Flying to the country of Mountains is a wonderful experience in itself. On a clear day, the views of snowcapped mountain peaks will take your breath. Your flight lands at Tribhuvan International Airport which is located in Kathmandu. Kathmandu is a small town and the capital of the country surrounded by the hills from all sides. It is the historical and cultural heart of Nepal. The capital of modern Nepal is nestled in the middle of the snow-capped Himalayan Mountains, in a valley surrounded by gentle, green terraced hills, ancient temples, shrines and red tiled-roofed houses.
Proceed for the customs and luggage’sclearance and then exist from the Airport Departure lounge. As soon as you exist you can see number of peoples outside holding a placard. Among them one of the representative of Nature Trail Travels & Tours, Trekking & Expedition will be holing a placard with your name in it. So, closely look at them. He will then escort you to your respective hotels. Or else, you can visit our office and after full description about your trip, you will be driven to your hotel. No activities are planned for the day. You are free to explore picturesque down town Kathmandu. On your request, we will be happy to, accompany you for more activities.
After breakfast, we start for a full day sightseeing tour. The distinctive cultural and historical identity of the Kathmandu Valley makes it an extraordinary place to explore. With your camera in hand, discover the enchanting cities of Kathmandu, Patan and Swayambhunath. Early morning, we visit Swayambhunath to witness the rituals of monks, pilgrims and worshippers. Swayambhunath is known as “Monkey Temple” since you can see numbers of monkeys around the surrounding areas of the temple. Keeping in this mind, small swimming pool has been made for monkeys to cool themselves in the escorting heat of summer. After strolling around the area and clicking some pictures of Stupas, temples, monuments and of course monkeys, we drive towards Kathmandu Durbar Square. Kathmandu Durbar Square is listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Several buildings in the Square collapsed due to a major earthquake on 25 April 2015. But construction has already been started and efforts have been made for its restoration. Further, we drive to another historical town of Patan. Patan Durbar Square is regarded as the culturally and historically richest Durbar Square among three Durbar Squares. It is also listed in UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Patan, the city of Artists, offers many visual treats for your camera.
On the following day, we drive to Chitwan after having our breakfast at hotel. We travel overland towards Royal Chitwan National Park via Prithvi Highway. You will enjoy the views of enormous plains of the Terai region while driving towards Chitwan. Chitwan National Park is declared as World Heritage Site under the category of Natural Sites by UNESCO. Chitwan is one of Asia’s best wildlife – viewing spots and the place to don your safari togs, clamber atop a lumbering elephant and head into the dawn mist in search of rhinos and tiger. 8% of the world bird species, rare mammals including one horned rhinoceros and the Bengal tiger makes it exclusive. Once reaching your destination, you will be briefed about the elephant activities and Jungle Safari. You can later enjoy the sunset in Rapti River, elephant back safari and stroll around the Tharu villages.Once the night falls down, we entertain you with cultural performances (Tharu stick dance, peacock dance) including bonfire before getting in bed.
With a wakeup call along with tea or coffee, we have the great time to witness the wildlife and clicksome amazing pictures at its best in Royal Chitwan National Park. This includes Elephant Safari, Canoeing, visit to elephant breeding center and cultural show.Sal forest, open grassland and riverine jungle will accompany you during elephant safari. The ride is far from smooth. We’ll be traveling through dense elephant grass that can grow up to 18-20 ft. in height and is the favorite habitat for rhinoceros and other animals. The elevated vantage point is a great advantage and provides a good safety margin in case a Bengal tiger shows up. After doing elephant safari, your delicious breakfasts will be waiting for you.We will then head to the grasslands and forests near the Narayani River. In later afternoon, a traditional dug-out canoe takes you on a silent trip down the Rapti River to view aquatic birds and the crocodilealong the river banks.We then head towards the elephant breeding center to see them being raised to re-populate their dwindling numbers and disperse them over various regions where they have a chance for survival, to see these majestic animals and understand how they live and what they do. You can click cute pictures of newly born calf. We will also go to the observation tower, then later in the evening head back to the resort for dinner. We hope that this day will be the finest day for those who loves to explore wildlife.
On the following day, we will have our breakfast at the hotel and then proceed for an elephant bath. This is so much fun. After bath, you will proceed for a jeep drive inside national park which takes about an hour. During jeep drive, you will be taken inside the jungle where you can witness lot of wild animals. If you are lucky, you will see many amazing creatures that you spend most time to looking for; rhinoceroses, Chitwan’s royal Bengal tigers, leopards, monkeys, many types of deer and reptiles. At evening, you can walk through the bank of Rapti River to have a sunset view and spend some time in a nature. Chirping sounds of birds, water flowing smoothly on a river will create a peaceful environment at the place.
Wake up call early in the morning and proceed for Nature walk and bird watching. Don’t forget to bring your camera as you will have a marvelous opportunity to click various species of birds today. Among those, some of these birds are migrating birds, which have flown thousands of miles and sheltered in this national park. Our guides will help you identify some species of birds, plants and other wildlife that you may encounter. Getting back to the hotel, we take breakfast and then drive to Pokhara, another beautiful town and a center of tourist attraction. Pokhara is a striking scenic lake town where nature is amplified with the views of majestic peaks, sparkling water lakes with boating and canoeing thrills will add on a greater value to your photographic tour. Witnessing some natural wonders of nature in waterfalls and gorges and magical dawns that light up the sky and the snowy Himalayan spires in hues of the rising sun and capturing these magical vistas and wonderful landscapes in your camera will obviously fulfill the expectations of an ideal Nature tour.
Upon arrival, you will be transferred to the respective hotel where you get refreshed and proceed for an hour boat ride in Phewa Lake and visit Tal Barahi Temple, a famous temple dedicated to Goddess Kali.
Early in the morning we will drive to Sarangkot hill for viewing sunrise and stunning snowcapped mountain ranges. There’s a non-descript village just before the view point. The village is located on Sarangkot mountain at an altitude of 1600m and is renowned for its panoramic Himalayan view: Dhaulagiri, Annapurna and Manaslu as well as down on the city of Pokhara and Phewa lake. In recent years, Sarangkot has become a hotspot for Paragliding, Zip-flyer, Ultra-light, Bungee jump etc. While you are in Sarangkot, you can enjoy these activities. After sunrise view, we proceed for the sightseeing tour of some famous places of Pokhara; Davi’s fall, Gupteswor cave, Mahendra Cave, Bats Cave, Bindhyabasini Temple, Barahi Temple and Seti George.
Davi’s fall is a waterfall. On 31 July 1961, a Swiss couple Davi went swimming but the woman drowned in a pit because of the overflow. Her body was recovered 3 days later in river Phusro with great effort. Her father wished to name it “Davi’s falls” after her. Its Nepali name is Patale Chango, which means “underworld waterfall”. The waterfall during the monsoon season provides you with a natural effect.
Gupteswor Cave is a city shrine dedicated to Lord Shiva. It is a world-famous pilgrim site. It is a limestone cave discovered some time ago and has a number of scenic spots around. The main attraction is the gigantic Shiva Linga which is said to be increasing in size. Gupteswor cave is special for the underground water. It is really worth seeing. It is a natural cave with Stalagmites. One has to reach the end to view the superb scene. The shrine is called “Gupteswor” which means the “Hidden God”. It is so named because it was lying hidden in the cave for a very long period. People suffering from incurable diseases come here to worship the God and remain here for months in the hope of getting cured.
Mahendra Cave is a cave located close to the Seti River. It is a rare example of a cave system in Nepal containing stalagmites and stalactites. A statue of Hindu lord Shiva can be found inside the cave. The cave gets its name from former King, Mahendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev. This cave was discovered in the late 1950s by young shepherds of Pokhara. Since then it has remained one of the most visited places in Pokhara. The canal is completely dark with continuously dripping water overhead. The cave is full of limestone, which falls to the ground and continuously forms electrical sparks. Due to the darkness, artificial lighting is provided inside the cave.
Bat Cave, which is also known as the natural habitat of bats, is also worth of visiting, and is, located a ten-minute walk away from Mahendra Cave. It is 150 m long and 25 ft. high. The main entrance of this cave is quite narrow but the inner part is wide enough. The main specialty of this cave is that there are more than 15 thousand bats of different species. Images of elephant tusks, gods, and goddesses can be observed in the inner walls of the cave.
Bindhyabasini temple is the center of religious activity situated in the small hill-lock in between the main old bazaar and Bagar area at an elevation of 3000 feet above sea level. It is one of the oldest temples in the Pokhara valley and has an immense cultural value dedicated to Goddess Bhagawati. This temple is considered as one of the main and foremost Shaktipiths of western Nepal. It is heard to have been expressed that one can materialize the wishes whatever one wishes by worshiping the Devi. Built in a Shikhar Shailee (Shikhar style) the temple has an Idol of Bhagawati having 8 Bhujas (hands).
Seti George is also known as Seti Khola, where “Seti” means “White” and “Khola” means “River”. This is the holiest river of western Nepal, which is fed by snow of Machapuchare and Annapurna mountains. It rises from the base of the Annapurna massive, and passes through the limestone gorge of beautiful Pokhara valley and Damauli to join the Trishuli River near Devghat. It makes more excitement for those who look down to the Seti George from the top of the cliff. It is also famous for rafting and has unspoiled greenish jungle scenery, excellent bird watching site, local cultural heritage and beautiful clean beaches, many small and undemanding rapids. This is one of the additional sites that makes natural environment of Nepal more beautiful. White water running down this George makes you click random shots.
After sightseeing tour of these famous places of Pokhara, transfer to the hotel for overnight stay.
You will have to make a decision for today’s journey. Either you could fly out of Pokhara or take a road transport to Kathmandu. Both of these journeys are equally adventurous. The drive from Pokhara to Kathmandu usually takes about 6/7 hours whereas by flight it only takes 30 minutes to reach Kathmandu from Pokhara. After your arrival at Kathmandu, you will be escorted to one of the hotel in Nagarkot, hill town near Kathmandu valley where you will stay for overnight.
This day is kept leisure for you to relax. However, missing a sunrise view from Nagarkot early in the morning is a bad idea. So, wake up early in the morning to view the gorgeous sunrise. You can also see the Himalayan range, stretching from Dhaulagiri in the west all the way past Everest to Kanchenjunga in the east, emerging from the darkness to greet the happy visitors with its awe inspiring majesty and beauty. Among all the places for mountain viewing around Kathmandu Valley, Nagarkot is usually considered to be the best. The views go from Dhaulagiri in the west to Kanchenjunga in the east. On a clear day you can see Mt. Everest (Sagarmatha). You can also see Manaslu (8,463m), Ganesh Himal (7,111m), and Lang tang (7,246m).
Depending on your flight time, we will drive you to the International airport for your onward flight.
Your 10 days nature tour will end today. We hope this tour will be a life time memory and you have been able to view some exciting sceneries of Nepal. We will be expecting to see you back in future. We believe that you had a good time in Nepal, discovering the wonders of Nepal – a country blessed with natural beauty and rich cultural history.
