Amazing Nepal

Highlights of Nepal are endless. Amongst all, my trekking experience leaves me the most indelible memory. Nepal’s beauty lies in the mountains. If you did not go trekking, you have missed the most breath-taking sights in Nepal. Besides that, trekking allows you to take in the true Nepalese culture and to experience the way of life of the Nepalese villagers in the mountains.

The friendliness of Nepalese people also gave us a good traveling experience here. Although they are living in poverty, they are self-sufficient, sincere and down-to-earth. Even the shopkeepers are nice to deal with, they did make extra effort to promote their items, but without being too pushy. We also had a very good tour agent – Mr. Dhruba of Marvel Travels & Tours. He is so kind to us to the extent that we even felt guilty accepting all the things he has done for us.

Bhaktapur – the ancient ‘City of Devotess’, is my favourite sights around the Kathmandu valley. The city exudes a sense of medieval atmosphere, burning an overwhelming impression of an ancient Newari village that has retained its 15th century splendour over urbanism. If you have a local guide that knows the village well, you will get the chance to see beyond the tourists attractions and walk through all the quaint back streets where the residents of Bhaktapur lives. Bhaktapur is as unique as it can get. Do not miss it!

Quick Tips:

Bring some extra clothes to the mountains and give it out to the Tibetan refugees that wonder around Nayapul en route to your trekking trip. Amidst poverty, they have never begged; instead they actually asked us to exchange ‘western fabric’ (so they said) with their hand-made souvenirs. I do really respect their dignity.

When taking a flight from Kathmandu to Pokhara or anywhere else in the west, choose the seats on the right side of the plane to have better views of the mountain ranges and vice versa. The view from the plane is superb!

Shopping at Thamel is a challenging game to play. If you are good in haggling, the price of your prize could be 50% or more off from the tag.

Best Way To Get Around:

If you are aiming for comfort, fly! If not, take the green line bus to get from Kathmandu to Pokhara or vice versa. The green line bus is very comfortable in Nepalese standard, it even stops at a five-star hotel for a garden buffet lunch, inclusive in its fare.

For people with no extra time to burn, the easiest way to get around Kathmandu valley is to get a car with a guide/driver. Simply ask any travel agent that spores around Thamel and everything is set. It should cost you around US for the car and driver for a day tour around Kathmandu Valley, including Bhaktapur.

The room is definitely value for money. It is only USD10 for a triple room, ensuite with hot water and balcony. Note that the hot water supply is only available at certain times. Check with the reception when checking in.

The room might be a little bit noisy in the morning when the Nepalese have started their day early whilst we tourists still fast asleep.

The hotel is centrally located, just a short walk from the main throbbing heart of Thamel, but minus the hype and noise.

Overall, I would highly recommend this hotel for a budget stay.

Accomodations in Pokhara are plentiful. Most are by the dam side and the lake side. The lake side is a newer area of Pokhara and more touristy.

Lake Phewa is right opposite our hotel -- Majesty Home. It is one of the first few guesthouses along the road from the bus station to Pokhara town centre. The heart of town that houses most of the restaurants/cafe/souvenir shops is just a short 15-minute walk away. This gives Majesty Home a tranquil atmosphere with no loud music blaring late into the night.

The room is spacious, with cable TV and attached bathroom with hot water. There are no complaints about the facilities as room rate is only US$10 for a triple room per night. This place is highly recommended for a budget stay.

The first night of our trekking we stayed at Tikedhunga. This guesthouse is quite remote, as we were the only ones staying here. We enjoyed the tranquility here. The room was basic, with no attached bathroom. The toilet was just outside the bedroom. It was clean but infested with spiders! The shower was downstairs and the hot-water supply was not working! Dinner here was pretty sickening. However, breakfast was not bad, especially the delicious cornbread.

This lodge is situated strategically opposite the mountain range of Annapurna, offering a superb view, especially at sunset.

The room is basic, with only a thin wall separating the next room. So don't be surprised if you could hear the guy next door snoring right into your ears. Also, there's no heater in the rooms and the blanket provided was not enough to keep us warm at night.

One other thing to note is the shower is not in the building itself. We had to exit the guesthouse building to get to the shower. The water was steaming hot, and you can't even turn it down!

This mountain lodge is situated in the largest village in Annapurna - Ghandrung. It has a big garden, with a spectacular view of the Fishtail Peak. The rooms are basic but comfortable. However, the hot water in the shower was very cold, and the cold water, needless to say, was as cold as ice. The most memorable moment in this lodge was the star-gazing at night. Due to the location of this lodge, with lots of open space, we could almost see the whole galaxy staring down at us.

The Rum Doodle is THE place to meet weary trekkers who have returned from their encounter with the mountains or eager trekkers who are just about to begin their journey. The drinks are cheap, the atmosphere relaxed and friendly. The bar is decorated with signatures and stories of trekkers written on big footprint cards.

This trek starts from Nayapul, about a half-hour from Pokhara by bus. From there we trekked to Tikedhunga for the night. This day's highlight was the river crossings, with beautiful river and valley scenery.

The next day, we started early to climbed up to Uleri, the steepest part of the entire trek. There was no shade, so bring lots of water. The afternoon part of the trek was more interesting and shaded. We reached Ghorephani around 4pm for the night. The scenery in Ghorephani was breathtaking, but it was freezing at night.

We got up at 3am the next day to climb Poon Hill for the sunrise. After the sunrise, we left Ghorephani for Dhurali Hill, also a fine sunrise spot, then headed to Ghandrung. Along the way we passed through woods. It was an easy trek on the third day. Ghandrung was the biggest village we encountered the entire journey. The mountains are just opposite our guesthouse, and we could see the whole galaxy looking down at us that night. The final part of our journey was mostly downhill and exposed to the sun. It took us half a day to reach Nayapul.

There are many sights in the Kathmandu Valley. We went on a 1-day whirlwind tour organized by our travel agent ($6 per person). We had a car and driver to bring us to the sights, but the driver was not a guide.

First, we went to Monkey Temple and Bodhanath. It was interesting. After that, we went to Bhaktapur. Bhaktapur was a UNESCO World Heritage Site that actually had people living in it. It was very impressive!

It did help if you had a local to bring you around Bhaktapur. In our case, our driver brought us around the back lanes, and we got to see how the Newari people live and how their houses look. We also saw the pottery-making process at the Pottery Square. Bhaktapur is also famous for its handicrafts, especially wood carving.

We went to Patan after that. In my opinion, Patan is overshadowed by Bhaktapur. The sights are more or less the same, but Bhaktapur was far more impressive. We returned to Kathmandu to see Durbar Square at the end of the day.

We took Green Line bus to Pokhara and took a flight back to Kathmandu. Green Line bus only catered to tourists. We passed through checkpoints smoothly. For other local buses, the army would examine each passenger in the bus to check for Maoist.

The scenery along the way was magnificent, yet dangerous. The bus twined down narrow roads with gorges right beside you with no barrier. Traces of landslides still not cleared from previous rainy season narrowed the road into 1 lane! However, the highlight of the bus journey overshadowed our fear. We get to catch a glimpse of the village life in Nepal. The most memorable was how the Nepalese kids cross a river fit for class 1 rafting. They actually used aerial runway with a basket attached. The kids who wanted to cross the river jumped into the basket and another kid from across the river pulled the rope of the runway over a pulley. We also witnessed how they wash trucks in Nepal. They actually drove the truck INTO the river and wash the truck INSIDE the river itself.

Worth a mention was the buffet lunch at a very luxurious hotel along the way, which was included in the bus fare. To return to Kathmandu, we took a scenic flight. Remember to sit on the left side of the plane to have better view of the Annapurna mountain range. The Pokhara airport is extremely primitive. We had to carry our check-in luggages to the bottom of the plane itself before boarding. The funniest thing was, there were quite a few old planes with broken wings, etc., abandoned in the airport compound! How encouraging for tourists that just took off in the propeller planes!

We were warned by our tour guide earlier that there were high possibilities to have an encounter with the Maoist activist during the trek. True enough, we did bump into them at the gate to Ghorepani. They blocked us from entering Ghorepani, demanding US$20 from each tourist as A so-called donation. The locals could go in for free, though. There was a bunch of other tourists in front of us. They were arguing with the Maoist about how they will use the money to buy guns, etc., whereas the Maoist argued that they would use the donation money to build schools and help the poor in Nepal. As a typical Asian, I thought arguing with the Maoist was pointless and negotiating for a lower "donation" price was more constructive. I told the Maoist, "I am also poor people from Asia. why don't you help me and lower the donation price to US$10 per person?" Surprisingly, they agreed. We paid them, got a receipt, and quickly entered Ghorepani, while the other tourists were still in a heated argument with the Maoist. Our tour guide told us it was better to walk quickly away from the heated argument for fear of fights, and also to hang on dearly to the receipt, because we were very likely to see them again. When we were halfway up the hill, we heard a loud bang and saw some smoke below. We didn't know what had happened and prayed that no one was hurt. The next morning, when we return from Poon Hill, the gate to Poon Hill was blocked by the Maoist again demanding for "donations." We showed them our receipt and got past the gate with no problem. Note: This happened in October 03. The Maoist activities might have changed today.