21st Jan 2024.
The most miserable and worst decision i ever made.
My neighbor who also used to have a store around Kuri helped me to get this package of Kalinchowk.I trusted him as we always see each other. I never ask anything about the hotel, road conditions and anything.
I along with my husband, 6 years old and our other 7 colleague were really excited to head towards Kalinchowk temple. I was positive to have nice memories. My daughter, was the most excited person in our entire team.
At 7.30 our scorpio arrived to receive us. This driver is a resident of Banepa. He is a nice driver but my colleague try to speak with him he never responded properly.
I thought its his personality. We headed towards the Sukute as veg lunch was included in that package which was so-so.
After a short break at Sukute, without wasting time, we rushed to go to Dolkha bhimsensthan.
My father-in-law suggested us to reach on time at Kuri which is on the way to Kalinchowk as the roads are offroad he even mentioned that it is a bit dangerous landscape and there is nothing in between as it a big forest.
The time I reached Kuri, we all were so excited that we all shouted loudly at the mesmerizing view.
There was a bit of leftover snow. We reached our Hotel Fireside Kalinchowk Pvt. Ltd. The time I entered the hotel I didn't find a good vibe.
When I headed to the room I saw there was no proper accommodation setup.
By that time I could imagine it's not well managed. I guessed the room would be good and warm. There were 2 blankets in one bed which was okay and the pillow covers were so dirty, and believe me curtain was so thin we could feel the wind inside our room and most importantly there was neither an electric heater, nor a hot water jug and we were shivering inside as soon as we entered.
My neighbor told me they would campfire once we reached. I was expecting it which did not happen. I asked Mr. SAROJ I don't know whether he is the owner or manager to turn on the fire. In answer, he said there is a fire camp by 6PM only. I told him my 6 y/o was shivering, her lips turned blue and she looked pale. It was very risky to spend even a single moment. A travel guy turned up, and tried to feed her some medicine, which we declined. That I ordered him some warm daal bhat. 2hrs later the waiter brought a meal, by then it was too late for us, we already decided to leave the unhospitable place.
We ordered Thukpa as nobody seemed to care about us. We needed to warm our bodies. Thukpa was so sour out of 9, 4 threw it. And, 5 hardly ate it.
We had to have it as there was no other option. By then my daughter was still shivering even though she was in front of the fire so I ran towards the kitchen and I requested them to prepare me a bowl of rice and lentil as my daughter was not feeling good. She vomited on the way and she hadn't had anything on the way.
The answer was again it would be only ready by 8pm. So after seeing all this rubbish my husband asked the driver if we might be returning.
I discussed it with my colleague and finally, we decided to return back.
I was shocked to see their response. They never asked me why were we returning instead they approached to pay all the billings.
Even we ask whether is there any good hotels so that we wouldn't ruin our trip. They said it's all the same. What a shameless people.
We haven't had dinner there, nor have we stayed in that hotel though they charged us FULL AMOUNT, we paid 42000+ NPR, and we never received a cash receipt.
We paid it as I was worried that if driver would refuse to take us back home.
To tell you honestly this is the first time I ever face this kind of incident. Even I tried to return with my kid and husband but they say there is no other vehicle to return back. I guess there is a syndicate.
I am writing so that I don't want to suffer you like us.
I highly suggest you stay in charikot overnight and next morning take a bolero or scorpio to visit Kalinchowk. Never stay in that location. It's terrible.
It is not like what we see in the pictures and, the condition there could be -3 degrees or -4 degrees, i am writing so that you don't have to return as we did.
On our way, the driver from which we reserved the jeep, told us a similar story, he shared;
..... a few months ago, the same hotel had students from Pokhara. One of the female students just collapsed while campfire. Her teacher had no options for medical treatment there. The same driver took both of them in the shivering cold evening rushing to the Charikot for medical attention. That student had her lips and face turned bluish. The driver thought she was more than critical. The teacher recorded the whole journey and her condition until they reached back to charikot for medical support.
Later she recovered overnight. They were told about mountain sickness.
The driver also told us, incidents like these happened in the past. Guys kicking and crashing thermos, in anger because of not enough warm water provided by the hotel staff,
One more thing, the hotel toilet is even worse in terms of hygiene. i saw a sanitary pad was pushed inside a wall hole in the toilet. I was shocked to see that.
But i am thankful to the driver for arranging a dinner at one of his friend's restaurants, it was almost 9 PM on the highway and there was no restaurant serving. He managed to all of us. Apart from that, he was not drunk that night (usually he does), and was able to drive us back home. It was 2.15 am. When reaching Dhulikhel, my 6 y/o woke up and looked a bit of normal but too weak to speak.
Imagine there's no single pharmacy or first aid up in the Kuri or nearby areas, what else would be your choice in case of such emergency?
NOTE THESE THINGS
- Always ask hotelier what's included and not included in your reservation
- Ask if they provide electric blanket or at least rooms are warmer in the cold nights.
- Hot water dispensers and power sockets or thermos (carry your own personal) inside the room.
- Avoid jeans, sneakers, yoga pants instead wear inner warmer, layers of warm cloth, down jacket and closed shoes
- carry relevant medicines.
There are better hotels with better and warm rooms, and attached toilets with geyser, a much safer ones.
Thank you.
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