home to mount Everest: around Nepal

 Difference between India and Nepal is incredible and noticeable straight after you get out from the airport – instead of hearing those taxi drivers’ monologues ‘Tuk tuk? Yes? Yes! Where you go? Very cheap! Tuk tuk!’ and being followed by them for a couple of minutes after they give up, a very polite driver came to us and asked if we would like to get a taxi to get to Tamel (the old town of Kathmandu). We expected it to be more like India, but the Himalayas created a completely different culture with the peaceful locals who are interested in the travels and extremely kind people who let us in their family where we stayed for two weeks.

Kathmandu is a growing city, crowded, full of cars yet has an amazing old town and its gorgeous market. A mixture of Tibetan and Nepalese cultures, even the Old Town in Kathmandu alleys makes you feel like you are in the middle of the mountains – extremely kind people, peaceful instrumental music and Tibetan street decorations follow wherever you go!

We made a couple of day trips around the capital – the most amazing one was in the small village up in the mountains named Nagarkot (journey was just as fun as the destination – bus was extremely overcrowded, people were not only outside the doors but sitting on the rooftop as well), which has a view to a range of Himalayas – if it’s clear, there is a possibility to see Mount Everest! Unfortunately, we were not the lucky ones that time. But we did manage to wake up early enough to climb up the mountain and see the sunrise in the Himalayas!

Pokhara, the other touristic destination in Nepal is famous for its Anapurna range, paragliding (this attraction is expensive as hell), turquoise lake and, of course, trekking. Since we have no equipment or budget in general for these things (and the tour guides are 50 euros), we did a one day trek up the Sarangkot hill on our own – a small mountain which is 2000 metres above sea level with an undisturbed view of the Anapurna range. Other than that, Pokhara offers amazing cuisines – both Western and local, cheap and expensive – and relaxation nearby the lake.

Some facts:

·       Nepal was extremely chilly in some areas, once it even reached zero degrees!

·       It is against the law to honk in Kathmandu and some other cities (doesn’t mean that this rule is being followed).

·       The walls in the houses are really thin, which makes you freeze to death during the night. And there are no radiators whatsoever!

·       Every family has a black tank of water on their rooftops – when the sun warms it, you take a hot shower. Apparently government doesn’t provide hot water.

·       Local food (dumplings called mo:mo’s and dal rice) is amazingly healthy and super delicious. Plus, there’s always a vegetarian option.