Nov5
Trekking around the Annapurna’s range
| Comments(2) | 2,142 Views
Oct22
Nepal’s daily diet
| No Comments | 951 Views Food in Nepal is monotonous, insipid and boring. Despite of laying between India and China -with some of the richest cuisine in the world-, gastronomy in Nepal is not more than a simple combination of lentils (dhal), rice (bhat) and vegetables (tarkari). Some travellers get used to it and even love it (like Hector does), while the majority of them end up eating continental food in any of the touristy restaurants all around the country. If you are travelling on a budget, it will be better for your pocket to be one of those travellers who love to eat dhal bhat tarkari everyday for lunch and dinner. The reward is that you can get as many refills as you want.
Oct15
Tourist packages
| No Comments | 486 Views The first thing that we where offered when we got to Chitwan’s National Park was a tourist package consisting on accommodation, meals, guided visit to the jungle, one hour elephant ride, one hour canoeing along the Rapti river, a Tharu cultural show and a visit to the elephant breeding centre. Almost every tourist that goes to Chitwan takes one of these packages offered by the hotels but we found it a rip off and most definitely not our cup of tea. On one hand, all the things listed can be done independently and therefore you can choose the guide you want, the jungle route to trek and the things you are more interested in doing. On the other hand it will surely be cheaper if you organise everything by yourself. The funny thing is that the hotel’s staff puts a lot of pressure on you to get the package with them. We advise you to get information around town from different places and to not get compromised with the first offer that you get.
Oct12
Travelling on the top of a bus
| No Comments | 419 Views There is no funnier (read risky) way to travel around Nepal than sitting on the top of a local bus, but it’s also the most dangerous one. Normally only the young nepali man travel like this when there is no more space inside the bus, although it is possible to see also backpackers doing it just for fun. If you are up for it ask to the driver, but bear in mind to do it for a short distance journey, as it can be very tiring. Nevertheless, if you rather travel the normal way, try to get as fast as you can into the bus to choose a good seat, since there is no seat booking and you can find yourself travelling standing up. Local buses in Nepal are private (not government run), therefore they always get as packed as possible even with people sitting on the corridor and the roof. This is why we recommend to choose a sit in the middle or back of the coach far from the door, where all the crowd normally is.
Oct11
Tourist bus: same, same, but different
| No Comments | 517 Views There are no trains in Nepal, so the public transport consists in planes, buses, taxis, rickshaws and tongas (horse pulled carts). If you are a backpacker travelling on a low budget your options narrow to local buses, being the cheapest option by far. You can also travel with what they call a “tourist bus”, but this is just them pulling your leg: you pay almost 3 times the local bus price for the same journey, the bus is a bit better but still stops every 500 metres to pack it with more local people (so no tourists at all) who pay the normal price. It has the same inconveniences and you pay much more, so what’s the deal?
Oct9
Is it safe travelling around Nepal?
| No Comments | 604 Views In the past years there have been many threats to peace in Nepal, as the Maoists and the Government maintained a political active war in some parts of the country. This is why international press has reported some bad news for tourism in Nepal, although Maoists are more dangerous for the local tourist infrastructure than for tourists themselves.
In any case, the situation now seems to be calm and quiet and the Maoists, in coalition with all the other parties in Nepal, have reached their first demand to stop violence: to abolish the monarchy and establish a democracy. Things look much better now for travel in Nepal and backpackers will not have to worry anymore about meeting those strange Maoist soldiers in the mountains.
Oct8
Heading to Nepal
| No Comments | 700 Views We decided to leave Delhi as soon as possible due to different reasons: on one hand, the noise and pollution in the city. On the other hand, it was just the third day of a very long trip and we only wanted to do one thing: travel!! We booked a sleeper train from Delhi to Haldwani, took a rickshaw to the bus station and then a bus to Banbasa. Almost two days travelling in the end!
Oct7
India Gate and the city bazaars
| No Comments | 903 Views Bearing in mind that we prefer to get in contact with locals, learn from their culture and get to know their traditions rather than spend our time admiring old stones and commemorative buildings, we decide to visit some of the bustling bazaars in which you can find everything from leather work to jewelery, carpets, textiles, electronics, spices and tea. Getting lost in the old city’s colorful and convoluted bazaars is half the fun of shopping here. Connaught Place, Paharganj (where most of the backpackers stay due to the big number of budget hostels) and Chandni Chowk, which is best navigated by cycle-rickshaw. Near the Fatehpuri Masjid, on Khari Baoli, is the aromatic Spice Market, full of fiery-red chili powders and burnt-orange turmeric among other spices, as well as pickles, tea and nuts.
