Namaste!
When we think about Nepal the first thing that comes in our mind is "Namaste" - the word that locals use to greet a person. In this welcome country we heard it thousand times!
Entering Nepal was like a breath of fresh air for us! After India Nepal looked so clean, pure and quiet that the drive through it was a pleasure for our eyes, bodies and mind. The first few hundred kilometers we drove through cultivated fields and primitive mud houses villages hidden under banana trees. The road was totally not busy and so good that it didn't fit the primitive surrounding.
In Nepal we had our first jungle walk looking for tigers and other wild animals. Guided by a jungle guide and armed with bamboo sticks we felt very brave and shot with our camera two crocodiles, several deers and a rhino female with a baby.
We had our jungle lunch just a few hundred meters further from them on the river side. We didn't succeed to see a tiger which is considered to be big luck. But we saw its fresh footsteps on our jungle road and didn't really want to be lucky in this case!
We discovered again the snowy peaks of the Himalaya range in Pokhara where every spot offered picture worthy views and the town itself reminded us again that Dutch are the biggest travelers!
During all our way through Nepal we could enjoy beautiful scenery. There were no big adventures or very delicious food as in India, no strong emotions as in Pakistan, but the landscape was very beautiful!
Even if we didn't stay long in Nepal we still managed to spend the most of our budget there. Everything was so cheap that we couldn't stop renewing our traveling cloths and buying souvenirs. Finally we had difficulties realizing where the money was gone! Beside this we needed to pay for our plane tickets and the shipment of the bike to Bangkok. We also sent 12 kilos of our personal stuff to Lithuania which included our camping gear as well.
New friends, new business ideas
Kathmandu let us discover medieval times and taste spiritual atmosphere in impressive squares where Hindu and Buddhist religions are going hand in hand with each other.
In this city we also got to know a Nepalese family who helped us to ship the bike, arranged the plane tickets and introduced the local culture to us. We stayed over in their big house where several generations are living, woke up early with laugh of their children, started our day together and had intimate and funny talks in their bedroom before going to sleep.
We also met a Dutch couple traveling with two bikes and spent last days in Kathmandu together. Finally Milda had open and warm girl talks with Lathoya and Johan could chat non stop about bikes and driving adventures with Roy.
We had a great time all together sharing our Nepalese, Dutch and Lithuanian life experiences, comparing the cultures, drinking local beer and tasting Nepalese food.
The Nepalese family gave us as well some common business ideas. In general, Nepal looked as an interesting country in business point of view. Labor is cheap and the quality of production which is often handmade is good. Beside this, the local businessmen are not so familiar with the power of Google so at the end we have something to think about as soon as we are back to Lithuania!
2up in the air
The time to reach another, unfortunately the last one, part of our trip approached - our bike and we got ready to fly to Bangkok from where we start discovering South East Asia.
We said goodbye to our bike a few days before our flight. It was fully packed up in a wooden box which seemed to be a bit too small for it.
The bike reached Bangkok one day earlier than us. Our flight had a delay which allowed us to make a nice surprise to our Nepalese friends and have another last beer together.
Tired, after a very short sleep we landed in Bangkok and felt right away its humid heat and had a warm welcome of always smiling local people.
We felt that we would like this country!
Some numbers:
KMs driven in total: 17050
KMs driven during this period: 900
Money spent during this period: a lot...!!!: 1645 euros (including shopping, bike shipping, plane tickets and personal stuff transportation to Lithuania)
When we think about Nepal the first thing that comes in our mind is "Namaste" - the word that locals use to greet a person. In this welcome country we heard it thousand times!
Entering Nepal was like a breath of fresh air for us! After India Nepal looked so clean, pure and quiet that the drive through it was a pleasure for our eyes, bodies and mind. The first few hundred kilometers we drove through cultivated fields and primitive mud houses villages hidden under banana trees. The road was totally not busy and so good that it didn't fit the primitive surrounding.
In Nepal we had our first jungle walk looking for tigers and other wild animals. Guided by a jungle guide and armed with bamboo sticks we felt very brave and shot with our camera two crocodiles, several deers and a rhino female with a baby.
We discovered again the snowy peaks of the Himalaya range in Pokhara where every spot offered picture worthy views and the town itself reminded us again that Dutch are the biggest travelers!
Even if we didn't stay long in Nepal we still managed to spend the most of our budget there. Everything was so cheap that we couldn't stop renewing our traveling cloths and buying souvenirs. Finally we had difficulties realizing where the money was gone! Beside this we needed to pay for our plane tickets and the shipment of the bike to Bangkok. We also sent 12 kilos of our personal stuff to Lithuania which included our camping gear as well.
New friends, new business ideas
Kathmandu let us discover medieval times and taste spiritual atmosphere in impressive squares where Hindu and Buddhist religions are going hand in hand with each other.
We also met a Dutch couple traveling with two bikes and spent last days in Kathmandu together. Finally Milda had open and warm girl talks with Lathoya and Johan could chat non stop about bikes and driving adventures with Roy.
We had a great time all together sharing our Nepalese, Dutch and Lithuanian life experiences, comparing the cultures, drinking local beer and tasting Nepalese food.
2up in the air
The time to reach another, unfortunately the last one, part of our trip approached - our bike and we got ready to fly to Bangkok from where we start discovering South East Asia.
We said goodbye to our bike a few days before our flight. It was fully packed up in a wooden box which seemed to be a bit too small for it.
Tired, after a very short sleep we landed in Bangkok and felt right away its humid heat and had a warm welcome of always smiling local people.
We felt that we would like this country!
Some numbers:
KMs driven in total: 17050
KMs driven during this period: 900
Money spent during this period: a lot...!!!: 1645 euros (including shopping, bike shipping, plane tickets and personal stuff transportation to Lithuania)
Namaste! or Labas! :)
ReplyDeleteglad to read that 2UP persons are living the dream and are down to earth. seems decision travelling just 2 of you was really great! ofc bike here is also important, so 3 of you perfect team :) happy about cultural and travelling experiences. enjoy, and keep going with all the braveness and boldness!
I might need your comments about thailand or malaysia. as we here plan the trip in february!
so waiting for you guys! :)
Hi, from december the 6th I will be in Bangkok, now I m around with my Vstrom, if you want to drink a beer together I live in Sukhumvit, around Asoke!!
ReplyDeleteLamps, Andrea :-)
Ech.. pažiūrėjau nuotraukas - gražūs vaizdai :)
ReplyDeleteHi Faichetto,
ReplyDeleteIt would be great to meet up in Bangkok. We will be there a bit before Christmas. Don't know how to get in touch with you. Could you write me an a-mail on ongediertebestrijder at hotmail.com. Thanks!
Johan