Nepal: Kathmandu, Chitwan and Pokhara

Arrive in Kathmandu

Tribhuvan International Airport to your hotel in central Kathmandu

• Welcome dinner
• Nuit : Kathmandu

Soir

Then we sit down together to a welcome dinner of dal bhat and Newari dishes at a local restaurant.

Compris

• Pick-up at Tribhuvan International Airport (KTM)
• Welcome briefing with your guide
• Welcome dinner

Swayambhunath, Kathmandu Durbar Square and Patan

Swayambhunath to Kathmandu Durbar Square, then Patan

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Kathmandu
• Environ 1.5 h de route

Matin

We start early at Swayambhunath, the stupa on a wooded hill west of the city, before the tour groups arrive and while the morning light is on the valley. Climb the long eastern stairway, about 365 steps past monkeys and stone Buddhas, to the white dome and the painted eyes of the Buddha on its gilded tower. Then down into the old city to Kathmandu Durbar Square: the Hanuman Dhoka palace, the Kasthamandap pavilion rebuilt after the 2015 earthquake, and the Kumari Ghar, home of the Kumari, a girl worshipped as a living goddess, who sometimes appears at her carved window.

Après-midi

We cross the Bagmati River to Patan for a sit-down lunch, then spend the afternoon in Patan Durbar Square with a local guide: the stone Krishna Mandir, the courtyard of the Golden Temple and the Patan Museum in the old palace. All three are part of the Kathmandu Valley World Heritage Site.

Soir

The evening is free.

Compris

• Swayambhunath early in the morning
• Kathmandu Durbar Square with a local guide: Hanuman Dhoka, Kasthamandap and the Kumari Ghar
• Sit-down lunch in Patan
• Patan Durbar Square with a local guide: the Krishna Mandir, the Golden Temple and the Patan Museum

Bhaktapur, Pashupatinath and Boudhanath

Kathmandu to Bhaktapur, then Pashupatinath and Boudhanath

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Kathmandu
• Environ 2 h de route

Après-midi

After a sit-down lunch, try juju dhau, Bhaktapur's sweet set curd. In the afternoon we drive back west to Pashupatinath on the Bagmati River, the most important Hindu temple in Nepal. Non-Hindus may not enter the main temple, so we watch from the terraces across the river, where sadhus sit and cremations take place on the ghats; your guide explains the rites. We end at Boudhanath in the late afternoon, walking the kora clockwise with Tibetan pilgrims as the butter lamps are lit.

Compris

• Bhaktapur with a local guide: Durbar Square, Taumadhi Square and the Nyatapola temple, Pottery Square
• Sit-down lunch in Bhaktapur
• Pashupatinath from the terraces across the Bagmati River
• Boudhanath stupa and the evening kora

Fly to the Terai and Chitwan

Kathmandu to Bharatpur by air, then by road to Sauraha

• Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
• Nuit : Sauraha (Chitwan)
• Environ 1 h de route

Matin

After breakfast we transfer to the domestic terminal for the flight to Bharatpur, about 25 minutes over the hills to the Terai, Nepal's flat, hot lowland. By road the same trip takes five to six hours on winding highways, so the flight gives you back most of a day. From Bharatpur it is about 30 minutes by road to Sauraha, the village on the north bank of the Rapti River at the edge of Chitwan National Park, Nepal's first national park and a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1984.

Après-midi

Our lodge for two nights is a short walk from the river, and lunch is waiting. In the afternoon the naturalist who leads our safaris walks us through a Tharu village. The Tharu are the indigenous people of the Terai, and their mud-plastered houses, grain stores and painted walls are unlike anything in the hills.

Soir

We finish on the riverbank at sunset, where rhinos and deer are sometimes seen on the far bank. Dinner is at the lodge.

Compris

• Flight from Kathmandu to Bharatpur
• Transfer to Sauraha
• Tharu village walk with a naturalist
• Sunset on the Rapti riverbank
• Lunch and dinner at the lodge

Activités en option

• Tharu stick dance performance in Sauraha in the evening

Canoe at first light and a jeep safari

The Rapti River and Chitwan National Park

• Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
• Nuit : Sauraha (Chitwan)
• En bateau

Matin

An early start: at first light we board long dugout canoes, each cut from a single tree trunk, and drift down the Rapti with a naturalist. Watch the sandbanks for mugger crocodiles and, if we are lucky, the rarer fish-eating gharial, and the banks for kingfishers, herons and storks. From December to February mist often lies on the river at dawn and lifts by mid-morning. We are back at the lodge for a late breakfast, and the middle of the day is free to rest in the shade.

Après-midi

In the early afternoon we drive into the national park by open jeep for about four hours, along forest tracks and the edges of the tall grasslands where the greater one-horned rhinoceros grazes. Spotted deer, sambar, wild boar, gaur and sloth bear also live here, and so do Bengal tigers, though they are seldom seen.

Soir

We are back at the lodge around sunset for dinner. We do not offer elephant rides on this trip.

Compris

• Dugout canoe on the Rapti River with a naturalist
• Jeep safari in Chitwan National Park, about 4 hours
• Chitwan National Park entry
• All meals at the lodge

To Pokhara by way of Bandipur

Sauraha to Bandipur, then on to Pokhara

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Pokhara
• Environ 5 h de route

Matin

If you are up early, join the optional bird walk along the river before breakfast. We leave at about 9 am, cross the Narayani valley and follow the Trishuli River up to Mugling, then turn west on the Prithvi Highway. At Dumre a side road climbs to Bandipur, an old Newar trading town on a ridge at about 1,000 m, whose main bazaar is closed to traffic.

Après-midi

We walk the stone street of tall brick houses, have a sit-down lunch and stroll to the Tundikhel viewpoint, where on clear days the Himalaya stands along the northern skyline. From there it is about two and a half hours to Pokhara, arriving by late afternoon.

Soir

The evening is free at Lakeside.

Compris

• Drive from Sauraha to Pokhara with your guide
• Walk through Bandipur's car-free bazaar to the Tundikhel viewpoint
• Sit-down lunch in Bandipur

Activités en option

• Early bird walk with a naturalist in Sauraha before breakfast

Sunrise at Sarangkot and the Peace Pagoda

Pokhara to Sarangkot and back, then across Phewa Lake to the World Peace Pagoda

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Pokhara
• Environ 1 h de route

Matin

We leave the hotel before dawn, the exact time set by the season's sunrise, for the 30 to 40 minute drive up to Sarangkot, a ridge at about 1,600 m above Pokhara. From the viewpoint the Annapurna range lights up from the summits down: Dhaulagiri far to the west, Annapurna South, the fishtail peak of Machhapuchhre almost straight ahead, and the Annapurnas and Lamjung Himal to the east, with Phewa Lake in mist below. Back at the hotel for breakfast, then mid-morning we take a wooden rowing boat out on Phewa Lake, stopping at the two-tiered pagoda of Tal Barahi on its small island, and on to the south shore. From the landing a stone path climbs through forest for about 40 minutes to the World Peace Pagoda, a white Buddhist stupa with a view back over the lake and the city to the mountains.

Après-midi

Lunch is a sit-down meal by the lake, and the afternoon is free.

Compris

• Sunrise from Sarangkot
• Boat on Phewa Lake with a stop at Tal Barahi temple
• Walk up to the World Peace Pagoda
• Sit-down lunch by the lake

Activités en option

• Tandem paragliding from Sarangkot in the afternoon
• The International Mountain Museum

A day hike in the Annapurna foothills

Pokhara to Kande, on foot to Australian Camp and Dhampus, then back to Pokhara

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Pokhara
• Environ 1.5 h de route

Matin

The camp is an open grassy ridge with a few lodges and a close view of Annapurna South, Hiunchuli and Machhapuchhre, best in the morning before cloud builds.

Après-midi

We stop for lunch at a lodge there. Then we walk on, mostly downhill, through the small settlement of Pothana and rhododendron forest, which flowers red in March and April, to the Gurung village of Dhampus, at about 1,650 m, where the vehicle waits. That is about 9 km and four to five hours on foot with stops.

Soir

We are back in Pokhara by mid-afternoon, and the evening is free. The trail lies inside the Annapurna Conservation Area; we arrange your permit in advance.

Compris

• Guided day hike from Kande to Australian Camp, Pothana and Dhampus
• Annapurna Conservation Area permit
• Lunch at a lodge at Australian Camp

Fly back to Kathmandu

Pokhara to Kathmandu by air

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du soir
• Nuit : Kathmandu
• En avion

Matin

A slower morning by the lake, then the flight from Pokhara back to Kathmandu, about 25 minutes. Flying east, sit on the left side of the plane for the Himalaya along the northern horizon on a clear day.

Après-midi

By road the same trip is about 200 km and six to seven hours, which is why we fly; if cloud grounds the flight, we drive instead, with lunch on the way, and the afternoon becomes a travel day. On a normal day we are back at a central Kathmandu hotel by early afternoon, and the rest of the day is yours. Your guide can point you to Asan Tole, the old market crossroads where spice, brass and textile sellers still trade from tiny shopfronts, or to Thamel for last purchases of tea, pashmina and singing bowls.

Soir

In the evening the group meets for a farewell dinner of Newari dishes at a local restaurant, a last chance to compare rhino sightings and sunrise photos.

Compris

• Flight from Pokhara to Kathmandu
• Airport transfers in Pokhara and Kathmandu
• Farewell dinner

Depart from Kathmandu

Your hotel to Tribhuvan International Airport

• Petit-déjeuner

Matin

The trip ends after breakfast. A driver takes you to Tribhuvan International Airport, about 30 minutes in light traffic and longer at rush hour, so we time your pick-up to reach the airport three hours before an international flight. Any flight time works, and the hotel can usually hold your luggage after check-out if you leave late in the day. If your flight leaves after about 2 pm, you can take the optional Everest scenic flight in the early morning: about an hour along the Himalaya from Kathmandu, weather permitting, back in time for breakfast.

Soir

If you want more of the mountains, the See Sight Tours Everest Base Camp trek also starts and ends in Kathmandu, so the two trips can be joined with a night or two between them; tell us when you book and we will line up the dates and hotels for you. Your guide says goodbye at the hotel.

Compris

• Drop-off at Tribhuvan International Airport (KTM)

Activités en option

• Everest scenic flight in the early morning, if your flight leaves after about 2 pm