When I finally dragged myself out of Pokhara, I went to visit the town of Bandipur, a hilltop settlement primarily known for its preserved, old time cultural atmosphere. Despite it always being part of my plans, I was reluctant to go in the end as I was back travelling solo (the people I had met had all moved on) and it involved a few hours of travelling. However, I am so glad that I went!

Houses in Bandipur are built using traditional architecture making it an aesthetically beautiful and quiet town. I counted 5 other tourists in my time there (which were very easily identified amongst the local people).

From Bandipur, I saw beautiful views of some of the Himalayas such as Dhaulagiri, Annapurna and Langtang. (I am getting much better at remembering the names, but still need to be told which is which!)

These views were particularly spectacular during sunrise and sunset.

Ramkot

While having dinner, I met a girl called Lucy, from Switzerland. She ended up moving accomodation to stay with me and we also hiked to Ramkot together.

Ramkot is a rural village boasting with Nepalese culture and tradition. The hike took under 2 hours each way with gorgeous landscape and mountain views the whole time.

We only met a handful of people on the route so it was a very peaceful walk! It was very interesting to see the village people going about their everyday lives. They are incredibly self sufficent. There were people trading, building, harvesting, feeding animals etc.

Chitwan National Park

On the hike we met Patrick, from Swtitzerland also, who decided to join me on my next trip to Meghauli. Usually when people visit Chitwan National Park, they stay in a town called Sauraha. However, when I was on the yoga retreat, the lady who ran the retreat told me her home town, Meghauli, was a much nicer place to visit the park. Again, when I realised how long it would take to get there – I questioned my decision (2 buses and a tuk tuk later) but having a friend definitely helped and once again, it turned out to be a great call!

We stayed in Chital Lodge, another reccomedation from Durga, my Nepali mother! This beautiful lodge was run by Bishnu and his gorgeous family. They made us feel really at home throughout the stay. The setting of the lodge was perfect with jungle vibes and rainforest sounds surrounding us!

Bishnu was also the guide and knew every inch of the park. He took us on a jeep safari on the first evening where we saw rhinos, monkeys and deer- and of course, an incredible sunset.

The next day we did a full day walking safari. It was very difficult to spot animals and they are all hiding from the tigers, but we did see rhinos, hog deer, spotted deer, wild boar, monkeys, domestic elephants, crocodiles, many birds and one mildly venomous snake! We did also see fresh footprints and fresh poo of tigers, sloth bear and wild elephants.

During the day, we stopped for the cutest packed lunch of all time, prepared by Bishnu’s wife and sat in a secluded spot under the trees for an hour and a half waiting for animals to reveal themselves! A rhino did cross the river in front of us which was very cool!

By the time we got back, we were all wrecked! A gorgeous dinner and snacks were waiting for us after a hot shower, so we relaxed for the evening!

The next morning, we took a ‘private taxi’ to Bharatpur (private in that we paid for it, but anyone that needed a lift on the way jumped in) where I said goodbye to Patrick, and took the 7+ hour bus back to Kathmandu.

Karhmandu is as chaotic as ever so my lovely hostel ‘Elbrus Home’ was the perfect place to arrive at to escape from all the madness!

I laugh as I write this, as it seems like travelling has been completely seemless up to this point. It’s not the full truth however as I realised a few days ago that I had overstayed my visa by a few days (or rather forget to extend it). Panic mode hit, but a few phone calls later, I was informed that a small fine would get me out of going to jail on this occasion! One of many lessons learned on this trip 🙂

Today is my last day in Nepal as tomorrow I fly to Thailand (reluctantly)

I have completely fallen in love with this country and the chaos which encompasses it! The people could not be more welcoming and helpful. Every day you have the best conversations with locals who are only happy to give you their time. Everything about Nepal is chaotic – but it works! Despite having much less, they never seem to be stressed or rushing anywhere.

So how did I spend my last day you may ask? I could have done anything – massage, relaxed, shopping etc, but no – instead I went to Pashupatinath Temple, a Hindu temple that hold open cremations. Cremations happen 24/7 out in the open for everyone to see. I did a tour here, and the traditions are so crazy compared to what we are used to, that it was mind blowing really. I will spare you the most explicit pictures but it was quite harrowing, although the meaning behind their rituals are loving and respectful.

In the first picture, you can see a bald man with white clothing. There were many men resembling this at the temple. This means that their parent died in the last year. When a parent dies, their son has many duties, including burning their body. When the ceremony is complete, they must shave their head, wear white clothing for 30 days and only eat one meal a day as an act of mourning. They have many other duties also, too many to remember! On their deceased parent’s one year anniversary, they return to the temple with a priest and have a ceremony to mark the anniversary, which is what is happening here.

As a pick me up, I then went to a cafe called ‘French Creperie’ where I was very good to myself!

Its time to get researching a new country now, although I could easily spend another month here and would reccomend Nepal to anyone who is considering an adventure in the future! All that’s left now is one last Nepali dinner and probably one last painting! Thankfully my haggling skills have improved considerably!!

Nameste, Nepal. I’ll be back.