5 Days in Nepal

Nepal, a spontaneous destination with a friend which turned out to be way better than expected. Here is how we spent our 5 days in this lovely little country off the coast of India.

Kathmandu International Airport

Our surprisingly pleasant flydubai flight landed in the capital of Nepal sometime after 19:00, The airport reminded me of Indian airport from 10-15 years ago, where did all that time go? Anyways we picked up our baggage, local sim cards and went searching for our hotel pickup. We met 2 lovely ladies from our flight who were waiting for the same pickup and they ended up being our travel buddies for the next few days.

Where to stay in Nepal?

• Kathmandu – Kathmandu Eco Hotel in Thamel. This hotel was in the perfect location with everything within walking distance, they even gave us a complimentary airport pickup and drop off. Alobar1000 Hostel and Zostel Kathmandu are the most famous hostels to stay at, if that’s what you are looking for.
• Pokhara – Hotel City Park at the Lakefront, not the best view but we paid for the location which was 5 mins drive from the airport and walking distance to the center.

What to do in Nepal?

Day 1

Momo Hut

It was passed 20:00 when we checked in our hotel. We dumped our luggage and set out to satisfy our growling bellies. Our dinner was at a place 2 minutes walk away called MOMO HUT , the best momos I’ve ever had (Palak Paneer momos, a must try). Tired and well fed, all we needed was a nice bed to recover for our early morning flight to another city in Nepal, Pokhara.

Summary:

1. Arrive at Kathmandu Eco Hotel
2. Dinner at Momo Hut

Booking.com

Day 2

Kathmandu Domestic Airport. the smallest one I’ve ever been to, we could’ve easily arrived here 15 mins prior to the flight time and still made it. Fun fact, the domestic airplanes are tiny, like propeller plane tiny. Before we knew it, we were landing at the scenic Pokhara, a small city midst of mountains. Remember when I said Kathmandu domestic airport was tiny, I couldn’t have imagined what awaited us in Pokhara, we were now in an airport without any conveyor belts.

Checked in and out to explore, 10 mins walk and we reached the docks at the FEWA LAKE, here you can hire boats to either relax around the lake or goto one of the following 2 places:

• TAL BARAHI TEMPLE – a temple in the middle of the lake. We decided to keep the temple for return because that wasn’t our main destination.
• WORLD PEACE PAGODA – a Buddhist temple at the top of a mountain, which ofcourse you need to climb and that’s where we were headed. .

Our boat dropped us off at the base of the mountain where we fueled at the small cafe, followed by the 45 min hiking path to the top. We bumped into many friendly tourists and a friend from Dubai (small world moment) along the way. Yep we got sweaty, god bless legdays at the gym, but there we were at the peace pagoda, standing tall in full glory staring down at the gorgeous aerial views of Pokhara, totally worth the sweat fest. Once the picture taking was over, we sat down at one of the many restaurants at the top for a nice cold refreshing drink (avoid the food here) and headed down on an alternative path (big mistake). This path leads to a parking lot at the top for the non-hikers and comes down a rough not so convenient path to the other side of the mountain, far away from the lakefront. The reason for taking this path was to visit the DAVIS FALLS, a miraculous waterfall which disappears into the depths of the mountain (entry fee 40 NPR). We also came across GUPTESHWOR MAHADEV CAVE, a cave running down the city with ancient carvings and sculptures. The hike and the heat took a toll on us so we skipped the spiral staircase down into the cave, maybe I would go down there if I ever goto Pokhara again. In desperate need of a shower and a nap we headed back to the hotel to recover for our nightout.

Fewa Lake

Vew From World Peace Pagoda Hike

World Peace Pagoda

Dinner at MOONDANCE RESTAURANT at the lakefront, a place with a very cosy interior serving international cuisine. I wouldn’t call it a must visit, but it’s a lovely place if you want a break from the Nepali spices, we ordered burgers, pizza, grilled chicken and a pad thai.

Pokhara, surprisingly has a very vibrant nightlife and we had to experience it so about 200m walk down the lakefront we entered a lounge bar called DUNGA, the place was extremely lively, it was filled with Nepalis of all ages including families with children dancing their night away to the live band who were rocking it with English, hindi and nepali hits. No doubt it was the best night of this trip to Nepal, all 5 of us had a blast and marked it as a must visit place in pokhara. Other places worth checking out are BUSY BEE CAFÉ and BYANJAN BAR AND RESTAURANT, due to time constraints we never got to visit these places but they seemed busy and happening.  Day 2 ended with a late night walk back to the hotel in the rain.

Summary:

1. Arrive in Pokhara
2. Boat Ride and hike to World Peace Pagoda
3. Davis Falls
4. Dinner at Moondance Restaurant
5. Nightout at Dunga Lounge.

Day 3

The day we go paragliding, another thing Pokhara is very famous for. We booked our session with SUNRISE PARAGLIDING who even picked us up from our hotel. The session costed us 10,000 NPR each, including GoPro videos and photos. A brilliant experience in Pokhara, the views were spectacular, the pilots were super nice and friendly, we learned alot about the city and the country from these lovely pilots. This definitely goes in the list of must-do things in Pokhara.

Paragliding

Nepali Tharkali

All the gliding made us hungry ofcourse so we strolled to a very specific restaurant recommended by a friend to have the best Nepali Tharkali in the city at POKHARA THARKALI KITCHEN, totally must visit in Pokhara for an authentic nepali thali experience.

Our second and last night in Pokhara was kind of a bust, it rained very heavily making it impossible to walk around much, we ended up having dinner at a random restaurant and drinks at a random bar on the lakefront, nothing worth mentioning.

Summary:

1. Paragliding in Pokhara
2. Lunch at Pokhara Tharkali Kitchen

Day 4

Saying goodbye to Pokhara was not easy, we had to cheer ourselves up with another session of momos at the Momo Hut once we returned to Kathmandu. The happiness of filling your bellies with epic food, one of the main reasons i love traveling and happy people love to explore. Our next place to visit, GARDEN OF DREAMS, a well maintained garden, popular tourist spot in Thamel, a perfect place to chill and have a coffee. Our day continued walking around Thamel markets, shopping for souvenirs before a long needed recovery in our hotel beds.

Garden Of Dreams

Thamel Market

Last night in Nepal, streets of Thamel were buzzing with tourists, bars and restaurants. Tried another place recommended by a friend called SAM’S BAR, a super chill place in the heart of Thamel, filled with tourists from all over the world, perfect place for drinks and meeting fellow tourists, it goes in the must-dos in Kathmandu.

Summary:

1. Return to Kathmandu
2. Garden Of Dreams
3. Shopping in Thamel
4. Drinks at Sam’s Bar

Day 5

Kathmandu sight seeing day, we had 2 places to checkout which were unfortunately a bit further away from Thamel so we had to take a cab. First destination, SWAYAMBHU STUPA a.k.a. THE MONKEY TEMPLE, the taxi ride costed us 300 NPR and it dropped us at the base of a very long flight of stairs leading to the temple. Although there was something interesting after every few steps, whether it be monkeys, sculptures or souvenir vendors, the never ending stairs didn’t get boring. The temple has an entrance fee of 200 NPR (which reduced to 50 NPR if you are from India, passport proof was never asked though), but the price was totally worth it, the temple is gorgeous, the views of Kathmandu are amazing. Here you will also find some really exclusive shops selling paintings of Nepal done by local artists. One shop in particular is definitely worth visiting, I don’t know if the shop had a name but you had to take a small flight of stairs (which is not obvious) leading you into the shop at the terrace. This shop had an exotic collection of paintings with great detailing using vibrant colours and real gold inlays, they even had a young nepali girl with an English accent who explained the different kind of paintings and the story behind each of them, a must do at the temple.

SWAYAMBHU STUPA a.k.a. THE MONKEY TEMPLE

The Monkey Temple

Kathmandu Durbar Square

After the temple, we took another 350 NPR cab ride to KATHMANDU DURBAR SQUARE, a historical square with temples and ancient monuments. There is an entrance fee of 150 NPR to the square, however much of the square suffered a lot of damage from the earthquake in 2015 so a good portion of it is under repairs and closed to public. I wouldn’t call this place a must-do, but if you have the time to spare then this is a good sight to checkout, if you are lucky, you might come across a festival.

Summary:

1. Swayambhu Stupa a.k.a. The Monkey Temple
2. Kathmandu Durbar Square

General Tips For Nepal

• Sim Cards can be bought at the Arrivals at Kathmandu International Airport (among other places), we got one from the NCELL outlet where they charged us 500 NRP for 1.2GB of data and few calls. Note: a passport photo is required for each simcard else they will charge additional for a photo.
• Although a lot of places accept cards, they charge 4% extra for it.
• If you make an atm withdrawl, you are charged an extra 500 NPR as an atm transaction fee, everywhere in Nepal.
• Book BUDDHA AIR for your flight to pokhara, they are the best airlines for domestic flights. We were unable to book the tickets online so Kathmandu Eco hotel made the booking for us and we paid them on arrival. Note that indian passport holders get discounted rates.
• Thamel is the tourist area in Kathmandu and it’s where everything happens, the markets, the nightlife, the restaurants, all within walking distance. Book accommodation in this area.
• Lakeside is the main area in Pokhara, everything I mentioned above is in or around there, this is where you look for your accomodation. There are many beautiful restaurants on the lakeside, but we never got the chance to try them since we were stuck to our must dos.
• Random locals will approach you to sell drugs, you can’t avoid them and they ain’t dangerous either, just normal locals trying to make a living.
• There are many companies in pokhara offering paragliding and other activities, some of which charge you only 4000-5000 NRP, but we decided to go with a well experienced and reputed company, Sunrise Paragliding, just remember to book in advance from their website http://www.sunrise-paragliding.com
• Nepal is an affordable country so you won’t be spending much money. A rough estimate for a good meal with drinks would cost about 1000-1500 NPR which is roughly 10-15 USD, ofcourse you could go much lower if you decide to look into budget friendly places.
• Another famous thing to do in Nepal is to take a flight around Mt. Everest, we skipped it due to lack of time.
• I cannot end this article and not mention the Annapurna Circuit Base Camp Trail, a 2 week long expedition for the ones who love the wilderness, hopefully someday i will edit this article to add my experience of the trek.