Best of Nepal
We were in Nepal, the motherland of Buddha and the highest mountain on earth, for 27 days and traveled around Kathmandu, Sarangatha National Park, Pokhara, and Lumbini. We fell in love with the Himalayas postcard views and the kindness of their Sherpa community. Trekking for 13 days to Everest Base Camp has been by far the most challenging and rewarding adventure we have achieved.
Until 1990, Nepal was an absolute monarchy running under the executive control of a King. Faced with a people’s movement against King Birendra in 1990, he agreed to a large-scale political reform by creating a parliamentary monarchy with the King as the head of state and a prime minister as the head of the government. Governments in Nepal have tended to be highly unstable; no government has survived for more than two years since 1991, either through internal collapse or parliamentary dissolution by the monarchy. With a timeline of precedent communist party insurgency, royal massacre, and suspension of parliament, Nepal was a constitutional monarchy until May 28, 2008. On that date, the constitution was altered by the Constituent Assembly to make the country a republic.
Nepal is a country of vibrant culture, where multiple languages as well as Hinduism and Buddhism practices coexist. As soon as we arrived, the colorful and chaotic streets of Kathmandu impacted us. The poverty in which this nation survives on is evident through daily cuts of electricity, unpaved roads, unsanitary water, and many other precarious living conditions. During our visit, we witnessed several street protests, which seem like a clear manifestation of people’s dissatisfaction with the government.
Below are other great things we enjoyed about Nepal:
Food and Drinks
Buffalo Curry
Lemon Juice
Banana Lassi
Honey Ginger Lemon Tea
Chicken Momo: dumplings
Chicken Thukpa: thick noodle soup
Dal Bhat: similar to an Indian thali: lentil curry/soup, vegetables, rice, and other items
Chicken Biryani: fried rice
Chapati: similar to naan: bread
Moussaka: ground beef with vegetables top with melted cheese
Apple Pie
Yak cheese: really hard cheese, so hard that the local that sold it to us told us to be careful not to break our teeth. Apparently, it is cheese from a male yak… We don’t completely understand that yet.
Yak cheese: soft cheese, from the female yak…
Seabuck Thornberry Juice: local himalayan berry
Yak steak
Tibetan bread: fried bread
Mint Tea
Everest Beer
Favorite Sights and Activities
Everest Base Camp Trek
Walking the Streets of Patan
Viewing the Swayambhunath Stupa
The Great Views of Pokhara
People
Jake and Lucy: from the USA but live in Shanghai, we shared a taxi into Kathmandu from the airport
Noemi: from New Zealand, met at a restaurant in Kathmandu and gave us crucial tips for our Everest Base Camp Trek
Michelle, Martha, Ruby, and Juan Carlos: from Colombia, we met at the airport waiting for our Lukla flight and trekked with them for part of the Everest Base Camp journey
Renata: from Poland, we met in the plane to Lukla and ran into her multiple times during our hike to Everest base camp and later Kathmandu
Lobsang: a Tibetan monk we met in Thamo on our trek to Everest Base Camp
Allen and Natalie: father and daughter from Australia, we met them in Tengboche during our Everest Base Camp Trek
Martha and Magin: from Colombia, we met in Phungi Thanga during our Everest Base Camp trek and later hung out with them in Kathmandu
Narayanan, Shivaji, and Mohan: from India, we met in Phakding during our Everest Base Camp trek and gave us tips for traveling in India
Laughlin: from the USA, met in Lukla during our Everest Base Camp trek
Salvador and Carmen: Sal’s parents arrived to travel with us for a couple weeks in Nepal and India
Reyna: Sal’s parent’s friend from El Salvador who also traveled with us for a couple weeks
Rajan: a 15-year-old local, from Pokhara, that guided us to the World Peace Pagoda
Animals Viewed
Cows
Yaks
Mules
Horses
Macaque Monkeys
Native Words
Namaste = Hello/Goodbye
Dhanyabhat = Thank you
