Posts Tagged ‘Nepal’

  • 13 Nov

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    Kathmandu

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    Kathmandu is not only the capital city of the kingdom, but the biggest and most chaotic city by far. Its narrow streets in the old town are bustled with motorbikes, taxis, cycle-rickshaws, people rambling along the road and street pedlars. Kathmandu’s history is very rich and you just need to wander around to get involved by the magic and mystery of its past. This is the city of temples and mystic, the place to admire Buddhism and Hinduism at the same time and a real paradise for backpackers, which offers everything they may need during their trip: joy, fun, shopping and cheap accommodation.
    The north part of the city center is called Thamel, an area full of budget hotels and lodges, which concentrates almost the whole leisure spots of the city: music bars and clubs, cinema, restaurants, shops and internet points (very much needed to update this travel blog after being isolated in the mountains). Everything can be founded here and this is why most of the young travelers prefer to stay there.

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    Other options for accommodation (the one we chose due to its relative quietness) is Freak Street, a small area south of Durbar Square, where backpackers used to settle down during the hippy decade. There are some cheap hotels with good standards and it is just a few steps from Kathmandu’s most amazing tourist point: the Durbar Square. We enjoyed the great choice of meals and restaurants (which was most welcome after so many days eating the same food during our trek in the mountains) and the long walks to several of the main attractions of the city, while the short way we did every time from our hotel to the Thamel area was always too loud, too crowded and too unpleasant for us. Travellers should be ready to stand this hassle all over Nepal, specially in Kathmandu, unfortunately we couldn’t get used to it and it got to our nerves more than once…

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    Getting lost in the old town’s small streets is one of the best things to do in Kathmandu and the best way to find hidden treasures, which seem not to be as appreciated by locals as they are by tourists: while groups of Japanese visitors flash with their cameras the slim figure of a rare standing Buddha, two local woman use the same image to tie a rope and hang their washing. The magnificence of the city can be summarized in the Durbar Square, a complex consisting on 3 vaguely joined squares full of temples and palaces (“Durbar” means palace and here is where kings used to have their residence), where you can spend your time easily and don’t realise at all.

     

  • 08 Nov

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    Meeting the Maoists in the mountains

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    One of the biggest fears (read also expectations) that backpackers have while trekking in Nepal is to bump into the Maoists. In the past there have been several reports about violence and assaults against tourists but nowadays they just ask politely for money. We had the pleasure of meeting them just before reaching Tal, on the Annapurna’s range. After an exhausting climb of a very steep slope, we saw a table and four people seating on chairs just beside the trail waiting for the tourists to pass along. The communist red flag was standing behind them. They were asking for donations for the Maoist’s cause and seemed to speak seriously about getting them. It is funny that they called it “voluntary donations”, as the rate was fixed per person and day of the trekking. Tourists had to pay them a total of 2,000 rupees if they were doing the Round the Annapurna’s Circuit. After a good half an hour bargaining, we could finally reduce our “donation” to 500 rupees for both of us. They even gave us a receipt and then let us continue. Later we found out that some people had paid the whole amount because they were scared and some others didn’t pay at all with no consequences.

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  • 07 Nov

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    Trekking with a porter

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    Trekking with a porter must be like a very easy walk through fields but it is for sure not as rewarding as doing it by yourself, carrying your own things and walking your own rhythm. But in case someone arrange their services, it is very important to respect their rights and don’t overload them as many groups do. It is very sad to see foreigners ramble around with a small backpack, while their 16 years old porters suffer to go one step further with a 40 kg bag on their backs. For more information about that, check the International Porter Protection Group IPPG or the Porter Progress websites: www.ippg.net or www.portersprogress.org).

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  • 05 Nov

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    Trekking around the Annapurna’s range

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    This is one of the most famous treks in the world because of its wonderful landscapes and also due to the fact that it includes the highest pass in the world (this is what they assert, although we are not very sure about it) at 5416 metres above sea level. The average time to complete the trek is 16-21 days, depending on your strength and also on the length of the trek you choose (if you include the climb to the Poon Hill or the Annapurna Base Camp on your plans). As on the 14th day the weather changed into clouds, rain and cold we decided to quit the trek and come back to the nice and warm hotel room in Pokhara (a really long and hot shower is one of the things you miss the most up in the mountains). The whole way around the Annapurna’s range could be divided into two different parts: uphill and downhill. The differences are quite important and make from your hike an amazing experience or a long fatigue. On the way up (from Besisahar to Thorung Phedi) paths take you through forests, cliffs, rivers and beautiful villages, while on the way down (Thorung La Pass to Tatopani) the landscape is arid, the paths are windy and dusty, and people are not as friendly as they were on the other half of the trek. During your first days in the mountains you feel welcome and almost part of the place. After one week people treat you as if you were a dollar and don’t see much more of you than simply your money.

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    Everyone could do this trek. And everyone could do it independently. Even people like us, who normally party and lay on the sofa rather than practise sports. Even 60 or 70 years old people as the ones we met along the way. Paths are bright and clear and there’s no need of a guide or a porter unless you are lazy and don’t want to carry your own stuff. There are hostels and lodges aside almost every 5-10 km, as well as restaurants and tea stalls, so you don’t need to carry a tent or even food, but prices rise a lot with the altitude (a simple meal or a hotel room can cost up to 10 times more on the top than on the first villages of the trek, as food and other goods have to be carried uphill by porters and donkey caravans).

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  • 22 Oct

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    Nepal’s daily diet

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    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.

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  • 20 Oct

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    Pokhara

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    Pokhara is the second biggest city in Nepal and also the starting point to many treks in the Annapurna’s mountain range, making it a highly visited place in the country. The most touristic area of Pokhara, Lakeside, is a beautiful and quiet place beside the Phewa Lake (pokari means lake in nepali) which is also full of hotels, restaurants, trekking gear, souvenir and clothes shops. This area is a paradise for backpackers, offering them places to go out and meet other travelers, adventure sport activities (such as paragliding or white water descend with a kayak), a good variety of continental dishes and relatively cheap beer.

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    Our plan was to get ready for the trekking in the big mountains by doing short excursions, for instance go round the Phewa Lake, including the climb to the World Peace Pagoda. Several days after we had clear which trek we wanted to do: around the Annapurna’s mountain range. We packed our bags with just the strictly necessary, leaving most of our luggage in the hotel’s storage room, and left Pokhara behind.

     

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  • 15 Oct

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    Tourist packages

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    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.

  • 14 Oct

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    Chitwan’s National Park

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    After 2 days of never-ending waiting in Mahendranagar, we finally took a 16 hours bus (it should have been 10 hours!!!) to Narayangarh, a non interesting town located in the junction of Mahendra and Prithvi roads which you would never visit but is the compulsory gate in your way to Kathmandu, Pokhara or Chitwan National Park. After a well deserved resting night, we moved a few kilometers further away to Sauraha, which is the closest town to Chitwan National Park. Sauraha is full of hostels/hotels and lives almost exclusively of tourism. It’s a very pleasant and quite place to stay for a while, although its biggest attraction is the Natural Reserve, where you can do an elephant back or a walking safari to explore the jungle and spot wild animals such as tiger, one horned rhino, slot bear, crocodile, and wild elephant among others.

     

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    Unfortunately, a five day illness and three days of non stop rain just when we were recovering, which left the jungle completely muddy, forced us to leave without experiencing the walk in the jungle. If we ever come back we know exactly what we want to do: three days and two nights walking through the jungle, with the guide of our choice (not the one decided by the operators) and completely avoid the crappy tourist packages that everyone seems to take.

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  • 12 Oct

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    Travelling on the top of a bus

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    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.

  • 09 Oct

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    Is it safe travelling around Nepal?

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    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.

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