From Chitwan to Gorkha, Bandipur, Pokhara and Lumbini

Journey so far: .. Taiwan > Hong Kong > Beijing > Harbin > Yanji > Songjianghe >Changbai Mountain > Dandong > Dalian > Dandong > Chengde > Beijing > Datong > Hohhot > Huitengxile > Hohhot > Taiyuan > Zhengzhou > Xi'an > Lanzhou > Zhangye > Jiaugyuan > Jingtieshan > Jiaugyuan > Dunhuang > Urumuqi > Kanas Lake > Urumuqi > Kashgar > Tashkurgan > Karakul Lake > Kashgar (Kashi) > Hotan > Qiemo > Ruoqiang > Shimianquan > Golmud > Lhasa (Tibet) > Gyantse > Shigatse > Shegar > Everest Base Camp (Rongbuk) > Zhangmu > Borderlands > Kathmandu (Nepal) > Chitwan National Park > Gorkha > Bandipur > Pokhara > Lumbini > Kathmandu ...

Gorkha
Arrived in Gorkha looking for a place to stay and found a great local family run "hotel and lodge". Brilliant find, for only Rs 150 (just over a pound!) for the room with 4 beds. We didn't have a shower, but these days showers are not that important. I stink, Kate stinks, we save money and travel a little further.

Everyday we ate dinner at the restaurant downstairs, Rs 45 (32p) for all you can eat dhal bhat. Dhal bhat is a typical Nepali dish which foreigners soon get sick of because its the cheapest and most easily available dish all across the country. It usually consists of dhal (lentil soup), bhat (rice), tarkari (veg curry) ochar (pickle), saag (spinach) and sometimes curd (weird home-made yoghurt that often tastes like vodka!) for pudding. I love this stuff and enjoy the curry flavours, sometimes the spiciness is enough to make my mouth glow, but I'm getting used to it. Unfortunately Kate can't stand spice, so she struggles.

The Dahl Baht always comes on these beautiful metal trays. Such a delight. Cutlery is optional.


While we were in Gorkha we spent one day visiting the Gorkha Durbar, which is a fort, palace and temple all rolled into one. The walk up the mountainside took us about 2 hours in the hot midday sun, but when we arrived the views were magnificent. The actual place sucked, the paved floor was sticky from all the sacrificed animals blood and it smelt like old blood and pigeon crap. Plus it was tiny, so after two minutes we'd seen it all. The views were worth it though.

Bandipur
Didn't like it. A cute tourist village of hell. I was amazed at the level of restoration and preservation of the 'original' look. However it made it's money on the back of foreiengers so everything was expensive and felt like staying in a themed street you get in Disney. Great for photo's, poor for authentic local culture.

Strange town.


Pokhara
I loved Pokhara. Big, cheap and friendly. We found a clean, double room with hot shower for less than a pound a night! It has more interesting sights than Thamel in Kathmandu. We hired motorbikes and drove around like bikers! Never having driven a motorbike with gears, I was forced to learn fast. After a couple of stalls and embarrassed looks trying to ignore my mistake I was on the road doing wheelies. Kate was not so confident with my skids around corners.

The best thing was that the views were gorgeous (lakes, mountains...), the food amazing, but compared to Thamel in Kathmandu, there's no crazy traffic or narrow streets. We finally saw the World Peace Pagoda built by the Japs and marveled at the somewhat cloudy views of the Himalayas.

Views of Pokhara


Lumbini
Lumbini is an interesting place to see, especially if you're interested in Buddhism.

From Pokhara, we (being Kate, me, Chris and Emiko) took a 10 hour bus journey down to Lumbini - a famous Buddhist pilgrimage site as it's the birthplace of Buddha. We stayed for a day only sleeping in the Nepali temple pilgrim accommodation for "donation only". It was a low budget, basic place but perfect for our pockets.

We spent the whole day wandering around the newly-created 'gardens' which are about 5km long and 3km wide. First we saw the Mayadevi temple, which supposedly was built on the exact place where Buddha was born.

Mayadevi temple, where Buddha was born.... oooooh!


Now we go to India....