Nepal: Lap of Himalaya
It was my love of nature and desire to explore destinations beyond India pushed me to visit Nepal, and I have to mention this is my best travel experience so far. I decided to visit Nepal in Christmas of 2017 and I feel winter is the best time to witness the endless beauty of this country.
It all started by just a thought at my office in Hyderabad and I managed to convince my three other friends to join me on this trip. We planned to visit Nepal by road so I started planning for the trip and making reservations for our travel.
Entry points to Nepal: Indians don’t need a visa or passport to enter in Nepal. If you are visiting Nepal by road then there are many entry points from India to Nepal, we decided to enter from Sunauli which is a small town, 70 Km from Gorakhpur (Uttar Pradesh). Indian can cross this border walking without any verification procedure or security check. It’s better to convert your currency before entering in Nepal. At Sunauli border there are various local shops which offer currency conversion services, prefer to find some authorized service provider. There are not so many ATMs in the Sunauli so carry enough cash beforehand. Once you got your currency converted you are set to walk through this friendly international border. Nepal side nearest town from Sunauli is of Bhairahawa which is just 3 Km from the border, but you can easily get transportation for all major destinations in Nepal from the border (Nepal side) itself. Note: Please do not take any bus or other transportation from India side for any Nepal destination, most probably they will transfer you to other vehicle standing at Nepal side, which will not be so convenient and you will not get flexibility in choosing your vehicle of the commute.
Bhairahawa (Sunauli border) to Pokhara: After crossing the border we were approached by so many travel agents offering us the bus or taxi ride to all major destinations across Nepal, we decided to have a tea first. After a lot of brainstorming and bargaining, we took a cab (a brand new i10) to Pokhara. This is 180 Km journey (in mountain roads), he offered this service for 6000 Nepalese rupee (3750 INR) which was quite a fine deal, I guess. It took us around 6 Hrs to reach Pokhara.
The Pokhara chapter: Pokhara is a destination for youth, it was 24'th December night when we reached Pokhara and within first 30 minutes I was already in love with this place. At Lakeside, shops were open till midnight and streets were filled with young couples rooming around and celebrating Christmas in their own way. This place is filled with a lot of beautiful restaurants, discotheques and pubs some of them offer live music as well. These very same streets, In the morning, brings us the breathtaking view of Annapoorna Hills.
Major attractions in Pokhara are Phewa Lake, Shanti Stupa, Gupteshwar Mahadev temple, Bat Cave and if you are fine to track a bit ABC (Australian Base Camp) are the best places to visit around Pokhara.
Nature, wildlife and peace, the Chitwan chapter: Honestly, I was not having many expectations from Chiwan but trust me on this, Chitwan was the most amazing part of my Nepal trip. Chitwan is a national park which is filled with rhinos, elephants, crocodiles, tigers and many other wild animals. Here you can have jungle safari in a jeep or while sitting on the top of an elephant.
The best part of our Chitwan visit was our accommodation. We were staying at Evergreen Ecolodge, which is an incradable place promoting a sustainable lifestyle. All the rooms are of wood handcrafted by the owner of the place. It super quiet place and offers only vegetarian food which was incredibly tasty.
We were in Chitwan for three days and we were lucky to witness the elephant festival which happens every year around the last week of December. There were a lot of sports for elephants as the relay race, polo and soccer as well, Yes we witnessed elephants playing football.
We were having the plan to visit Kathmandu as well, but we found Chitwan so relaxing so we dropped the plan of Kathmandu and spent our remaining time in Chitwan. From Chitwan, we came back to India with a lot of amazing memories.
This is my first blog post which I am dedicating to all great people of Nepal for there amazing hospitality and experiences throughout our visit. If you like this post please appreciate it by clicking the clap button and share it with friends who are planning to visit Nepal.
!! Jai Hind !!
