Our Time in Nepal

After the wonderful time in Bhutan, we came back to Kathmandu by plane.  This proved to be an excellent flight as we had great views of Kangchenjunga and Mount Everest.  Although we were in a propellor plane we were well above the clouds in the sunshine and so had great views.

We arrived back in the busy town of Khatmandu.  However, a combination of being low season for tourists and having been in India for five weeks, it did seem a comparative oasis of calm.  People are very courteous and friendly, so  any problems can be overcome.

We also stayed in the calm of Thamel, the main backpacker area, which is also pedestrianised.  Our hotel was the famous Kathmandu Guest House, which had its own peaceful area of its own.  We also arrived into a country gripped by the World Cup, which was odd after India and Bhutan, but the football was on quite late in the evening.  We managed to see everything up to THAT semi-final.

We explored the main tourist areas, including the Swayambhunath Temple, which was fortunately lacking the monkeys the day we went.  The two royal, or Dhurbar Squares, of Kathmandu and Patan were great to see.  The former is starting to re-emerge from the great disaster of the 2015 earthquake which devastated much of the city and cost the lives of 81,000 people.  Remarkably, the whole city has bounced back and is very busy and ready for the tourists and trekkers.

We spent a few days relaxing as the trip to Bhutan had been fairly tiring, before heading across the country by bus to Bhandipur.  Definitely off the beaten track, and up a steep road, this was a traditional Newari Village.  The pedestrianised centre was reminiscent of a small Italian village, whilst our hotel was like an old English Pub.

One of the highlights of this diversion was trekking to an even remoter village with a local guide, Ajay.  Knowing the locals we ended up exploring the ancient Magar village of Ramkot, and drinking the local hooch, Tsang.  We sat outside a very old mud and straw hut, while an old lady took her two-month old “rotting’ millet and maize combination, squashed out the alcohol, mixed it with water and served us a muddy mixture in a glass.  It actually tasted OK, like red wine, despite looking like Baileys with “bits” floating in it.

Another highlight was looking out of the window of the Old Inn, and suddenly seeing the Himalayas appear in front of us out of the clouds.  This is rare at this time of year so quite a treat.

The next morning Ajay took us to the cave below the village.  We took a taxi down and climbed up for half an hour in 85% humidity, until we arrive at the mouth of the cave, both sweating profusely in this unusual environment for us.  This was only the start of the adventure as we explored the cave without any of the delights of health and safety, like lighting or walkways etc.

We ended up going up slippery rocks and into caves while large bats flew around our heads.  At one point we had to go down two ladders, fortunately they were secured, but the platforms around them were not, to see the massive cathedral-like cave below.  It was amazing, but we were glad to get out – we both had cuts from slipping on the rocks.

After this we carried on to the lovely lakeside town of Pokhara.  Everything was lush green, but was relatively quiet as it is low season.  There was a long stretch of lovely cafes, bars and restaurants, as well as the lakeside walk itself.  We did go up to the peace pagoda above the town and went across the lake by boat, but this was largely a place to get ready for long treks or to chill.

We have had a very enjoyable time in Nepal.  It’s somewhere between Bhutan and India on the scale of relative calm, but is so much cleaner and tidier than India.  We had better stop relaxing as we are now waiting for a flight to manic Dhaka with its 17 million citizens….