StanBalaban Posted August 3, 2013 Share Posted August 3, 2013 Just booked a weekend trip to Kathmandu for a little getaway on Thursday. Has anyone been before that can recommend the usual stuff - places to visit, sights, good eateries, bars, etc....? Staying at the Hyatt Regency which I'm led to believe is quite nice, but any feedback is most welcome. Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyh29 Posted August 3, 2013 Share Posted August 3, 2013 I'm there for my 3rd time on the 31st Aug ... Coming in from Bhutan Yeti airlines and a flight around Everest is a must do... Early start and you'll wait around at the airport but well worth it Sightseeing wise head down to the Pashupatinath temple and see people being cremated ....Bodnath Stupa is probably the best of temple places to see and Durbar square is also popular but a bit meh ... Tbh you can sorta jump in a taxi and just get him to take you around the places and wait .. There is one temple I can't remember the name of where you climb up loads of steps and look out over KTM and get a decent view , I'm sure a taxi will know it There are a few strips clubs around when you go in as you are a westerner your likely to be given a prime seat and VIP service (I.e pay more for drinks) so try and go to the bar directly if you can Bars are a plenty but full of Trekkers ... There are also a few nightclubs around ... Watch the ones with locals as they don't handle their drink well and can be a bit volatile Had the biggest steak in the world somewhere in KTM but couldn't tell you where Massages parlours will offer you extras , the woman massaging me got the hump and sulked when I declined so it suggests they bank on the extra money 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StanBalaban Posted August 3, 2013 Author Share Posted August 3, 2013 Thanks Tony that's great...looking forward to it. It's only a 3 hour flight from Dubai so should be a nice little getaway. I've seen the Everest plane trip and will look to book this week before heading off. Taking a girl so not sure how keen she'll be on the strip clubs (or the happy endings, haha). Anything to be particularly wary of - streetcrime, faux pas, that sort of thing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVFCforever1991 Posted August 3, 2013 Share Posted August 3, 2013 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyh29 Posted August 3, 2013 Share Posted August 3, 2013 Don't recall any faux pax as such ... Your not supposed to take pictures of the holy men but usually they just want money if you do Think when you enter through a door into a temples your not supposed to step on the door step but that's a superstition thing more than anything Never seen any street crime I'd say you'll be pretty safe Watch the taxi hawkers at the airport and anywhere really .. Agree your price before you go anywhere ... But that's kinda standard fare pretty much anywhere you go Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StanBalaban Posted August 3, 2013 Author Share Posted August 3, 2013 Cheers again Tony, much appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shillzz Posted August 5, 2013 Share Posted August 5, 2013 I was pretty set on going to Nepal some time ago, but couldn't quite fit it into my itinerary. Anyway, Pokhara stood out as a nice place to go, with a trip into the Annapurnas to go with it. Though you'd probably have trouble fitting this in to a short weekend break in fairness. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyh29 Posted August 5, 2013 Share Posted August 5, 2013 (edited) Pokhara I did it on my own after having been airlifted of the Everest trek with altitude sickness ..once I got discharged from hospital I still had 4 days to wait for the rest of my group so decided to head on down to Pokhora.... (it's lower altitude and I got airlifted at 13,000 ft so I just worked on the logic that if I stayed under 13,000 I'd be OK ) The bus trip to Pokhara is one of the scariest things I've done in my life .... over turned buses galore as you go around and around and around and around on this windy road ... quite common to see people being sick out the windows ...this was back in 2001 maybe the road has improved since then it was about 9 hours in one of those Indian style buses with the music blaring , chickens flapping about , people sitting on the roof and some Nepalese woman sleeping against me the whole journey I think you can fly it in about 40 minutes ... definitely fly it if you have the chance I actually preferred the Annapurna trek to Everest .. though of course you don't get to see Everest which is the only draw back ... I hiked up into this valley in the afternoon in low cloud , spent the night there , woke up in the morning to see the most amazing mountain views of the Annapurna range ... it was one of those WOW moment's Pokhara itself , has a lovely lake with the locals hiring boats on it and is quite beautiful and then just around the corner all the bars for the westerners ....barracks for the Ghurkha's is there as well as Shillz says probably a bit far for a weekend though Edited August 5, 2013 by tonyh29 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shillzz Posted August 5, 2013 Share Posted August 5, 2013 Tony - I absolutely aspire to live a life like you have. You, sir, are an inspiration! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyh29 Posted August 5, 2013 Share Posted August 5, 2013 everybody has to have a hobby .... my kids are already plotting to beat my number of countries visited so I'm just making it as difficult as I can for them .. that's the awkward sort of bugger I am Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danwichmann Posted March 13, 2014 Share Posted March 13, 2014 So, it looks like I'll be spending 6 months in Nepal from October, working to improve teaching in rural schools. Advice?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyh29 Posted March 13, 2014 Share Posted March 13, 2014 So, it looks like I'll be spending 6 months in Nepal from October, working to improve teaching in rural schools. Advice?! Use a blackboard and lots of stimulus material 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danwichmann Posted March 13, 2014 Share Posted March 13, 2014 So, it looks like I'll be spending 6 months in Nepal from October, working to improve teaching in rural schools. Advice?! Use a blackboard and lots of stimulus material Most of the schools I'll be working with now have whiteboards! Pretty advanced stuff! But no electricity or water. Was thinking more along the lines of advice for living and traveling in Nepal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyh29 Posted March 13, 2014 Share Posted March 13, 2014 I've only been there a few days at a time ( was there in August the last time )so can't really offer much I'm afraid I first went there in 2001 just after the kings son went postal , went back in 2009 and on a pub crawl found 3 strip clubs so whilst no Bangkok it's clearly moving away from tradition ... The strip clubs were full of locals we were the only westerners so they can't say they are trying to cater to the tourists Went in the old royal palace on my last visit , it's only just been opened so check it out , get to see the bullet holes from the massacre Travel wise the buses are as you'd expect and any long journeys will take 4 times longer than you think Get yourself down to Pokhara at some point far far nicer then Kathmandu Good luck with it though , Nepal is a top place you'll def have a blast whilst you are there 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danwichmann Posted March 13, 2014 Share Posted March 13, 2014 A lot of the work is based from Pokhara so I'll be spending a decent amount of time there, heard good things already so good to have it confirmed. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyh29 Posted March 13, 2014 Share Posted March 13, 2014 Take the bus there once for the experience .. And then fly it every other time It's possible the road had improved since 2001 but that was probably the scariest 7 hours of my life , up turned lorries and buses everywhere , even a night time toilet stop where I ducked behind a bush nearly ended up with me dropping a few hundred feet to my death ... You think they'd have put a barrier up or something !! And the music , the non stop whine of that Indian type music at top volume from the drivers radio ... You'll be primed to kill someone on arrival 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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