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NepalđŸ‡łđŸ‡”
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toukok. – kesĂ€k. 2023

NepalđŸ‡łđŸ‡”

Kathmandu, Chitwan & Pokhara Lue lisÀÀ
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  • Matkan aloitus
    20. toukokuuta 2023
    JG TRAVELSNepalđŸ‡łđŸ‡”JG TRAVELS

    1. Lukla to Kathmandu

    20. toukokuuta 2023, Nepal ⋅ ☁ 26 °C

    We were woken up at 0600 by Gumbu , saying that we had to be at the airport in half an hour . Gombu said the night before to be ready for breakfast at 0700 , so it was a bit of a shock . Luckily we had packed the night before , and we managed to make it to the airport in good time .
    Lukla airport was complete chaos , the check in was rammed and we had to pay an extra fee for overweight luggage. Which started at 2000 ruppees, James managed to Haggle down to 200 😂
    After waiting about half an hour , the plane to Ramichap arrived , it was tiny and looked very old. The plane could only take 16 passengers and you could see straight into the cockpit.
    Take off was so scary , the runway is very short and you sort of fall off a hill at the end đŸ€Ł.
    Our flight was a grand total of 15 mins long to Ramechap , there was quite a lot of turbulence in that 15 minutes 😳.
    Ramechap was very hot and humid , and the minibus to Kathmandu was also transporting another flight , so we had to wait a while before we could leave . During this time , we met a lovely man called Sam, he was selling bananas , crisps and drinks by the side of the minibuses . He was so happy and funny and we got along very well . He was telling us to visit Darjeeling (where all the nice tea comes from) amongst other recommendations .
    The journey from Ramichap is about 5-6 hours long . The minimus was very cramped , hot and uncomfortable . Most of the main roads are under construction in Nepal, so it was a very bumpy ride . Our driver kept overtaking on blind bends whilst on his phone , it was crazy .
    After all that dodgy overtaking, we managed to get to Kathmandu in 4.5 hours .
    We checked into our room and sorted through all our clothes that needed washing from the trek and dropped them off at a launderette. We felt like we needed a good food binge after our trek , so we ate loads of fried chicken for dinner - which was amazing!
    Afterwards, we walked slowly back to our hotel room and watched a mountaineering film called "touching the void " before going to sleep . The bed is so comfortable .    Lue lisÀÀ

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    2. Durbar Square

    21. toukokuuta 2023, Nepal ⋅ 🌙 20 °C

    This morning we had a lie in until 10 and then went up and had a huge breakfast to fuel the day.. This didn't work... The food was lovely, but we ended up going back to bed for a while.

    Once up, and on the way to Durbar Square. We came across a square which seemed to have every single pigeon in Nepal in, it was choas, all the monks were feeding them seed and they were flying everywhere - choas!! We eventually walked on approx 1km to Durbar Square, which is located in front of the old royal palace of the former Kathmandu Kingdom, which is a World Heritage Site. Several buildings in the square collapsed due to a major earthquake on 25 April 2015. Durbar Square is surrounded with amazing architecture and showcases the skills of the Newar artists and craftsmen over several centuries. The Kathmandu Durbar Square were the palaces of the Malla and Shah kings who ruled over the city. Along with the palaces, the square is surrounded by courtyards and temples also. We saw ancient royal Elephant carriers, used to house the royals, the elephants had fancy headpieces and were often painted aswell.
    It was a fascinating day and sad that some of these were still being rebuilt in 2023 nearly 9 years since the previous big earthquake, they use traditional craftmen using old methods to rebuild using no modern machinary.

    We went to a lovely restaurant called Mithos and had an amazing Chicken Tikka wrap, and a starter, which had uncooked noodles in a Nepalese sauce.. They were both absolutely delicious. Best food yet in Nepal and some of the cheapest also! We will be back😁    Lue lisÀÀ

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    3. Monkey Temple 4 & 5. SicknessđŸ€ą

    24. toukokuuta 2023, Nepal ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    May 22nd :
    James I went to visit to the most famous buddhist stupa in Kathmandu, known as the Swayambhu. This is a Tibetan name , which translates as "sublime trees ". The Swayambhu is a popular tourist place to visit as there are loads of macaque monkeys there.
    It was amazing to see monkeys thriving so well in human altered environments . They were very cute , lots of mother monkeys carrying their babies underneath them !
    There were lots of stairs to climb to get up to the main temple, it was well worth the steps as it was just beautiful , here is what the swayambhu has to offer:

    A huge gold plated Vajra ‘thunderbolt’ set in the east side of the stupa.

    Buddha statue on the west side of Swayambhu.

    The Sleeping Buddha.

    The Dewa Dharma Monastery, noted for a bronze icon of Buddha and traditional Tibetan paintings.

    The temple dedicated to Harati, the goddess of all children. It is said that she was an ogress before Lord Buddha converted her to be the caretaker of all children.

    James and I went back to the hotel for a short while afterwards. We met up with Badrinda, who gave us our trekking certificates! Then we headed to a place called "Yogs rooftop restaurant " to meet Katie , Galen Benedict and MK for our final meal together.
    We had some cocktails and some nibbles together , James and I had chicken curry for main , which at the time was lovely , we certainly are paying for it now though đŸ€ź.
    It was sad to say goodbye to Katie and Galen , but we wished them all the best for their short trip to Turkey and all of their wedding planning !
    Benedict and his girlfriend, MK are going to Pokara , so we may see them again !

    23rd, 24th May

    Unfortunately James and I have really bad tummies , most likely from the chicken at Yogs . We managed have a little look around Kathmandu on the 23rd, we managed to buy some sew on badges to go on our bunting that Kalata made for the van.
    Today has just been the worst though , both of us unable to.leave the hotel room and very uncomfortable from the abdominal cramps ! We hope this goes away very soon !    Lue lisÀÀ

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    6. Pashupathi temple 7. Sorting day

    26. toukokuuta 2023, Nepal ⋅ ☁ 25 °C

    6. Pashupatinath Temple and the Buddha stupa
    Fortunately , James and I were starting to feel better today and managed to do a bit more sight seeing - starting off with the Pashupatinath temple .
    The temple is situated on the banks of the river Bagmati in Kathmandu , the temple of Pashupatinath is one of the ancient places of worship. It is the oldest Hindu temple in Nepal, dating back to 400 BC.
    Open cremation is practiced here and has been for centuries , it is the largest cremation area in Nepal. It is believed that if cremated here ,you would be reborn as human or animal in your next life. By having the cremation beside the river it means you had all the elements surrounding your death, fire, air, water, earth.

    We were mortified to learn that 70 years ago in Nepal if the husband died early, the wife (whatever age) would be expected to burn themselves alive beside the husband being cremated. If she didn't abide the locals would stone her to death anyway. The president changed the law when his daughter's husband suddenly died at an early ago... Was very brutal to hear, especially that human sacrifice can still be found in some parts of Nepal.

    James and I found this whole experience quite strange , but it was very interesting and eye opening.

    We then headed to the Biggest Stupa in the world north of Kathmandu, another world heritage site. The Stupa was surrounded by quirky shops and nice cafes. We had walk around it a couple of times, buying a few bits along the way. It seems that at every Stupa/Heritage areas in Nepal, there is 50 million pigeonsđŸ˜‚đŸ˜‚đŸ‡łđŸ‡”.

    7. Today we had the longest simple processes of our life... Firstly we went to Immigration office to extend our visa, when we arrived there was literally zero structure, people everywhere... We weren't expecting much for the mayhem Nepal is, but still! Firstly you do an online form, then big que to line 1 for a stamp, then across to line 6 to pay and then back to line 3 for a sticker which took about an hour to print😂 it seemed all these processes could probably be done from one line, but anyway, we finally had the stamp.
    We then headed off and got a sim card to last another 2 weeks, which fortunately was very straightforward .
    Finally we had to send a parcel, we knew this wouldn't be simple. After finally finding a card box, cello tape and packaging up all our trekking goods, we got to the cargo drop to find everything is emptied and they package the parcel for you.. With a detailed report of everything inside, this is aired onto Abu Dhabi and they do customs again there and then goes onto the UK. After a very long process to send an already packaged parcel, we had a list of goods and me assisting in the repackaging 😬 we had successfully dropped off our parcel.
    Quite a long day for things which should take no time. 😅 We still love you Nepal but you are crackers.
    We headed to a lovely restaurant for dinner and had some pasta dishes, the best ones yet. I ordered a sizzling chocolate brownie for pudding and it literally came out on a hot sizzingling pan, burnt to buggery! đŸ”„đŸ˜‚ Anyway early night as its Chitwan Safari early tomorrow morning.    Lue lisÀÀ

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    8. Chitwan Safari Day 1

    27. toukokuuta 2023, Nepal ⋅ 🌧 29 °C

    Today we got up early and were taken to the bus station. We got on what Nepal call a Tourist bus, which is ultimately a short wheelbase coach. It was a long 6 hours bumping and braking along the Nepalese roads. We finally got to National park looking areas and suddenly Tiger warning signs were along the roads which was quite exciting. Upon arriving, we had a drink and some lunch and then had a couple of hours to kill before heading out to look around a traditional Tharu village. We were caught in a really bad unexpected storm of high winds and sidewards rain, "it's raining sideways! " (family guy). When this calmed down we walked along the river to an Government Elephant Breeding Centre. Along the way we saw a variety of birds, deer and upon arriving we saw some Wild Boar, White spotted deer and Jackals. The Elephants were all chained up when we arrived but this is due protection from "local poachers" and protecting them from locals as they destroy precious crops. We weren't overly happy to see the Elephants like this, but on the other hand they have been an asset to protecting the park from poachers and assisting vets getting to wounded wild animals as they blend in so well. The number of asian elephants is on the up and there is a decline in the amount used for tourist purposes, only approx 20 are now used for this purpose, down from 100, 2 years ago.
    We then came back and went to a Tharu Cultural Show which was very interesting and involved tribal dancing with fire show aswell. We came back had some dinner and spoke with Valerie, a retired teacher from Switzerland, who had been working in Lukla on a school her friend set up.. Was very interesting talking to her about her friends successes but they need more long term English teachers.. @ Mum!! You could retire to the mountains â›°ïžđŸ˜    Lue lisÀÀ

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    9. Chitwan Safari AM

    28. toukokuuta 2023, Nepal ⋅ ☀ 23 °C

    Chitwan safari day 2 :
    First activity today was canoeing in the Rapti River to spot some crocodiles !
    The canoe boats are dug out single silk cotton trees, with tiny little wooden stools to perch on , it couldn't get much more rustic than that! . Each canoe boat could fit about ten passengers .
    The canoe trip was about an hour long , we saw plenty of Mugger crocodiles ( the ones that attack humans) quite close to the boat , they were big ones too ! They can grow up to 6 metres long and are considered extremely dangerous compared to the Gharial crocodiles, that only eat fish .
    We were also lucky enough to see a cute little turtle 🐱.
    Along the river we also saw lots of birds , such as kingfishers , open billed stalks and green shanks . There were some peacocks too !
    After the canoe ride , we went for a walk in the jungle , the guide had to give us a safety talk in case we bumped into any rhinos, tigers or bears , which was very amusing seeing as we only had the guide and a big bamboo stick for protection . We were told to give the tigers eye contact and never turn your back to them . For the rhinos , hide behind a big tree and for the bears , run away in zig zags due to their poor field of vision . We felt very reassured to know this !
    Unfortunately we didn't get to put this advice into practice on our jungle walk , but we did see some lovely birds- including a huge bird,called a Sarus Crane .
    After our jungle walk , we were offered to go and bathe an elephant . Although we felt a little uncomfortable having much to do with trained elephants , we agreed that we would go and bathe the elephant .
    We happily walked into the crocodile infested waters to splash about with the elephant , whose name we think is tickles. Tickles lay down in the water and let us splash him , but tickles had the advantage and managed to get James and I completely drenched . It was so funny and a genuinely amazing experience that we will never forget.    Lue lisÀÀ

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    9. Chitwan Safari PM

    28. toukokuuta 2023, Nepal ⋅ ☀ 31 °C

    After a busy morning and once dry from the Elephant encounter, we set off to go on our jeep safari. We had to first get in a canoe to cross another crocodile river to get to the jeeps. The jeeps had approx 12 people in, me and Grace were sat on the front which made great views. We went through a mixture of terrains, from Marshland to jungle, grasslands to swamps. Along the way we saw many different deers, about 6 rhino's, peacocks and many colourful birds. The safari was about 4 hours so we covered alot of the park, we were happy to see the working elephants enjoying the grasslands with their keepers also. About half way around the park we stopped to see a Gharial Crocodile Breeding Centre, these crocs are funny looking with a really thin jaw, they only eat fish so pose little threat to humans here. Unfortunately we didn't see any of the 128 Royal Bengal Tigers roaming the park, these are quite rare to see and usually spotted dusk time; we are hoping to see these tomorrow night when we stay deep in the jungle in a treetop house. These tigers are lovely to see but living in such close proximity to humans, they cause quite a commotion with the locals. When the tigers are getting older they are slower and get lazy for meals, that is when livestock and humans become on the menu. They kill roughly 12 people here a year and the crocodiles it's roughly 8 per year.
    We have a long walk into the jungle tonight, to get to the tree house. It will take approx 1 hour, seems so strange being able to walk through active jungles, but we have had a training on what to do if we encounter these animals and have a guide with a big stick.... 😬. So all will be fine, apparently we have one of the best houses for viewing as its right next to a river where the animals come to drink and bathe in the evening. We are heading to the house at about 5pm so will have about 3 hours view before it gets dark, then we use a big torch if we hear anything at night. We are super excited!!    Lue lisÀÀ

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    10. Tree top night

    29. toukokuuta 2023, Nepal ⋅ ☀ 39 °C

    This morning, we had a lovely lie in until about 0900 as the beds were just super comfy, the comfiest we have had yet. We wanted to conserve our energy ready for the watch house in the jungle tonight.
    It was seriously hot today, about 43 degrees, so we didn't manage to do much throughout the day, although we did have a little look around the village for a short while.
    At around 430, we set off to our jungle watch house. We went over the Rapti river, past the elephant sanctuary and into the jungle. En route we saw lots of monkeys and deer, as well as lots of birds. The walk to the watch house was about an hour long, and it was still extremely hot.
    When we arrived, James and I were shown to our room, which was on the top floor! We shared the watch house with another couple, they didn't seem bothered by the beautiful nature surrounding us and they went to bed very early, whilst James and I sat with the guides untill about 10, just listening to the jungle sounds, spotting the fireflys (so cool) and searching for wildlife with the torches.
    We spotted so many crocodiles, some deer, herons and Malibu's too. The noise of the jungle was so beautiful, relaxing and calming. It was quite a funny night as the guides shared their home brewed jungle booze with us!
    James and I actually slept really well in our boiling hot room. We woke up just as the sun was starting to come up and it was a glorious sunrise! We were woken up at 0430 by our guide as there was a Rhino infront of us, drinking from the river. We also saw the elephants from the sanctuary being taken on a safari crossing over the river!
    We started to walk back to the hotel at 0530, we had to catch the bus to Pokhara for 0730. Pokhara will take about 7 hours on the bus, but we are super excited as we have booked a nice spa hotel with a swimming pool as a treat for my birthday tomorrow!    Lue lisÀÀ

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    11. Transport to Pokhara

    30. toukokuuta 2023, Nepal ⋅ ☀ 32 °C

    Day 11
    After our night in the tree top , we started walking through the jungle and back to the hotel at 0530 . We managed to squeeze in a quick breakfast before getting dropped off at the chitwan bus station , ready to catch our bus to Pokhara.
    The bus journey to Pokhara was so bumpy, it felt like a very long 7 hour journey . The man infront of us kept reclining his chair and poor James had no room .It was really funny as everytime James asked him to move his seat up , he just reclined it again about 5 mins later .James did very well to keep his patience .
    When we eventually arrived in Pokhara , we grabbed a taxi to the hotel . Its a real treat to stay in a nice hotel with a pool , and that serves proper coffee !
    We sorted our room out and grabbed a drink before going into the pool . The swimming pool although refreshing, is in the shade and is absolutely freezing - so we didn't stay too long in there .
    After a quick shower , we had an early dinner and chilled on the roof top terrace for a while , enjoying the view and the sun set .    Lue lisÀÀ

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    12. Grace's Birthday

    31. toukokuuta 2023, Nepal ⋅ 🌙 24 °C

    Day 12

    Today was a special day, as it was Gracie's birthday. We got up at our leisure and had a huge posh breakfast from our hotel. We had a swim and enjoyed sunbathing for a few hours, later in the evening once it had cooled down, we headed to the Pewa Lakeside for a sunset walk. It is really beautiful here in Pokhara, mountains surrounding us. We had a mooch around the shops to replace our rucksack which hasn't even lasted 2 weeks, and we got Grace a couple of birthday gifts. In the evening we went to a lovely highly rated restaurant called Fresh Elements, we had some nice pizzas and a few beers whilst listening to a local band. The service and food here was incredible, they wrote on the cake and lit a candle for Grace which was really sweet. We sat in here till late and was the nicest evening experience we have had in Nepal.Lue lisÀÀ

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    13. Chill & Sorting day

    1. kesĂ€kuuta 2023, Nepal ⋅ 🌙 25 °C

    Day 13
    Enjoying the pool and onwards flight booking today. As we are staying in such a nice Hotel, we decided to enjoy being here rather than exploring today. We had a swim and did our accounts as we are booking to fly on. We have decided to fly into Bangkok on the 13th June. This gives us another 10 days in Pokhara and surroundings before we fly onto Thailand. We are aiming to spend a day or so in Bangkok initially before we travel upto Chaing Mai, very north and work our way back down. We have a lot to do and see in Thailand as the visa is only 30 days. We want to get all the way down to Malaysia by end of the month and there is lots of stops in between. We are gutted to learn we cannot rent a vehicle as we haven't done an International Driving Permit from the UK. As that would have been really useful for Thailand as there are many stops to do along the coast. We ended up going for a burger for tea which was lovely, now relaxing in the room.Lue lisÀÀ

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    14. 15. 16 Pokhara

    4. kesĂ€kuuta 2023, Nepal ⋅ ☀ 30 °C

    Day 14 , 15 , 16
    Day 14
    We had to leave our lovely hotel at midday. We enjoyed our final drink at the rooftop terrace and packed our bags . It was such a lovely hotel , we were sad to leave .
    We walked for 15 minutes to get to our new hotel , the galaxy Inn ,but the walk felt much longer due to the heat .
    We were greeted by a very enthusiastic owner and we had a cold drink outside together . The galaxy in has a lovely garden and the outside is painted purple . The room is lovely but basic and there is no aircon , the fan doesn't always work either 😅.
    Once settled in , we walked down to the river front and grabbed some food . We were lucky to be sat inside as there was a huge rainstorm , lasting for about an hour .
    It was amazing just how quickly the drains had started to flood .
    Once the weather had calmed down , we walked back slowly to the hotel and chilled for the evening .

    15 .
    The day had a very early start for Grace , as she was awake at 0300 being poorly . Another episode of food poisoning unfortunately. Grace was not able to leave the room all day , which was made even more difficult with no aircon.
    James left to go and get some breakfast from a breakfast bar called Wendy's . It serves really healthy breakfasts like smoothie bowls and muesli at a very cheap price .
    After breakfast , James managed to rent a moped at around 6 pounds per day , it's a really cool little orange Honda and the helmets are really cute.
    James took it for a 40km ride alone to get used to it and was stopped by the police twice, but luckily no consequences for not having a International Driving Permit!
    We've got the moped for three days , as a more cost effective and fun way to get around .
    James then paid me a visit to drop off some water and sugary drinks . Although I struggled to keep this down for very long 😅.
    James went out for dinner at fresh elements again , he said the band there sounded great and had a nice meal . We watched a film together when he came back .

    Day 16.
    I was feeling much better today , and we decided to visit a huge statue of Lord Shiva on top of a very big hill . First we grabbed some breakfast at wendy's again. The statue was about 35 mins away on the moped , and it was quite an experience getting there with the steep hill and poor roads . Once parked up , it was a very steep and hot walk up to the temple .
    Lord Shiva, whose name means auspicious one, is considered to be the most divine among all Hindu gods . The statue was very impressive , with wonderful views of Pokhara in the background .
    After a short while , we stopped off and grabbed a cold drink before walking back to the moped. On the way back , we stopped off at the Pokhara shanti stupa , which is a buddhist monument representing peace. It was really beautiful there, and you had to be in total silence whilst approaching the stupa .
    I was struggling by then due to the heat and feeling weak from the day before , so we decided to head back to the warm hotel room for a break and a cold shower .
    Once refreshed , we booked our hotel for the next few days ( one with aircon!) and generally just sorted out what we will be doing for the next 6 days in Pokhara .
    Tomorrow , we will get up at 0400 to get to the Sarangot viewpoint just in time for sunrise . We will be able to see the annupurna mountain range from here 😀.
    We also plan to visit some caves later on too .
    We went out for some food in the evening and watched some stuff on netflix before our early start tomorrow .    Lue lisÀÀ

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    17. Poorly 18. Cave and Waterfalls

    6. kesĂ€kuuta 2023, Nepal ⋅ ☀ 32 °C

    Day 17

    Plans on hold again today as poor James was poorly ! We had to be out of our hotel by 11 , and we needed to move to a cooler room. I started the day by going into town quickly to get some money and bought James some sugary drinks and some cold water .
    Once back, I packed up and carried the bags down to to the moped , James did really well and managed to drive over to the hotel on the moped with the heavy backpack , which was luckily only a few mins away, whilst I carried the other to make things a bit easier for James .
    I left James to sleep with the aircon on full blast once we got to our new room.
    I decided to go and get some breakfast and a coffee before going on a buscopan hunt for James . Luckily there is a pharmacy just a few mins away , and they had it in stock.
    Once I dropped this off for James , I headed back out to the shops for a walk about . After about an hour or so , I stopped to grab a drink and went and sat by the lakeside for a while . There are loads of little market stalls by the lakes , mainly selling food . There was a huge argument between two of the stall owners and everyone had stopped to listen . It was quite intense so I decided to carry on walking up the lake before heading back to the hotel .
    I chilled with James for a while and then we had to drop off our little Honda moped back to the rental place .
    After a quick freshen up , we decided to grab some food . James did really well and managed a few chips and some of my pizza crust ( our options are very limited now as to what we consider safe to eat round here 😅). We then headed back to watch a film together.

    18.

    Had the best nights sleep ever in our new hotel , the beds are so comfy ! Luckily James was feeling better today , so we headed into town to get a taxi up to the Gupteshwor Mahadev cave. This cave is opposite the Devis waterfall, and the water passes through the cave. This cave is probably the most popular cave in Pokhara due to religious tourism .
    There are two portions to the cave, with only the first being accessible to the public due to safety concerns . As you start to go down into the cave , there a sacred cowshed and a Lord shiva temple . Afterwards , the cave gets very narrow and you are able to see the waterfall from one of the viewpoints . Dotted around the cave are limestone figurines . We were quite fortunate to see this cave as it will probably close soon due to the monsoon season approaching.
    After the cave , we walked over the road to see Devis falls. The Devis fall is extremely popular in Nepal, it's extraordinary as it creates a 500 ft underwater tunnel as it reaches its bottom. The Devis fall marks the point where the Pardi Khola stream literally dissappears underground . The scenery surrounding the waterfall is beautiful too .
    After the waterfall, we stopped off for a drink and headed back to town. We were really fond of the taxi driver , so we have agreed to be picked up by him tomorrow morning to be taken to the Sarangot viewpoint .
    Later in the evening , we grabbed some very unadventurous food and tried to get some sleep before our 345 start tomorrow .    Lue lisÀÀ

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    19. Sunrise over Himalayas

    7. kesĂ€kuuta 2023, Nepal ⋅ 🌙 24 °C

    Day 19.
    Very early start this morning, we woke up at 3.45am to meet the lovely taxi driver from the day before. He was taking us upto Sarangkot View point about a 30min drive to see the sunrise over the Annapurna mountain range. We got to the top of the hill and walked upto a view tower, they charged us about a pound each to enter and typically Nepali it was still under construction and there was building debris scattering the whole tower. Within about 20 mins the tower was full so we did well to get a front row place. The sun comes up and hits all the mountains first turning them a gorgeous golden colour. This mountain range isn't as impressive as Everest region, but still magnificent to see them glowing. When we were up there a young lady stood next to me, glancing over I thought I recognised her and it was our friend Anna from Isreal who we met doing The Three Passes, nearly a month before and 200km away... Small world. We had a catch up with her and she explained that she had been to Annapurna Base Camp (another trek me and Grace were going to do, but got poorly) and it wasn't anywhere near as scenic as the three passes which made us feel good, as part of us felt like we were missing out being in the best trekking destination in the world and not taking full advantage. We left the viewpoint after an hour and met our Taxi driver who took us down to Wendy's juice bar for brekkie. We came back to hotel and had a nap to catch up as we were running on 3 hrs sleep. We then went for a long walk around Pokhara Lakeside and stopped off at Pokhara Disney which was literally hilarious. The most run down theme park we have ever seen, Mickey was really scary looking and the rides looked as if they could just fall to peices. We walked about 8 miles today in 35' so popped back to hotel before choosing which posh restaurant to brave.. Seemingly an everyday struggle now, we were reading that it could be as high as one in 10 chance of getting poisoning so no wonder we have both been poorly in the last 2 weeks, odds aren't in favourđŸ€”đŸ˜©đŸ˜‚.Lue lisÀÀ

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    20. Museum

    8. kesĂ€kuuta 2023, Nepal ⋅ ☀ 34 °C

    Another really sunny and hot day . We started the day by walking down the river front slowly before grabbing a taxi to the museum . It was really funny as all the taxi drivers were quoting very high prices at first, so we just walked on . Magically they halved their prices and started fighting over who would.take us .
    We arrived at the museum about 15 mins later , the gardens to the museum were really pretty , with lots of botanical trees surrounding us and fish ponds .
    The museum was huge, with lots of old mountaineering equipment on show and lots of information about all 14 peaks above 8000 m .
    When we entered , we were advised to watch a short video to educate us on the people, culture and mountains within the kumbu region. The video was supposed to be about 20 mins long , but the projector overheated about half way through- we enjoyed what we saw đŸ€Ł.
    The museum also showcased indigenous habitants of the mountain regions of Nepal.
    There was a section on the endangered animal species in Nepal, with some very amusing taxidermy on display. Of course this section included the yeti, which is thought to live in the mountains . They look like very tall gorillas with pointy heads. Mountaineers are thought to have seen yeti footprints in the snow whilst out hiking - but there are lots of theories surrounding its existence.
    Afterwards , we walked around the grounds of the museum and had a cold drink in the shade . We headed back to lakeside for a bite to eat and a quick freshen up at our hotel .
    We want to kayak on the fewa lake tomorrow morning , so we headed out a short while after to compare prices as there are just so many boat rental companies . We found a place that offers sit on top kayaks for a very cheap price 😀.
    In the evening, we sorted out our accommodation for the rest of our stay in Nepal (until Tuesday) and booked a hotel for our first few days in Thailand.    Lue lisÀÀ

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    21. Kayaking, Last Day In Pokhara

    9. kesĂ€kuuta 2023, Nepal ⋅ ☀ 34 °C

    We headed down to the lake for about 1000 and rented a kayak for an hour .
    The views from the lake were very pretty and the gentle breeze made it very pleasant . We kayaked slowly around the island in the lake , which is home to the Barahi temple . From the island , you can see views of the world peace stupa , Pokhara City and the Annupurna mountain range .
    We kayaked back slowly and headed for some lunch and a cold drink afterwards .
    In the afternoon , we had a but of a sorting session , ready for our 10 hour bus trip back to Kathmandu tomorrow . We washed some clothes and packed our bags to make the morning a little easier .
    We walked along the lake front for the last time tonight, it was lovely as we stopped and had a beer about half way down whilst admiring the fireflies by the lake .
    On our way home , we stopped and had our first ice cream of the trip, which was just like Ben and Jerrys! The mango ice cream was just so good !
    Earlish night tonight as we need to get up at 0545 to go back to Kathmandu . We have loved our time in Pokhara , much more relaxed than Kathmandu.    Lue lisÀÀ

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    22. Bus 23. Patan Durbar Square

    11. kesĂ€kuuta 2023, Nepal ⋅ 🌧 28 °C

    22. Transfer from Pokhara to Kathmandu

    We were up at 0545 , ready to catch our taxi to the bus station for 0630.
    We managed to grab a quick coffee before getting on our luxury vip bus at 0730.🚌 😀.
    For some reason, the bus was running a little late and some of the passengers got very angry with the driver- which was quite amusing.
    The seats were much more comfortable and the air-conditioning was working well !
    The bus journey took 9.5 hours to get to Kathmandu, and the first half of the journey was so bumpy . We stopped off for lunch at a hotel on the side of the road.
    Eventually we arrived in Kathmandu and were almost unable to leave the bus station as so many people were trying to sell things to us . The taxi driver was being really cheeky with his prices too .
    Once that was all sorted , we checked into our hotel and had to swap rooms three time due to them giving us the incorrect room and no aircon .
    Luckily, we managed to get ourselves a room with working aircon and a lovely balcony .
    After a short while , we went to one of our few trusted restaurants "mitho" for a bite to eat . We had a relatively early night after this .

    23. Patan durbar Square.
    Today we headed to Patan durbar Square, situated in the city centre of lalitpur in Nepal. This is the second of three durbar squares we have visited in the Kathmandu valley. All of the durbar squares are listed as world heritage sites .
    One of the main attractions is the Palace where the Malla King's once resided.
    The Square boasts the amazing newar architecture, with 136 courtyards and 55 major temples . There was also a really informative museum, which went into detail about the gods worshipped and what they symbolised.
    Unfortunately , alot of the architecture was damaged during the 2015 earthquake and is still under repair .
    After exploring the durbar Square, we stopped off for coffee at this little place down an alley , it really didn't look anything special but the coffee was the best we have had in Nepal. We then carried on walking to look at an actual supermarket , first proper supermarket we have seen . There were whole aisles dedicated to spices , mum you would have loved this !
    Once freshened up at the hotel , we went out for some food and watched a film before going to bed.    Lue lisÀÀ

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    24. Walk 25. Last day

    13. kesĂ€kuuta 2023, Nepal ⋅ 🌧 26 °C

    Day 24

    Today we had an admin and lazy morning, which was nice. Grace isnt 100% as she has caught a cold so a more relaxed day was in order. In the late afternoon we set off for a walk around Kathmandu, this is the best time as it starts to cool down about 5ish. We went on a big walk around the city and then braved a burger at a top rated restaurant which was lovely and both had a nice meal. We walked through the city and had a look through the shops. We wish we could take more home with us as souveniers would be great for presents and when we eventually get a house..

    Day 25 last day in Nepal....
    Today we woke up early and started to pack up ready for our flight later. We had to check out at lunchtime and were being collected by Spiritual Excursions at 3pm. We decided to go to 'The Garden of Dreams' an Austrian government run lovely garden, which had ponds, many exotic flowers and pavilions you can sit in. This was a lovely Change from the hussle and bussle of Kathmandu just over the wall. We went for a final meal at a place called Marcopolo to use up our money as Nepali currency isn't able to swapped abroad once we leave. It was a nice stock up before travelling later. Although the flight is only 3 hours. We will be in Bangkok at 10.30pm, we are so excited to see how mad it is at night as apparently that's the cities busiest time, so we plan to go on a midnight walk once we are booked into our hotel. We got collected from our hotel, blessed with Scalves and had our final trip of madness through the traffic of Kathmandu. We are sad to leave Nepal, the people have been very welcoming most of the time, despite being slightly money obsessed and not knowing if they are being nice to you or some sort of money incentive, but I suppose we are seen as rich being westerners travelling far from home. We will miss the mad driving, stunning scenary, cheap hotels and hussle and bussle of the streets. We will be back at some stage Nepal, we love your mountains so much. Right onto the land of Thailand!    Lue lisÀÀ

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    13. kesÀkuuta 2023
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