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XP: Nepal Review
So this is super long and also going to be on the travel board... feel free to ask me more specific questions, although I can't help at all for anything related to hiking.
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My impression was that Nepal is similar to India with some Chinese and Buddhist elements to it. In many ways it seems like a typical third world Asian country - you see the same concrete storefronts crowded selling calling cards and food and coca cola as you see in lots of places. My husband said it reminded him of Cambodia. However, both of us were surprised out how lush the landscape was, and how the Nepalese managed to live everywhere ? including on the side of really steep mountains. They are a pretty amazing people. I'm told the land isn't always so green and had we gone even a month or two later things would have been starting to get brown. So going right after monsoon season probably gave us an unrealistic, although gorgeous, view of Nepal.
Nepal generally was not big on nightlife; not even in touristy areas. I guess because most tourists are there to go trekking, they need an early start anyway.
A big difference that I noticed in Nepal that was different from some other third world places I've been to is that the people didn't really try to sell you stuff. In some places I've been to in East Africa, when you say "no" they continue trying to get your attention. In Nepal they didn't really prey on tourists as much as I would have expected, and didn't really pester you that much. That was refreshing - and probably one of the most noticeable differences from India (from what I've heard from various friends).
Kathmandu
Kathmandu was a bit of a disappointment for me. It has this sort of magical connotation to it, or at least it did for me, and when I got there it just seemed like a more chilled out, slightly less crowded version of India. Well, what I assume India is like, I've never been. It was super crowded and incredibly dirty, smelly and loud. Not to say that there was nothing good about it, but it's just that the good was surrounded by a lot of bad. But when you walk into a peaceful courtyard and see a little stupa or temple, that is pretty cool. Plus, some of the traditional woodwork was pretty amazing and you do just accidentally happen upon that in random street corners. Oh, the Monkey Temple was definitely worth it!
We also did a mountain flight from Kathmandu. We went on Buddha Air and did an hour flight where you fly towards Everest and they point out all the main peaks and then go back. Everyone gets a window seat and they even give you a turn to go up to the cockpit and look around. It was an hour long flight and definitely worth it.
We started and ended in Kathmandu and stayed at a few different hotels.
Hotel Yak & Yeti - It's a big complex with a casino, which is a bit grotty. The lobby is pretty nice, but then your expectations are dashed when you get into rooms from the 1970s. The plus is that it's really close to the central part of town - Thamel - which is a short walk from Durbar Square. Oh, and if they recommend for you to go to Utsav Restaurant for Nepali food - don't! It's a really cheesy Nepalese dinner place that has a show, but the food is just OK and the service is slow (unless you are in some massive tour group that they cater to).
Dwarika's Hotel - This hotel was gorgeous. It is in a traditional Newari building and really tries to preserve that old architecture. They even sponsor a school to teach the woodworking so that the tradition continues. All of the rooms are a bit different and have a lot of handcrafted woodwork in them. The bathrooms are really modern and the rooms are quite spacious. Also, the Nepali restaurant in the hotel is delicious. We also had a massage here, which was just OK. While it's still in town, you can't really walk to the tourist area, so that's a small drawback. Taxis aren't expensive though, so it's not a big deal.
Gokarna Forest Resort - This is a bit out of town past the airport. While it?s nice to be out of the nastiness of Kathmandu the resort is definitely past it?s prime, which was probably about 15 years ago. The rooms were large, but definitely outdated. For instance, the large tile bathtub would have been inviting had it not been for me being able to see all the dirt in the grout. However, the golf course is decent, and where else can you go golfing and see monkeys running through the course and grabbing balls? The spa here was just OK. My husband?s therapist gave him the worst back massage ever (he said she was just touching his back randomly and seemed to have no purpose), whereas mine was decent. But it was our last day and was still a nice way to spend a few hours. We paid less than 200 dollars for both of us to have 4 hours worth of treatments!
I heard something from a British guy from Dubai that we ran into about a place called the Hotel Courtyard, which apparently was a gem in Kathmandu, right in Thamel. TripAdvisor seems to agree, so that may be an option for some people not looking to spend as much as we did at Dwarika?s.
Chitwan National Park
After Kathmandu we flew to Chitwan National Park and stayed at Tiger Tops Jungle Lodge. There is an option to do a 2 day rafting trip to get there instead, but we would have had to leave from Pokhara and we wanted to stay there last.
Tiger Tops Jungle Lodge was apparently one of the first lodges in the park and it showed in the rooms, which were outdated, but the staff was incredibly kind and helpful and the food was great. Breakfast and dinner were continental food and lunch was Nepali food. At all of the Tiger Mountain places you were served your meals at tables with the group you are with. So although we had dinner with everyone else, we got our own table and with the candles it was quite romantic. They also really went out of their way to make our honeymoon special, which was nice.
The day we arrived we got to relax for a bit, then we did a 2 hour elephant safari where you ride on an elephant and look for animals. We mostly ran into rhinos. The next day we had a jeep safari at 6am, a jungle walk at 10am, lunch at 1, a visit to the elephant camp at 2:30 and then a boat cruise at 4. The day was pretty packed, but it's not as if there is anything else to do in the middle of the jungle, and this way you feel like you?ve done it all and can move on after 2 nights.
The jungle walk was pretty lame as you just walk around as they explain certain plants to you and point out termite mounds and birds. Not too exciting. However the elephant visit was so awesome! You get to feed these little sandwiches to an elephant and pet them and play with them and then go into the river and help bathe them. That was pretty awesome.
After the National Park we went to Tiger Mountain Tharu Lodge, which was just outside the park. This hotel's theme was more of a cultural one. I?m torn about this because while I like the hotel and do hope that they stay in business as they help the surrounding villages by donating to schools and giving access to a doctor, there just wasn?t much to do there. There was a point where my husband and I, and a family of 4 were the only guests and it was a bit depressing. I wouldn?t want them to limp on like that, either.
Anyway, we got to the Tharu Lodge by driving for a bit from Tiger Tops, then taking a 30 minute boat ride down the river, then riding in an oxcart for about 30 minutes. It was like going back in time. The only things we did here were a village trek and mountain biking. Bird watching and a boat cruise were also options, but we weren?t really interested. Although our stay here wasn't wildly exciting, I really enjoyed it. This wasn't a part of Nepal most tourists on the trekking trail see, and the guide, who was from a nearby village, could explain things about the crops they were growing, building techniques, how schools worked, etc.
During the mountain biking we ended up stopping and playing with some kids on their big swings, which was fun (despite their laughing at the old white people trying to use their swings). Although they probably had the best food out of anywhere we went, I still wish we'd left a day earlier. Hanging out by the pool was nice, but there were better ways to spend our time - we just didn't know it until we got to Pokhara.
Pokhara
We stayed at Tiger Mountain Pokhara Lodge, which we got to after a 5 hour drive from the Tharu Lodge through lots of gorgeous scenery. Seriously, you'd look out the car window and see random waterfalls on the side of a mountain that disappear into trees but somehow gets into the river below. It reminded me of New Zealand, but is a more tropical and humid type of greenery. Anyway, back to Pokhara. The Lodge is a boutique hotel with 19 separate little cabin-type rooms built into various sides of the mountains. You get a lot of privacy in your room and great service at the hotel. All meals were included, as well as some activities, such as bird walking and hikes of varying length. The pool had an amazing view of the Annapurna range and you also get to see the great sunrises. As the suns come up over the mountains you can see each peak lighting up as the sun hits it. Super cool.
In Pokhara we walked around the lake and town a bit, took a boat to the temple in the middle of the lake, did an ultra/micro-light flight around for an hour and a one-day hike. Which of course earned us a massage. We went to the Om Family, which did a decent job on the massage (my husband believes in all that energy/chakra stuff and thinks they did a great job there), but the setting leaved a lot to be desired. They had you just lay on a big, lumpy pillow which was on the ground. I'm really sensitive to that and that my back ended up killing me by the end of my 2 hour massage.
Our one-day hike was arranged through the hotel and was about 6 hours of hiking, including lunch. We went up and down a few of the hills, passing through a few different villages and even cutting through a few rice paddies. We came up the steep side of the mountain at the end, which killed us. It was a bit cloudy, which didn?t help with the views, but at least stopped us from overheating.
We arranged the microflight with the Avia Club Nepal, which I think are the only people that do it, although many agents sell their services. There was some back and forth on the flight time (they changed it on us twice), which was annoying, but it worked out in the end. They were very professional and it was amazing to fly THROUGH clouds in an open-air airplane! I?ll admit to being a bit nervous when we did that pretty close to a hillside.
The only downside with this hotel was that it was about 30 minutes out of town. You could arrange for them to drop you off and pick you up, but it cost some money (although the prices were definitely reasonable). Also, driving in really potted, tiny, winding streets up a mountain at night with no lights was a bit sketchy, so being that far out of town did discourage staying in Pokhara for dinner. I think the food at the hotel was probably as good as any of the best restaurants in Pokhara (keep in mind that most restaurants cater to a hippie and/or hiker type), so it wasn?t a big problem, we just didn?t have a lot of variety.
There is another resort in Pokhara, the Fulbari resort. Apparently the owner got his money back on his investment and stopped caring, so it?s gone into bankruptcy and the bank is running it. Just a word of warning on that one.
Tiger Mountain Travel Agents
The travel agents were great. They were always waiting for us when we were at an airport, and even provided the airport taxes. They were always on time, professional and helpful. They also suggested the best hotels ? at least in Kathmandu and Pokhara, where we had more choice.
Re: XP: Nepal Review
Duke's House: Eating and Running with the Big Dog in Chennai: eatrunbrit.com
2010 Race PRs:
5K - 24:57 10M - 1:28:20 13.1M - 1:57:29 26.2M - 4:28:29
Cecilia arrived 12 October 2012
BFP Apr 2012, EDD Dec 19 2012 * twin h/b at 6wk, 9wk scan * Baby A lost at 12wks, Baby B was my rainbow born at 36wks