Nepal - Kingdom of Absolute Beauty

The kingdom of Nepal takes your breath away, both literally and figuratively, though the former can be remedied semi-easily enough through one of the many simple bouts of wheezing whilst keeled over your walking stick, mid-trek.

On a recent excursion to this faraway land, my wife and I counted ourselves extremely fortunate in the timing of our arrival, as a cease fire with Maoist rebels was announced literally days before our flight, as well the rain hitting most of the country ceased providing us with sunny days for the duration of our visit. Not only that, but as this was considered low season, we had the Annapurna trail basically to ourselves for our 4 day trek - beat
that.

During our short stay, we not only were able to glimpse a good portion of the Kathmandu Valley, but also were fortunate enough to visit the serene lakeside village of Pokhara, a travelers Mecca in its own right, due to it being the jump-off point for treks through the Annapurna range of the Himalayas. After four days, approximately 276 remarkable mountain vista photos, three individually eye opening nights spent at tiny hillside retreats in the presence of a wide variety of fellow trekkers, and topped off with an amazing sunrise at an altitude of 3210 meters later, we straggled back to Pokhara, much to the credit of our helpful guide, Niriyan, who could not have had any idea what he was getting himself into, we're sure.

Best advice we can give to anyone with even an inkling of travel adventure: get yourself to Nepal, and soon! When staying in Kathmandu, you can't do better than Via Via Café (www.viaviacafe.com), with cozy rooms adorned in sparse yet fashionable decor for the insanely reasonable price of about
$1.80 US, you almost take for granted the warm atmosphere of the adjoining café, complete with fireplace, excellent preparation local cuisine and extremely friendly, helpful-beyond-compare proprietors.

When in Pokhara, plan to make use of the Blue Planet Lodge, a recommendation provided to us through the folks at Via Via Café. Once arrived, by means of the recommended Green Line coach service from Kathmandu; be sure to say "Hello" to Ram and Niriyan at Blue Planet. If you wish to trek, be careful in utilizing the Jim & Karen reference to secure the guide services of Niriayan as this may very well be just cause for him to run screaming in the opposite direction.

All in all, a truly amazing visit to this land in an all-too-short period of time which has only served to whet our appetite for future visits. Sure, we maybe could've done without witnessing the sacrifice of a live buffalo just across the square from where we were served lunch during our daytrip to the "untouched for centuries" fascination that is Bhaktapur, just thirty minutes outside of Kathmandu, but that was just a matter of bad timing on our part, and we did manage to get a great photo of the severed head, so it turned out pretty well for everyone involved, except maybe the buffalo.

Namaste.

On a tangent:

Thrill Seekers Travel Tip: Ever wish to have that "life pass before your eyes", near-death ultimate experience without the usual requisite involvement of a face-to-face with a wild beast or gun-carrying criminal? Well, have I got just the thing for you.

What you do is the following: Find either a taxi or local bus in any of the following countries - Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia or
Nepal. Request to sit up front in the passenger seat. While the vehicle is moving, keep your eyes squarely focused straight ahead through the front window. Do not turn away, no matter what.

Trust me, after a journey of any length while attempting this, an extreme travel adventurer simply cannot walk away disappointed, assume one can walk away at all, depending on the level of wobbliness found in the knees upon departure from the vehicle.

For an added test of skill, both on your part and the driver: tell him you're in a hurry.