The perfect itinerary for a journey in Nepal

There are very few places in the world that make my heart beat faster than Nepal. This small state perched in the Himalayan mountains has always impressed me. And how could it be otherwise? It has it all. Except for the sea even if in ancient times the sea was also present in these mountains. There is a lot of nature in the Himalayan mountains, the forests rich in rivers and streams, the lakes and even the low plain on the border with India where in the jungle you can admire rhinos, elephants and even tigers.

Nepal has always left an indelible mark on the souls of travelers who traveled the streets of South Asia. It is a country that knows how to offer history, culture, nature and breathtaking landscapes, welcoming people, very folk traditions and alas also a non-food. just yummy.

The flight to Nepal 

There are no direct flights from Italy to reach Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, so to get to this state you will necessarily have to take an international plane. The best companies for quality/price ratio are Qatar, Emirates, and Air India with stopovers in Doha, Dubai, and New Delhi respectively. If you also enter the 2 stopovers option on the search sites, you could find flights even under 500 Euros, but it will take much longer to reach your destination. You could also consider the Thai Airways option, it could prove to be very cheap and allow you to take a trip to Thailand which, after weeks of eating the terrible Nepalese food, enjoying a tasty pad thai in the streets of Bangkok will seem like a mirage real.

The Nepalese visa

To enter Nepal it is necessary to have a tourist visa whose cost is variable and depends on the length of stay: if you want to stay 15 days it will cost you 25 $ while if you want to stay 30 days the cost will rise to 45 $. Another option, if you want to stay the maximum allowed, that is three months, is to pay the $ 100 visa. Lately, Kathmandu airport has been equipped with procedures for issuing an electronic visa payable and bookable already from Italy. Until last December this procedure still did not guarantee to skip the very long lines at the entrance of the country at customs, but it avoided receiving the change in Nepalese currency with an exchange rate out of control. My personal advice, therefore, is to do the visa online or to secure an exact amount of US dollars to pay for the visa at customs. By land, Nepal can be reached from India and China and entry formalities do not change.

Kathmandu, a fascinating capital

As soon as you arrive in the capital, the most important thing is to decide where to sleep: there are two areas usually used by travelers and tourists to stay in Kathmandu: Thamel and Freak Street. Thamel is the most equipped and modern area, equipped with every type of service starting from hotels, restaurants, hostels, shops, and travel agencies. Thamel has changed a lot over the years, especially after the terrible earthquake of 25 April 2015 and today it hosts more tourists than Nepalese; walking through its streets remains an absolutely authentic experience to try. In this area, you will find restaurants where to eat European food and supermarkets with items from the West, sim cards, exchange offices, ATMs, and many many counterfeit and souvenir shops. Freak Street, just one block from Durbar Square, is instead the historic street for hippy travelers who traveled to Asia at the turn of the 70s. It is the historical street with a well-defined soul even if today it seems only and exclusively an old bohemian memory.

Sleeping in Nepal, especially in Kathmandu, has a wide range of prices: ranging from 1/2 to 3 € per night for real hovels, which I have always loved because they are the real and authentic Nepalese accommodations, up to spend even 80 or 100 € per night: often the rooms are double with single beds so if you are two it is also easy to be able to divide and spend very little. I strongly advise you not to book a hostel online because the various sites that host these hostels keep the commission and consider that this commission is fixed and with a view to a few euros: in an economy like the Nepalese one a couple of euros make a lot of money. difference and you will find yourself paying about 10 € for a bed in a hostel dormitory when with that amount you could easily, knocking on the door, get the same price for a double room. If I have to suggest where to sleep I recommend the Yellow House for Thamel and the Annapurna lodge for Freak Street (don't start looking for them on the internet because you won't find them anyway).

What to see in Kathmandu:

If you are staying in these areas I recommend that you get up early in the morning, go for breakfast at a chaiaro in the street, drink a chai (tea with milk), eat a chapati egg roll which is nothing more than a chapati (typical bread Indian) with a beaten egg with a dish of chickpeas called chana masala and then start your day. Go to Ratna Park and ask for the bus station (do not expect a building, however, even if it has been under construction for a few years and when you arrive in Kathmandu it could be finished): you will find the buses right inside the park and they almost seem to go on each other to the other. Don't worry, just be very careful and above all, prick up your ears because you will have to listen to what the guys are saying. In fact, there is no display, only the guys who show you which bus to get on and in which direction. Take one in the direction of Boudhanath and after about half an hour you will arrive at your destination: get off and pay attention to the road, in fact, the traffic and pollution in Kathmandu are hellish. Enter the circular square in front of your eyes, follow the clockwise direction and enjoy the view of the largest stupa in all of Nepal and one of the most important in the world, a destination for many pilgrimages. In Boudhanath you can easily spend the rest of the morning among its craft shops and its temples, I also recommend going behind the main square and getting lost among the monasteries: there are many temples scattered in the woods, but not only, but there is also a monument very recent named after the friendship between China and Nepal, it is very interesting and colorful. From Boudanath on foot, you can easily reach the Unesco world heritage site Pashupatinath, also a sacred place of pilgrimage. In the river, the cremation rites of corpses are carried out so it is for strong stomachs.

Please do not photograph or record videos of funeral ceremonies!

It is the worst thing you can do: a total lack of respect and every time I go to Pashupatinath I always notice tourists and travelers who continue undeterred to take photos, take selfies, and record videos: it is something that I strongly condemn! I recommend you have lunch right around the Pashupatinath area, in fact, there are many restaurants and they are used by travelers and tourists so you can also find something western. After lunch you can go to the Swayambhunath temple known as the monkey temple, this is because there are obviously thousands of monkeys inside. You have to climb a fundamental staircase to be able to get the blessing once at the top! Up there are some stupas and a Buddhist monastery as well as of course the spectacular view of Kathmandu: when the days are clear the landscape is crazy, especially at sunset. Of course, you can't miss a visit to Durbar Square, the true symbol of Kathmandu, the square that most of all demonstrate the severity of the terrible 2015 earthquake: here almost everything was destroyed. I would like to point out that you can also visit the residence of the goddess kumari the only living goddess in existence: in the modern world this place is very interesting but I advise you to deepen the subject because if on the one hand, the idea of ​​a living goddess is very fascinating, the reality is far from this glossy fantasy.

Kathmandu valley and beyond

Once you have finished visiting Kathmandu you should definitely turn your attention to the Kathmandu valley. You will find ancient royal capitals such as Patan and Bhaktapur, very beautiful ancient villages with extraordinary architecture, which however suffered heavily from the damage of the 2015 earthquake. In these countries, you can really begin to understand what life is like as a Nepali. They are still very touristic countries and you will find many Westerners on the streets, but if you really want to know the authentic life in the villages and find yourself away from the hordes of tourists for a few days I recommend you go beyond Kathmandu Valley and reach Panauti. An authentic Newari village where you can hike up to Namabuddha, have volunteer experiences, devote yourself to permaculture or simply stop and watch Nepalese life go by more and more slowly. If you go as far as this village, do not miss the opportunity to sleep with my brothers of Human Traction: here you will find the link to be able to stay in a real Nepalese house in contact with young guys full of enthusiasm and desire to show you their country.

Trekking

The highlight of Nepal is obviously the Himalayan mountain range and the treks that can be done between these peaks that dominate the whole world. There are entire books that describe the different treks that can be done in Nepal so in this article, I will tell you only those that I have lived and those of which I have had direct experiences. In my opinion, the most beautiful among those within everyone's reach remains the Annapurna Circuit, an 18-day trek that takes you to admire one of the most complete views of the Himalayan range. From Pokhara you can get through another path to get to the Annapurna Base Camp: it is a very demanding trek, undoubtedly tiring, which puts a strain on the body because it reaches an altitude of 5000 meters. If your available days are shorter but you don't want to miss a trek, I absolutely recommend that of Poon Hill where you can enjoy a crazy sunrise at about 3200 m. Obviously very famous and very popular and also the Everest base camp trekking: this route is very demanding and also involves the use of a plane to reach Lukla, the starting point of this trek. For all the others, you just need to take a bus, venture through the winding Nepalese roads (don't do it if you suffer from the car), and reach Pokhara. it is a country lying on the lake under the entire Himalayan range of Annapurna and is a place where you can do a multitude of sports and activities as well as start lots of trekking. I definitely recommend you to go there and take a look, the lake alone is worth it. Remember in the drafting of the budget for Nepal that has a very important voice is covered by guides and permits I link you here how to obtain the Tims permit for the various routes. I also link this site that contains all the fundamental tips to choose the right trekking!

Really observe a wild tiger up close! 

So far I have given you advice that you could easily find online or by buying any Nepal tourist guide but now I want to give you a real gem: surely you could consider visiting the Chitwan National Park a park where, according to the agencies, you can see elephants, rhinos and even tigers. Wow, amazing! All true especially the part relating to elephants and rhinos, but above all, it is equipped to work with tourists and, last but not least, it is quite close to Kathmandu (with half a day you can easily reach it). Although this park guarantees the largest number of tigers in Nepal, it is very large and above all very popular with tourists, so this means that the sighting of tigers is almost impossible. I've met a lot of people and a lot of travelers in Nepal and no one who has been to Chitwan has ever told me they actually saw a tiger in front of their eyes. To really have the chance to see a tiger in the wild with your own eyes, you have to go much further and be willing to travel about 20 hours by Nepalese bus to reach Bardia National Park. I was there about three years ago following the advice of my friend Charlie Baba and I was able to see not one but four tigers with my own eyes: the tiger and its tigers! Surely in that area, you would run into very few tourists but you will have to be ready to organize most of the activities on your own with the help of local guides simply as tourism in that area is really underdeveloped: the good thing is that you will experience another extremely authentic experience in contact with the rural and local reality! Be careful to stay at least 2 nights and try to do the walking safari to be really close to these wonderful animals.