Boudhanath Stupa

On our very last day in Nepal, we decided to revisit the Boudhanath stupa. Dating back to the 14th century, Boudhanath is one of the holiest buddhist shrines in Kathmandu, as well as… Continue reading →

Street art of Nepal

I love to explore cities that are rife with graffiti. Unfortunately, the word graffiti has negative connotations so people are quick to call it vandalism. I won’t deny that there are many many… Continue reading →

Venturing outside Thamel

I know, I know. It’s easy to fall into the tourist trap that is Thamel. Those apple danishes and pizzas are delicious, after all, and having wifi at the hotel is sooo nice.… Continue reading →

Kids of Katman

Aw, who doesn’t love kids? Especially when they aren’t your own, and you can just hand them back to their parents once they start whining. Here are some cuties! Near Thamel Met these… Continue reading →

Getting to know KTM

In regular intervals throughout our 10 weeks in Nepal, we spent a lot of time wandering around Kathmandu. She became familiar to me… One of many benefits of slow travel. Although, if one… Continue reading →

Pics of Prithvi Highway

The Privthi Highway is a 108-mile (174km) stretch of road that connects Kathmandu and Pokhara. Though its far from being the most scenic road in Nepal, on good days, the Annapurna massif and… Continue reading →

Revisiting Pokhara

To get to Pokhara from Tansen, we hitched a ride with our new friend, Matthias, in his fully stocked Land Rover. Check out his epic journey with “Bluey” from Germany to Nepal at… Continue reading →

Tansen

Upon a friend’s recommendation we decided to check out Tansen, a Newari town in the hills a few hours south of Pokhara. It turned out to be a relatively big town, with old… Continue reading →

A safari through Bardia National Park

A safari tour, booked at the Bardia Wildlife Resort, cost us a whopping 2,900nrs each, which included 2 meals in addition to the admission fee and guide service.  The sign at the entrance… Continue reading →

Trundling through the Western Terai

The roads in Nepal are bumpy and cratered at the best of times, so choosing destinations that require traveling long distances are not to be taken lightly. On our way to the Annapurnas,… Continue reading →

Bhameshvar

With an staggering fee of 1,000nrs per person for admission into the Pashupatinath Temple and the Bhameshvar cremation ghats, the venture doesn’t seem quite worth it. Supposedly the temple dates a few thousand… Continue reading →

Lalitpur (and/or) Patan

On a map, it seems to be a suburb of Kathmandu, but Patan–officially recognized as Lalitpur– is actually one of the oldest cities in Nepal, with roots dating back to the third century… Continue reading →

Walking: the great equalizer?

Another trekker’s declaration I read in a book about the Annapurnas lodged into my head and I’d turn it over, again and again, in my head as I toiled up a slope. “No… Continue reading →

Part 4: Helambu

The Helambu trek is a popular alternative to the Langtang trek, going through different types of terrain over 6 to 7 days. The highest point of the trek is 3,640m at Tharepati, but… Continue reading →

Part 3: Gosainkund

The Gosainkund trail goes up to a cluster of sacred lakes up around 4,300m, and every August thousands of people on pilgrimage–Buddhists and Hindus alike–make the hike to bathe themselves in the holy… Continue reading →

Part 2: Langtang Valley

The Langtang trail is an easy teahouse trek, an in-and-out one (which means you go and come back the same way) and only takes 7 to 9 days. The altitude gain is not… Continue reading →

Part 1: Tamang Heritage trail

The Tamang Heritage trail is a 3-5 day trek outside Langtang National Park and is new on the list of short treks…We only did 3 days, since our outdated map didn’t outline the… Continue reading →

Nepal Motorcycle Diaries: Bandipur and Gorkha

With some days to kill before starting our Langtang trek, we reserved a motorcycle and scoured the map for a worthy destination. Settled on Bandipur, a hill town three hours away, and set… Continue reading →

We be off Langtang-ing

While all of y’all back home in the USA and Europe are enjoying spring (or the last vestiges of winter), Xiker and I are off to the Langtang Valley for the next few… Continue reading →

Hazy Pokhara

We did nothing in Pokhara, in terms of ‘traveling’. It was as if our moods mirrored the hazy weather that enveloped Pokhara in a thick, yellowish cloud for the entire time we were… Continue reading →

Life in the shadows of the Annapurnas

Without doubt my favorite part of trekking the Annapurna Circuit was discovering life in the skies, saying the word “namaste” and earning a smile as wind-kissed cheeks turned into apples beneath crinkled eyes.… Continue reading →

Part 2: Prepping for the Annapurna Circuit

For questions related to finances, what to pack and other possibly important queries, see PART 1. This post covers additional information that may or may not be important, depending on yer opine. Helpful… Continue reading →

Part 1: Prepping for the Annapurna Circuit

Because I found other blog posts related to the Annapurna Circuit to be immensely helpful when I was prepping for the trek, here is our own ‘comprehensive’ list of things we think would-be… Continue reading →

Into thin air: the Annapurna Circuit

Even though most people think of the sky-scraping Mt. Everest whenever Nepal is mentioned, there are a lot of other destinations this country has to offer. The Annapurna Circuit is touted as one… Continue reading →

Nepali New Year

Happy Nepali New Year, y’all! It’s the second day of the year 2070 BS (Vikram Samvat, also spelled Bikram). For Nepalis the new year falls sometime in mid-April, as according to the lunar… Continue reading →

Kathmandu

Before getting into Nepal, Xiker and I hadn’t really talked about what we’d do there. I hadn’t even had a chance to look into the Lonely Planet Nepal book we’d been carting all… Continue reading →

Border crossing: India into Nepal

EDIT 4/2014: to clarify, this post does not contain practical information specifically about the border, sorry! That said, here are 2 tips so you don’t have to read through the whole thing! 1.… Continue reading →