Kathmandu, Nepal

In October/November of 2021, my dad and I went to Nepal. On our trip we spent a few days in Kathmandu and hiked the Manaslu Circuit. Here is our itinerary for the entire trip. We had a total of about 5 days in Kathmandu.

Day 1: Arrived in Kathmandu

Day 2: Went over the legal documents and equipment needed for the trip with the trekking company and wandered around Kathmandu.

Day 3-Day 16: Manaslu Circuit trek

Day 17: Day in Kathmandu

Day 18: Day in Kathmandu

Day 19: Day in Kathmandu

Day 20: Day in Kathmandu

If I tried to talk about both Kathmandu and the trek, this would be an incredibly long post, so today I am just going to talk about our time in Kathmandu.

We flew from Anchorage (Alaska) to Seattle (Washington) to Doha (Qatar), to Kathmandu, Nepal. We flew Alaska Airlines in the U.S., then Qatar Airways internationally. The flights were 3.5 hours, then 14 hours, then 4.5 hours. We had about an 8 hour layover in Doha on the way there and on the way back. While there, we wandered around the airport and got Dulce de Leche and Madjool date flavored ice cream from the Harrod’s Tea Room. We almost missed our flight to Kathmandu due to there being two flights to the city from Doha at the same time, so we had to run from one side of the fairly small airport to the other. We left on a Monday morning and didn’t get to Nepal until Wednesday morning. The total time difference between Anchorage and Kathmandu was 13 hours and 45 minutes. Kind of a weird time zone difference.

Day 1

When we landed in Kathmandu we had to take a bus to our gate at the airport building. (You get directly off the plane onto the tarmack, as this airport doesn’t have gates for the airplanes to dock). Then we had to go through customs, which included getting visas, paying fees, and then having our passports stamped. A very difficult process, especially when there are no clear signs as to what you need to do; it took us over an hour to get through customs.

Our guide for our trek was actually the one who picked us up, he gave us strung marigold necklaces as a welcome gift. We drove by taxi through the city to our hotel called “Hotel at Thamel Park”. We met the owner of the trekking company, who was our guide’s brother, and went over the plan for the next couple of days.

Later that afternoon, my dad and I explored the city a bit. We walked to Swayambhunath Stupa also known as the “Monkey Temple”. It is a Buddist and Hindu temple originating sometime around the 5th Century A.D. It is nicknamed the monkey temple due to all the monkeys that live there. While it is quite a climb up what seemed to be a never ending staircase to the temple, the temple provides spectacular views of the city, and there were monkeys climbing everywhere!

On our way to the temple we were able to walk through a good portion of the city. It is always very interesting when traveling to see people go about their daily lives, often very different from my own. This is one of my favorite things about traveling.

That night we had dinner at our hotel. We had the “chicken sizzler” which is a very common dish found in Kathmandu. The chicken was just okay, it was a bit bland, and I wasn’t excited to eat it again.

Day 2

Due to the huge time difference, it took us a couple days to adjust; there were several days where I woke up at 2 am, definitely not a bonus to traveling.

While our hotel wasn’t bad, my dad decided that we would stay in a different hotel in Kathmandu after our trek. The hotel we were staying in was a little odd. We had to switch rooms because of construction and electric saws literally 15 ft from our window, the power didn’t always work, and the shower didn’t work very well. So on our second day, we found a different hotel, and made reservations to stay when we got back. The hotel, Aloft Hotel, was more along the lines of a traditional western hotel.

On our second day in Kathmandu we had breakfast at our hotel and explored the city. We walked about 9 minutes to the Garden of Dreams. The garden, also known as the Garden of Six Seasons, was built in early 1920 for Field Marshal Kaiser Sumsher Rana. It is home to six pavilions, each dedicated to one of the six seasons of Nepal, an amphitheater, several ponds, at least one pergola, a few gigantic urns, and greek style columns. The garden was built in the Edwardian style and is very similar to gardens built in England around the same time. Several statues reside in the garden, including elephants and a Greek goddess. It was in disarray for a long time, before the Austrian government repaired it to what it is now.

After that we walked to Durbar Square, about another 9 minute walk. The square and the surrounding streets were filled with people selling all sort of things, from Tibetan singing bowls to knockoff North Face duffles. It was loud and crowded. People constantly asked if we wanted to buy something or wanted a taxi. My dad took to answering them in Spanish so they wouldn’t keep asking. It was really neat to see what an average day looked like for some of these people. We really enjoyed walking through the streets.

After heading back to the hotel, we went over the arrangements for the trek with the owner and his brother, who would be our guide. We got the necessary trekking permits and paid the trekking company.

That afternoon we did a bit more exploring. We wanted to go into the Narayanhiti Palace Museum, but when we went to the front, they wanted to pat us down before we went in and leave our phones outside in a poorly attended bag check area. My dad and I both thought that this was not a smart idea, so we opted out and instead went to the mall across the street. We got milkshakes in a cafe at the top of the mall that had a nice overview of the palace. While we were sitting there, I did a bit of research on the Nepali monarchy.

Up until 2001 Nepal had a king and a queen. In 2001 the crown prince of Nepal, Dipendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev, shot nine members of the royal family including his parents and two younger siblings. After shooting himself in the head, he fell into a coma. While in the coma, he was declared king after his father’s death. Due to his injury, he died after three days. His uncle ruled after he died and in 2008, Nepal became a Republic and now has a president.

For dinner we went to Thamel Donar Kebob. We had the buckwheat chicken donar kebab. It was a buckwheat wrap (GF) with chicken, avacado hummus, and french fries inside, and was absolutely delicious! It was so good, we went back several times at the end of our trip to get more.

Day 3-Day 16

During this time we were trekking, to read more about that, visit my Manaslu Circuit Trek post.

Day 17

The first half of the day was spent driving back to Kathmandu. I will detail that part more in the post about the Manaslu Circuit trek.

The first thing we did when we got back to Kathmandu, was check into our hotel. Due to the fact that we ended getting back from our trek two days early, we decided to move our departure date up a day.

For a late lunch, we went back to the Thamel Donar Kebob restaurant. If you are ever in Kathmandu, I highly recommend going there. The owner is very nice and the food is delicious! After that we spent the rest of the day walking around Thamel and neighboring streets doing a bit of shopping. Here is a list of what we bought while we were in Kathmandu and some of the approximate prices:

Nepal’s currency is the Nepalese Rupee. While there are several countries that also use rupees, the exchange rate to U.S. dollars is slightly different depending on the country. The exchange rate of the Nepalese Rupee to U.S. dollars was around 120 rupees to $1.

-2 Yak shawls-(700 rupees/$ 5.80)

-3 postcards-(50 rupees/$0.40)

-4 Kurta (knee length)-(2000 rupees apiece/$16.60)

-1 Kurta (floor length)+ pants-(1000 rupees/$8.30)

-2 woolen Kurtas (about 2880 rupees/$24 each)

-1 small Kukri, a type of knife used in Nepal and India, has a very distinct curve in it’s blade

-1 elephant statuette

-3 Yak blankets

-1 tiny wooden chess set

All of the prices I have listed above will of course vary, since there are tons of sellers and markets in the city. If you think the price is too high feel free to try to bargain with the seller. A few sellers will have a sign advertising no price haggling, etc, so we normally avoided those stores as they sold similar items to other stores and their prices weren’t the lowest.

That evening we had dinner at the hotel. We tried a fried corn cake, chicken kebabs, and another type of chicken that was kind of spicy. We also had Caesar salad and crème brûlée, both were really good.

Day 18

We had breakfast at the hotel, potatoes, omelets, fruit, and my personal favorite, make your own fried noodles. You get a plate, pick which type of noodle you wanted, rice or wheat, then you would pick the vegetables you wanted (carrot, cabbage, green onion…), and finally you would add the sauces and seasonings. Then you give it to one of the chefs in the kitchen and they would pan fry it for you.

After breakfast we got our PCR Covid test, for the return flight home.

Then we took a taxi to the Pashupatinath Temple. No one knows exactly how old the temple is, but legend says it has been around since 400 B.C., some parts of the temple date back to the 16th century as well.

We walked into the temple area and were looking at some of the buildings when a man came up to us and asked us if we had any tickets, we said no, because we hadn’t seen a ticket booth. The man pointed it out to us and told us that we needn’t bother, since we were already inside. (It turns out that we had walked in through an entrance we weren’t supposed to be using, but to someone who isn’t Hindu or Buddist, there was no way to tell that you weren’t supposed to walk in.) Then the man tried to get us to pay 1000 rupees for his guided tour, we said no. We went and bought tickets anyway (because it was the right thing to do). The tickets cost 1000 rupees apiece and were pretty neat looking. Then a guy outside the ticket booth just started giving us a tour, we thought it was part of our ticket price and he had an official tag ID on, so we went along with it. He told us some really interesting things.

Buddists and Hindus cremate their dead. We learned that Hindus still sacrifice animals, but Buddists do not, and neither sacrifice humans anymore. Thankfully this isn’t a rule anymore, but historically, when a women’s husband died, she would have to kill herself.

After the tour the guy said “this is where you can tip your guide” and we were confused. He did give us a rather through tour, so my dad tried to give the man a couple hundred rupees, but the man said “that is not enough sir”. The man told my dad that he owed him 1000 rupees. The guy started arguing with my dad, so my dad just gave him the money to end the situation. Then the guy was all reverent and bowed with his hands folded as if we were being exceptionally kind. In my opinion the man was devious and hustled us. It’s ironic because on the tour he had told us about karma and that he believed in it, yet he had no problem in hustling us.

From November 4-7, the people in Kathmandu celebrate the festival “Tihar”. (I will explain more about what the festival is later).

We did a bit more shopping and wandering through the city. The streets were absolutely crowded during this festival time, we had to push through crowds in order to walk. There were vendors selling brightly colored powders which they used to decorate faces and other things.

For dinner we found a place that made gluten free (GF) buckwheat french crepes. The restaurant’s name was “French Creperie Kathmandu”. The crepe I had was mushrooms, cheese, and potatoes. For dessert, we each had a lemon sugar crepe. They were very good and we recommend this place for dinner. On our way back to the hotel, we picked up some momos for me to try. Momos are a type of dumpling found in India, Tibet, and Nepal. Unfortunately they aren’t made GF, so I was the only one who tried one. They were absolutely delicious and tasted like chicken dumplings. The momos I ate were from the “Thamel MoMo Hut”

Day 19

This morning we woke and had breakfast at the hotel again. The owner of the trekking company, Chandra, had invited us to spend part of the day with his family to celebrate the festival. The festival of Tihar is the festival of brothers and sisters.

Ramesh (the trekking guide we had) came on a motorcycle and then got us a taxi. We went to Chandra’s and Ramesh’s sister’s house to celebrate the festival. We went in and sat in an office/bedroom. We sat in a room with all the brothers and men of the family. Then the two women (sisters) came in and went around and put white paste followed by some of those colorful powders I mentioned being sold in the streets on everyone’s forehead. We were all given a necklace made of marigolds. My dad and I were given blue scarves with Nepali writing on it. Each of the men were given a “Dhaka”, an odd angular sort of hat. After that the women gave us drinks, they tried to offer me beer, but when I refused, they gave me coke instead. We were brought a meal which consisted of beans, some sort of spicy green stuff, sweet fried rice flour rings “sel roti”, breaded deep fried meat, and prawn crackers (deep fried starch with prawn flavoring, they look a bit like pork rinds). The food good and I especially liked the sel roti.

When we were done eating Chandra gave my dad and I plaques with our names, date, and the Manaslu Circuit trek on them. Then we went back to the hotel and then walked around the super crowded streets. Since this was the most important day of the festival there were parades, trucks full of people banging cymbals with super loud music and people dancing (many of them drunk) and singing alongside the cars filled the streets. That evening we had dinner at the hotel.

Day 20

We had breakfast at the hotel again. Since it was Sunday, we took a taxi and went to the only Roman Catholic church in the city called “The Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary”. We had to take our shoes off before entering the church and we sat on red cushions on the floor for mass.

Back in 2009 a bomb had been planted in the church. A women dressed in black had walked in for mass and left her purse with the device in it saying she was going to the restroom, then when she walked out it exploded. The group behind the attack was the Nepal Defence Army. Three people were killed and at least a dozen injured.

After mass we wandered around Thamel again. We went to the Thamel Doner Kebob place for lunch, and it was just as good as the first time we went. Later that afternoon we got ice cream from the mall next door to our hotel. I had “litchee caramel” and “butterscotch crunch” and both were very tasty.

We left to hotel around 5 pm and Chandra picked us up in a taxi to take us to the airport.

Now to the interesting part of our day. When we got to the airport we found out that our COVID tests had to be within 48 hours, which made no sense. To get into Nepal our tests had had to be 72 hours, but to leave they had to be 48 hours (despite the US and airline requiring it to be 72 hours). So we rushed around and tried to find a rapid PCR testing site, conveniently there were haseveral near the airport. A very nice man helped us find it. They charged us 2000 rupees (under $20) apiece for the tests. We were worried that we would miss our flight, and ended up waiting 90 minutes for our results. Of course both of the tests came back negative. When we finally got the results, raced back up a hill with our luggage to the airport. The nice man from before helped us get to the front of the line to get our tests stamped.

Then we rushed through security to our gate. What was interesting though was that at security there were two separate lines. One for men and one for women. And thankfully for me, the women’s line was shorter. Fortunately, we arrived at the gate in the nick of time, they were already boarding.

Our trip back was with the same airlines, flights, and layovers as on the way there. In Doha, we ate at Harrods again, this time I had Medjool date and Saffron ice cream. The Saffron was surprisingly good! Although my dad, who loves saffron rice, didn’t care for this ice cream at all.

Adjusting to the time zone when I got home was really easy. In fact I think it was easier to switch the 14+ hour time difference than the usual 4 hour (when we travel to the lower 48 east coast).

COVID in Nepal & Nepal information

While we were walking around in Kathmandu, we usually wore masks because of COVID. When the streets were fairly empty, we took them off, but during the last couple of days when everyone was on the streets we wore them. At the time, Kathmandu’s COVID numbers were pretty high. The both hotels we stayed at in Kathmandu asked that you wear a mask in the lobby. We were both vaccinated so we weren’t too concerned.

Some aspects of Nepali culture are very different than ours. In Kathmandu, there is garbage everywhere. When a Nepali person is finished eating a bag of chips, they just toss the plastic bag on the ground and continue on their way.

When you are walking around the city, you will notice that all of the homes are made from concrete and painted bright colors.

Timeliness is also something that is different between our country and theirs. We found that the locals were very late to almost everything.

The dress style throughout all of Nepal, at least all I have seen, can be kind of odd. The women are generally dressed in their traditional “Kurta Suruwal”, a pair of baggy pants, a shirt with slits on the sides that either goes to the knee or to the ground, and a long scarf. All these clothing items are made from a thin, soft, breathable fabric. Most of the time, the shirt/dress will have elaborate designs stitched on with beads or embroidery thread. The Nepali women are usually very well put together with clean clothing and brushed hair. The same cannot be said for the men though. Occasionally you will see a man in his traditional clothes, but more often than not, they wear a strange mix of U.S. athletic wear. The traditional clothes for a man are the “Daura Suruwal” or “Labeda Suruwal”, a thigh length shirt with baggy pants. But usually they’d be wearing flip flops with Adidas sweat pants and a North Face Jacket or similar.

Due to the lack of cleanliness, I would not recommend eating street food while in Nepal. We found the country to be very unsanitary in how they handle food and hygiene, in comparison to Panama, Oman and Thailand. Water normally has to come from bottled water because of the risk of contamination.