belonged to them. That was way back in 2000-2001.
I had never come to Rolpa before. Like many other Nepalis who have never seen Rolpa I also had a certain image of this place in my mind: war-ravaged hills and settlements where people loved to fight, shanties half burned and torn apart. Killing is what the people of Rolpa enjoyed, I thought. That’s definitely a misplaced and misinformed notion about Rolpa and Rolpalis. I realized that till this evening I knew only one Rolpali- my Rolpa-based colleague. He too isn’t a janajati (or Magar to be specific) who are majority in the district.
Chakchake hill at 2032 mt was cold. I felt like I had just arrived at a place close to the Himalaya. I also thought the hill to be actually where the administrative center of the district was located. I like such place to live. The road from Dang to Libang has just been blacktopped, the last laborer left the work-site only a couple of weeks back, I am told. The work, like in many other road projects, is far from satisfactory. But the point is the road is no more bumpy. It’s blacktopped. That’s a big deal in Nepal where people have been furiously digging roads all over and God only knows when this new ‘agricultural’ road network gets blacktopped.
I had left Tulsipur early in the morning to reach Ghorahi where a Dang-based colleague of mine was waiting for me. He took me to the nearby bus stand where I learned that seats for the bus that was about to leave for Rolpa (at 7 am) were sold out. But I was determined to make it to Rolpa. So I entered inside the bus and made myself at ease on a mudha, on of those makeshift stools that the buswallahs keep inside for people like me. Extra income for them. Two hours into the journey I got a seat that, strangely, hadn’t been sold by the ticket counter. A lanky teenaged boy and his younger sister had occupied that. The boy offered me the seat by his side.
The 5-km long curved road from Chakchake to Libang bazar is challenging for drivers of long-body Tata buses. These buses are too long to have enough space to negotiate the turning points. Drivers have to press breaks a lot and they have to use back gear a lot too. Passengers could feel pungent smell coming out of tires as the heavy usage of breaks and the load of bus had created a lot of stress and fissures on them and on the road.
As we were about to reach Libang (may be at a point some two kilometers away) a male passenger vomited right on the back of a female passenger who was seated infront of him. She was wearing a red kurta. The vomit not only landed on the outer side of kurta or her back but it went inside. I was at the back of the bus and the incident happend at the front. But it wasn’t hard to comprehend the situation the lady was in. What could she do? Throw away the kurta? Not possible. There was no water. Somebody helped her clean a bit but it was impossible to clean that fully. She stood up and waited for about eight minutes as the bus crawled on the road and reached Libang to finally get off the bus.
I asked a shopkeeper for a hotel to stay. The man pointed to the one nearby. It was surprisingly clean hotel with nice rooms. Some of them offered a view of Libang bazaar and the hills. But those with the view had no attached bathroom. I went for the view. I really wanted to see THE Rolpa.
Like the Story and felt bad for the lady in the Red Kurta.
Meanwhile I liked the new Photoviewer on your blog : )
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Thanks. I was also pleasantly surprised when I noticed that feature a few days ago.
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an awesome feature !
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Thanks
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You reminded me of the Rolpa trip I took recently (just last week actually). I took the opposite route (Butwal to Liwang). The crazy turns after crossing Satdobato kind of scared me. In one of the turn, the driver had to actually back off to make the turn. Looks like we stayed in the same hotel (was it Rolpa guest house?). It was a nice and pleasant stay at Liwang (got a haircut and shave at a cheap price, surprisingly the barber was a pahade guy). However, travelling back to Pyuthan was not so comfortable specially from Sulichaur to Chakchake. Had to travel along with vomits, ear piercing sound of dohori songs and no space to rest my feet on the floor of the heavily packed bus. I had boarded the bus after the tiring wait around 4 hours. But during the wait, managed to click some beautiful (at least I think so 😉 pictures. One thing I enjoyed was the accent people have while speaking Nepali.
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Nice observation! I took that route (Libang to Butwal via Dang) when I returned. I stayed in another hotel. Dohoris? Oh, I hated them so much for the noise they created.
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ya this is exactly what nepal and nepalese life is all about.rolpa infact is the true reflection of nepal.villages like rolpa should always be priotized for the overall development of the nation.
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True.
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yep , ur reminded my journey to Rukum , hope ur journey was exiting , like mine.
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Thanks. It was exciting most of the time.
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These kind of travelogues motivate me to travel extensively and explore our hinterlands. Though it’s not feasible for me right now, I’m making my mind to visit the likes of Mugu, mustang,Dolakha and Illam. Places as Rolpa bear extra importance for their historical values. Anyway, Kudos Dinesh dai for depicting the true picture of rolpa. However, I feel u could have added more details to make it even more interesting.
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Thanks. I plan to add more pis in the next post.
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rolpa is good placers
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Interesting story..u must have had a great time..:)
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malai maya chha gaugar ko tar k garne jagir paudai na nepali ma mo aile dubai ma chhu maya cha gaugar ko mutu ma k garne kama pau daina deash ma@??????
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good. Wagle g mujhe achchha laga apka nepal tour k bare me padh kar aap aise hi nepal aate rahe or khas karke rolpa o mera home town hai. Thankyou very much.
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hi hamero rolpata k dame 6a ho malieta k dame man paryo
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how long will it take to travel from kathmandu to rolpa by bus.
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so good photos and your writing.
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good Rolpa libang
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hi dear frndz i want to come rolapa liwang plz will u tell me the proper way from chandigarh to rolpa
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hello dear friends i want to coming Rolapa libang please will u tell me the by bus plzz plzz
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