Nepal in all its glory

Dreaming of a Nepalese adventure

Cold winter days are the perfect time to start dreaming of holidays and adventure. I am not someone who loves lying on a beach soaking up the sun, I just get bored and uncomfortable these days. Instead I love getting to know a place, wandering around towns and cities, being a bit more adventurous trekking in wilder places and always trying the local food.

My usual destinations in the last few years have been reasonably close to home, around the UK and Europe. I've decided it might be time to consider something further afield.  I look for destinations that will be good for photography and be of cultural interest, scenery and history feature high on the list plus great walking trails are a bonus.

I came across Toucan Travel during my online searching and a number of their holidays have really got me in the mood for some adventure. One of these has brought back some wonderful memories of a Himalayan trek I did many years ago.

My husband almost dared me to do a trek in Nepal all those years ago and at that time I hadn't ever done any 'proper' walking.  Naively I thought 'how hard can it be?' so called his bluff and said yes.  We did a week's circular walk around the foothills of Annapurna.  It was an amazing trip with lots of adventures, not the least when our Sherpas went on strike and we arrived at the highest village on our trek with no supplies, no tents and sleeping bags, no food and no luggage except the day packs we had been carrying. It was quite a different holiday that's for sure.

Street scene in Kathmandu

Just getting from Kathmandu to the start of the trek in Pokhara was dangerous, flights were cancelled due to a typhoon in the Bay of Bengal so we had to take a public bus in the pouring rain, one that didn't have working windscreen wipers, travelling up very dodgy roads with scary drops at one side or the other...

Kathmandu was an amazing place, I had never seen anywhere like it. The sounds, smells and colours tugged at my senses. I wondered if I had done a spot of time travelling, it felt like I was suddenly in the Middle Ages!

Buddhist monk turning a prayer wheel outside the Swayambhunath Stupa

On the third day of the trek the rain stopped and the clouds lifted and we saw the mountains for the first time, we were right in the heart of them and hadn't realised it!  They were simply beautiful.

Fishtail Mountain

Reading through the itineraries of the trips on the Toucan Travel site brought all the wonderful (and some not so wonderful) memories flooding back.  They do four different tours to Nepal and the one I think is the closest to my original trip is the Highlights of Nepal tour, but without the walking. Should you be tempted by this holiday (which is at a fantastic price in the sale) I would recommend these extra trips, one to the Swyambhunath Temple (NPR 200) and get the services of a local guide for a half day (NPR 1400) so you can get your bearings and know what you are looking at! One of the trips that I'd love to do if I go again is the Everest Mountain flight, it would be incredible to see the worlds highest mountain close up.

Yes this has definitely got me thinking. If you have never seen the Himalayas this really is a fantastic opportunity.  The scenery is stunning and sitting around a fire pot eating a Nepalese stew is great fun!

I'll let you know where I end up... Namaste.

This article was prompted by the Trips100 Tucan Travel Blogger Challenge