Nepal - Kathmandu, Trishuli River and Bandipur

The flight from Dubai to Kathmandu was about 4 hours and for the latter part we were spoilt with amazing views of the Himalaya Mountains in Pakistan, India and Nepal. It was amazing to see these snow-capped peaks from the airplane window whilst flying at 38,000 ft. At times it appeared the mountains were the same hight as us!

Once we had landed at Kathmandu our friendly driver, arranged by our guest house, met us and we drove about 30 minutes to our accommodation. The city was covered in bright, blue, green, red and pink lights giving it amazing glow and our driver told us the city was celebrating the Festival of Lights. Tihar and is a five-day Hindu festival that celebrates the relationship between animals and people. We were in Kathmandu when the crow and dog were celebrated. Like most travellers in Kathmandu, we were staying in an area called Thamel. Thamel is a fun but hectic area and is home to countless hotels, travel agents, restaurants and shops running over a series of narrow lanes. We were happy to discover our accommodation was just off the main area in Thamel which meant we escaped all the noise and countless motorbikes. We were staying in Wander Thirst guesthouse which has a nice vibe to it, great outdoor area and served tasty food. It cost us about £8 for a double room and shared bathroom.

The next day was our only full day in Kathmandu, so we got up early to see some sites. Kathmandu is a cool place but the main reason we were in Nepal was to explore the amazing landscape, so we didn’t want to commit too much time to the busy capital city. We got in a cab and headed to Patan which is in the Kathmandu valley. It was once a town next to the capital but is now a suburb of Kathmandu. We headed to Durbar Square to see the impressive temples which were sadly impacted by the earthquake in 2015. A massive community project to restore the temples means you can now visit them again, and they give you an insight into the life of the old royal families and Nepalese Hinduism. We spent the rest of the morning exploring more temples and the back streets of Patan. Afterwards we headed to Swayambhunath nicknamed the ‘Monkey Temple’ as its covered in monkeys. Getting to the Buddhist temple involved a steep climb up steps, but we were rewarded with amazing panoramic views of the city. Liv got her walking boots sewen back together by a man who had a little stall on the pavement, which was lucky as she was going to need them for the rest of the trip. We also got to sample some of the delicious Nepalese food, which involved rice, dhal curried veg and chutney. Thamel has lots of great rooftop restaurants and bars which are fun to explore at night.

After two nights in Kathmandu, we headed to the Trishuli River where we had arranged to go white-water rafting. We stayed at the Trishuli Riverside Resort which was about 2 hours west of Kathmandu by bus. The resort was in a great location, right on the river and our room had a balcony with a great view. On our second day we went rafting which was great fun! In our raft it was us, a Nepalese family of four and the instructor who was a real character and from a local village. The rapids were exhilarating and in between them we played games which always ended up with someone going in the river.

After two nights at the river resort, we headed to the beautiful old-fashioned town of Bandipur which is in a remote location in the mountains. We originally tried to get a bus but as the festival was still going on we were told none of them were running. Luckily as we were waiting on the main road, a kind man from Kathmandu stopped and offered to give us a lift, this is typical in Nepal and when we offered to give him some money, he refused to take it. During the 2-hour drive to Bandipur we exchanged stories, he was very interested in the state of UK politics! Bandipur is a charming little town where time seems to have stood still. The 18th centenary wooden architecture and the pedestrian main street is very quaint and the village is covered in beautiful flowers. Our hotel (Hotel Aagamen) was run by a friendly family who served us amazing local food. During the 3 days we were here we explored the town, went on a steep walk down hill and then back up again to the largest cave in Nepal. They give you a torch when entering and we spent a fun 30 minutes or so exploring, all while avoiding the hundreds of bats in there🦇! The highlight of Bandipur was the trek we did to Ramkot. This is a small remote village about a 5 hour round trip hike from Bandipur. The hike gave us amazing views of rice fields, valleys, mountains and the jungle. Often, we were looking down at the clouds below us. Ramkot gave us a view of village life in the mountains, and we were greeted by local children and people saying ‘Namaste’ everywhere we went. Liv was persuaded onto the village swing by a group of children who delighted in pushing her, whilst Rory took advantage of the amazing photo opportunities the village and surrounding area had.