Total stay: 10 April – 10 May (30 Nights)
Nepal (together with Myanmar) was for us one of the most distinctive countries we've visited in Asia.
It's very poor country with a challenging history (in 2001 the king's family was gunned down by the price it self), but the Nepali are proud to never have been colonized by the British, as the neighboring country India has been. The Nepali are very kind and easygoing people, eager to converse with travelers. That's how we found out that Aneta is a common name in Nepal. They are good merchants and their tolerance is high when it comes to religious beliefs. The most part of the population is practicing Hinduism and the minority is practicing Buddhism. The Buddhism is linked to birth of Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha) in Nepal.
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Fast Facts
Capital: Kathmandu
Known for: Mt. Everest & the Himalayas, Gurkha soldiers, Buddha's birthplace, Spirituality & Sadhus (Hindu Holy Men)
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nepal
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There are many Sadhus (Hindu Holy men) wondering barefoot around the streets offering tika. Tika is a symbol of blessing from the gods and receiving it is a common part of most Hindu ceremonies. Devout Hindus mark their foreheads with this colorful powder drawing attention to the body's spiritual nerve center.
The Nepalese are descendants of three major migrations from India, Tibet and North Burma. That is why they share many similarities with India like: religion, food, numerous colorful festivals,
sacred cows (watch your step) and many other. We actually had cow beef
in a steakhouse in Pokhara, sloughed my Muslims in Calcutta, India. Momos, Tibetan dumpling speciality are to be found all over Nepal.
This destination was remarkably cheap. We paid 10 EUR for a nice roof top room with private bathroom and solar heated water in central part on Kathmandu. Outside the capital we spent around 5 EUR for a decent room for two. You can sleep for cheaper than that and the food costs even less.
Our visit took place before the monsoon and the weather condition was dry and dusty, thus selection of fruit and vegetable were more limited. Unstable electricity supply forced many places to run their own generators, which contribute fast to pollute this beautiful country. Did you know that Kathmandu is the most polluted city in Asia (2006)?
Nepal's bookshops have excellent selection (in English), therefore we stock on great deal of interesting books in Kathmandu and Pokhara and shipped it home from Bangkok.
Through Nepal we traveled by bus and minivans and you can catch one almost everywhere on the road. The bus assistants make stop and starting signals by knocking on the bus' outside door. If there is no space inside there are always roof 'seats' available.
Almost every house in bigger towns, especially in and around Kathmandu and Pokhara has a roof-top terrace. The multipurpose terraces give also an opportunity to built another floor on top of it.
Nepal is known for its mountainous geography and it contains eight
of the world's ten highest mountains. Many people come to do the hiking
in the Himalayas, but the country has far more to offer then that. Unfortunately we didn't explore the Himalayas as we got ill for several weeks, thus we have to come back here.
Kathmandu & Around
10 - 28 April
The capital reminded us a little bit of Cusco city in Peru, because of its narrow cobblestone streets and of Yangon (previous capital of Myanmar), because of its ethnic diversity and high dense of dust. But we never before have experienced a place with such insane traffic. We stayed close to Durbar Square in the old part of town, but we frequently used cycle-rickshaw to get around the capital. The skinny drivers were pretty fit and even with our large backpacks they maneuver quickly through the crazy traffic. There is only one rule when it comes to driving: No Rules! No wonder the motorbikes sat up metal bars to protect their legs. We've been told that you could buy a driving license on a black market for approximately 10 Euro. Having said that we have heard that touring around the country on motorbikes is a good way to explore Nepal.
There is always something catching your attention in the streets of Kathmandu. While we were exploring the streets of old town we saw headless buffalo being pushed around on a trolley.
A big Party (3 days and approx 400 people) was taking place 3 hours driving north of Kathmandu, only few kilometers from the Tibetan boarder. We spent one night (20April) in a tent there, by a refreshing river.
Bhaktapur
14 - 15 April
We visited Bhaktapur, a much more quiet town than the capital, just 14 km from Kathmandu to attend the celebration of Nepali New Year (Bisket Jatra). Bhaktapur had its position on the early trade route to Tibet and later became the most powerful kingdoms in the valley. Hence numerous temples, monasteries, water tanks, wells and pilgrim shelters are to be find here. Bernando Bertolucci's Little Buddha was partly filmed at its Durbar Square.
Bisket Jatra is the biggest event in the valley. The locals dressed in colorful clothes and took to the streets to celebrate the year 2066 for many days.
There was music, dance and religious performances. This has been our third New Year Celebration this year, after our traditional one on a beach in Thailand and Chinese New Year in north of Thailand. Flying Thailand to Nepal we actually missed the Thai New Year Celebration (Songkran) with only a couple of days.
Patan
23 April
Patan's Durbar Square is full of temples, with a far greater concentration of Newari architecture than Katmandu or Bhaktapur, which says to be the finest in Nepal.
We spent a half-day exploring Patan's historical backstreets, courtyards and the Durbar Square.
Manakamana
28 - 29 April
Manakama was a perfect break on the journey between Kathmandu and Pokhara. A cable car took us up the steep hillside to the pilgrim village where one of the most important temples (Manakamana Mandir) in Nepal is located. The view was breathtaking. Since it's a Hindu tradition to sacrifice goats by the temples, there were own carriage and price (one-way) for this four-legged creature.
Bandipur
29 April - 2 May
A Nepali we met in Kathmandu recommended Bandipur warmly and suggested to make it our second stop on the journey between Kathmandu and Pokhara. We didn't regret it at all. It must have been the cleanest village with some of the most hospitable and friendly people we've met in the country. It looked like this relaxed place has, fortunately for now, escaped the tourist development. There are only few places to stay and eat and there is only one Internet place with two computers (which only work when there is electricity).
We did some walks around the town, where most of the houses are built in traditional Newari architecture (from 18th century). Until 50 years ago, Bandipur was a major stop on the trade route between India and Tibet. There are many interesting treks and walks one can do here. One is to trek to the largest cave (Siddha Gufa) of Nepal.
Pokhara
2 - 9 May
Pokhara is located by the shore of the second largest lake, Phewa Tal. We stayed in a quiet place outside the town and rented bicycles to get around. Here we met a Nepali film director, who was shooting scenes for his love movie, just outside our guesthouse. From here we watched many paragliders swing in the air before they land smoothly on the fields near our guesthouse. Inspired by what we saw we decided to give it a go. The 30 min tandem flight (with a pilot) was a relaxing flying experience with breathtaking views. We took off from a 1400 m hill (Sarangot) and Aneta was already in the air before she even got the chance to run of the hill. Spinning and steering the glide was very exiting. Per-Ove flew even higher to get a closer view on the birds hovering the mountains.
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Many people come here to hike in the surrounding mountains or for mediation and yoga. For the first time we tried group meditation was when we joined Theravada Buddhism meditation class led by an Israeli nun here. It was an interesting hour, with very relaxing ambiance.
Kathmandu
9 - 10 May
On the 9th May we took a bus to Kathmandu to catch the flight back to Bangkok.
* Source: Lonely Planet Nepal (7th Edition).
Nepal photo collection:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/perove/collections/72157621120941406/
Map of Nepal
View Nepal in a larger map