The Forgotten Place: Jiri, Dolakha

(Jiri holds enormous possibilities to revive it as a next tourism destination in Nepal)

It was in 1960, when the Swiss Government Aid decided to set up an agricultural development centre in Jiri.  Nepal was a forbidden country to outsiders before 1950 but two years later the Swiss geologist Dr.Toni Hagen was given go-ahead signal by the Nepalese government to carry out geological survey in the country. Dr Hagen had envisioned this Jiri as a land of agricultural and development possibilities after he travelled in the region.Since then the Swiss government has spent millions of dollars worth of development schemes to develop this region.

The Swiss aid has helped to established Jiri Hospital, Jiri Technical School, Jiri Livestock Development Farm, Jiri Yak Cheese Production Centre and the road that linked Lamosangu on the Kathmandu-Tibet highway to Jiri (the road was completed in 1982)

Now, it takes just 7-8 hours to reach Jiri Bazar from the capital, Kathmandu. Everyday buses and micro bus carry passengers from Old Bus Park Terminal at Ratna Park. Jiri is connected with capital city by 190 km of narrow and winding road. When you geared uphill from Bhotekoshi River you will feel the cool breezing and see the landscape changes along with changing altitude. The narrow road passes through hills, rivers, valley, villages, small towns and terraced farmlands before you reach Jiri Bazar.

Jiri is a small farming and tourist village located at the altitude of 1905m. Jiri Valley is surrounded by Cherdung in the East, Khawa Valley in the West, Hanumante in the North and Tame Dande in the South. The name Jiri is derived from local indigenous group called Jirels. Although Jirels are the dominant caste in the region various others castes such as Sherpas, Sunuwars, Tamangs and Chhetris are residing alongside. People in Jiri are primarily engaged in the agricultural and livestock rearing sector. Rice, wheat, maize and potatoes are the major crops that grow in the region. Cows and yaks are the sources of dairy product in the region.

Today, Jiri becomes a favorite place to hang out for short duration to Kathmanduties and other travel enthusiast. The unique landscape, flora and fauna diversity, weather conditions, rich culture and traditions of this area attracts thousands of internal and external tourists annually. Hundreds of school and college students come here in an educational field trips and the flow is very high during the time of New Year. Farmers from different part of the region come here to observe and learn modern farming techniques and livestock rearing practices while youngsters and families come here to enjoy the climate, landscapes and to undertake short hiking in the area.

Most of the youngsters love to come Jiri by riding on a motorbikes and they want to spend the nights in a cooling environment, hanging around in a local pub, drinking locally made alcohol called Padaamchal (alcohol made by mixing herbal spices) and Tongba (a vessel which holds the fermented millet based alcohol, and hot water is poured on the brim of vessel and is left for 5 minutes undisturbed and then the tongba is ready to drink)

There are few good hotels and lodges to accommodate travelers in the area. Most of the restaurants in the area serve local foods and few of them serves exotic foods. The Jiri Bazar is extended in a strip of main road of about 600-700 meters long. The hotels, restaurants, fancy clothes shop, cooperatives, and the only bank in the area ‘Prime Commercial Bank’, all are found on the either sides of the main road. Travelers have to carry enough of cash to spend in the region as there are no any ATM machines to withdraw cash. The best time to travel in the region is between March and May as you could see the national flower ‘Rhododendron’ blossoming in a full spectrum along the way and it will be amazing to see the hills turning into red. If you are lucky you could easily spot deer, jackals, and different colorful birds while hiking in the region. There was a couple of Himalayan Black Bear attack incidence reported by the locals in the upper densely forested area. There is a chance of rare encounter with the wild beast when you go deep into the forest without consulting locals. Travelers don’t have to scare as the incident happens on the off track trail but not in the common trekking trail.

After visiting extensively throughout Nepal’s during his survey period, Dr Toni Hagen published book comparing Nepal with Switzerland in the field of tourism, hydropower and infrastructure, then the Nepalese started materializing this region (specifically Jiri, Dolakha) as second Switzerland in the world. After Hagen had made comparison in his book ‘Decentralization and Development: The Role of Democratic Principles’ whenever any Nepalese travelers who haven’t been to Switzerland before, reached this place, their general expression is ‘Is really Switzerland look like this?’  Whatever the geographical realities between two countries is, one thing is for sure Dr Hagen had envisioned this Jiri as a land of agricultural and development possibilities and as a result the Swiss government had put lots of effort to develop the region. The blocks of houses of Jiri Technical School, and Jiri Hospital are all built in a Swiss Fashion and this is an eye-catching structure one will first experience when riding downhill from Haatdanda.

Jiri is also considered as a classical route to Mount Everest and it takes 8-10 days to reach into the Mount Everest region. But the construction of the airport in Mount Everest region has drastically reduced the tourist in the region as they prefer to fly rather than to spend 8-10 days trekking into the region. Also in later years the impact of globalization and the pressure of population have been seen in this place. Lately houses are built in a haphazard manner by blurring the originality of the region and much effort has not been taken by the Village Development Committee to maintain the originality and uniqueness of housing style of this place. The charm of this place started to deteriorate after the Swiss packed their bags and left the area handing all the facilities to Nepalese government. I still remember what Dharma Sankar Ghimire said when returning back to Kathmandu: “The Swiss has transformed this place by introducing all the modern development techniques and their expertise but what sadden me is, people in this region never learn to be independent by hardworking, the culture of aid dependent always prevails here”.

Besides these few drawbacks of the region Jiri could offer so many things to excite and amaze travelers. Travelers could do around 3-4 hours of short hiking in an around the valley. The hiking to only Yak Cheese Production factory in the region takes around 3 hours. The uphill hiking crossing through scattered settlements, suspension bridge, terraced farming, range land and rhododendron forest could be a spectacular experience. Similarly, short walk to Jireshwor Mahadav Temple (a holy place of lord shiva, situated in the middle of the forest under the cave like structure) could be reached by 1 and ½ hour and the trail passes through the pine forest. And to those who are not very fond of hiking can spend time visiting local shops and tasting local food. Visitors could engage themselves taking photographs of the landscapes, streams, Swiss fashioned buildings and the cows lazily grazing on the pasture land. Visitors could pop into the Jiri Technical School and Jiri Livestock Development Farm which can be reached within a walking distance of 10-15 minutes from Jiri Bazar. Staffs at those centers are very cooperative and you could learn about the achievements of those centres and know how the local are getting benefit by the services provided by those centers. All in all, this uniqueness of the Jiri holds enormous possibilities to revive it as a next tourism destination in Nepal………………..

Mahesh Sharma & Bejoy Ghimire