Trek The Unknown

Trips are great! I just love it. These make you encounter with very interesting people , that otherwise you would have never met.

I already mentioned a few here on the blog, and here come another one.

Eric, Is an Israeli, he is 62. Try to ask Eric where his home is and he will say: “nowhere” ,and he really means that!

Eric is originally from Israel but I met him randomly here in the Thamel in Kathmandu. His card says he is a traveler and a photographer. He has been traveling for 5 years already with some very short brakes in Israel. He spent all those 5 years in the far east( around 15th time in Nepal already).

I had a chat with him about his life and where he is about to go next. He is thinking of going to south America for a few years and then go to Africa. Since I’ve been to both places already I recommended him to go 1st to Africa and then go to south America. When being to Ethiopia I’ve seen more things which are changing and disappearing , so it’s much more urgent to go there, the sooner the better. South America is amazing but can wait for a while. He said he will consider that. I was happy I can contribute from my experience even to the experienced ones!

Eric gives a service for free to whoever is interested. He is sending his photos by email, few photos in each email. if you want to can email him and get it too: eneemann@hotmail.com

Eric, hope to meet you on some distance places in the future again.

After Covering my favorite guest house in Thamel, It’s time for Internet places. Actually there are so many, and you can’t really try them all. Just like you can’t try every hotel around here.

Prices of Internet vary from 15-30 rupees per hour. The main differnece is on the connection speed and services, such as Skype, microphone, earphones, messenger that are already install on the computer. If you get to a place where your favorite software is not installed, it very OKAY just to download it and install it by yourself. I personally download to installation files on my disk on key, so whenever I need one of the programs I just install it from there. It’s a good way to save some valuable download time.

The fastest connection I found is at “MSN cyber cafe”. It costs a little more (3o Rupees per hour, which still makes it 0.5$ per hour….not too bad…) but the connection speed is great. especially in the morning time.

It’s situated across from the Pumpernickel Bakery( great sandwiches, try it!) at the heart of the Thamel.

Since I’m already In the neighborhood (i.e. Thamel) for almost 5 weeks, I think I do have some knowledge on good places to stay.

I’ve been to a bunch of budget geust houses around here and must say that prices are about the same and vary 50 nr (Nepali rupees) from place to place.

Hotel DownTown is the one place I liked (don’t be confused with Down town guest house, it’s a different place). The hosts thee are very nice. rooms prices starts from 150 nr (around 2.5$) per night in a single room without inside bathroom. If you are 2-3 people traveling together you can get away with 100 nr per person.

The bad thing about budget hotels are that they have limited hours of hot water for showers, and even then the are not very consistent about it. Hotel down town has (almost) 24/7 of hot shower water (I’ve stayed there more that 3 weeks and I stumbled a cold shower just once).

So, This is my pick!

Hotel Down town Saatghumti, Thamel, Kathmandu
phone number: 01430471

If your Budget is even lower than this, Freak street, would be the place for you. As I mentioned I didn’t stay there, this is just from what I heard from other travelers. Freak street has limited selection of hotels and is around 20-25 minutes walk from the Thamel, which is where all the touristy happenings. But This blog is not about being a normal tourist, but being a traveler, get to know and experience places. So freak street can also be a nice experience.

Being Here in Nepal makes me think about other exotic places I’d like to go and experience. I’ve heard of the name Bhutan several times in my life. Never heard of anybody traveling there…

Bhutan has around 770000 of population and is surrounded by China and India. The Indian State of Sikkim separates it from Nepal, which is relatively not far.

on 2005 only 13000 and something tourists entered Bhutan!

Why?

So, I decided to check things out….

Bhutan has a king ( a very nice king apparently) and it’s a monarchy. Traveling regulations are strictly enforced in order to keep this country in it’s own pace and get the most benefits from tourism. You can travel Bhutan only if you use a local travel agency or a foreign agency which is working with a local one.

minimum costs per day are $200 (!!!) per person if you travel in a group of 3 or more. Certainly not for the common budget traveler…if you travel by yourself you have to pay another $40 extra per day. These $200 include all your transportation costs, eating and hotels. They don’t include laundry, Drinking, Alcohol and gift ( I’m sure there are some other stuff). So generally after you prepaid your trip to the agency you don’t need to carry any money because it’s all included….but some other things I mentioned are a nessecity too…

Hope this short description will make you want to go and explore more about this country. I certainly want to go!

Bhutan google satellite maps

The Holiest but not so intelligent animal in Nepal

You probably know that cows are a holy animal in India. They are also Holy in Nepal, therefore many people don’t eat meat here and cows just walk freely around the street, even in the most crowded traffic jammed streets of kathamandu. Anyway, the fact that they are so holy doesn’t make them too smart…..