Nepal🇳🇵

May - June 2023
Kathmandu, Chitwan & Pokhara Read more
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  • Day 13

    13. Chill & Sorting day

    June 1, 2023 in 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.Read more

  • Day 16

    14. 15. 16 Pokhara

    June 4, 2023 in 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 .
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  • Day 18

    17. Poorly 18. Cave and Waterfalls

    June 6, 2023 in 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 .
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  • Day 19

    19. Sunrise over Himalayas

    June 7, 2023 in 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 favour🤔😩😂.Read more

  • Day 20

    20. Museum

    June 8, 2023 in 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 🤣.
    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.
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  • Day 21

    21. Kayaking, Last Day In Pokhara

    June 9, 2023 in 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.
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  • Day 23

    22. Bus 23. Patan Durbar Square

    June 11, 2023 in 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.
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  • Day 25

    24. Walk 25. Last day

    June 13, 2023 in 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!
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