Why Nepal?

When I told my family and friends that I am going to Nepal, their reaction mostly was: “why Nepal?”, “What would you do there?”, “Where is that?”, “Why don’t you go to South Korea with us?”. But my heart set to Nepal, only Nepal, the only country with non-square flag in the world. To be honest, I had no idea what to do there when I decided to book a flight to Kathmandu (Nepal’s Capital). But after I went there, I realized this is the decision I would never regret and I would always come back to Nepal. If you are planning to go there but still have some hesitation what to do there, I would give you some reasons why should you travel to “The Roof of the World”:

 

• Thousands Temples

The first city I was trying to know in Nepal was Kathmandu. Kathmandu is the capital of Nepal. Known as “the city of thousand temples”, Kathmandu has it’s own beauty. Most of travelers stay in Thamel distric, if you happen to stay there and not too lazy to walking around you’ll realize that you would find so many temples almost in every corner of the street. When I was in Nepal, I went to 2 big temples in Kathmandu, and happened to find few small temples around Thamel district. I took a cab from Thamel Chowk (Thamel junction) to Swayambunath Temple ( around 6 km distance) and it only cost NRS450 (around USD 4) and the entrance fee for foreigner is NRS 400 (around USD 3). From Swayambunath, I went to Pasupatinath Temple where I met few holy men (I will write a post about how awesome they are). Here is some amazing picture of the temples:

 

• The amazingly unique food

An hour after I landed in Kathmandu (after 7 hours flight in total) I was so hungry. Walked down Thamel district you would find so many restaurant. Nepali cuisine has some influence of Tibetan cuisine and Indian Cuisine. Chinese restaurant, Korean restaurant, and of course Indian restaurant are easy to find here. For your information, mostly Nepali cuisine doesn’t use cow milk, they use yak milk (yak:a long-haired domesticated bovid found throughout the Himalaya region of southern Central Asia, the Tibetan Plateau and as far north as Mongolia and Russia. It is descended from the wild yak, Bos mutus. Source :wikipedia). For me, yak milk has more fat than regular cow milk. But it is still taste good.

 

• Beautiful Culture

Nepal has similar culture with India. When I was in Swayambunath temple, I saw a ceremony where a young teenager shave their hair and got blessed. I didnt have any chance to ask some information about this ceremony. I googled it (yes, like 21st century person), google told me that “maybe” it is Upanayana Ceremony. This is a ceremony in Hindu where the monk shave teenagers hair as a symbol that they are entering adult life – or something like that. If you have any information about this ceremony, feel free to inform me in comment column. Thank you in advance.

 

• Friendly and helpful Nepali

Nepali people are one of the most helpful people I met in the world. I was lost in Pokhara then this lady name Meera came to me and asked me if I need some help. When I was having my breakfast in a coffee shop and had no idea what to do, this good guy named Suman told me what to do in Pokhara. When I was freezing at night in my hostel, the receptionist gave me free 2 extra blanket. How awesome are they?

 

• The majestic Himalayas

This must be your first reason to travel Nepal. Himalayas, who doesn’t know it. The majestic and beautiful Himalayas. If you are in Nepal, you could do Everest Base Camp Trekking, Annapurna Base Camp Trekking, or if you fell unfit you could do Poonhill trekking from Pokhara, or if you are just to lazy to move, you would love to go to Sarangkot by taxi to see the beauty of Himalayas.

 

So now what stopping you from going there? Me, myself is planning to travel there again, soon. So, see you there, friend?