The roof of the world (Nepal)

Member Name: Pablo_Sevilla

Product:	Nepal
Date:	31/05/09 (10 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Himalayan trekking is out of this world, wonderful culture, dirt cheap

Disadvantages: The political situation...

Nepal

Most of Nepal is located in the Himalayas. The far southern region along the border with India is about the only place that has any substantial amount of flat land!

Obviously the Himalayas are the main draw and they are really the stuff of dreams. They will stay in your memories forever and Nepal is definitely a place you will never ever forget. It is of course home to mount Everest and you can trek to Everest base camp though these days it's a popular trek and the base camp is suffering problems with litter and overcrowding.

But Nepal has much more to offer than just trekking and jaw dropping scenary in the highest mountains on Earth;

The culture here is widely regarded as being much more 'laid back' than in neighbouring India. This is why so many backpackers come to Nepal to escape the intensity and insanity in India for a few weeks but end up staying longer than intended.

The touts are less pushy, there are no densely populated areas and chaotic cities like in India, and the traffic fumes are substituted in place of clean mountain air.

Other than the trekking you have some decent national parks in the south.

The costs are also another big plus point. It's one of the cheapest countries on Earth. You can live off £5 a day quite easily living off of dal baat (rice, lentiles, curried vegetables) and noodles and staying in basic accommodation. Trekking is incredibly easy (much easier than you think for the Himalayas) and on many treks you don't even need a guide (Annapurna mountain range), it's also stupidly cheap, think £5 a day, maybe more if you haved porters and guide, but you'd be hard pressed to spend more than £10 a day in any situation.

The visa strategy is simple as you get 60 days on arrival for 30$ at most border crossings and airports. Very easy to extend in half an hour with a trip to immigration in Pokhara and Kathamndu.

The food doesn't have the complexity of Indian food and is much more basic, but dal baat the staple diet is very cheap, very simple but very tasty in my opinion.

Highlights not to miss are Kathmandu with it's ancient suburbs of Bhaktapur, the monkey temple on top of a hill overlooking the city with very mischeavious monkeys (watch your camera and glasses) and Pokhara, a beautiful town built on a huge lake surrounded by the Annapurna mountains and green forests. Pokhara is also the jumping off point for the best treks in Nepal.

The only real flaw is the ongoing unstable political situation. Check before you go as things can change quickly. At time of writing the Maoists have a majority in Parliament after the king was forced out by massive protests and elections were held. The civil war came to an end. But disagreements within the new Maoist government and between the military means things could kick off again. However for now there is a fragile peace and I would highly recommend you go and see this very special country!

Summary: Probably the best scenary in the world...You will never forget the Himalayas.