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Solo Trip to India and Nepal
  • Happy Days Travel
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Solo Trip to India and Nepal

This is my first solo overseas trip since Mark died earlier this year. I'm excited to return to India and to explore Nepal for the first time, but it will be strange not to have Mark with me to share the experience with. Baca lagi
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    Working elephant breeding centre

    12 Mac, Nepal ⛅ 29 °C

    Once there, we had 20 minutes before we were leaving again to visit the elephant breeding centre a few kilometres away. I thought this must be a conservation project, but it turned out to be a government-owned centre that breeds elephants specifically to work. In the visitor centre, I learned that Nepal has 216 working elephants in captivity, and only an estimated 112 wild elephants. When I asked Laxman if anything was being done to increase the wild population, he said no.

    The breeding centre was set up by the Nepali government in 1986. Prior to that, working elephants were not bred in captivity because a female in calf had to be laid off from work for between three and four years, which was costly. Also, there were plenty of young elephants available in the wild to capture and train for work. With numbers in the wild dwindling, the breeding centre was established to produce more working elephants. Since its inception, 43 calves have been born at the centre.

    Elephants are herbivorous animals that usually graze in the morning and evening and spend the hottest part of the day resting and playing in the shade. Captive elephants have restricted freedom and no independent grazing time. Mahoots release them from their shackles at around 11am, take them out to forage, and bring them back to the stables at around 5pm, when they are shackled again. The elephants themselves carry the fodder, vines, branches, and grasses collected by the mahouts. These form the basis of their diet. They are given them to eat at night, along with rice, molasses, and salt. 

    We watched the mother and baby elephants in their stables and waited for the mahouts to come and take them out to work. Laxman said it would make me feel better about the way they were treated. It didn't!    Baca lagi

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    Jeep safari

    12 Mac, Nepal ☁️ 31 °C

    After the visit to the breeding centre, we returned to the hotel for lunch. It was very similar to yesterday. It was tasty, but I'm not sure it all belonged on the same plate 😀.

    Following lunch, Laxman took me to the starting point for the jeep safari. He bought my permit and gave me some words of advice before sending me on my way. I would meet up with him and his arrivals for today when my safari was over. I met up with my group, which included a mum and her two adult children from Western Australia. I thought we were going straight in a jeep, but first we had to walk to the river, cross it by rowing boat, and walk across the beach to a jungle clearing where the jeeps were waiting for us.

    We drove through forest and jungle for over four hours. It was enjoyable, but sadly, we didn't see very much. The weather was closing in, so visibility wasn't good. We saw plenty of peacocks, some spotted deer, and a few monkeys, as well as a wide variety of birds. The only rhinos we saw were just specks in the distance, and tigers inevitably proved elusive! At one point, we stopped to visit a crocodile breeding centre, which was interesting.

    As we approached the point where we had got on the jeeps, it started to rain. It was just drizzling at first, so I didn't put my waterproof on as we set off to walk back along the beach. Suddenly, the heavens opened! It was bouncing down! I managed to get my jacket on, so my top half was dry, but the rest of me was soaked. Nobody else had any sort of protection at all! When we reached the jetty, the boat was still on the other side of the river, so we had to wait while the boatman rowed across to pick us up. We all then had to climb into a very slippery, wet boat and sit down in pools of water! As we rowed back across to the far bank, there were sheets of lightning and claps of thunder all around us. It was apocalyptic! When we reached shore, I made my way as fast as I could to the meeting point with Laxman. He was waiting, along with his six new guests, none of whom seemed very impressed with the weather 😂.

    Laxman arranged for a car to come and pick us up. Back at the hotel, we went straight for dinner. It was Dal Bhat again. A bit predictable, but very tasty. After the meal, I went to my room to pack, ready to leave in the morning.    Baca lagi

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    Chitwan to Pokhara by bus

    13 Mac, Nepal ☀️ 25 °C

    Unlucky for some! 😊

    I was up early and had showered, packed, and was waiting for breakfast at 7am. This morning, we began with Cornflakes served in hot milk - no, thank you! The omelette and toast that followed were fine, but I passed on the very spicy chickpea curry. After breakfast, I said my goodbyes to Laxman. The driver took me to the bus stop to catch my 8am bus to Pokhara. It was already there, and we left promptly.

    The journey was smooth. The road was much better than the one from Kathmandu to Chitwan. We stopped several times and arrived in Pokhara at around 12.30. It was hot and sunny as I walked to my hotel. 

    The town is the start and finish point for the Annapurna Trail, so many people who come here are trekkers. Those who aren't are attracted by the large lake and the promise of mountain views from wherever you are. All of the photos I'd seen before I got here showed the magnificent Annapurna Mountains reflected in the clear blue still waters of the lake. I'm sad to say that I saw no mountains as I walked. Despite the sunshine, it was far too hazy.

    My hotel came highly recommended, and I wasn't disappointed (unless you count the fact that my 'mountain view' room had no visible view at all!). When I checked in, I praised the owner for his beautiful garden. Before I knew it, he was showing me 'behind the scenes' to see his vegetable garden, his compost heap, his store of potatoes to keep the hotel going until the next crop is ready, and the two cows that he kept in a shed! He also had me holding the ladder while he picked papayas for breakfast tomorrow 😊. It was quite the introduction.    Baca lagi

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    Walk around Pokhara

    13 Mac, Nepal

    After settling in and freshening up, I went out to explore. I walked around the lake and took too many photos of the colourful boats available to hire, including the biggest pedaloes I've ever seen! The main road around the lake is home to a multitude of restaurants, bars, and tourist shops. It was nice to look around, but I wasn't tempted to buy anything. For dinner, I went to Boomerang Restaurant on the lake. It was recommended in Lonely Planet, but I fail to see why. I ordered lemon chicken. When it came, it looked like it had been cooked and served in lemon curd! It tasted a bit like it, too 😄.

    I didn't hang around after dinner as the weather was closing in and it started to rain.    Baca lagi

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    Gupteshwor Cave

    14 Mac, Nepal ☀️ 22 °C

    I had booked a day trip today through Get Your Guide. It was basically bus transport to visit 10 sites around Pokhara. At £10, I thought it was worth it - and easier than getting around by taxi. They told me that my hotel wasn't in the pick-up area, so I had a 15-minute walk to a temple to wait for the bus, which was due at 9.30am. This meant that I had plenty of time to enjoy my breakfast of scrambled egg, toast, cumin potatoes, fresh papaya, and coffee in the hotel garden. I was joined by a French-Vietnamese guy. We found plenty to talk about. He had only arrived last night, but he was already very disappointed in Pokhara. He said he was just going to spend today waiting to see if he would get his hoped-for view of the mountains!

    I gave myself plenty of time to walk to the bus stop. There, a guy on a motorbike said he would give me a lift to the real bus stop, which was by the lake, a 20-minute walk from my hotel in the other direction! Great! I had no choice but to go on the back of the bike - my third time on this trip, and I still hate it! 😄 We reached the bus stop at the same time as the bus. There were only four other people on it. The conductor insisted that I take the front seat. Over the next half an hour or so, we picked up lots more people until the bus was completely full, including two jump seats next to the driver. The conductor was standing. The last person to join the bus was the only foreigner apart from me. Unbelievably, he turned out to be from Doncaster! Steve was a few years older than me, but we had been at the same school for one school year in 1976! I was a first-year, and he was in lower sixth. What are the chances? 😄 We ended up sitting together (once I'd got rid of the very smelly local who'd left his friend to come and sit with me!), and got on well through what turned out to be a very long day!

    Our first stop was at Gupteshwor Mahadev Cave, which was discovered by local people in the 1660s. It was first surveyed by Tony Waltham and colleagues who travelled overland to India and Nepal as part of the British Karst Research Expedition to the Himalaya. In 1976, a second British scientific expedition visited the cave to catalogue the animals living inside, including Great Himalayan leaf-nosed bats and fruit bats. The cave is the most famous in Nepal and attracts thousands of local tourists. There are several shrines to Shiva inside the caves. Outside the cave entrance, there is an elaborate spiral staircase full of statues and erotic imagery. Built in the early 1990s, the garish style is more reminiscent of Disney than Nepalese architecture. I chose not to descend into the dark, damp cave with hundreds of people jostling for position. I preferred to stay in the fresh air, taking photos. When Steve came out, he said I hadn't missed anything 😄.    Baca lagi

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    Devi's Falls

    14 Mac, Nepal ☀️ 24 °C

    Across the road from the cave, visitors can pay another entrance fee to visit Devi's Falls. This waterfall flows into an underground tunnel, which emerges in the cave we had just visited. Tourists used to be allowed to swim/wade through the tunnel from one attraction to the other, but too many people got swept away and killed, so the practice was stopped! Now, you can just look at the falls through metal railings. It is not particularly impressive. I'm told it still isn't, even if you visit in monsoon season! There was a model of the Annapurna Mountains at the waterfall site. I took a picture because it's likely I won't get to see the real thing!Baca lagi

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    Pumdikot Shiva Statue

    14 Mac, Nepal ☁️ 24 °C

    Our next stop was at Pumdikot, a hill station with a viewpoint over Pokhara's Fewa Lake and the Himalayas at an altitude of 1500 metres. Sadly, having made the climb from where the bus dropped us off, we realised it was too hazy to see very much. The site is home to the second-tallest statue of Shiva in Nepal. The statue itself is 51 feet tall, but it sits on a 57-foot-tall white stupa, making the whole structure 108 feet high. Once we'd looked around the stupa and taken some photos, we went for a coffee in a nearby cafe. The stop was also intended to give us time to visit Dream City, a fairground on the next peak. Seeing as this was of no interest, we had a coffee instead.Baca lagi

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    World Peace Stupa

    14 Mac, Nepal ☁️ 25 °C

    Back on the bus, we were taken to the World Peace Stupa. We were dropped off at one side, had to climb up to see the monument, and then descend on the other side to the bus park. It was quite a hike! There were slightly clearer views of Fewa Lake and the city of Pokhara as we ascended.

    The stupa itself is an impressive monument, built by Japanese Buddhist monk Morioka Sonin, under the guidance of Nichidatsu Fujii, the founder of the Nipponzan-Myōhōji order of Buddhism. He is best known for his decision in 1947 to begin constructing Peace Pagodas in many locations around the world as shrines to world peace. He laid the foundation stone for this one, along with relics of the Buddha, on 12 September 1973. Nepal has two of the eighty peace pagodas in the world: Shanti Stupa in Lumbini, the birthplace of the Buddha, and this one. The pagoda is 115 feet tall and 344 feet in diameter. It has two tiers for tourists and religious visitors to circumambulate. The second tier displays four statues of the Buddha presented as souvenirs from different countries: ‘Dharmacakra Mudra’ from Japan, ‘Bodh Gaya’ from Sri Lanka, ‘Kushinagar’ from Thailand and 'Lumbini' from Nepal. Each statue represents important events related to the Buddha and was named according to where they took place.    Baca lagi

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    The Gurkha Memorial Museum

    14 Mac, Nepal ☁️ 26 °C

    From the stupa, we went to see a bridge channelling the mineral-rich waters coming down from the Himalaya. This was also our lunch stop, so we had an hour. It wasn't on the itinerary, but the Gurkha Memorial Museum was nearby, so Steve decided to go there instead. I went to see the bridge, which turned out to be decidedly underwhelming! It only took five minutes to walk down and come back up again. I was hungry, so I went to look at the recommended restaurant. It wasn't very appealing, so I went across the road and had an iced coffee and fried chicken momos at the Gurkha cafe. They were very tasty.

    Afterwards, I still had time to visit the museum. It is located next to the Gurkha barracks and recruitment centre run by the British army. Every year, hundreds of Nepali men come here to brave the rigorous selection process to become a Gurkha soldier. Prospective recruits have to perform backbreaking physical tasks. Only the fittest and most dedicated succeed. Those who do are identified by their curved khukuri knives. Gurkhas are one of the world's toughest fighting forces. Recruits find roles in the British and Indian armies, the Brunei Gurkha Reserve, and the Singapore police.

    The museum celebrates the achievements of Gurkha regiments, covering the period from the 19th-century Indian Uprising, through two world wars, to current conflicts and peace-keeping missions. I didn't have much time to look around, and no photos were allowed inside, but it was an interesting visit, and I'm glad I did it.

    Then, it was back on the bus to visit two caves. The first was Bat Cave. The conductor on the bus told us it was a black hole full of bats, and the admission price included a torch! Both Steve and I decided to give it a miss. Instead, I spent the time looking around the nearby clothes stalls. I ended up buying a pair of trousers and a top - £8 for both 😊.    Baca lagi

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    Caves and hailstorms

    14 Mac, Nepal ☁️ 23 °C

    The second cave was Mahendra Cave, which the conductor told us was very deep (over 100 metres) and empty. Again, we decided not to go in. While we were wandering around outside, the sky suddenly went black, the wind got up, and the heavens opened! Hailstones rained down on us. We took shelter under a shop canopy, but the rain was so torrential that we were getting soaked from the spray. Our bus driver saw us and brought the bus as close as he could to where we were trying to shelter. We only had to walk a couple of metres to get on the bus. I have never in my life got so wet in such a short distance! I felt like I'd had several buckets of water tipped over me!

    We had to wait a long time to get everyone back on the bus. I think some of them stayed in the cave, hoping the rain would stop. There was no getting dry in the bus because it turned out that it leaked like a sieve 😄. We drove on to our last stop of the day - Bindabasini Temple. The bus had to stop a 10-minute walk from the temple. It was still raining, and I think the conductor thought that nobody would want to visit. However, about half the passengers did! The rest of us waited for them to come back, trying to get dry and keep warm.

    Then, it was just a case of driving back into Pokhara and dropping us all off where we wanted to be. Steve was one of the first to get off. It had been one of those weird, unexpected encounters that happen a lot when you travel. I got off close to an Italian restaurant I had spotted last night. It was already after 6, and it was dark. I knew if I went back to my hotel, I wouldn't bother coming out again. So, I had a pizza with home-made porchetta and mushrooms. It didn't look particularly appetising, but it tasted great. I couldn't finish it, so the waiter parcelled up what was left, and I'll have it for my lunch on the bus tomorrow 😊.    Baca lagi

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    Bus back to Kathmandu

    15 Mac, Nepal ⛅ 20 °C

    I was up early and having breakfast in the garden by 7am. It set me up for my walk to the bus station and my 7-hour journey back to Kathmandu. The road was under construction for much of the way, so it was very bumpy. The hairiest moments came when there was a terrific hailstorm as we were negotiating hairpin bends on mountain roads! The sheer volume of water quickly turned the roads into rivers. Luckily, I couldn't see much through the steamed-up windows, and I was too busy trying to keep dry from where the rain was pouring in!

    We eventually arrived in Kathmandu at around 3.15pm. The bus dropped us off a bit further from the centre than I had thought, so I took a taxi to Durbar Square. Once there, I went to a traditional momo restaurant I've had my eye on. I had a plate of steamed buffalo momos in broth for £1! They were delicious.

    On my way back to my hotel, I picked up a few groceries as I intend to work for the next couple of days. It felt good to be 'home'.    Baca lagi

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    Nagarkot

    18 Mac, Nepal ☁️ 22 °C

    After a couple of days spent working, today, I was going on a tour to Bhaktapur and Nagarkot. My driver, Dipendra, came to meet me at 10am. He had had to park the minibus at some distance from my hotel, so we chatted as we walked. His son is currently studying hospitality at the University of East London. He's finding the culture shock and the weather difficult to deal with. I'm not surprised - it's the first time he has been out of Nepal! Once we reached the van, we drove a short distance to pick up Sajina, the guide for the day, and then on to Thamel to collect the only other guest, Rosa from Poland.

    Sajina gave us a brief introduction to the day, and then we set off for the 90-minute drive to Nagarkot. On the way, Rosa and I chatted non-stop about travel 😄. The scenery as we climbed into the hills was stunning. The reason for going to Nagarkot was to get a good view of the Himalayas, including Everest. Sadly, despite the sunny day and blue sky, the mountains were covered in clouds. We did get the odd glimpse of a peak appearing through the top of the clouds, but it wasn't clear enough to photograph, not with my phone anyway!

    From Nagarkot, we drove down into the Kathmandu Valley to visit Bhaktapur, passing many brick-making plants, with their distinctive towering kilns, on the way.    Baca lagi

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    Bhaktapur

    18 Mac, Nepal ☁️ 25 °C

    Bhaktapur is the third of the valley's medieval city-states, after Kathmandu and Patan, with a history dating back to the 8th century. It's the one that best retains the timeless atmosphere of a traditional Newari town. The best thing about it is that there are far fewer tourists than in Kathmandu, so it is a pleasure to walk around and get clear views of the stunning religious architecture, as well as the quirky backstreets where artisans ply their trades as they have for hundreds of years.

    We stopped to try some street food - delicious lentil and vegetable ring doughnuts that tasted similar to falafel, and hand-cooked crisps flavoured with masala spices. We saw traditional Newari dress, both on mannequins outside shops, and on people posing for photos in the squares.    Baca lagi

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    Bhaktapur pottery

    18 Mac, Nepal ☁️ 25 °C

    Bhaktapur is famous for its pottery, made with both unusual black clay and the more common terracotta-coloured variety. There were pots spread out to dry in the sun around every corner. In Pottery Square, we watched as a very skilled craftsman threw a pot on a wheel, and visited the communal kiln, where all the local artisans take their pots to be fired.Baca lagi

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    Yoghurt and daggers 😀

    18 Mac, Nepal ☁️ 26 °C

    We tried Juju Dhau, 'the king of curds', a speciality of Bhaktapur. It is a yoghurt made from a blend of buffalo and cow milk, sweetened and lightly spiced and left to ferment in clay bowls on a bed of broken rice. It was absolutely delicious!

    Bhaktapur is also renowned as the place to go to buy an ex-Gurkha khukuri dagger. Numerous shops and showrooms are selling them. Most of these claim to have presented one to Prince Harry. They have the same photo in their window to prove it 😂.    Baca lagi

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    Bhaktapur Royal Palace

    18 Mac, Nepal ☁️ 26 °C

    We ended our tour with a quick visit to the Bhaktapur Royal Palace. King Ranjit Malla built it in 1754. It is the last masterpiece of the Malla period, a perfect mix of metalcraft and architecture, and now the setting for pre-wedding photos for many couples.

    There are colourful craft shops, exquisite Hindu and Buddhist temples, quaint lanes, and delicious street food everywhere in Bhaktapur. I could easily have spent a day or two there, but sadly, our visit was limited to a few hours.

    After the tour, Dipendra drove us back to Kathmandu. I chose to get dropped off in Thamel with Rosa, as I intended to go to the cinema to see Crime 101. I had checked online this morning and thought it was showing at the Chhaya Centre. However, when I got there, I was told the screening had been cancelled, and there wouldn't be any others. So, instead, I went to the Pumpernickel Bakery and had mushroom soup with freshly-baked walnut bread for dinner before walking back to my hotel. Once there, I sorted out my laundry and went to drop it off.    Baca lagi

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    An audience with a living goddess

    20 Mac, Nepal ⛅ 22 °C

    Yesterday was a work day, so I stayed indoors all day.

    After breakfast this morning, I walked up to Durbar Square to get a taxi to take me to Durbar Square in Patan, the second of Kathmandu Valley's three great medieval cities. It's only a few kilometres from Kathmandu, and as the cities have grown, it is now only separated from the sprawling capital by the Bagmati River. Many locals still call Patan by its original Sanskrit name of Lalitpur, meaning City of Beauty. Patan's charm lies in its medieval network of tole (squares) and bahal (courtyards), which together house more than 1000 Buddhist monuments. Its Durbar Square boasts some of Nepal's grandest temples and royal architecture, most of which date from the Malla glory days of the 16th to 18th centuries.

    There were road closures around Durbar Square, so my taxi driver had to drop me off about a 15-minute walk away. This turned out to be quite fortuitous as the walk took me past the Ratnakar Mahavihar, home to Patan's Kumari (living goddess). I would probably have missed this if I'd been dropped off in the main square. Unlike Kathmandu's Kumari, Patan's is accessible to the public (for a donation!). You go into the adjoining temple, through a door into a scruffy storeroom, remove your shoes, and climb a steep, narrow ladder to an equally scruffy anteroom, where one of the Kumari's chaperones takes you in to meet the goddess herself. It's a very bizarre experience. The goddess doesn't speak, so you have to be directed by her guardian and ask any questions you might have through her.

    So, what do you do when you meet a living goddess? How do you behave? Well, the etiquette is quite simple. You kneel on a cushion at her feet, place some money on the floor, she marks your forehead with a bindi, gives you a silent blessing, and you are dismissed! She doesn't smile or interact with you. It seems to me like a pretty miserable existence. She is available for these 'audiences' between 10am and 12noon and 2pm and 4pm every day. This Kumari has held the position since she was five years old. She is now 12, so she will soon be relieved of her duties and will be able to have a normal life. If I were her, I'd be looking forward to that day very much 😊.

    Suitably blessed, I continued my walk. Just outside the Kumari's house, there were several prominent 'Free Palestine' posters. I don't know if these were anything to do with the living goddess 🤔.    Baca lagi

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    Patan Museum

    20 Mac, Nepal ⛅ 23 °C

    I did visit the Patan Museum, which is located in the northernmost courtyard of Patan's Royal Palace, dating from 1734. It houses one of the finest collections of religious art in Asia. It was certainly impressive, but I was more drawn to the building's incredible architecture. There were many 'wow' moments as I walked through the rooms, grounds, and courtyards.Baca lagi

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