Nepal is one of my favorite country to visit. I didn’t visit so many countries but this is my 3rd Nepal visit. The reasons I will share in this today and next few article.

It takes around 90 minutes by air to come to Kathmandu (Capital of Nepal) from Bangladesh. How can we ignore such a beautiful country which is very close to our country. Today’s sky was not clear but usually I start to enjoy the beauty of Himalaya from the plane on the way to Nepal. This is one of the beauty of Nepal visit.

Kathmandu Airport is not a very big or luxurious airport but it has a royal look. Nepal makes things easy for foreign travellers. Visas are available on arrival at the international airport in Kathmandu and at all land border crossings that are open to foreigners, as long as you have passport photos to hand and can pay the visa fee in foreign currency (some crossings insist on payment in US dollars). Recent addition of self service visa application machine is another effort to make the travelers life easy. So just take your passport and ticket and visit to Nepal.

I usually prefer not to take any tarvel package but to explore the country by myself. But this time I have taken a package from home as I am traveling with my wife. Travel operator received me from the airport and introduced the driver ( they call them Guru Ji, Master in English) who will be my guide for next 6 days. This is an hassle free solution they identified. My Guru Ji’s name is Rajon.

During my first Nepal visit with my office colleagues we enjoyed Nepali cultural show with dinner. This time I asked my tour operator to keep that arrangement to suprise my wife. But coming to Kathmandu I got to know this arrangement is not inclusive in my package. I bargained with them saying the tour operator in Bangladesh confirmed this arrangement. Later their office informed our Guru Ji that they will arrange this at my last day of this visit. Lets see what happen at last night. But this kind of issue may raise during your Nepal visit.

Meanwhile we reached to hotel which was around half ann hour journey from airport. On the way to hotel you will not feel a clean polish city which actually not the Kathmandu is. Hence I will not suggest to spend more than 2 days in this city. Our hotel is in Thamel which is a commercial neighbourhood in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal. Thamel has been the centre of the tourist industry in Kathmandu for over four decades, starting from the hippie days when many artists came to Nepal and spent weeks in Thamel. Even though Thamel has been referred to as a “ghetto” by some, many low-budget travellers consider it a hot-spot for tourism.

Thamel is distinguished by its narrow alleys crowded with various shops and vendors. Commonly sold goods include food, fresh vegetables/fruits, pastries, trekking gear, walking gear, music, DVDs, handicrafts, souvenirs, woolens, and clothes. Travel agencies, small grocery stores, budget hotels and restaurants also line the streets. Cars, cycle rickshaws, two-wheelers and taxis ply these narrow streets alongside hundreds of pedestrians.

There are many restaurants in Thamel that serve traditional and continental cuisine, although prices are significantly higher than in non-tourist areas. Thamel also acts as the pre-base camp for mountaineers. It boasts a wide range of mountaineering gear shops, foreign money exchange booths, mobile phone shops, pubs, clubs, and nightlife along with the numerous travel agents and guest houses. Thamel is home to a wide range of the Nepalese population, and serves both entertainment and employment purposes. [This part of Nepal vist info has been taken from Wikipedia. I didn’t find the necessity of rewriting this].

Taking rest in hotel, we walked around Thamel and visited one of my Nepali friends, Mukhesh. I got introduced with Mukhesh in my last visit and he is a very helpful guy. We talked about his marriage and Nepal earthquake in 2015. He is a very matured guy doing business in Thamel and see the life not for money but for happiness. After short visit with Mukhesh, we went for light dinner and didn’t want too miss Nepali traditional food Momo. Tomorrow is our 2nd day of Nepal vist and we will move to Pokhara, 2nd largest city of Nepal and one of the most popular tourist spot.