All posts filed under: Nepal

Nepal – Kathmandu Hotel – Shanker Hotel (Nepal Travel Review Series)

Published by Beatrice

We picked Hotel Shanker as it is relatively near to the main shopping areas of Durbar Marg and Thamel. Hotel Shanker also came with relatively high scores on Tripadvisor. The Shanker Suite was huge, with a king sized bed and a living room area to lounge. However, it was a far cry from our great quality stay at Dwarika. Firstly, the staff are not as friendly as other hotels we stayed in Nepal such as Dwarikas in Kathmandu or Waterfront Resort in Pokhara. In fact, some of them do not even say “hi” or “Namaste” when they walk past us. Also, the electricity went off a few times every night in Hotel Shanker, taking a while to restart each time it starts. The reception of the TV is also bad, resulting in very pixilated images. The bath tub floor was also slightly dirty and even the hanging line has some rusty orange gooey stuff on them. Except for the large room, I didn’t feel like we got a very good value for the stay. One …

Nepal – Kathmandu Hotel – Dwarika Hotel (Nepal Travel Review Series)

Published by Beatrice

Dwarika Hotel is our favourite hotel of the entire Nepal stay. Dwarika is like a little haven. From noisy Kathmandu streets, walking through Dwarika main gates is like a downshift in gears. Suddenly, I am surrounded by historical buildings, friendly staff, birds chirping, and a spacious courtyard to chillout and relax. The sudden silence is quite pleasantly deafening after all the noise and buzz right outside. Dwarika Hotel also has many preserved wooden windows and structures, which is a defining architectural trademark of Dwarika. Because it is relatively low season to trek in Nepal, we got a free upgrade to the Dwarika Suite. (Tip: Feb is a good time to travel to Nepal as it is tail-end of winter, if you can take slightly colder weather. The food/shopping/hotels are all relatively cheaper and less crowded!) It was an amazing big room with a king sized bed, lounging bed, sofa area, bathtub and bathing area. I loved the rustic, historic feel of the very clean and spacious room. There is free yoga class at Dwarika Hotel …

Nepal – Kathmandu City Tour (Nepal Travel Review Series)

Published by Beatrice

Nepal is a place I have not even dared to think about travelling to previously. I was not sure about its safety due to political instability, and I was more afraid my fitness is not up to par for any kind of trekking. However, in the past 2 years, I had a few inspirational friends who have completed their treks and returned victorious and more confident with life. Hence, we decided to visit Nepal and trek before we try for children and it will be even harder to bring them (though now I learnt you can hire a porter for the baby!). Landing into Kathmandu city inevitably reminded me of India cities like Mumbai – the endless energy, honking, dusty roads due to new roads and buildings being constructed, with cows sweeping their tails from side to side, indifferent to the busy people and traffic passing them by. Then suddenly, reaching Dwarika Hotel, which is my favourite hotel this trip, was a nice switch to a quiet haven. But Dwarika deserves a different story on …

Nepal – Pokhara Hotel – Templetree Resort & Spa (Nepal Travel Review Series)

Published by Beatrice

Templetree Resort & Spa had a clean resort feel, reasonably comfortable and we had a nice pool view from the second floor. The staff were very friendly and helpful. It was extremely crowded and popular with Chinese tourists. I think other than us, all other tourists in Templetree we met were Chinese! Simple, spacious, clean room design with comfortable bed for a good rest before our Poon Hill Trek! The service was extremely personable. They knew we had been married <1 year and gave us this surprise when we check in! So sweet! Very clean and relatively modern decor in the room. The only feedback I have for the Templetree Resort & Spa management is to improve the internet by allowing auto-save on the username and password. You have to key in a username and password EVERY TIME you log into the internet; it doesn’t autosave for some reason which makes surfing very inconvenient. For the entire Nepal Travel Review series by EatPrayFlying, please refer to the list below: Nepal– Kathmandu City Tour Nepal – Kathmandu Hotel …

Nepal – Pokhara City Tour and Paragliding (Nepal Travel Review Series)

Published by Beatrice

The bus ride from Kathmandu to Pokhara was 7 hours long. While it was a good experience, I highly recommend flying from Kathmandu to Pokhara (and vice versa) for only ~USD$100 per way and the flight time is only 30 minutes. By the time we got to Pokhara in the evening, we were a tad zoned from the very long ride on uneven, dusty roads. The first thing that struck me about Pokhara is its peacefulness and natural beauty compared to Kathmandu. The entire touristy street with food, bars and shopping wraps around the glistening Phewa or Fewa Lake, quite like the beachfront shops at Patong in Phuket but still less commercialized. For our Pokhara ‘city’ tour, though I would call Pokhara a town rather than city, we first visited the Devis Falls, which was having low water levels. The more impressive was the Gupteshwar Cave opposite the Falls, which is the largest cave in South Asia. It was dark, wet but the final view of the sunrays slipping through the slit was worthwhile. God …

Nepal – Pokhara Hotel – Waterfront Resort (Nepal Travel Review Series)

Published by Beatrice

If you don’t mind a slightly further location (5 mins by taxi) from the crowds main Lakeside area in Pokhara, I highly recommend the Waterfront Resort. It is right beside the glistening Phewa lakes, where you will regularly see paragliders land. The room itself was well lit, amazingly big and clean! I must say that after a 5 days Poon Hill trek living in teahouses with mostly cold water, it was nothing short of heavenly to have a hot water bath without worrying about hot water running out. Waterfront Resort has an affliated spa 3 minutes walk away, and the 45minutes foot reflexology with soft massage on calves helped us to finally be able to climb the stairs without looking like a duck. The Resident Manager of Waterfront Resort, Mr Santosh Karki, was extremely personable, and gave us the best possible room in the resort (3rd floor, overlooking the lake). He personally spoke to us at the end of the trip to ensure we had a pleasant stay. The restaurant within Waterfront Resort, Aquabird Restaurant, …

Nepal – Poon Hill Trek 3 (Tadapani, Grandruk; Nepal Travel Review Series)

Published by Beatrice

Day 4: Tadapani to Grandruk Panorama Hotel Teahouse at Tadapani awoke us to the most amazing view after Poonhill – a different side of the Annapurna ranges including Machapuchare (Fishtail) Mountain. It was an experience of a lifetime eating Shin Ramen breakfast facing these amazing Himalayan mountains. More photos of the amazing view: After breakfast, it was a relatively easy descent in the forests, and we stopped by Lonely Planet Restaurant for my favourite Chicken Dal Bhat this trip. It was my favourite, because shortly after we ordered our lunch, the lady boss walked downhill to her backyard, plucked fresh leaves and broccoli, brought them back to her kitchen to watch and cook for us! Nothing gets fresher than this! We arrived at Grandruk after a leisurely 3-4 hour walk for the day. I found Grandruk extremely scenic, with fields of wheat growing, nice cascading fields and donkeys on nice cobbled stairs. Our teahouse for the night, Manisha Hotel was also the most “advanced” hotel we had the entire trek, with attached bathroom n one …

Nepal – Poon Hill Trek 2 (Ghorepani, Poon Hill; Nepal Travel Review Series)

Published by Beatrice

Day 2: Thikedunga to Ghorepani Right after breakfast, we embarked on our “3000 steps” morning on cobbled rocks and loose stones, occasionally giving way to donkeys coming downhill with chickens and suppliers for the locals. I think I climbed 300 steps (which is already 15 floors if you think in city terms) and I asked my guide if we are near…he laughed and said we have at least another 1.5hours to go. It was then I realized how bad my judgment on distances and height was :P. It was heartening to have many trekkers with us, encouraging one another. It was humbling to see older porters carrying 40kg on their backs or local old men carrying heavy logs passing us! Our guide also told us that his grandfather, who is an ex-gurkha, who is in his 70s but still able to walk with 30kg load today. All these sights and stories only remind me of the mental barriers I have created for myself. If so many other older people can do it, I can definitely too, with God’s …

Nepal – Poon Hill Trek 1 (Tikhedhunga; Nepal Travel Review Series)

Published by Beatrice

This is the blog entry I am most excited to write about Nepal, because the trek has been a life changing experience for me: 1)     All through my life, when things get difficult, I sometimes give myself excuses to stop going. But on this trek, no excuses are allowed and I cannot give up because if I stop, I will have no tea-house to stay at for the night and I will be stranded in the mountains, so the only option is to keep going no matter how exhausted I was or how much my leg muscles were crying. Despite having mild food poisoning and a cold at some point on the trek, God helped me to keep going, one step at the time, to complete the step. 2)     I tend to limit myself in my thinking especially in relation to physical fitness, for example, I can never do a marathon or a vertical marathon (~climb 90 stories in Singapore Raffles City). But without realizing it, on day 2 of the trek, we had to …