Nepal And Bhutan 2010

Going to Bhutan is not that easy. Probably the most difficult task is to select a local tour.

Bhutan controls the number of foreign visitors every year and the visitors have to join a local tour otherwise they will not be issued a travel visa. Without a visa, you can’t get into the country. This rule doesn’t apply to Indians though who can travel freely within Bhutan.

I did a lot of research online to find a good local tour company. Almost everyone who had been there said their company was good. I guessed that meant all of them were the same. A few travellers complained about their tour guides though. Anyway, I found one in the end and I left everything to them.

Another question was, there were a few ways to fly into Bhutan, one of them was via Nepal. I chose that route and asked the tour company to organise a short tour in Nepal for me too. They gladly helped.

Going to Bhutan is very expensive. All foreign visitors have to pay a ‘tariff’ which is USD250 (minimum) per day which includes 3 meals a day, a tour guide, a driver and accommodation. If you want to stay in a more luxurious hotel, the tariff will be higher. Having needed to pay that much amount of money, I didn’t mind paying extra for a short tour in Nepal which cost much less than USD250 per day and I chose my own accommodation.

When I arrived at the Nepal airport, I was greeted by the staff of the tour company. They had a very kind smile on their faces. I used to have a flatmate from Nepal when I was at university. If it were because of her, I wouldn’t have travelled to Nepal. 😜

Nepal is famous for its mountains so I put that in my itinerary but I wouldn’t be doing any hikes.  My plan was to have a glimpse of the country and then gave my future self an excuse to go there again.

So, there you go.

My first day in Nepal!

Kathmandu.

I like to take pictures of windows.
The local tour guide took me up this hill. If you have been to this place, please remind me of the name of it. I don’t remember.
So white!
Kathmandu. You can see the mountains here. They are like the backdrop of the city.
These were not paintings. Look what the guy was doing.
Streets / roads in Kathmandu
There are so many temples in Kathmandu. Some of them are Hindu temples.
This square is actually a famous square in the city.
It was so interesting to see the temples sitting right in the heart of the city.
I think this is the UNESCO palace area.
Look at the intricate design of the window!
Another one

As the tour company knew that I didn’t want to do any strenuous hikes, they suggested me to go to Nagarkot instead.  It’s a place where I could still see the Himalayas from the Nepal side. When we arrived at the lodging, it was night time already. I checked in and looked forward to seeing the mountain ranges tomorrow morning. I wondered if it’d be similar to the one I saw in Tibet.

1 – 2 November 2010

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