Pokhara & Chitwan, Nepal

Day #4 in Nepal: We booked a bus ticket with Green line tours from Kathmandu to Pokhara for $25 USD, although we had heard of a landslide a few weeks prior the company told us the Bus was still running, however it would be expected to take a bit longer. Arriving at 07:30 am and an estimated 5 hour bus ride, turned into a very long 14 hour ride.

The bus was Air conditioned and even had WiFi for most of the trip, and it was less than half way full we were able to lay out in the back bench seat of the bus and nap for a while. It was an extremely bumpy ride however so we were startled awake several times. The bus company was wonderful though, had we booked with a local bus I'm sure we would have been miserable in the heat during the day. And this company included a lunch, which we were about 7 hours late for but still were able to enjoy it, the area we had lunch at was gorgeous and I have to say if I am ever there again I would raft down the river and stop here over night to stay before rafting the rest of the way to Pokhara -- I discovered this was an option while we were in Nepal, and it sounds absolutely amazing!

I emailed Hotel Adam to let them know we were arriving late, as they were going to pick us up from the bus station. We decided just to walk as it was about a mile up the road and we didn't feel like haggling for an overpriced taxi. The security man at Hotel Adam greeted us with kindness and showed us to our room so we could get to sleep.

Day #5: After a good night's rest we made our way up stairs for the included breakfast, much to our surprise we walked out on the balcony to some absolutely AMAZING views of the Annapurna Mountain Range. Adam, the hotel owner was at breakfast and gave us a history lesson on Pokhara and Mount Everest, he was very kind and full of knowledge about the area.

Prior to leaving for our trip Dan had asked me my thoughts on an Ultra Light Flight, me being the way I am said let's do it (without actually looking it up). We booked ahead and it cost about $95USD each. The taxi for our Ultra light flight was due to depart at 08:00am and the actual flight was scheduled for 09:00 am. At breakfast Adam had let us know the Avia Club Nepal had called and said due to the weather they would be picking us up a little later but as of now they still thought the visibility would be good enough to make the flight, which we were thankful for due to both of our Mount Everest flights had gotten canceled in Kathmandu.

We enjoyed our breakfast packed our cameras and headed off for our flight. On the way Dan asked if I had researched this company or flight, to which I said no, and he then began reciting the statistics I think to scare me. But I put my big girl panties on and said I would go first as Dan's fear of heights is worse than mine.

We both opted to due to do the private flight because it was an open air plane=no windows! I've been sky diving twice which is much more terrifying however, I was still slightly nervous about the take off and landing. But I have to say this flight was so smooth and the landing could not have been softer!

The pilot told us how lucky we were, he said that the Mountains hadn't been so clear in weeks due to the rainy weather and we both had beautiful views and were even able to see the peaks of all of the Annapurna Mountains!

By the time we headed back to our hotel the clouds had taken over and we could no longer see the mountains as we had prior, we were truly lucky to have gotten that hour of clear skies! We decided to buy the video/picture package as it was only $20 USD although after viewing our pictures we were kind of disgusted in ourselves at attempting to take our own as many of the pictures they captured were of us taking pictures haha.

After returning from the flight exhilarated we started off to Phewa Lake to start our hike to The World's Peace Pagoda after asking Adam at the front desk to point us in the right direction.

There are 3 routes to get to the pagoda and we chose the most popular which includes a boat ride and hiking. We walked down the block and took a left at the first road, we could see the lake from here and continued on our way. Once we got to the lake we walked along the sidewalk seeing what kind of prices each stand was charging for a one way trip to the trail head on the other side of the lake.

We ventured back to the first group of people we saw who also happened to have the cheapest price, it was only a few dollars, which included life jackets as well. It was a peaceful boat ride with some of the most beautiful views!

It was a beautiful sunny day, except for it was so humid along with over 100 degrees out, we were both already sweating and we had been out of the hotel for maybe 30 minutes. It's a short hike, however it is a steep one so combined with the humidity Dan had to stop several times to let me breath and cool off! In total its about a 45 minute hike to the top.

Once you reach the Pagoda there are several cafes to stop at and grab a cool drink or a snack along with souvenir shops and toilets. We walked around the pagoda before making our decent down which we had decided to take one of the alternate routes which would lead us to Devi's Falls. We made our way down stopping at a souvenir stand where we met a very kind man selling a lot of beaded jewelry all hand made, Dan began talking to him about his life growing up in Tibet. After buying a few bracelets we continued on to the main road and followed our map hoping we were on the right trail down.

There are no signs posted so any time we passed someone we would ask if we were going the right way. After descending down the hill we walked through Chorepatan, a small town on the outskirts of Pokhara. We ended up stopping at a cave Dan had previously read about, the entrance was only $2 USD so we decided to take a look. We made our way inside

past some booths of local trinkets then down some stairs and continued our way into the cave, part of the cave was closed off due to it being the rainy season.

The sign for Devi's Falls was just across the street, We made our way to the entrance, passing some cows lounging along the way.

From here we continued on our way back to the city center near Hotel Adam. We had seen a sign at a restaurant near the hotel that advertised live music with Traditional Nepalese dancing so we decided to finish our long day of hiking with dinner at Boomerang Restaurant which is located right next to the German Bakery which looked amazing. Dinner was delicious! The cultural show is daily at 7pm which was good, some of the dancers were more enthusiastic than others but overall was a good performance to watch and free entertainment with dinner, so you really can't complain. We wandered through some of the shops and bars in the area and made our way back to the Hotel. We spoke to Adam about hiring us a personal driver for the next morning to take us to Chitwan, as the buses had been canceled and only some were still continuing to run because of the land slides. Along with our first ride lasting a good 10 hours longer than estimated.

Day #6: We went with a private driver instead of the bus optionHe was a great driver and so friendly, I would highly recommend him! It was about $30USD each for two people. We got there in about 5 hours after leaving at 0600 at sunrise. Note that to enter the National Park there is a $17USD entrance fee.

We arrived to Chitwan Jungle Safari Resort and were able to get checked in early and take a little power nap before we took off wandering through the small town looking for an elephant breeding center we had seen advertised. The only thing we found was terrible elephant exploitation... people were bathing the elephants which we love however they were then having tourists pay money to stand on top of the elephant in the water as they poked the elephant with a sharp stick to get it to spray water out of its trunk. They then continued as people climbed up the elephant's trunk to sit on top of the beautiful creature and ride it through the field.

We strongly suggest you do your research before visiting centers that claim to be animal sanctuaries. There is supposedly an elephant breeding center in which they conduct tours to but only early morning or late afternoon (only a $2USD entrance fee) -- we cannot speak for this tour as we did not purchase it.

We booked our safari's prior to arriving through the email address we found on the hotel's website.

Our first adventure was a canoe safari tour ($8USD each), we were able to see a few alligators, a wild elephant, and a lot of birds including a king fisher-- one of the popular beers is named after this bird, we drank it frequently on our trip.

We stopped down the river on a trail and got out to start our Jungle walk tour. It was incredibly hot and humid, we were sweating like crazy this entire tour especially being in the jungle where it felt as if there wasn't even a breeze. We followed our guide, Sangam, along with another man that followed behind us.

They were both extremely observant and quiet, I'm extremely clumsy and was tripping over branches and being loud the entire walk haha. Our tour was about 2 hours long, which I think may have been too long.. I'm not sure if I would do the jungle walk again if I went back, it was just a little too muggy and nerve wrecking trying to avoid leeches the entire walk. Thankfully prior to the start of our trek we met some girls at this amazing lunch cafe that told us to make sure to cover up our legs/feet and tennis shoes were a must to avoid leaches--- we're extremely glad we took their advice.

Along our Jungle walk we saw several types of Deer and a one horned rino. We also saw some giant hole and termite mounds from the sloth bears. We took a break on top of this structure, almost like a deer stand that stood about tree line so we could look down over the jungle. There were several other tour groups that joined us at the top as we all attempted to cool down.

We made our way back along the trail to the canoe, it started to rain just as we were getting back.

We were soaked by the time we walked back to our hotel, hung up all of our wet clothes and washed off check each other for leaches.

We signed up for a cultural dance show ($2USD each) which was really fun to see all of their outfits and everyone was enthusiastic. Because Dan was there we sat directly up front center stage.

The show ended with a man in a very elaborate peacock costume trotting down the stage stairs and placing a rose on my lap. :)

To which one very intoxicated man in the row behind me was very jealous about, after the show I attempted to give it to his wife, and he took it and gave it to another lady. haha, there are always some strange people you meet along the way.

Day #7: Another early morning, as we had signed up for the 0600 Jeep Safari and the meeting time was 0500 in the Hotel Lobby. We found our tour guide waiting for us, as we are always a little late. It was about a 30-35 minute drive to the jungle area.

This safari was much nicer as we had A/C and it wasn't during the heat of the day. We were able to see several types of deer, a wild boar, a lot of different types of birds, and more alligators all from the comfort from inside of the Jeep. The total tour lasted about 3 hours and I would recommend it if visiting. We enjoyed our free hotel breakfast when we arrived back before packing up our belongings and figuring out our path to our next destination..... India!

Check out our Podcast on Nepal @ I'm Not Lost Travel Podcast available on Itunes and Google Play

& follow us along to our next country... India!