Nepal: Travel Journal

Our Nepal adventure began in December at Heathrow Airport, where we boarded a SriLankan Airlines flight to Colombo. Although the journey was quite lengthy, I thoroughly enjoyed the experience with SriLankan for a couple of reasons. First, the onboard food was far superior to any I had encountered before. Second, the standard hot drink of choice was Ceylon tea, and the hostesses thoughtfully offered trays of lemon and lime to complement it.

On arriving into the hot and humid Colombo at 4am, I was shattered, having had no sleep the night before. The first port of call was to grab a beer somewhere. Prior to the trip, I had been obsessed with trying a Lion beer in Sri Lanka, so I made sure I was equipped with a pint of that before purchasing a bottle of water. With the beer out of the way, we proceeded to check our gate for the transfer flight, but there was no sign of it. The airline eventually offered their apologies and provided us with a dining voucher, informing us that the flight was delayed.

Several hours later, I found myself getting quite restless, so we headed into the Palm Lounge. It was an interesting place, but at least it offered us an area to relax in. I also took the opportunity to explore the airport, bought a few souvenirs, and ventured into the horrifically hot and humid indoor smoking room.

I’m really hoping to properly visit Sri Lanka in the future, as my first impression of the place, albeit it was just an airport, was that the people were very hospitable and friendly.

Anyway, after several hours, we eventually boarded our second flight from Colombo to Nepal. It was a very smooth flight, but I had trouble sleeping—I’ve never been able to sleep on a plane.

Journey to Nepal via Srilanka:

Arrival into Nepal

Upon arriving in Nepal later in the afternoon, I felt like I hadn’t slept for days and had very little energy. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the visa application process was an absolute breeze. After passing through immigration, we faced a huge crowd of people queuing to leave the airport. Surprisingly, this turned out to be much less painful than it appeared. We were in and out in virtually no time at all.

While waiting for our luggage, I took the opportunity to purchase a SIM card and get connected—it was seamless and surprisingly cheap.

Once that was sorted, we were greeted by my fiancé’s brother, who met us at the airport to pick us up and take us to our Airbnb.

Kathmandu:

Kathmandu was absolutely breathtaking and didn't come as a culture shock to me, as I had previously travelled to Mali in West Africa (not to compare the two places, but if I was the type of guy who only ever traveled to Spain and then traveled to Nepal, it would obviously come as a bit of a culture shock for me). The majestic mountains, stunning temples, random monkeys climbing and jumping all over the place, along with my initial encounters with the locals, left me in awe. It was unlike anything I had ever experienced before, and it felt incredible.

Kathmandu is an amazing city that caters well to westerners. I loved the restaurants and bars here, and just how friendly everyone was—it felt much safer than London. I was very surprised at how much the city had to offer, from unique restaurants to lively bars. My favourite dishes were butter paneer and, of course, the momo. I didn't really miss any home comforts because the food and even the beer were much better than at home. My favourite local beer of choice was Barahsinghe.

The only aspect of Kathmandu which I struggled with was the air pollution and dust, which resulted in me having to wear a mask when out and about.

Journey to Pokhara

After a fun week in Kathmandu, we set off for Pokhara. We had two choices: to travel by plane or by road. Both options presented a level of risk, but we weighed them and decided to opt for the road journey. At this point, I was feeling rather unwell with a cold or chest infection, or whatever it was, but I won’t get into that. Luckily, it was super easy to purchase antibiotics.

The journey to Pokhara took around six hours, but we made several stops along the way, including a visit to the Barahsinghe Brewery. Although I wasn't well enough to enjoy a pint, I settled for a hot lemon and ginger instead.

Pokhara:

Upon arriving in Pokhara, my initial impression was that it wasn't very built-up, much like the villages we had passed throughout the journey. However, as we traveled further into Pokhara, it increasingly felt like a well-established holiday destination. The town was quaint and full of cool bars and shops. Our hotel was quite good—the room was comfortable and clean, and the hotel offered access to a rooftop with a swimming pool. I'm pretty sure I was the only person to have stepped foot in that pool in a while, as it felt like an ice bath, but I enjoyed it.

Pokhara had a lot to offer, and two of my favourite places were the Krazy Gecko bar and restaurant, which sat next to the lake and felt like a hippy resort, and the temples on the little islands that we traveled to via boat.

The weather in Pokhara was around 20 degrees during the day and significantly colder at night, which was perfect for me considering that back in the UK it was below freezing. I genuinely felt like I was somewhere hot on holiday.

In conclusion, there's nothing negative I can personally say about Nepal. While the roads, safety of their national airlines, and pollution levels might be questionable, and some areas are quite run down, you cannot fault the country's rich culture, warm-hearted people, and delicious food - It is a place I’d recommend to anyone, and I would love to have the privilege to visit again one day.

P.S don’t be put off with the idea of using a squat toilet - there are many western style toilets in Kathmandu and Pokhara, although research suggests that the western way is not the way and actually squatting is much better for you anyway - that said, I couldn't build up the courage to use the squat toilet through fear of making a mess after with the hose.

There is much more I can say having stayed in the country for several weeks so do engage in the comments!

Friendliness of people: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Food / Cuisine: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Recommend: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Oh and finally, one piece of advice I will share since I spent hours researching on the plane is - don’t smile at the monkeys, it is a sign of aggression - also, don’t worry about packing an alarm clock! (See below)

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