first trip to nepal, any advice?

hi, we are a family of 4 with 2 teenagers of ages 18 and 15. this is a very last minute planning as we were intially off to greece! but had to cancel due to the riots in athens :(

we have about 7 days and plan to spend a few nights in kathmandu, then do a 3 to 4 day tour to pokhara and nagorkat or similar. would appreciate any advice anyone can give in terms of accommodation (courtyard looks good), food, and travel guides/agents for in and out of kathmandu. thanks in advance, much appreciated

christine

first trip to nepal, any advice?

Dear christinechin25,

Nameste! and Himalaya%26#39;s welcome

I see your thread it is very tide program even it is more then more for good mountion view.wherever yo chose pokhara and nagarkot for Himalaya%26#39;s view it is really good. if you have time and money you can do mountion flight also.

first trip to nepal, any advice?

Hi,

Welcome to Nepal . I am Trekking Guide for Nepal and Tibet Science 1999 till now . YEs, you can do 2 days Programme in Kathmandu including various place seight seeing programm and then drive or flight to pokhara . Pokhara also Very nice place you may can do small trekking or get relac with little Hiking aroudn Sarangkot and White peace stupa then back to kathmandu and drive to nagarkot for mountain view and back to kathmandu will be nice programme. Please fi you need some more help and advice feel free adn let me knwo.

Second try - with corrections (hopefully the first draft will have been removed!)

It depends on what you are looking for ! Can I suggest the following possibilities.

Obviously Kathmandu merits a couple of nights at least. Many hotels are in the Thamel area, lively, quite westernised (live rock bands in cafes etc). Personally I like the Kathmandu Guest House with its peaceful garden offering a haven from the chjaos of the streets, though there are many other reasonable-looking hotels. Outside Thamel you can get a more Nepalese feel, and Swayambunath, Bodnath, Pushupatinath, Durbar Square are all worth exploring.

If you are into silly activities I can heartily recommend a day%26#39;s rafting: from Kathmandu a two hours 30 minute drive will take you to the Trisuli river, where after 3 - 4 hours of grade 3 white water enjoyment you could be driven on to Pokhara. Otherwise it%26#39;s probably worth flying to Pokhara rather than spending most of 1 day on the road by travelling direct to Pokhara by bus.

A couple of nights in Pokhara, with a trip to Sarangkot to gaze at the mountains, and time to enjoy the more laid-back atmosphere of lakeside, Pokhara, are recommended. It%26#39;s worth flying back from Pokhara to Kathmandu, a 30 minute flight, with superb mountain views (sit on the left-hand side of the plane!) On arrival at Kathmandu airport from Pokhara I recently travelled directly by car to Nagarkot and spent the night at the Fort Resort hotel (quite up-market, and rooms in the chalets in the garden are particularly attractive) to enjoy sunset and sunrise over the distant mountains. From there we were driven the following day to Bhaktapur - well worth a visit. The cenral squares are a UNESCO World Heritage site, sympathetically restored after the 1934 (?) earthquake, and virtually traffic-free. The architecture, and the quality of the woodwork, is superb. We spent a night at the Bhadgaon Guest House - very good - and enjoyed the magical atmosphere of evening in the square, with butter lamps flickering, processions, and a real Nepalese feel.

Many agents in Kathmandu would be able to arrange most of this for you. I have used a Nepali firm for several trips. Contact me if you want an email address for them

Hopefully this is useful

Alan

I can highly recommend Puru at Above the Himalaya, Thamel. He can provide excellent guides. We recently returned from a month-long trip to Nepal and he expertly arranged all the details. His e-mail address is tpuruotam@hotmail.com. You may contact me personally for any help I can give. You will not be disappointed in Nepal.

Try TravelManagement (P) Ltd. at www.travelsmanagement.com. They were brilliant with me, I had marv elous experience in 3 hotels in Kathmandu: Dwarika%26#39;s, Shangri-La, and Hotel Himalaya. The agency negotiated extremely low rates, and found rooms when the hotel sites themselves said they had none! They can also arrange any kind of holiday experience you want. I have been back one week, and it was the best month of my life. As I am a disabled traveler, I needed a lot of help, and I got it!

Hi,

I think all of above are advise you because of their business be scared about it.Some are really help for you but some are really private and personal advertisement.

Hi,Recently I return back from Kathmandu with celebration of Christmas.

In my opinion early one night will be in Kathmandu,two nights in Pokhara,one night in Nagarkot,one night in Dhulikhel and last some nights in Kathmandu.

Better if you contact one agency for all services like accommodation,transportation etc because if you contact only one agency they can offer you discounted price.I will advise you to contact info@omegatreks.com.I found their service was really good and mentionable.

Cheers

I agree with Mondela that it is ';Better if you contact one agency for all services like accommodation,transportation etc.';

I used a single tour guide (CorsaNepal) in April for my trip to Kat, Pokhara, Sarangkot and Bhaktapur and was very pleased...comprehensive and personal service. (The owner actually phoned me while I was Stateside to help me through my pre-trip anxiety!!!!)

Feel free to PM me for details, or you can contact Nakul the owner of CorsaNepal directly at info@corsanepaladventure.com

More details at their website:

http://www.corsanepaladventure.com/