Lumberjack!

In one of the recent tea-chats at the Janabahaa Society office, no one seemed to know exactly how many wood-cutting expeditions were undertaken to Jamacho hill. Well, digital photography came up with the answer – there were a total of 7 trips – on May 31, June 14, June 20, June 24, August 9, August 10 and August 11 in 2007. I have pictures that were taken on those dates, and I think it is quite unlikely that no one managed to take pictures on any of the trips.

From what I hear, each and every single trip was a big adventure for the participants. Once you overcame the challenges posed by the soggy weather and the long drive up the winding, climbing path, you were faced with the prospect of climbing up to 100 feet up moss-ridden trees to secure the treetop with ropes…

or crawl down 100 feet through thick bush to fallen trees to harness them with ropes.

And then the chain saw would start its deafening grind, scaring off all wild animals in the vicinity that were not yet alarmed by the sudden onslaught of noisy humans in their tranquil surroundings.

Once the tree is felled, pulling it up to the road was another herculean task – thanks to the manual pulley that acted up on its own mood swings from time to time.

The best part of course was the food. No one seemed to mind that the hot dishes served had no salt, as all the salt was used as leech-repellent.

Hauling the logs up onto the trucks was by far the easiest task, as human hands were needed only to guide the lumber into place.

But then keeping the trucks on the road was a different story altogether.

Tirtha Dhar Tuladhar was probably the only person who went on all the trips.

For the scores of youths from around Janabahaa and others who went on these trips to Jamacho hill (or Raniban or Nagarjun) on the northwestern rim of Kathmandu valley to collect wood required for renovation of Janabahaa Dyo temple, it would prove to be a time they would cherish for a lifetime. For the more inspired, tales that they would tell their grandchildren one day would come out of this experience.