Final Thoughts: 7 Weeks In Nepal

Posted by Dave on 18 May 2008.

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Dhauligiri from Poon Hill at sunrise

Nepal had always represented world class trekking for me, yet I found the country to offer so much more. Beyond the beautiful snow-capped mountains, green valleys, peaceful lakes, raging rivers, colorful flowers, and wide array of birds were incredibly kind people, a lively Tibetan community, delicious food, and a rich cultural history.

Reading The Snow Leopard in Chomrung

Highlights -

Flying past Mt. Everest and over the Himalaya
My first cup of Nepali milk tea
Meeting Rosie and Rob (the kayakers) on the bus ride to Pokhara
The view from the Boomerang restaurant’s garden patio (and every meal I ate there)
Meeting Gela
Trekking for 10 days in the Annapurna region
Seeing three of the world’s top 10 tallest mountains (Everest, Dhauligiri, Annapurna I)
Riding on the roof of the bus from Nayapul back to Pokhara after the trek
Spending 3.5 weeks in Pokhara simply because I liked it so much
Paragliding off Mt. Sarangkot
Hiking up to the World Peace Pagoda at sunrise and eating breakfast overlooking the Annapurna Himal
3-day meditation course in Pokhara
Meeting Steven, Kevin, Stefan, and Marie
Spending a day paddling around Lake Phewa with Steven, Kevin and Marie
3-day whitewater rafting trip on the Kali Gandaki
Meeting Natalie and Sara
Thangka shopping in Kathmandu
Walking to Kathmandu’s Durbar Square
Visiting the monkey temple
Patan’s Durbar Square
Pashupatinath Temple
Spending 4 days/nights around Boudhnath Stupa
Sitting in on a Buddhist monastery’s morning puja
Surrounding myself with Tibetan culture – the food, religion, people
Shopping for authentic Tibetan items in Boudha
The prayer flags
The sunsets
The flowers
The birds

Marie chats with a Tibetan woman in the refugee center north of Pokhara

Lowlights -

Recurring digestive discomforts
Feelings of stress in preparation for trek
Not reaching Annapurna Base Camp
Realizing my laptop’s AC adapter was broken the first night
The slow breakdown of my digital camera (and need to buy a new one)

Vegetarian dal bhat

Eating -

Lots of Dal Bhat (rice and lentils), chicken or potato curry, momos (Tibetan dumplings), pizza pizza, tea – milk, masala, mint, chocolate, peanut butter granola bars, banana lassis.

Giant butter lamp

# of Nights Couchsurfing -

Souvenir: Knife and chopsticks (made of yak bone) from Tibet

Average Daily Budget -

$42 (Note: this is especially high due to the inordinate amount of money I spent on souvenirs and a new digital camera)

______________________

Bonus Video: Sunrise Over Himalaya As Seen From Poon Hill

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This post was written by:

Dave - who has written 997 posts on Go Backpacking.

Dave Lee (Editor-in-Chief) blogged his way around the world from 2007-2009, and then started Travel Blog Success to teach others how to do the same. When not writing, he can be found salsa dancing, and lamenting his untimely departure from Medellin. Follow him on Twitter @rtwdave

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Casey

I loved Pokhara as well. Great city. Riding on the top of buses was so fun even though I thought my life was close to ending a few times.

Dave

Terribly uncomfortable to sit on metal luggage racks as the Nepali buses bounce around but the views can't be beat.

matt

the beauty of going backpacking is that when you like a place, you can stay for as long as you want....

I was only supposed to be on this one thai island for 4 days and left 3 1/2 weeks later...and only b/c my visa had expired...