Saturday, January 28, 2012

Royal Chitwan National Park


Royal Chitwan National Park is the first national park in Nepal with all the wild vegetations and wild life. It is established in the year of 1973. This national park is about 932 sq.km. wide. It is in the Chitwan district.
Royal Chitwan National Park is also one of the main tourist attractions in Nepal. Many tourists from various countries come over here to enjoy the wild life. The forest is very dense here. You can see different types of wild animals such as tigers, deer, foxes, wild boars and so on. Peoples can get elephant safari and if they are lucky enough they can see the tiger walking freely in the jungle. Inside the jungle there are facilities of good accommodation along with safari on elephant or in the jeep, rafting in the Rapti River and also if someone wants to go for jungle walk it is also provided.  

Jomsom


Jomsom is located at the altitude of 2800m at Kaligandaki River.  It lies in Mustang district, in the lap of high Himalayas. Jomsom is one of the tourist spot. There are three ways to reach Jomsom; 1) Walking: starts from the Beni.  2)Vehicle: From Pokhara take vehicle to Beni then again have to interchange the transport. Roads are not well built so during monsoon there will a possibility of landslide. 3)By Air: There is a direct plane from Pokhara to Jomsom. But it can be inconvenient if the weather is cloudy. People in Jomsom are mostly Thakali and Gurung. They are mostly famers and grow mainly apples. Some people runs the hotel and restaurants. Some sells mostly the fossils.  Jomsom is rich for Tibetan culture. The landscapes of Jomsom are breathe taking. Hotels and restaurants offer best facilities for the tourists. You can also do the pony ride in Jomsom.
Jomsom is the gateway to Muktinath temple which has the religious importance to Hinduism as well as Buddhism. Also the gateway to Manang and Upper Mustange.  

Lumbini


Lumbini is the one of the holy place In Nepal, especially for the Buddhism. It is the place where Gautam Buddha was born. He was born in the year 642 BC. Gautam Buddha was the son of King Suddhohana, belonged to the Shakya dynasty. His mother was Mayadev. Mayadevi was on her way to her parents house when Buddha was born. But after when Gautam Buddha had grown up he gave up all his luxurious life and lived as a hermit for the rest of his life.He was the founder of Buddhism who gained Enlightened under the Bodhi tree and came to regarded as Buddha or Awakened One.
Lumbini lies in Rupandhi district. Many people come to visit Lumbini to worship Buddha and some just come to visit. It is located west of Bhairawa bazaar. From Bhairawa bazaar it takes about 30 minutes on the vehicles. Mayadevi temple was built on the same spot where Buddha was born. Inside the temple there is the holy status of Mayadevi and Gautam Buddha when he was just a child. There is a small pond to the south of the temple. When King Ashoka visited Lumbini he constructed four  stupas and a large stone pillar with a image of a horse at the top. It is known as Ashoka Pillar. In the northern part of Mayadevi temple there are other temples also which are built with the aid of different countries such a Burma, Thailand, China, Japan, Germany and so on.

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Trekking in Nepal


Trekking doesn’t mean for physical enjoyment or viewing hills and mountains but it is to know the best things which you have never experiment before and last it forever. Nepal is rich in natural heritage, culture, natural beauties, great history, and adventurous wildlife and so on. There are so many attractions in Nepal which attracts so many people from various countries. So people come to see the Mt. Everest which is the highest mountain in the world. Some come to climb the highest peak and many have succeeded also.  Another attraction is Gautam Buddha, who born in Nepal. He is also known as “Light of Asia”.  Trekking in Nepal is vast, it takes lifetime to complete but still you still won’t get more.
On the way to trekking trails you will often get nice hotels to stay and of course the place for open camping.  Every new place you trek, you will find fascinating new things and the living style of people from the hills to mountains. They have sense of hospitability for the trekker. Trekkers are guests to them. They consider trekkers as God. In Nepali saying “Athiti deva bhawa” which means “Guest are God”.  Trekkers can choose the route for trekking depends on their physical strength. Some trekkers wants to trek upper Himalaya, they need to prepare to face difficulties on the way because routes won’t be easy. If the trekker wants to go Upper Mustang trekker needs a special permit.
Since you are willing to trek here in Nepal you need to calculate your time as well as budget.


Ghandruk


Ghandruk, a piece of heaven fallen in the earth. It is the place where you enjoy trekking along with that you can get to see the stunning views of the peak of Machapurhre (Fish Tail) (6993m),  Annapurna I (8,091m.), Nilgiri ( 6940m), Lamjung Himal (6931m), Dhaulagiri (8,167m.), Hiunchuli (6441m), Annapurna South (7219m), Tukuche (6920m) and other small peaks from any rooftop of any houses in the village. Population in Ghandruk is 4,748.
Ghandruk is 42 km from Pokhara in a vehicle and from Birethati  it takes 5-6 hours walking.
People in Ghandruk is mostly are Gurungs and some other castes also in few number. They are all very friendly. Living life style here is mainly farming like other hilly people. They grow rice, potato, millet, barley, etc. Since it is a tourism area there are clean and reasonable hotels and restaurants for the tourists and trekkers.
The forests are very dense with red rhododendron tress and different species of birds are also found here. People in Ghandruk pay more attention to keep their village clean.  In the village there is a Gurung museum where you can find Gurung’s traditional equipments. The main language in Ghandruk is Gurung language. 





Janakpur


Janakpur is very famous for the Hindu pilgrimages.  It is 122km south-east of Kathmandu. Population is approximately 80,000. Janakpur was once ruled by the great hindu king named Janak. Sita was the daughter of king Janak and later married to the Ram. Sita and Ram are worshiped as the god and goddess. A huge crowd is gather here in Janakpur on the festival Ram Sita Bibah Panchami. Pilgrimages and other visitor come Janakpur to pay respect to Ram and Sita during that festival.
Janakpur is full of Mithila culture. In Janakpur mostly people speack Maithili language. There is huge temple of Ram and Sita and inside that status where put around representing the marriage ceremony of Ram and Sita. People in Janakpur are well known for colorful painting which shows the Mithila culture.
Janakpur has many luxurious hotels and restaurant for the tourist. Among them Hotel Manaki, Rama hotel, Sita Palace, Hotel Ananda and Welcome Hotel are the famous one. For the pilgrims also there are quite reasonable lodges and dharmasala available.

Bandipur


Bandipur is a small town but full of historical and cultural place of Newari people. It lies 143 km west of Kathmandu, 73 km south of Pokhara, 70 km to the north of Chitwan and 8 km from Dumre .
 The buildings around the town are the houses of Newari family living there from generation to generation. Mostly the buildings are very traditional wooden carved that’s why the history is still preserving there. Looking back at the history,  Bandipur was ruled by the Magar King from Palpa, Tansen. But later when King Prithvi  Narayan Shah conquest Kathmandu Newari traders flown to Bandipur.  After the town became the trade route between India and Tibet.
Now this route has became the new Prithvi Highway.  Some of those buildings have been changed into restaurants and guest house for the tourists.

Pokhara


The most beautiful city in Nepal, Pokhara. It is the second largest city in Nepal. All the natural beauties lie here in Pokhara. Not only the place but also the heart warming people you can see around here. The population in Pokhara is approximately 350,000. It lies in the western part of Nepal. Its temperature sub-tropical.
There are so many beautiful places to visit. Mt. Fishtail, Arnapurana range and others Himalayas can be seen clearly from any part of the Pokhara. Other places like Davis Fall, Mahendra Cave, Gupteshwor cave, World Peace Stupa, etc. and temples such as  Bindhyabasini, Bhadrakali, Sitaldevi, Gita mandir temple and Bhimsen temple, Barahi temple which is in the middle of Phewa lake, etc are the worthy to visit. You can see the reflection of Mt.Fishtail in Phewa Lake. Many people come from different country to visit Pokhara. Some people just come for paragliding from Sarangkot hill. From Sarangkot you can see the best view of Pokhara.


Bhaktapur


Bhaktapur is one of the ancient city of Nepal, which is also known as Bhadgoan i.e. City of Rice. It is in the Bhaktapur district, Bagmati zone.  Once it was ruled by the Malla King. Bhaktapur is around 13 km east of  Kathmandu. Bhaktapur is rich for old traditions craftsmanship, potters, woodcarvers and weavers from centuries. Near the main gate there is a big water tank. It was built during 15th century by King Yakshaya Malla.
Inside the Bhaktapur Darbar Square there are two huge statuses of lions and also there is a images of Bhairab i.e. the one the image of Shiva and also Urgachandi. It was built during 1696 AD. Inside that palace you can see the huge status of King Bhupantindra Malla. This status is considered as the most important status of Bhaktapur Palace.
Many tourists find Bhaktapur very fascinating and intresting because it got the amazing history and  breathe taking huge building with beautiful carving and status.

Kathmandu


Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal. When one has to come from foreign country he/she must step in Kathmandu first. Kathmandu is very busy city and approximately the population in this city is more than a million. Kathmandu is the living history. This city has developed a lot but something has not changed yet which is its cultural and artistic heritage that shown in temples and buildings. According to the mythology Kathmandu was once a lake and a monk called Manjushree cut off the hill and drained the water. Then people start to live in the valley.
Kathmandu is called known as religious place. The main religion in Hindu and followed by Buddhist. Many pilgrims from different countries come to visit the holy places such as Pasupatinath, Swayambhunath, Baudhanath, Budhanilakantha and so on in Kathmandu. Not only pilgrims but other tourists also come from various countries. There are many places in Kathmandu which is worthy to visit such as Hanuman Dhoka, Patan Palace, Kumari Ghar, Changu Narayan, Bhimsen Tower ( Dharara), Narayanhiti Museum, etc. Tourists’ area in Kathmandu is at Thamel where you can find good restaurant, cafĂ© and hotels.