People make promises and don’t keep them. That’s the thing with many people. I did the same. I promised to post my second and final part of ‘What to do in Nepal’ article already last weekend, but I didn’t. I couldn’t, in fact.
Those who were desperately waiting for my second post have already come back to their countries. They are angry with me, of course, but, fortunately, they are far in another continent. I don’t know what they would have done with me if I were just around them. Perhaps they would have asked for a death penalty or a lifetime prison to me or I would have been stoned to death for my infidelity!
Anyway, there are still many boys and girls who are planning to visit Nepal and I hope this trend continues and their grandchildren will also choose to visit Nepal even after one hundred years. Long live Nepal!
Now on this post, I briefly tell you what to do outside Kathmandu as a fifteen days visitor to Nepal.
If you have loads of money and don’t care about spending much, then, take flights to different cities. If you are a rich dude, please do that because tourism is one of the strongest pillars of the Nepalese economy and if you guys become too much stingy that’s not so good for us.
However, we know that all people who have white skins, wear black gogs, and speak English don’t always wear jeans stuffed with the green dollars ( note: I don’t want to talk about Japanese, Chinese and Korean species who visit Nepal every year, I should write for them separately) . So if you belong to one of them, the ones who don’t have that much money, always take mini or micro-buses while travelling outside the Kathmandu valley. Most of them are white in color, by the way. They are small, clean, cozy and everything! If you haven’t bought your tickets in advance, don’t be very shy, talk to a Nepali dude in there and pay as much as he or she has paid. Almost all Nepali people read religious scriptures at least once in their lifetime and try their best to follow them, but, sometimes, some of them, especially those who are working in private transportation companies, suddenly forget all those moral teachings and start cheating people. That’s why.
It’s not so common though.
Let’s share some of my personal stories. I was born and raised in a remote Nepali village and spent my childhood playing almost equally with my human friends and goats, and buffalo ‘friends’, so still when I think of Nepal it is all about that 80% villages we have all over the country. They are serene and peaceful lands where honesty persists despite poverty and sharing is common even in scarcity. My inner feeling about villages is that, unlike in cities, almost 99% girls and 97% boys don’t play with the virginity rules before they get married. That’s why you will see many robust boys and stunning girls in villages.
Nowadays, I have a home in Kathmandu and I am supposed to live there with my family when I’m in Nepal, but all I want to do is visit Nepalese villages and rivers and mountains. I know that people in my village have started calling me a disloyal Kathmanduist guy, but somewhere inside me, I still preserve that affection for my village and, frequently I remember all those boys and girls, my childhood friends, who would pluck apples and plums for me without expecting anything back in return. They are grown up buddies nowadays and most of them already have children who can pluck apples and plums if needed.
So for me, Nepal starts when I leave Kathmandu and Nepal ends when I enter Kathmandu. That’s the thing.
So when you leave Kathmandu, Nepal starts. Pokhara is not a village, but I recommend you go there. It’s a beautiful city with various lakes, caves, streams and Machhapuchre Himal is seen very near from there. I have seen many foreigners almost losing their mental balance in excitement when they see that shiny mountain so near. You can look at the picture below, but it is so DIFFERENT when you yourself are there.
When you’re in Pokhara, if you don’t have any friends or a guide, the best way is to take a taxi and visit the most interesting 6-7 places recommended by the taxi driver. If you don’t want to be extra generous, you don’t need to pay more than 20 dollars for almost 4-5 hours. My last advice for Pokhara visitors would be that don’t miss the sunrise view of Sarangkot early in the morning. 
If you don’t have any plan to go for a trek, now, it’s wise to go to Chitwan from Pokhara. You’ll see wonderful villages on the way. Unless you are a part of a very strictly planned travel trip, it is good to spend some time in those villages. Meet the villagers, talk to them, eat their cucumbers and accept Nepalese tea from them. Don’t forget to poke their children and say Namaste and Dhanyabaad (thank you). After spending nice time in villages, you should rush towards Chitwan where all tigers, and crocodiles and rhinos are waiting you. I don’t want to tell you many things about Chitwan because one thing is enough. Do jungle Safari there. If you love rafting, the Trisuli River is on the way. It’s safe and relatively cheap as well. However, don’t try to do that in the monsoon season, otherwise, you’ll straight reach heaven from there!
You met the people; you enjoyed the nature and spent time with Nepalese animals also, now it’s time to be a bit spiritual. It’s quite easy to go Lumbini from Chitwan so I advise you don’t miss that. I wouldn’t come back without visiting Mecca and Medina if I were visiting Saudi Arabia and I would definitely see Bethlehem if I were to wander around Israel. Lumbini is the place where Gautam Buddha, the founder of Buddhist philosophy, was born 2600 years ago. He is considered to be the light of Asia, and some people, call him and worship him as God.
I’m not a Buddhist missionary worker, and have a lot of issues and problems pending with different gods and religions, but even as an agnostic I clearly know that religions do play a huge, both good as well as bad, role in today’s world. So try to visit this place as well. Coincidently, this place is only a few kilometers far from my village. When you go there, don’t forget to carry my greetings to my people, my trees, my rivers, my mountains, and my soil there.
I don’t want to write more than this. If it’s possible to extend your visit from mere 15 days, then go more towards west from there. Visit the mountainous regions and don’t come back without seeing Rara Lake. This is a wonderful lake which one Nepali king termed as ‘an amazing combination of all the beauties of heaven’. In fact, he wrote a poem about that lake. Not difficult to guess, he was in love with that lake. If you’re interested in forest and wildlife things there are many many places in the western region where you’ll forget your civilization and once again will have an opportunity to be wild and natural.
Related Article: What to do in Nepal Part I
1 comment:
thanks bro great job keep it up.
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