Nagarkot-Amazing Views Even During Monsoon

Written by guest author, Day Wong, Hong Kong, China

I took the bus from the tourist bus park at the top of the hill in Bhaktapur. It took about an hour to get there and the bus stopped at the spot where many guest houses and restaurants are located. If you want to go to the top to see the best view it will take at least an hour to an hour and a half from there, but it was an asphalt road and a fairly easy walk, although mostly uphill. 

The local buses didn’t leave until 7 am, even though there were many buses already on the road going elsewhere. I took advantage of the wait by having breakfast at a nearby local restaurant. 

They call it the ‘tower’ and along the way I noticed several military lookout areas. Nagarkot became popular during the recent uprising with the Moaists, so there isn’t much culture there. The tower at the top, although would have been an even better view, was broken so it would be very difficult to climb up to the top, anyway.

An interesting thing happened on the way back home. A local Nepali man, the owner of a local restaurant stopped to give me a ride on his motorcycle. I went to his place and had a cup of coffee while I enjoyed the most spectacular view of the Himalayas I could imagine. 

Be sure you ask where the bus is going because many only have the writing in the Nepali script instead of English. Like Amanda wrote in her book, be sure to ask more than one person to make sure you are on the right bus. 

On this day, only one day after Indra Jatra it was quite cloudy. The local, Newari count on the god Indra to provide the rain and he never seems to disappoint them; the day was quite cloudy, but what majestic clouds! 

I had a great time and got back just in time for lunch. I highly recommend taking a morning or evening to see the majestic views from Nagarkot. They say you can see Mt. Everest from there, so I can safely say I saw it although I’m not sure which mountain it was. From what I understand you cannot even see Everest from Pokhara. Be sure to take a local guide with you so he can point it out for you. It would also make a great start to the trek to Namabuddha, but this first trip to Nepal is only going to be for 15 days. I will definitely come back to Nepal with a much longer holiday. A little latter in the year, after the monsoon is finished would make the view so much better, even though it was spectacular on this day.

One more lesson learned. Check to see how much the bus ride should cost. Locals pay 35 NRs. but the special, 'tourist price' for me was 50. 

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Warm-up day treks between Kathmandu and Pokhara

Written by guest blogger, Claudia Woszczyk, London

Photos by David Jackson, London

If you come to Nepal and want to do some trekking in the Annapurna circuit we have a plan below that will give you more to see and experience for little or no additional money. I always suggest taking the tourist bus instead of the local buses, but with Claudia’s guide below it may work just as well to take a local bus.

Transportation is one of Nepal’s biggest flaws. That means a trip to Chitwan or Pokhara requires a day from hell to get there. But Claudia has found a better way. Just follow the directions below so you can ride about half way or so and then enjoy the day, then continue on the next day or so to the rest of the way. 

Bandipur

Bandipur is a traditional Newari village stuck in a time warp after the highway by-passed it. Evidence of former importance is everywhere in the quality of the architecture, merchant’s homes and cobbled streets. The pedestrianized high street with its small-street cafes made for a peaceful place to watch the world go by.

Entrance to the village is free and none of the sights incur any extra cost.

You can sleep for as little as 200-300 NRs. per night for rooms above the shops and cafés on the heritage street. Rooms vary in quality and you can pay much, much more to stay in the clearly more up-market hotels on the same street.

How to get there: all the buses plying the Kathmandu – Pokhara, and vice versa, route will stop in Dumre. Alight here and change to the minibus to go the last few km up the hill to Bandipur. This bus should cost around Rs 30. You can take a share jeep, but they will probably try to overcharge you.

The real pleasure here is just to walk in whichever direction you feel like each day and see what you find. There are lots of other traditional villages along the unsealed tracks that lead out of Bandipur.

Around Pokhara

Begnas Tal & Rupa Tal

There are these two other lakes in the area, which often get omitted but make a nice day trip, or a few nights, out of Pokhara.

Minibuses leave from Prithvi Chowk to Begnas Tal regularly, and cost around 25 NRs. From here you can walk along the road through some nice villages, or ride on the roof of the bus, to a smaller, scenic lake called Rupa Tal.

Begnas Tal (Lake)

There are small guesthouses along the way and with views of both lakes that could be worth checking out – we only stayed for the afternoon.

View of Rupa Tal

It’s very quiet compared to Pokhara’s busy Lakeside area and might be more what you were looking for.

     ______________________________________________________

My appreciation to David Jackson and Claudia Woszczyk of London for sharing some of their tips and photos.

Did you know I wrote an eBook filled with tips on getting the most out of your visit to Nepal? http://bit.ly/2bO9zkC

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