crellston

Hi All,

I am currently suffering from a bout of acute indecision! Having arrived back in Makassar after a fantastic trip in Southern Sulawesi, I am trying to decide where we should spend our final month after we return from New Zealand and Australia in mid October.

A return to Taiwan is still a possible, although flying from Bangkok is proving expensive and/or time consuming.

I did also look at Myanmar but it seems very difficult without a ready supply of USD bills which seem inordinately difficult to acquire in Asia without incurring the expense of double fx fees etc.

My thoughts then turned to Nepal which is not too much of a hassle and a reasonable cost from Bangkok via KL with Air Asia.

At the end of a long trip like this we normally hole up in an apartment for a month, Lima and Buenos Aires being recent examples. The trouble is that whilst we would like to stay put in one place, there aren't really any Asian cities we where we would want to spend that amount of time, hence the Nepal idea.

I fully confess the extent of my research has been to skim a few websites, blogs and trip reports here and elsewhere. I just need some help in discounting the idea completely or taking it a bit further.

Whilst we have hiked and trekked extensively in the Andes this would be our first time in the Himalayas. I know what to expect at altitude and how to cope but we we don't intend to do any serious trekking and are more looking for a little culture, some stunning scenery, good food and chill out time and maybe a few day hikes. A few days either end of the trip in Kathmandu seem obligatory and my wife liked the look of Pokarra (a good place to spend a week or more?). Other than that Bandipur seems interesting as does the the hiking around Annapurna. We would plan on staying for around three weeks.

Accomodation options look pretty good and inexpensive - at least on booking.com - is this really the case?

Any thoughts, suggestions and opinions including accomodation and not to be missed experiences, places to visit would be greatly appreciated.

LancasterLad

Hi Crellston

Me and the cook had 5 weeks in Nepal in 2014.

If we went again, and using the 3 weeks you propose as a timeframe, I'd...

- 5 nights in Kathmandu. Without the blink of an eyelid I'd stay in Boudhanath at a guest house attached to a monastery, making sure I witnessed dawn and dusk around the Stupa. During the day 1000-1600 Boudhanath is quite touristy, but outside of those hours it's magical. Other places to visit, Pashupatinath [Cremation gnats, a must-see but a bit like a morbid themepark], Durbar Square, Patan, Swayambhu [Monkey Temple], Gardens of Dreams, Thamel. Staying in Thamel is also an option, as is Airbnb, we stayed for a week with a wonderful [very westernised] Hindhu family.

- 4 nights in Bhaktapur, also taking in Nargokot, and Dhulikel, and the Kathmandu Valley. All easy to do by public transport.

- 4 nights in Pokhara. Morning tourist bus from Kathmandu to Pokhara. We went with Greenline, which was the most expensive, but apart from being held up by a landslide it was as safe a journey as you're likely to get along the Prithvi Highway. Should take about 6 hours. Make sure you go to Sarangkot.

- 3 Nights in Bandipur. You could visit Bandipur before Pokhara by getting off the bus along the Prithvi Highway at Dumre. Then getting a local bus up the hill about 6 miles, which drops you at the entrance to Bandipur, which is traffic-free and like going back in time. Locals also wait at the Dumre bus stop and will offer to give you a lift for a fee, which if the local bus looks full might be worth it.

- 2 nights in Kathmandu. Fly out.

The above gives you a couple of days slack.

The Nepal TA Forum has lots and lots of information, and the main players on there are very knowledgeable.

julies

We visited Nepal for three weeks in March the year before the earthquake and liked it a lot. And, we didn't do a real trek but we did some day and half day hikes which gave us an opportunity to see the country. Nepal is really unique, and we liked it and its people very much. However, we felt that if one is not trekking it is worth two to three weeks max, and our opinion of Pokhara isn't very high. Perhaps if one has been out in the total wilderness hiking Pokhara might have appeal, but it was our least favorite place in Nepal; I could never imagine spending an entire week there. Also, I don't know if Nepal is where I'd go to just hole up and sit around for a month.

Here are the places we stayed in Nepal, and I'd recommend all of them. However, remember that this was the year before the earthquake so I have no idea of some of them may have suffered harm.

4 nights Kathmandu (Hotel Courtyard)
3 nights Balthali (Balthali Village Resort)
2 nights Nuwakot (Famous Farm)
3 nights Bandipur (Old Inn)
2 nights Pokhara (Mum's Garden Hotel)
3 nights Chitwan National Park (Jungle Villa Resort)
2 nights outskirts of Kathmandu (Chandra Ban Eco Resort)
2 nights Bhaktapur (Mila Guest House)

If you would be happy with just some extra down time relaxing, I could see adding a night or two more than we spent at Balthali, Nuwakot, Bandipur, Chandra Ban Eco resort, and Mila Guest House.

We did hiking from Balthali and Bandipur. We could also have done some hiking from Chandra Ban, which is a small apartment-type set up, but were just exhausted at the end of our trip and instead sat around and relaxed. We really loved our time in Chitwan and had a half hour tiger sighting there.

Here is my trip report that I never did finish (sorry), but it will give you at least a bit of info on the Nepal segment of our trip: http://www.fodors.com/community/asia...nepal-long.cfm

As I recall, Nepal was definitely more inexpensive than Myanmar for lodging. We were in Myanmar for three weeks this winter and ended up setting our lodging up with an agency and paying by credit card. Thus, our need for cash was minimized.

Have you thought about India for your month? Again, not a place where one just finds and apartment and sits and veges, but a fabulous country.

Hope this helps.

thursdaysd

I didn't trek at all, and still very much enjoyed Nepal. However, the views, which are magnificent, are very dependent on the weather.

Start here (links at the top of the page) for my time in Nepal:

https://mytimetotravel.wordpress.com...culture-shock/

I could have happily used longer in Kathmandu, and had too long in Pokhara given there were no views and I wasn't hiking. You might also consider Chitwal.

WRT currency for Myanmar, I acquired pristine USD in Bangkok, but I get the interbank rate and pay no fees for ATM withdrawals. Capital One also refunds fees charged by foreign ATMs.

Have you considered China? Maybe flying into Kunming or Chengdu?

Kathie

I'm not a trekker, but very much enjoyed my time in Nepal (two different two-week trips), but my primary interest was in the world heritage sites. I have a trip report here, as well as photos of all of the world heritage sites in the Katmandu Valley www.marlandc.com/Nepal-2008

If you are still considering Myanmar, there are now cash machines in the major cities, so you could use kyat all of the time in country. No longer must some things be paid in (new) US dollars.

crellston

Thanks very much for the input! I am working my way through the trip reports and blogs and photos. Tut tut LancasterLad and Julies- neither of you finished your TRs. Must get back to mine on Taiwan

As usual lots of excellent info but I am still vacillating I am afraid!

Part of my problem is that we leave in short time to visit son and DIL in Sydney and will then be in a campervan for 2 months in New Zealand and I really concentrate on those things, rather than spend a whole lot of time planning, which I feel Myanmar would require, although Nepal seems easy enough to wing it?

Thanks for sharing your itinerary thoughts LL, your accomodation details were most helpful Julies. Your blog was, as always, excellent and informative Thursdaysd and Kathie the photos are stunning,

Our last day in Makassar before flying to Bangkok for a few days and then to Australia.

As an aside, Sulawesi has been amazing! Time consuming to get around but the scenery, culture etc. Have been wonderful, will post another report in due course.

thursdaysd

If all you want for Myanmar is the standard Yangon - Inle Lake - Mandalay - Bagan - Yangon that's not hard to plan. I did it back in 2004 with a car and driver (a Canadian I had met on a previous trip had "adopted" the driver and I was keeping as much money as possible out of the government's hands). That was a busy two weeks but you can slow it down and there are some places easily added to the base itinerary.

These days I gather that you really need to use an in-country agency for reservations, so you could just turn your itinerary over to the one Kathie used.

julies

I just re-read your post. I think Nepal would fit the bill more than Myanmar as far as being a place for desired down time. Myanmar definitely seemed to us like a country where one traveled with a purpose of sightseeing whereas Nepal lends itself more to a slow taking it all in kind of place. Plus, IMO, Nepal has more of a tourist infrastructure for independent travel and hanging out a bit on your own. Nepal had many more small restaurants etc. In Myanmar we almost felt forced to stay and travel a level above what we normally desire, and it was nearly impossible there to find out typical preferred style of lodging--small family-run guesthouses or hotels or B&Bs.