Nepal is one of my favourite countries in Asia, a country that I have fond memories of visiting with my parents and one that I was really looking forward to taking our kids. They are 10 and 12 years of age which is exactly the age my sister and I were when we last went.
As always happens when planning a short week-long holiday, we struggle to cover all that we want to – Visiting National Parks is always high on our list, as was mountain hiking and doing a 2-3 day trek. Unfortunately we were going during the rainy season (end Aug-early Sept) and a muddy pouring rain hike did not seem appealing. There was also warning of flooding at the national parks we wanted to visit.
With the restriction in time and weather, we decided to focus on Pokhara, Nepal – gateway to the Annapurna Circuit Trail – with a short stay at Kathmandu at the beginning and end of the trip. Despite the fact that hiking and wildlife were not in the cards this trip, we were still excited to be going to Nepal and looked forward to visiting the temples, Durbar Square, eating momos and enjoying the natural beauty around Phewa Lake, Pokhara.
Plus we were travelling by Bus from Kathmandu to Pokhara, which itself is a very scenic drive. Takes about 6 hours, with 2 rest stops at beautiful spots, much cheaper than flying!
Views during Drive from Kathmandu to Pokhara, Nepal
Thanks to the unplanned but very welcome fellow travellers who joined our trip, the 7 days ended up being far more exciting and memorable, full of unexpected discoveries and adventures, scrapped knees and monkey scams, paragliding, finding off the beaten path spots for swimming and cycling, and on the last day catching a glimpse of the magnificent Annapurna mountain range. May this be the first of many travel adventures with this bunch of young adventurers 🙂
It was off-season so there was no need to book anything in advance. We stayed at Hotel Mum’s Home which was just at Jyatha, Thamel. Very centrally located, near some good restaurants, street stalls, awesome Yoga centre, and near the Garden of Dreams.
We wandered around lively Thamel and Durbar Square, Old Town, and also went to Swayambhunath Stupa, which was located 3 km west of Kathmandu. It rested on top of a hillock and is said to be one of the holiest Buddhist Chaityas in Nepal. It is also aptly called the monkey temple, lots of monkeys everywhere!
It is a steep climb to the top, but with lovely scenic views of Kathmandu valley. We were warned not to take food as there were lots of monkeys around who would snatch from our hands and bags. After all the sightseeing, Shahaar bought a Sprite from the local vendor at the top and was walking with it, not having opened it yet. The drink was quickly snatched from his hand and we were entertained the next 10 minutes watching this monkey trying to figure out how to open the sprite, ending up biting the bottom bit, tilting the bottle up and drinking! And at the same time, keeping his stolen treasure from other monkeys around him 😀
Views of Kathmandu Valley
Steep climb to the top
Swayambhunath Stupa
Cheeky monkey that grabbed Shahaar’s sprite!
We set off for Pokhara early morning, and thankfully it stayed dry during the entire bus journey, allowing us to enjoy the gorgeous views. We arrived at Lakeside Pokhara, checked into Batika Classic Hotel and immediately rented bikes for cycling that evening. Our luck with the dry weather didn’t hold and we ended up going on this crazy but fun cycle ride around Phewa Lake, hardly being able to see through the heavy rains, drenched to the bones, trying to get home in the dark down winding roads! We walked up the pier through a flooded boardwalk..the locals thought we were crazy, the children loved the adventure 😀 We also stopped at this awesome bar – Iguana Bar – in the middle. Wonderful start to our adventures next few days!
taking a pitstop during our wet cycle ride
Enjoying the night view at Iguana Bar
Next day after the eventful adventures of cycling in the dark and getting drenched in the rain, we decided to go for a scenic boat ride, which was supposed to be relaxing and peaceful. That was too tame for our lot, and we ended up venturing into the forest on other side of lake, wading through slippery rocks and gushing water flow, enjoying the thrill of going into unknown territory and discovering such beautiful waterfalls!
Next day we knowingly set off for our next big adventure – paragliding! The phrase – letting your child leave the nest and fly away – held a whole new meaning as we watched our kids running to the edge of the cliff and jumping off, and then flying off into the clouds! Lovely scenic views of the lake and terraced rice fields, but no mountains as the day was cloudy. There were several paragliding companies, they all charge the same price, more or less. They picked us up from their office and drove up to Sarangkot. We started gliding from there and came down to north lakeside.
enjoying being in the air.
lovely scenic views when the clouds parted!
Following day we went mountain biking and that was pretty hardcore, biking down these steep curvy unpaved gravelly roads. The views from the top were beautiful as was the stop to see the World Peace Pagota. Once in flat lands, it was lovely going through different villages, lush green rice fields and scary rickety bridges!
Our last favourite activity, which was very much off the beaten path, was swimming at this waterfall by Fewa Powerhouse. One of the local drivers suggested this place and when we first got there, we were doubtful as there was nothing in view and only thing we could see, was this super steep really long steps going down next to a pipe (you can see in the picture below on the left). This was supposed to lead us to this waterfall.
steep climb down to the waterfall
Once we got down, it was wonderful! The waterfall itself was fun as we ‘struggled’ to get to the centre. This was followed with playing in another river next to it, the children built rock home for hours and we found this other hidden cove where the water was just emerald green..no one around but us and just simply beautiful.
swimming in hidden coves
making rock piles for hours
In between all the adventures, we found lovely dining spots, enjoyed Tibetan food, variety of small street shops with beautiful jewelry, local colourful clothes and art. I went running one morning and came across this Hindu Temple and watched people chanting and praying.
And on our last morning in Pokhara, we were rewarded with a glimpse of the Annapurna mountain range, with the prominent Machchapuchre (fishtail) in view! There is truly something magical when you see these majestic giants 🙂
Loved our time in Nepal and cannot wait to be back in 2019 for some proper trekking and more adventures in this beautiful country…hopefully with the same adventure loving fellowship as this crew! I know this post didn’t have much information on costs or logistics but do feel free to email me or comment here if want to know more..
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