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Day 1 (Arrival) - Kathmandu
After alighting from the plane, the first place to visit was Boudhanath Stupa.
It is a Buddhist stupa located 7 km East/Northeast of Kathmandu. Since the 5th
century AD, Boudhanath has been a popular place of pilgrimage and meditation for local Nepalis and Tibetan Buddhists.
Bhudhanath Stupa
Day 2 - Kathmandu
We went to Swayambhunath temple by a public bus. Dropped by a Tibetan
temple and had lunch there. Took a public transport, a small van, to
Kathmandu Dubar Square. On the way, did some shopping at Kathmandu
city. After the dubar square, again we took a public van to Garden of Dreams,
a classical historical garden with a romantic restaurant.
Swayanbunath
Tibetan Benchen Monastry
Themal
Kathmandu Dubar Square
Garden of Dreams
Day 3 - Pokhara
At dawn, we took a tourist bus to Pokhara and arrived there in the afternoon.
The journey was much better than what we had expected. We checked in
Green View guest house at Damside (Pardi). After a short rest, we strolled
along the streets at Damside. Finally, we stopped at Don't Pass Me By
restaurant to feed ourselves with tasty local delicacies which included Momo, Thukpa
and Dal Bhat.
Damside
Momo (left) and Thukpa (right)
Dal Bhat
Day 4 - Pokhara
Early in the morning, we tracked from Damside, passed local villagers and headed to
World Peace Pagoda. On the way, we greeted by children and had fun with a friendly
black dog. We felt sorry for a little boy, ended up being scolded by his mom because he asked for candies from us. Still could remember how pitiful he looked when he cried,
which was indeed a contrast from the happy smile when he got the candies from us.
After taking a stroll around World Peace Pagoda, we had a nice lunch at a restaurant
nearby pagoda, where we could overlook the gorgeous Phewa lake at Lakeside. It was
really surprising that at that time there were not many customers at such a good
restaurant - with tasty food and nice view. After filling up our stomach, we took
another track to get down the hill to Lakeside(Baidam).
At the foot of the hill, we had to take a boat across the phewa lake to Lakeside. We felt
fortunate to have a few local university students who offered to help us to get tickets for
our boat ride at local rate. We had a pleasant boat ride with the locals, their jokes and laughter. Upon arrival at the Lakeside, we shopped around there. Then, we took a local
bus to Pokhara City Center (Mahindrapul). Before getting worn out after the long walk, we took a local bus back to our guest house at Damside (Pardi).
World Peace Pagoda
Phewa Lake at Lakeside
City center Mahendrapul
Day 5 - Pokhara
Before dawn, we woke up and took a taxi to Sarangkot hill. The sunrise view was
stunning. While walking up the stairs with shops and stores at both sides, we were
enjoying the hill side scenery and doing our shopping there. We walked straight up to Sarangkot Hill Station before we took a long rest. Then, we went to a place where we could watch people doing paragliding. We did not do it as we did not book for the activity earlier. We only trusted the established companies which required the customers doing advanced booking at Lakeside (or via their website perhaps) before performing the paragliding. After we got down from the hill, on the way back, we visited Tibetan Refugee Camp.
Sarangkot
Sarangkot
Tibetan Refugee Camp
Day 6 - Chitwan
We took a mini bus to Chitwan. After checked in a hotel, a young jungle man called Maan took us to Safari/Chitwan National Park. We took a long jungle walk there. On the way, we enjoyed
seeing sunset view. We got amazed when we saw a crocodile, a real, wild crocodile in
the river in a short distance which Maan pointed to us. We also saw wild deers, wild birds and elephants in the Safari. At night, we went to see cultural show. At the end of the show, my friend participated in the group dance and I looked after her bag left on the
chair.
Chitwan National Park - Jungle walk
Cultural show
Day 7 (morning) - Chitwan
The following morning in Chitwan, we took a jeep to the Safari with Maan. The driver stopped at a few places in the Safari. We encountered wild rhino and crocodile in a lake.
I ran to the jeep at my fastest speed when I got to know rhino was nearby. This has become a topic of laughter since then. Though we did not really feel secure to get into
the Safari (where there were tigers and rhinos) with an open jeep, a driver and a young jungle man with a wooden stick, we enjoyed the adventure. We dropped by Maan's
house where his mother made coffee for us before we got back to the hotel.
Chitwan National Park - Jeep Safari
Day 7 (afternoon) - Lumbini
After getting back from Safari, we took a tourist bus to Lumbini. The bus stopped at Bhairahawa. No tourist bus would stop at Lumbini. So we had to take a taxi to Lumbini.
On the way, we met two ladies from China whom we shared our taxi with. We arrived in Lumbini in the evening. We followed the two new friends to go to Korea
monastery where we put up for the night. In the late afternoon, we went to
Lord Buddha's birth place under the hot sun. We rested under a bodhi tree for quite a while
while enjoying the peaceful atmosphere there.
Birthplace of Buddha - within Lumbini International Monastic Zone
Day 8 - Dhulikhel
After Lumbini, our following destiny is Dulikhel. To get there, we had to take a bus to Kathmandu and took another public bus to Dhulikhel. We reached Dulikhel in the
evening. We strolled at the Newar town and the countryside. At night, we had our
dinner and put up at Nawaranga guest house.
Newari Town
Day 9 (morning) - Dhulikhel
Early in the morning, we walked to Kali Shrine, which is a very small temple at a hill.
Then, we took a public bus to go to Namo Buddha monastry, a huge, elegant Tibetan
monastry. To get there, we took a scary bus ride along the cliff, with many passengers
on top of the bus. After the long walk around the monastry, we had our lunch in a restaurant of the monastry. The journey to Namo Buddha monastery was long and
tiring, we might not decide to go there if we had known this. Yet, we did not regret to
have gone there.
Kali Temple
Namo Buddha Monastry
Day 9 (afternoon) - Bhaktapur
After Dhulikhel, our following destiny was Bhaktapur Dubar Square, which was on the
way back to Kathmandu. Bhaktapur Dubar Square is one of the main attractions in
Nepal where many tourists would not miss it. We took many photos at the Dubar
Square during the sunset moment. After the sightseeing, we enjoyed our dinner
which included Beriyani rice at a nearby restaurant at dusk. When we decided to leave
the restaurant, the sky has already turned dark. We had to find our way to take a public
bus back to Kathmandu. We felt grateful to a Nepalese family who pointed the way to
us and walked with us to the bus stop. The young daughter was helpful, pretty and intelligent. She was willing to come back from working in Dubai to take care of her
parents. We met many good people in Nepal and this family was definitely one of those.
Bhaktapur Dubar Square
Day 10 (morning) - Kathmandu
In the Morning, we took a public bus from our guest house to Pashupatinath temple.
After so many days, we had known how to take the public buses there well. We
enjoyed observing people and the scenes in the bus. Though people in Nepal
were generally not rich, but when beggars got into the bus, most of the passengers
were willing to give money to them. Once when we took a tourist bus from a town to
another town, we noticed a beggar board the bus without anyone stopping him. I was
quite surprised about this. Perhaps I could say that many Nepalese are sympathetic.
We also witnessed a man refusing to pay when he got off of the bus. Since many Nepalese are not affordable to own a car, we could see many working people wear nice or formal outfits and took a bus to work. In Nepal, the conductor collected the bus fare only when the passengers got down from the bus.
Pashupatinath temple is one of the most significant Hindu temples of Shiva in the world, located on the banks of the Bagmati River. There is a small hospital on the bank of
the river, less than 50 feet from the river. The dying people would be sent to the
hospital to wait for their time there. When a person passes away, the remain would be carried to the river bank where cremation takes place. We could see many remains at
the river bank. I did not really feel comfortable to see this sort of scenes, especially
on our holiday. But we did not regret to get there.
Pashupatinath Temple
Day 10 (afternoon) - Departure from Kathmandu
We took a flight back to our country in the afternoon. My mind was full of memories
in Nepal for quite some time since I came back from Nepal.
Note: Bring USD30 for applying Nepal Visa at Nepal airport. It was surprising to
know that the immigration officer would not accept Nepalese Rupee and Indian Rupee
at Nepal airport.
Large currency note of Indian rupee will not be accepted in Nepal. If you have INR500 or larger notes, you may find the notes are hard to be exchanged to Nepalesh Rupee in
Nepal. USD is well accepted in Nepal.
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