"one of the world friendliest countries " a Nepal Travel Page by josephescu

Christmas 2006 was approaching with the promises of a 2 weeks holiday almost without any days off from work, and though i explored various possible destinations, they seemed either too expensive or in too short of a notice to get prepared with visas and everything. Interest shifted from Yemen & Oman to Kenya & Tanzania to ultimately abandon the latter because I didn’t see myself climbing non stop from one mountain to another for 3 weeks.
However, there’s always hope, and browsing through the destinations served by low costs from Istanbul I came across Nepal and its capital with exotic name, Kathmandu. They immediately echoed my grey cells of fantastic stories of adventures and remote expeditions, sending shivers to my feet. This is it, I’ve decided in an instant and in the next 20 minutes, after checking the visa situation, I was already buying the tickets.

A week before departure, asking where to procure malaria pills, I convinced another friend to join. This is how we arrived to wander around and discover one of the worldst friendliest countries.

Where i was - Kathmandu and a number of cities around the Kathmandu Valley, all listed UNESCO world heritage - Pashupatinath, Bodhnath, Swayambhunath, Patan, Bhaktapur, followed by a nice long week-end in Royal Chitwan National Park. We dedicated the last few days to a number of destinations on and off the beaten path - charming Bandipur, touristy Pokhara, unspoiled Tansen and finally, Lumbini, the bithplace of Buddha.

Things i missed, as time is always not enough - taking a 1-2 weeks "easy-to-average" trek in the Himalayas, if there is such a thing , escape to the thatched villages and rice paddies in the birds paradise at Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve, go to Jankapur to taste a ride on the roof of the train heading to India, and, of course, head to Tibet.