Nepal Trip
I was impressed by some of the amazing charity work going on in Nepal. One such example was the Rokpa Guesthouse where we stayed in Kathmandu. The charity ROKPA originally started about 40 years ago as a soup kitchen for the homeless in Kathmandu by a Swiss actress, her father, and a Tibetan Lama called Akon Rinpoche.
Later they opened a children’s orphanage offering the children a home, education, lots of affection, and recently, vocational training, most of which is funded through the proceeds of the Guesthouse which is now managed by the first generation of orphans who grew up there.
There is also a women’s workshop on site where women are trained to become seam mistresses so they too can also help maintain the orphanage and at the same time support their own families. It’s a great example of a sustainable charity, and if you’re ever in Kathmandu, I would encourage you to stay and support this wonderful project.
We chose the Rokpa Guesthouse, not only to support the good work it does, but also because it is a three-minute walk to the Bouddhanath Stupa which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is one of the largest stupas in the world and one of the holiest sites of pilgrimage for Tibetan Buddhists. The area around the stupa is surrounded by Tibetan monasteries and the local community is made up primarily of Tibetan refugees who fled China in 1959. It’s the closest thing you’ll get to being in Tibet - without actually going there.
The stupa suffered considerable damage during the 2015 earthquake but was fully repaired within just 18 months, funded solely by private donations from international Buddhist groups and the help of a lot of dedicated volunteers. An amazing achievement.
We also visited all 3 of the UNESCO World Heritage Durbar Squares – ‘Durbar’ meaning Royal Palace – so the squares in front of the three royal palaces of Kathmandu and nearby Bhaktapur and Patan – all of which were ancient city-states in the Kathmandu Valley.
Each square is really an open-air museum with fantastic examples of medieval palaces, temples, pagodas, pavilions, shrines and statues. Restoration from damage caused by the earthquake is still ongoing at these sites, and interestingly, there is a lot Chinese money financing these projects. Just one word of warning: Kathmandu city has some of the worst air pollution in the world, so a short stay is recommended.
We also spent a day at Swayambhunath, also known as the monkey temple, and again one of the oldest religious sites in Nepal located just outside of Kathmandu with spectacular views of the city.
From Kathmandu we flew to Pokhara for a few days and then drove south east to Bandipur which is a beautifully preserved ridgetop town which was for centuries an important stop on the India-Tibet trade route.
Most people haven’t heard of Bandipur, so it’s crowd free, although there are a few tourists and Bandipur is doing its best to encourage them to come and stay. The lovely old traditional wood and brick mansions have been restored and turned into guesthouses, restaurants and coffee shops. The main thoroughfare has been pedestrianised and the streets and air are clean, which was most welcome after the pollution of Kathmandu.
Being a ridgetop community, it has some gorgeous views of the Annapurna Range and is wonderful walking country with several nearby villages to visit. We spent a day with a guide who took us on a 12 km walk to the nearest village and back.
From Bandipur we drove to Chitwan National Park and stayed in a quiet lodge on the Rapti River overlooking the national park. In 2012 all the lodges within the park were closed for conservation reasons, and this is the closest you can get to it. We were designated our own naturalist and guide upon arrival and as all the excursions were included, we were busy with morning and evening boat rides, an all-day jeep safari and a village walk where we met some gorgeous children eager to give us flowers as we passed.
Throughout our stay we saw plenty of crocodiles, deer, monkeys, exotic birds and even a gaur, the Indian bison. One of the most prolific creatures in the park was the Great One Horned Rhino who, from a distance looked non-threatening, but whose huge footprints found on the banks of the muddy river was a good indication of their massive size and weight!
Our stay at the lodge was full of lovely touches - such as an evening river ride followed by a glass of wine on the river bank as the sun went down, or our final supper outside in a glade lit by a fire and candles – all beautifully done, and highly recommended.