What’s the first thing that comes to your mind when you think about Nepal?

Probably, like me, it’s all about mountains, the mythical Everest and the Annapurna. For as ignorant as it can be, this was also one of the reasons why I haven’t visit Nepal before. And it’s not that wrong at all: Nepal has been always the dreamed place for mountaineers and nature lovers.

They are one of the first countries offering systematically one of the most known Adventure Travel routes for mountain lovers since 1953 after the first successful ascent of Mount Everest on 29^th May.

When I thought about it my first ideas where…I could eat Momo’s with big pleasure, but I don’t want to do 9-day trekking somewhere in the mountains! How wrong I was, and how much I was missing just because I didn’t take the time to inform myself better about this destination.

When the Nepal Tourism Board and PATA invited me to attend the 3^rd edition of the Himalayan Travel Mart, held in Kathmandu on June 2019 I was thriving to go and finally give this amazing country a chance.

Overall, what I saw was a country promising a bright future for tourism, especially for sustainable tourism, where they are working hard to improve their quality and variety, including a wonderful net of Community-based homestays where inclusion is the key.

 

The journey from Germany to Nepal

I flew from Frankfurt via Istanbul to Kathmandu with Turkish Airline, I can recommend them for long haul flights, I love their service and the food is delicious even in economy class. They use for the 7-hour route the Airbus 330 with a good configuration and the seats are comfortable enough to make a decent flight.

Arriving in Kathmandu was a bit chaotic as there were other flights arriving at the same time and lots of people trying to get out of Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) at the same time. Be patient because they have an extra security scan once you go out of the plane and go to baggage claim and the whole process of getting out the airport can take quite some time. Fortunately, there are already plans to make the so-needed airport update.

To make your immigration process quicker apply for the on-arrival visa previously and bring the form printed, with that you can go directly to the payment queue and after that to immigration. We got the news they are already working on improving this process and make it easier and will be adding biometrical parameters.

On arrival, we have tourism students volunteering for the HTM event who were taking care of us during our days in Kathmandu, they were all very caring, responsible, respectful and the sweetest people I met during this trip. I will tell you more about the Travel Mart at the end of this article.

We had a very packed agenda as we were supposed to see as much as possible during our tour. It was intense and exhausting as most of the press trips but at the same time, a very rewarding experience shared with very nice people.

 

 

 

Our Nepal Itinerary A seven-day plan including Kathmandu, Chitwan, Lumbini and Pokhara.

 

DAY 1 Kathmandu

We had a quick overview of the city and went by our own to see the amazing Boudhanna Stupa located very close to the Tibet Hotel where I was staying for my first nights.

This place is frequented not only by Nepalese and tourists from all over the world but also mainly by more than 70.000 Tibetan people who found refuge in these lands after the political issues in their country.

We finished the day at the bohemian neighborhood of Thamel having our first of many Dal Bhat with my new crew.

You can check the IGTV Video I made for Kathmandu HERE

 

 

DAY 2 Chitwan National Park

We started from Kathmandu with a scenic drive on the National Highway and the Trishuli River.

If you have never been in Nepal before, you should keep in mind that the roads can be slow, and few kilometers can mean several hours, so have snacks and patience and focus on enjoying the views and all the action happening around you.

After 6 hours and 170 km, we arrived at the Western Terai area hosting the Chitwan National Park.

The first thing was to go around to explore the area around Green Mansions Resort, we visited Tharu Village that was few meters from the hotel where we could see the traditional way of living that is still preserved by its inhabitants.

They have a house museum with traditional artifacts to grind seeds, sewing, and cooking. One very particular tradition is women starts to get tattoos since they are 12-14 years old and its part of the requirements to find a husband, so you can see older women with beautiful tattoos in their bodies.

We did a quick visit to the Elephant breeding center located in the area near the river.

I must be honest and if you are sensitive as I am you might not like visiting this particular place as under my opinion the maintenance of the animal can still be improved.

Chitwan was formerly a royal hunting reserve where not only elephants but deer, tigers, and the rare unicorn rhinoceros were hunted.

Also, the main town is particularly involved in elephant tourism including elephant riding and I wish they switch to conservation and not doing this kind of activities that are only harming these beautiful wild creatures.

 

Day 3 Chitwan National Park

This day was to enjoy the nature around and we started doing a walk and river Canoe Safari inside the park and after lunch a super fun Jeep Safari through the jungle.

Nature is beautiful in this area and we could see some animals like monkeys, deer, several species of birds including peacocks and even one unicorn rhino!

 

 

 

These beautiful and rare creatures were under serious risk thanks to poaching until conservation programs started but still lots of work to do to save them from being extinction.

We finished the day with a delicious dinner and beautiful music and traditional dances at Green Mansion Jungle Resort.

You can check the IGTV Video I made for Chitwan HERE

Day 4 Lumbini

After a loooong driving, we arrived in Lumbini, the Birthplace of Lord Buddha

The city is one of the Sacred places for Buddhists and we visited the Gardens of Lumbini, the World Peace Pagodas and the Sacred place where he was born.

We visited Lumbini during the month of June and it was a very hot day and night, near 40°C also in Chitwan!!!

You can check the IGTV Video I made for Lumbini HERE

Day 5 Palpa

We had a long drive to reach the village of Palpa Tansen where we had the most beautiful welcoming with flowers, music, and dances.

Lunch was at one of the guesthouses with a delicious homemade meal and a great welcoming by the family.

The town is small and people, as usual, are very lovely, you will see their daily life around the market streets.

In the evening we arrived at Pokhara a city located on the sides of Phewa lake and surrounded by the Annapurna Range is a place of great natural beauty.

Day 6 Pokhara

The day started early to watch the sunrise in Sarangkot where we could see the panorama that includes the Fish Tail Mountain, Annapurna I, Annapurna II, Annapurna III. Try to get there early as it will be crowded with all the people trying to watch this beautiful sunset.

Later we took a boat in Phewa Lake, the second-largest in Nepal and hiked to the World Peace Pagoda, constructed by monks from Japan and has beautiful views of the Annapurna range and Pokhara city. The hike is not very hard but takes us about 1,5 hours taking some breaks. If you are not super fit it’s also possible to get there by car and only climb the stairs around the Stupa.

Pokhara is a great place to relax and spend some days, with a very relaxed vibe, lots of restaurants, cafes and pubs around the main street and a wonderful offer of good quality massages (hands up to Jiva Café)

The Mount Kailash Resort was the perfect place to stay, with huge rooms and a perfect swimming pool I definitely enjoyed.

Our return to Kathmandu was by plane and it was the best idea. Flights are cheap in Nepal compared to the time taken to do the same route by car. The flight was 40 minutes against 10 hours if we would have gone driving!

Himalayan Travel Mart 2019

Back in Kathmandu our agenda was busy at the HTM venue.

After the opening, we had a very interesting conference oriented towards bloggers and the industry, a great opportunity to learn from each other and find better ways to work together.

There were representatives of the local tourism community and we could have interesting meetings during these days.

I will be always grateful to the Nepal Ministry of Tourism for the opportunity to see Nepal with my own eyes, and after this, I just want to come back to see more!