Bandipur, Nepal

With my planned itinerary for Nepal out the window we had decided to take a bus to Bandipur in the countryside to experience some time in a small and quiet village. We left the hotel in Kathmandu with another couple and their guide who were on their way to Pokhara to go on a hiking expedition. We walked to the bus stop only to find that the bus was elsewhere, the guide had to call the bus driver and we all had to scramble into taxis to catch up to it, it was like Shimla in India all over again! The journey was bumpy thanks to the unpaved roads but after a few hours we had made it to the busy town of Dunre where we jumped off to make our connection to Bandipur, the rest of the bus carried on to Pokhara where we would also be visiting in a few days. 

Bamboo Scaffolding And Pretty Steps In Bandipur, Nepal

We wandered around the town, withdrew some money and then found the correct bus to take us up the winding roads to Bandipur, it was boiling hot inside the bus so we couldn't wait to get on with the journey. As the bus got going up the steep road the views became more and more impressive. Finally we could see the green Nepalese countryside. The bus stopped at the entryway to the village which is closed to all vehicles, we were immediately ushered into a guesthouse when we left the bus but it was not to be. There were flies everywhere and a distinctly 'toilet' smell about the place. We walked to the hotel immediately opposite and were pleasantly surprised to see a lovely clean, modern and spacious room with amazing views, after a little bit of a haggle we got the room for a great deal too. 

In The Centre Of The Village In Bandipur, Nepal

The Temple Bells in Bandipur, Nepal

After settling in and evicting a spider we walked into the village to grab a bite to eat. The village was so pretty, characterful brick buildings with wooden verandas, trailing flowers and cobblestone streets void of any litter at all. It felt like we were in a wonderfully preserved village in a time before concrete. We found a cute little café to eat lunch and started to chatting to a group of three backpacker girls who approached our table. It was so nice hearing how lovely a time they'd had in Bandipur and Nepal overall, they also gave us tips on what food to try and what to steer clear of. As we ate our delicious lunch the skies opened and there was a downpour, there's something so soothing about watching the rain when you're safe and dry. 

Walking To The Top Of The Viewpoint in Bandipur, Nepal

Walking To The Top Of The Viewpoint in Bandipur, Nepal

The next day after breakfast we decided to walk to the viewpoint directly behind our hotel. We found the path and worked our way up, it was a steep ascent and really strained my legs. It's amazing just how fit I felt at the start of the trip in South America compared to how I feel now, those slow days in India really have weakened my hiking stamina. Slowly but surely we made it up, the higher we climbed the better the view and I made sure to stop frequently to take photographs, nothing to do with catching my breath of course! The landscape was an ocean of green; hills and forests, lonely farmhouses in the middle of nowhere and the small village of Bandipur were all in view as well as the tiny winding road that brought us here. Once we reached the top we sat in a shelter and watched the light and shadows play in front of our eyes, there was a tiny temple with bells and a goat herder who spoiled the tranquility somewhat by hocking up phlegm every few minutes, travel moments can't always be idyllic I thought. We made our way back down and decided to treat ourselves with a refreshing beverage in the Red Rose restaurant overlooking the quaint village street. 

A Dog Snoozing In Bandipur, Nepal

Bandipur was turning out to be a fantastic place to get some rest and relaxation, after our walk the previous day we decided to spend the next day hanging out at our hotel, we only left to eat which was a treat in itself as the food in Bandipur was so far rather lovely. I created a mini art studio on the roof terrance looking out over the hills with the sun on my back. The young girl who takes care of things at the hotel came over to watch me draw and paint with watercolour, in that moment I felt very happy that we had made the decision to come to Nepal after all, even though we were still taking it easy we were creating these small moments which would end up being memories etched in my mind. 

The Top Of The Viewpoint in Bandipur, Nepal

Walking To The Top Of The Viewpoint in Bandipur, Nepal

The following day we took a walk to another viewpoint which was a little further away on the other side of the village but wasn't as steep or strenuous a walk. The paths were muddy, we passed cows in sheds and a woman walking her goats. Once at the viewpoint we could see for miles and gained a completely different perspective of the village and surrounding area. As I sat to catch my breath a sweet little dog came over to sit with me, he ended up following us all the way back to the village. We had another dinner at Red Rose which has fast become our favourite eatery in the village thanks to the fried vegetarian momo's which are a vegetable and spice filled dumpling. The lady who makes the food is so lovely, it's almost like being in a family home, her small grandchildren would pop in from playing every so often. 

Craig Nearly At The Top Of The Viewpoint in Bandipur, Nepal

A Sweaty Betty At The Top Of The Viewpoint in Bandipur, Nepal

The next day we took a walk around the village and I bought myself a token traveller t-shirt from a shop, mostly because there are no laundry facilities at all that we can find and our clean clothes pile is seriously diminished. Our daily treat came in the form of a hot chocolate and chocolate brownie at the bakery on the corner where we could sit and watch the world go by. The next day we packed and paid up ready to leave when we were told by locals that there were no buses running due to a nationwide strike. We had heard that this can happen in Nepal and although it was inconvenient it wasn't the end of the world, in the back of my mind I secretly rejoiced at another opportunity to have Red Rose fried momo's for dinner. We went for breakfast and got chatting to a Nepali man who has been living in New Zealand, he told us that he led the rebuilding of the village from what it was to what it is today and seemed very happy with our feedback when we told him that it was a wonderful place. When it got to dinner time we went for momo's, two ladies we'd seen a few times around the village asked when and where we were going next, when we said Pokhara tomorrow they asked if we'd like to share a taxi with them as they didn't want to travel on a bus with the young toddler they were travelling with. Although the journey was about 80 km away we decided to go for it to avoid the hassle of the bus and another possible strike. 

Have you been to Bandipur? If so, what did you think? Let me know in the comments below. 

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Kathmandu, Nepal

The journey from Varanasi in India to Kathmandu in Nepal was an uncomfortable one, fraught with a long delay in the night due to dangerous road conditions and a tricky border crossing when our newly acquired US dollar bills were not accepted as they were too crumpled. Thankfully a friendly border agent and a nearby currency exchange counter meant that we were able to cross into Nepal by exchanging all our leftover Indian rupees and our new Nepalese rupees too, we had to take a hit with the expensive fees. 25 hours after setting off by bus from Varanasi we arrived in a busy and dusty Kathmandu to start the final chapter of our journey which had reached 10 months. I wasn't sure what to expect of Nepal, the catastrophic earthquake of 2015 was mentioned countless times in the updated guidebook that we had. I wasn't sure if the city of Kathmandu was going to be one big pile of rubble. I was glad to see buildings still standing and life going on as it always seems to despite shattering disasters, there were piles of bricks and building materials abound but rather than focusing on the destruction it seemed to suggest rebuilding instead. 

Street Scenes in Kathmandu, Nepal

Street Scenes in Kathmandu, Nepal

Street Scenes in Kathmandu, Nepal

Street Scenes in Kathmandu, Nepal

Our bus left us on the side of the road nearby a temple. We navigated crossing the insanely traffic laden road to get to an ATM so that we could afford a taxi as all our pre-prepared currency had gone on the visa fees. With money in hand and taxi's aplenty we made our way to Thamel, a popular tourist district where our hotel was based. The streets in Thamel were narrow, muddy and full of character. With a muddle of electricity wires hanging over our heads and colourful trinket shops on every corner I had flashbacks of our time in Vietnam on our first backpacking trip, despite the city being brand new to us there was something so familiar about it that I didn't feel as overwhelmed as I have in other cities on the first visit. We checked in, the hotel staff seemed very friendly. We had a cup of tea on the rooftop terrace and looked over the higgledy-piggledy buildings and streets before venturing out to find something to eat. Rather than brave some local cuisine we decided to treat ourselves with pizza at Fire and Ice; an Italian restaurant that wouldn't feel out of place at home. We decided that this would be where we'd have our last supper before flying home.

I Love The Colour Of These Doors - Street Scenes in Kathmandu, Nepal

Street Scenes in Kathmandu, Nepal

Quieter Streets Than India - Street Scenes in Kathmandu, Nepal

Street Scenes in Kathmandu, Nepal

We woke up after a decent nights sleep which we were thankful for after our long journey. The room however seemed to be very damp, we weren't sure if it was the room itself or our damp trainers and clothes which we'd had to hang up as they were still soaked from the downpour in Varanasi. We moved rooms which was also a little damp proving that although our wet things didn't help they weren't entirely to blame. I'll be glad when we get to leave depressing hotel/hostel and guesthouse rooms behind us, we have certainly had our share of horrible accommodations on this trip. We got ourselves organised and booked our flight home for the 22nd July which gave us three weeks to explore Nepal. We then donned our heavy waterproof walking boots and headed out to see the city. We vaguely followed the Lonely Planet Old Kathmandu walking tour although we stopped short of going into Durbar Square, the city's most famous square due to its 1000 rupee entrance fee which worked out at half a days budget. We could see a lot of the temples from the outside and so we took a few photographs and then doubled back to check out some more of the streets, Kathmandu had a vibrancy to it that was captivating and I couldn't help but take dozens of photographs of the street scenes. We had some more places in Kathmandu that we wanted to visit but decided to save them for when we returned for our outbound flight, we were keen to see a more peaceful side to the country and hopefully catch a glimpse of some Himalayan mountains and countryside too.

Colourful Grains For Sale in Kathmandu, Nepal

Our next stop was to the quiet village of Bandipur, a few hours away by bus.

Have you been to Kathmandu? If so, what did you think? Let me know in the comments below. 

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Varanasi, India

We arrived in Varanasi and took a tuk tuk with a fellow traveller into the city. We were dropped off on a corner and had to walk down the narrow labyrinthine alleyways to our guesthouse. Varanasi is one of the oldest inhabited cities on earth and you could tell, it felt like it was built in an organic ramshackle way. Cubbies selling confectionary lined the alleyways alongside café's, phone shops and trinket shops. Cows and dogs wandered up and down the streets; I couldn't tell what was what along the path but the brown organic matter was piled up and hard to avoid. 

The Famous River Ganges In Varanasi, India 

The Famous River Ganges In Varanasi, India

We found our guesthouse hidden off a tiny street and climbed to the top floor where our room was, although it was lovely we decided to upgrade ourselves to the room next door for a small extra fee, it had air conditioning and a window looking out over rooftops and a view of the Ganges. Inside the room was beautiful, there was a pretty locally made rug on the floor and statement boutique-hotel style wallpaper, it was the nicest room we had been in in quite some time. After much deliberating I had managed to persuade Craig to continue our travels and visit Nepal for a couple of weeks. Although we had become weary travellers I had been so looking forward to Nepal and didn't want to miss our opportunity to see at least a little bit of it. We headed out onto the characterful streets and found a café for lunch and a tourist office to book our bus to Kathmandu. We found a photocopy shop and had hideous passport-style photos taken in front of a dirty white sheet for visa purposes and exchanged Indian rupees for Nepalese rupees and US dollars for the border. It felt exciting to be gearing up for a new country. After fulfilling all the chores necessary for our imminent trip across the border we took a stroll to a bustling market and along the edge of the Ganges, the sacred river that is an icon in India. We had seen the river once before in Rishikesh, there it was fast flowing with holiday makers making the most of the rapids on rubber dinghies. In Varanasi it was wide and slow and more what I had been expecting before we travelled in India. Children played cricket on the ghats and holy men were sat, cows went to the waters edge to drink and wooden boats lined the shore. 

A Cow In Varanasi In India

The next morning we woke early to take a sunrise boat ride along the river to see the famous burning ghats, where Hindu men and women are cremated. We waited with three other backpackers at a café in town before walking to the river. The streets were wet from rainfall and the sludge of mud and excrement lined the path. Being careful not to slip we walked down the steps to the ghats, unfortunately one of the backpackers did slip ending up covered in goodness knows what. We split into two parties and boarded the little wooden row boats. The river and ghats were already a hub of activity despite the early hour, a sunrise boat tour is one of the most popular activities in the city. The three of us sat while being rowed by a local, it was very peaceful. We saw the burning ghats where two people were being cremated at that moment. Funeral services are so private back at home in the UK that it seems strange that here the actual cremation is conducted in view of everyone. I was disgusted to see tourists in other boats taking photographs of the burning bodies despite being told not to do so, how utterly disrespectful. As our boat turned back it started to rain and we had no way to shelter from it. Children jumped off of a jetty into the water just downstream from the cremation site, laughing and showing off their excellent jumping poses and splashes. 

The Famous River Ganges and Ghats In Varanasi, India

The Famous River Ganges and Ghats In Varanasi, India

Once we reached the shore we paid our rower and dashed up the steps to find our hotel, we were absolutely soaked to the bone. The streets had turned into practically a river of rainwater, rubbish and poo and was impossible to dodge out the way of. It's a memory that is ingrained in me, the coldness of my loose elephant print trousers clinging to my legs, my white converse now a distinctly brown colour absolutely sodden and heavy to walk in, us smiling at locals as we passed, dodging bicycles and cows. Once we reached the sanctuary of our room we peeled off our clothes and showered, our shoes had no hope of drying it seemed. Once clean we returned to the café for breakfast, unfortunately without shoes we had to wear flip-flops and yes, the contents of the dirty street ended up all over our feet and between our toes. We sat with the girl we had shared our boat with, she was near the beginning of her Indian adventure and sounded so excited. We dined at a restaurant in the evening ordering a smorgasbord of local cuisine, our last taste of India which was delicious. The next day we'd be leaving Varanasi and India, our two months travelling the most challenging country we'd come across was at a close. 

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Have you been to Varanasi? If so, what did you think? Maybe you're planning a trip? I've got tonnes of advice and tips I can share. Let me know in the comments below. 

If you enjoyed reading then please click the heart at the bottom, share or better still leave me a comment, I love reading them.

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