Discover Nepal

It really depends on a lot of things. Most people stay a few days in Kathmandu upon arriving and then go to Pokhara or Chitwan for trekking/adventure sports and then come back and do some exploration of the Valley like Bhaktapur/Changunarayan. I like to suggest first staying outside of the city in order to get over jetlag. Do some of your souvenir shopping in villages like Changunarayan, where I happen to live, or Bhaktapur, Kirtipur, Pharphing, etc. You can enjoy genuine, Nepali culture and hospitality in such places and often get better prices on thangka paintings, masks, healing bowls and such.

You can plan to spend from $10 per night for a room and $10 for good food prepared properly. You can cut a dollar or two if you just have mo:mo or samosa for lunch and Nepali Dal Bhat for dinner. You can get a good tourist bus to Chitwan or Pokhara for $12-15 for a nice tourist bus; some even have toilets onboard and WIFI. They all stop at a nice place for a breakfast buffet.

Many people like to just stay at one place and get to know the culture better. You can stay with local families in an home-stay from about $10 a day, including food. That's pretty basic, but many people love getting to know a family and supporting the local economy. If a person wanted to stay in a guesthouse like ours they can stay for about $20 per day in a bit more upscale room and restaurant quality food and weekly transportation for sightseeing. That would be a weekly or monthly, well-negotiated, discounted rate. Unless you don't mind a lot of air pollution and dust you won't want to stay in Kathmandu for too long. It's best to stay at a bit higher altitude for fresh air and genuine Nepali life. But everyone should spend at least one day in Kathmandu. It's an amazing place.

Ohhh thanks a lot for all these details. It really seems interesting and exciting to be there. I am taking all the advices and finally prepare myself for the journey. Do you stay there or you also doing tourists over there ?

I'm from the US and retired in Nepal. I love it here. When I first got here everything was so new and unusual I became fascinated with life here. I actually thought I was on my way to Madagascar when I got here 8 years ago. I've been writing about life in Nepal ever since.

I've enjoyed it so much that I started blogging and writing and now I have an NGO and a Youtube channel. The Youtube channel is about tips for tourists, but a bit more visual than the blog. So, I was talking last week about doing a video with 'Nepali Style Lifestyle' featuring some of the many things that are so different and special. I could only think of 2 things for the video. It all seems so normal to me now. It's not the best name for the channel so you can just #WhatAboutNepal

Girish, hi! Just curious to know whether you are still planning to come to visit Nepal soon? I loved your island nation and its people when I was there and of course indulged fully in all Mauritius has to offer by way of sandy beaches, bathing, sailing, visiting multi lagoons of great beauty with dolphins and all. Did kite surfing too. To me it's an island paradise!
One place, Mauritius, is an island nation and the other - Nepal - is a landlocked country. And in part because the two are so vastly different, I think many of us would love to hear how you found Nepal after you've completed your visit there? What things did you like? What aspects of Nepal didn't you like?
Mauritius being No 2 in the world for "best air" in the world, how did you react to nepali pollution? Did you wear a mask to combat it? How did you move around in the country? How you find transportation, electricity and other amenities?
Did you go trekking? How did you like it?  Would you recommend it to other travelers? Tell us all, ok?
We'd love to hear from you!

Greetings Beatricia,

Thanks a lot for replying to my post. Yes i am still doing my procedure to be able to make the move to Nepal. I am very happy that you did had a great time here and hope you come back soon Yes for me going to Nepal its like a spiritual trip and discover this unique place. I also want to meet some new people abroad and share some good moment of happiness. Once I do the trip I will be very happy to reply to all your queries.

Girish

Greetings Beatricia
NAMASTE!!!
We are hurried to welcoming Beatricia in Nepal ,  we are going to celebrate visit Nepal 2020 & explore our heaven natural resource culture etc. you really gain lifetime different experience in Himalayas, Mount Everest , loard buddha's birth place. Thank you for your plans to visit nepal. Please don't be hesitant to ask any quray & problem we are ready to any kind of assist for our guest.

Thanks for your kind words, Girish. Here's wishing you a great trip to Nepal. All of us will be waiting for your post-trip impressions of that country with great interest and anticipation - particularly as they will be coming from an unbiased outsider and representative of  that wonderful Mauritius Island paradise. Can't you to read you!