The Himalayan Kingdom of Nepal is a land of sublime natural beauty and an ultimate destination for those who thrive on extreme adventure. Besides trekking, this country offers a host of thrilling adventure sports including rafting, kayaking and mountain biking. However, the lure of Nepal is not just adrenaline and adventure, but also its arresting cultural wealth revealed in its palaces, Buddhist stupas, monasteries, Hindu shrines and pilgrimage spots.
Firstly, let us clarify with the places we have been. Those are- Kathmandu, Nagarkot and Pokhara.
Important Advice: The perfect time to visit Nepal is within September to December.
It is better to talk about flights first. We looked for many airlines and found out that Bangladesh Biman holds a reasonable flight price, so we went to our nearby travel agency which is Cosmos Holidays and we did not take any packages because we wanted to explore ourselves.
Pro tips: Always look for TripAdvisor before making a booking of the hotels. They provide original hotel pictures there. You can get a lot of information on this website. Obviously, before booking, make yourself a comparison of Agoda, Booking.com, or any other online booking websites altogether so that you get to book hotels based on pricing, pictures, and their policies and definitely look for their reliability too.
Day 1: Our flight was scheduled at 11am in the morning and the flight duration was almost 2 hours. We took a taxi straight from the airport to the hotel named Avataar Kathmandu Hotel in Thamel, Kathmandu which is a tourist spot even though the place was a bit mucky but the good thing is no matter which hotel you take in Thamel you will find small shops nearby, so you can grab some stuff if you want and it has also restaurants where you can grab your lunch, dinner. The hotel tariff was around Rs. 3,000.
Day 2: Our plan was to go to Pokhara the next day because there was not much to see at Thamel. Pokhara is a must visit place if anyone goes to Nepal. The bus ride costed us Rs. 700 each from Thamel to Pokhara. They stop by few places hence it takes around 10 hours to reach to Pokhara. It might sound like a long journey, but the view was wroth it!
Pro Tip: NEVER deal with the travel agencies before reaching to Pokhara because you will get great deals over there.
We stayed in Mount View Hotel, our room had an amazing view with mountain and their servicing was very good. The hotel tariff was around Rs. 4,500 per night. We stayed there for 3 nights. We looked for few travel agencies to fix the schedule of our 4 days stay and Hi-Nepal helped us make our schedule a perfect one! The entire package costed us around Rs. 38,000.
Day 3: It was our activities day. We tried- Bungee Jumping, Paragliding and Zip Flyer. Details?
Day 4: Sarangkot is one of the nicest places in Pokhara where the perfect sunrise can be seen. So, we started around 4am in the morning for Sarangkot and waited for 2 hours and then finally got to see the sunrise. That place is always a bit rainy. But never miss this view! Then we came back to hotel, had our breakfast and roamed nearby.
Day 5: Our travel agency provided us a car to roam around the entire Pokhara from 10am till evening.
First, we went to a Temple named Bindhyabasini temple, it was a small but nice temple.
Second, we went to the Seti River. It has a is one of the holiest rivers of Nepal, worshiped in Hinduism as a form of Vishnu. The river is also famous because it is close to some Holy places and is the central point of many stories of Hindu Mythology. You can do rafting there.
Third, we went to the Devi’s Falls, a landmark of Pokhara, it is a must-visit. It marks the point where the Pardi Khola stream disappears underground and leaves no clue of its existence.
Fourth, we went to the Peach Pagoda where you can watch the sunset. The most interesting thing about the Peace Pagoda is that no matter wherever you go in Pokhara,you can always see the Pagoda from everywhere. It has a lot of stairs so pack some energy for yourself before going there but not to mention about the view which was amazing.
So, this was it about the entire day.
Tip: If you want, you can take an Air-Conditioned car which will cost extra pennies, but Nepal does not have that much humidity like our country so it does not feel bad without AC either.
Day 6: The next morning, we went to the Phewa Lake. The lake is stream-fed but a dam regulates the water reserves, therefore, the lake is classified as semi-natural freshwater lake. It is the second largest lake in Nepal. It is the most popular and most visited lake of Nepal. The amazing part is that the lake has a temple named Tal Barahi Temple at the central part of it. We rented a boat for 2 hours which costed around RS. 1100. We dropped by a waterfall there too along with the temple.
Tip: If you go to Nepal in winter, you can witness the reflection of the Himalayas in the water of the Phewa Lake.
Then, we came back to the hotel and checked out form the Mount View Hotel and shifted to the Fish Tail Lodge since it is a very hyped Lodge so we wanted to try that out too. It is in a middle of a lake and they will take you to the lodge with a ferry. We loved the lodge so much! It was super chilling. It a must-stay place!
Day 7: We spent our day in the lodge and roamed around. We had our bus to Kathmandu around 8pm in the night. The bus service was very good, and it costed us Rs. 1100 each including food. The journey took around 6-7 hours.
Day 8: Our plan was to directly go to Nagarkot from Kathmandu so we hired a taxi. It took around 2 hours and reached there at 7.30am and it was very cold there. It is a place far above the mountains and the clouds are right in front of you. So, do not forget to carry jackets!
Tip: there will be no public transport available, so you have to take a private car. The taxi drivers will ask for a LOT of money like they can even ask for around Rs. 6,000-8,000. But surprisingly, the maximum rent can be Rs. 2,000 for one-way. So, negotiate a lot!
We stayed at the Hotel Country Villa, the rooms were average, but the hotel was pretty nice, and the view was amazing! The tariff was around Rs. 6,000 but the servicing was very good. We also had our buffet dinner t here too which costed around Rs. 2,700 for the two of us but the food was good too.
Tip: Don’t forget to book your hotels early because if you go there and want to book a hotel instant, it will cost you a lot more than online. We booked ours from Agoda.com. And also always try to include your breakfast in your stay.
Day 9: We checked out from our hotel in Nagarkot and hired a taxi again from Nagarkot to Kathmandu. This time, we stayed at a different hotel in Thamel named Kathmandu Suite Home. It costed us Rs. 2,200 including breakfast for one night. It is a very nice hotel and the fun part was when we checked in the hotel was new.
Day 10: The next morning as in the last day, we had our breakfast and checked out of the hotel and hired a taxi straight to the airport and the taxi fare was very cheap, it was around Rs. 500.
About Kathmandu’s Food: Since, we did not stay in Kathmandu for longer, at our first stay we grabbed the hotel’s nearby foods and in the next visit, we had munchies.
About Pokhara’s Food: A lot of people say that Nepal’s cuisines are not that up to the mark, but we personally liked it. The taste totally varies of people’s taste buds. So, we want to suggest few restaurants which we personally liked, and we hope you will like it too. The pricing was reasonable too. So, the restaurants are-
- Koyla, a Pakistani restaurant,
- Dunga,
- Fresh Elements, and
- Café Italiano.
And we also tried KFC, their burgers were super good.
About Nagarkot’s Food: In terms of breakfast, try to include it within your hotel booking and for lunch and dinner, most likely you will have to have it at your hotel too because there are not that much restaurants available there. So, either it is your hotel or some other hotels.
So, I hope we could help you with all information we provided. Let us know if you have any inquiries. Share it with your friends and family and plan for a tour to Nepal with them.
8 thoughts on “Travel to Nepal”
Pingback: Kinpin
Not sure yet! There are too many on our bucket list.
Pingback: Arvind
Don’t worry dear. Wait till you’re 18. 🙂
Wow! what a great life. Ever been to Bhutan? if so, then share it too. I plan to visit after the pandemic. thanks.
We are planning to visit it soon! 🙂
WHICH OTHER COUNTRIES HAVE YOU BEEN?
We’ve been to Malaysia, India, Thailand & the USA.