Blogs from Nepal, Asia

Nepal Eating tandoori shrimp in Calcutta, then fainting in Kathmandu Rose went ahead to Nepal on Thai International's non-stop flight. Ron had business in Bangkok and took a later connection through Calcutta (now Kolkata), where he had first entered India en route to Lucknow University. He ate tandoori shrimp for lunch at the Oberoi Grand Hotel downtown. That evening in Kathmandu, while we met with friends from Guam, Ron fainted. Rose stayed with Jim Edward's Icelandic wife and baby at their home in Kathmandu, then moved to Hotel de I'Annapurna, our host, when Ron arrived. After our first trip, Ron's third trade mission took American tour wholesalers to Nepal. He went with two of them by helicopter - piloted by an Australian nursing a hangover - briefly hovering over Mount Everest then landing at a remote ... read more

My usual travel group posted a new weekend adventure and I jumped right on it: Yoga and Sound Healing! 13 of us went and it was an incredible group - lively, friendly and down to earth. Our guides were also fantastic, so it has turned out to be one of my favorite trips and yet is was just two days! We arrived in the evening, after some pretty tight spirals coming in for the landing in the mountains, and were met by our guides who gave us the traditional welcoming gift of a necklace of marigolds. Then we made our way to the hotel, Hotel Tibet International, which was surprisingly nice, especially for our group's standards. Even though it was late, they held a traditional dinner for us at the rooftop restaurant. While waiting, we got ... read more

Driving trip from Siliguri to Mustang, Nepal:- 1st March, Day 1: Drive along Asian Highway 2 across Bagdogra to Panitanki and crossed over the Mechi River bridge into Nepal. Obtained Vehicle permit from the transport office after paying INR 2200. Mercifully the system at the transport office has been upgraded to online, as such it was smooth and easy. Another temp road permits fro. Makeshift virta more office for INR 300 including INR 200 for the requested tip that we gave generously! I was surprised that we were asked by a transport official and 3 police personnel as to why we wanted to go into Nepal for 7 days. I told them this was the Nepal tourism year and should they be asking such questions instead if welcoming us. The going was good while the road ... read more

We met the French couple, Paulo and Enora, at Varanasi station; they were also headed to Nepal via Gorukhpur and I wasted no time in informing them of the latter’s delights. Fortunately there were no substantive delays to the overnight train and on our arrival we were able to catch a bus straight out of Hades. Yes, I admitted, it did - by daylight transit - seem merely grim... No funny business this time at the Nepal border and, indeed, we were not subsequently robbed en route from it . We rolled into Pokhara at 10pm and, hats off, these youngsters were totally up for walking the three kilometres to lakeside. Which we duly did. However, it being low season, much was shut up early and we had to take what crumbs we could both in ... read more

Day 4 of the trek, November 6 - from Nepal Hiking Team Itinerary - Chuile to Chhomrong (2020m/6625 ft) Duration 5 hours. We shall descend down the precipitous trail leaving Chuile; and continue through the riotous woodland and forest as we reach Gurung, the village of the Gurung people. A clear morning meant chilly temperatures but it was worth if for our first really clear view of Machhapuchhre (or Fishtail). In the grand scheme of mountains in this part of the world (where to be considered a mountain, it has to be over 6000m), fishtail was relatively low at a mere 6993m. The day is memorable for a lot of down followed by a lot of up (but we were generally descending as part of the whole acclimatization plan). Long pants and warm layers were quickly ... read more