Sunsets provide us with a visual opportunity to reflect on each beautiful day.

Nepal is an absolutely beautifully rich country full of nature, towering mountains and environmental magic. This is a wonderful place to visit if you are interested in either treks, healing and/ or are a nature enthusiasts. Please see my Blog post Annapurna annihilation for a detailed description on the Annapruna Circuit Trek.

Banking in Nepal: At the time of writing the Himalayan bank is the best bank to withdraw money from as it has a much higher daily withdrawal limit as opposed to the 10,000 rps maximum foreigner limit of most banks. Most bank fees are either 4,000-5,000 per ATM transaction.

Female Travellers: If you are a female travelling without a male companion I can only advise you to be careful. A few women I know, including myself, had some unpleasant & inappropriate male experiences whilst travelling throughout Nepal. However, it did not take away from my experience whatsoever and like any solo lady travel just have your wits about you.

Clear skies and brighter prospects.

Getting there:

Kathmandu airport is relatively small in comparison to most international airports I’ve flown into. The visa on arrival can take anywhere from 15 minutes to 60. There are an abundance of taxis and the ATM’s weren’t working when we arrived. If possible I would advise to a. Get your hostel/hotel to arrange picking you (you may pay more but for peace of mind it’s worth it) and b. Get some money exchanged into Nepalese Rupees beforehand.

Things to do: Ah Where to begin… Perhaps shop until you drop in Thamel, Check out the ‘Monkey temple’, the pagodas and stupas of Bucktinath, yoga, eat incredible foods, ah yoga, have I mentioned yoga? Most importantly enjoy the hecticity that Kathmandu has to offer.

Soul work

If you are interested in birth chart and palm readings I can recommend this beaut of a place with an incredible family. Feel free to contact them and make sure to mention where you heard them (me) email Pragya at sherry_sweet26@hotmail.com 

If you are keen on crystals I wouldn’t go further then Nirmal at Tectonic Crystals and my old mate Hari Man Shrestha at Nepal Crystal Shop.

They are both only a short walk down the same road from each other separated by the singing bowl warehouse. Ask your taxi driver to take you beside Naradevi Mandir temple or You can contact Nirmal (which means Clear) on: – 9841246916 and Hari Man on: 9849031985.

Snoozing:

I would absolutely recommend staying at Hotel Devachan. The hotel is more of a home then a sterile hotel providing you with a lovely couch to relax and watch the TV along with the company of Forest the hotel dog. The hotel is out of the hustle and bustle of Thamel providing you with a lovely roof top to view Kathmandu and enjoy the wonderful sunsets. It is also a great space for your own Yoga Practice.

The staff are incredibly lovely, kind and upon request will provide endless information about Nepal. Nakul the owner stored our bags for over the month of our stay and provided us with valuable information to assist with preparation for our treks. The hotel has the best shower that we encountered in our month in Nepal and would stay there solely for the shower.

You won’t be short of delicious food options and I found the best places were merely stumbled upon in the maze of Kathmandu. Therefore I cannot provide accurately located personal recommendations other then to ask the team at Hotel Devachan and they can point you in the right direction.

A huge shout out to Nakul, Kieran and Ross for their extremely friendly hospitality. We will definitely stay here again on our next trip to Nepal.

I would love to hear about your experiences in Kathmandu. Comment below to let me know what travelling through Nepal in 2017 is all about.