Explore all what Nepal has to offer at unique places

Pick-up at Tribhuvan International Airport of Kathmandu.

Transfer to the hotel and have some free time to relax.
Our small Boutique hotel is in area called Boudha.
Just a 5 minutes’ walk out of the hotel brings you the largest stupa of Asia - Boudhanath.

In the evening we will take you to a magical place for our welcome diner, Krishnarpan restaurant.
I also call it the restaurant of 1001 nights.
You will immediately have a glimpse of the diversity of tribes in Nepal, 126 ethnic groups, all with their own typical food and typical way of dresses.
During dinner we will also have a briefing about our upcoming trip.

In the morning we will visit the Boudhanath stupa near our hotel and in the afternoon we will go to Kathamndu Durbar square, one of the three kingcities in the Valley of Kathmandu.

We start with a walk from our hotel towards the Stupa. The road will take us in the heart of the Tibetan community.
Afterwards we make a kora, three times walking clockwise around the Stupa. We will be accompanied by many monks, nuns, and devote Tibetan people who are doing this important ritual.
Afterwards we take the stairs up to visit the first floor of the pavement path around the Stupa.
From here we can have a nice overview of the how the Buddhist people performing their rituals and prostrations.
Then we will take the time to visit the most important monasteries around the Stupa. We will visit the Tamang monastery, from where you have a nice view of the stupa., Shechen Gompa, …
We close the morning with lunch on a roof terrace on the beautiful terrace of Padma where we have a unique view of this beautiful stupa.

The first stupa at Boudhanath was built sometime after AD 600, when the Tibetan king, Songtsen Gampo, converted to Buddhism. In terms of grace and purity of line, no other stupa in Nepal comes close to Boudhanath. From its whitewashed dome to its gilded tower painted with the all-seeing eyes of the Buddha, the monument is perfectly proportioned.
According to legend, the king constructed the stupa as an act of penance after unwittingly killing his father. The first stupa was wrecked by Mughal invaders in the 14th century, so the current stupa is a more recent construction.

The highly symbolic construction serves in essence as a three-dimensional reminder of the Buddha’s path towards enlightenment. 
A Stupa is builded using many symboles.

We will have lunch in a local restaurant and in the afternoon, we will take the car and go to heart of Kathmandu.
Kathamandu Durbar Square.
We will visit the area around with the palace and also the house of the royal Kumari.

Afterwards we get back to our hotel for dinner.

Nepal has 3 royal cities namely Patan, Kathmandu and Bhaktapur.
In the morning we take the bus to Patan, one of the three royal cities.
We will take a visit the Durbar Square of Patan, the beautiful Mahabodhi temple, and afterwards bring a home visit to the Kumari, living goddess. And if we are lucky the Kumari will bless us.
We will end our visit to Patan with a nice lunch in a local restaurant with view on Durbar Square.

Patan, the oldest of all the three cities of Kathmandu valley and is built around 299 before Christ. It is the best known for its artistic heritage. It is probably one of the oldest Buddhist City in the world. The city is situated on a plateau across Bagmati River. Many locals still call the city by its original Sanskrit name of Lalitpur (City of Beauty) or by its Newari name, Yala. Patan’s spectacular Durbar Sq  remains the finest collection of temples and palaces in the whole of Nepal. The square is full of ancient places, temples, and shrines noted for their exquisite carvings. The former royal palace complex is the center of Patan's religious and social life and houses a museum containing an array of bronze statues and religious objects. 

This temple is dedicated to Siddhartha Gautama, the historical Buddha. The temple is often called "the temple of a thousand Buddhas" because a Buddha image is engraved on every brick. It is modeled on the Mahabodhi Temple at Bodhgaya, the place where Buddha get enlightened. We will do a Kora around this temple.

Kumari, or the Living Goddess, is the tradition of worshipping a chosen virgin as manifestations of the divine female energy or Shakti in Dharmic religious traditions. It is believed that the girl is possessed by the goddess Taleju or Durga. The word Kumari is derived from Sanskrit meaning princess.

In the afternoon we go to Pashupatinath, the most important cremation place for Hindus in Nepal, located on the sacred river Bagmati.
Here you can see the ritual of the cremation of the people.
It is whole ritual what we will see beginning with the preparation where the sons who shave their hair, afterwards the bring the body and they are laying flowers down on the body and then start with the cremation itself.
Out of respect we are on the other side of the river.

Pashupatinath temple is one of the holiest Hindu temple dedicated to Lord Shiva. Situated amidst a lush green natural setting on the bank of the sacred Bagmati River, the temple built in pagoda style has gilded roof and richly carved silver doors. Visitors will be permitted to view the temple from the east bank of Rivers Bagmati, entrance in the temple beingstrictly forbidden to all non Hindus. Behind the temples are the cremation grounds.

Then we make a 40 min walk from Pashupatinath to Boudhanath Stupa. On the way we will see many temples.


Along the way we see the local life of the suburbs of Kathmandu.
We conclude with an evening dinner once again on one of the rooftop restaurants around the Stupa.
Afterwards we will walk back to our hotel for our last evening in Kathmandu.

After breakfasting we will take the tourist bus to drive to Pokhara.
We will stop for our lunch on the way and then drive further .

After our check-in Temple Tree Spa and Resort.  

From Pokhara we fly in the early morning to lower Mustang, Jomsom.this is a 30-minute flight. The flight takes us over the Anapurna and takes about 35 minutes.
From the small airplane we will have a stunning view on the Anapurna.

Once landed in Jomsom, we have arrived in a last hidden kingdom, Mustang.
Today Mustang has been annexed to Nepal.
The nature of Mustang is mainly desert-like, dry and Rocky Mountains, a big difference in green Nepal. Nevertheless, we can see the snowy peaks of the Himalayas. The culture is Tibetan - Buddhism, most people who live here are people who came here from Tibet many centuries ago. We immediately leave with Jeeps to the furthest point Muktinath a ride of 2 hours. On the way to Muktinath we make a stop in Kagbeni that is located at the Kali Gandaki River. In Muktinath we will sleep in a local guesthouse.

Kagbeni, marks the end of lower Mustang and the beginning of upper Mustang.

From this part of the travel we will also only find real Tibetan culture. At the gates of the old city of Kagbeni we will find the two old the pre-Buddhist spiritual protector of Kagbeni, called meme and pepe, or grandmother and grandfather.

They are the protectors of the city and they originally come from Shamanistic and Animistic tradition.

On our way to the Kag Choede Gompa, we will pass an impressive door chorten, on the ceiling we will see some wonderful paintings of mandalas. This gompa is from the Sakaya lineage.

At Kag Choede you will learn all about the wheel of life and the four noble truths, which are the foundation of Buddhism. In the Gompa we will find a bronze statue of Buddha Shakyamuni, flanked by his disciples Saradvatiputra and Maudgalyayana.

We will make a walk in the beautiful old village of Kagbeni, we will see the protections people put on their houses.
They are called “zor”, and they are rooted in the Bôn culture. They are made from the skull of a sheep or a goat, decorated with crosses made of colored threads.


In the center of the old town is a private chapel, called “Red House”, we find an ancient spiritual remaining altar. The altar made of wood has some mystic animals and other spiritual being, and on top an impressive statue of Maitreya Buddha, future Buddha, topped by a garuda.

Then we take a walk in the old city and have an impressive view on the bank of the Kali Gandaki River.

The term Kali Gandakhi is dedicated to the female Hindu deity Kali (“black lady”) finding its visual expression in the color pf the river, which is of dark grey. The riverbed of the Kali Gandaki is well known for its famous Saligram stones, fossils which are kept as holy stones in the religion of the Hindus. According to the Hindus, the Salogram are manifestations of the deity Vishnu.
The Kali Gandakhi valley is also well known as the deepest canyon in the world.

The holy ground of Muktinath, is one of the most important pilgrim places in Nepal for Hindus and Buddhist people.

In the spiritual area above the town, we will find temples of both religions.
The focal point of the Gompa Sambha is the pool and the 108 brass waterspouts, in the shape of cows’ heads, which poor sacred water.

There is a Nyingmpa Monastery called ‘the temple of the holy fire’, where a natural phenomenon is housed.
Some natural gas, coming out of the earth, is forming blue flames at different places, just above a spring.

This auspicious combination of earth, fire and water is responsible for the religious importance of muktinath.
The temple also has beautiful statues of Padmashambhava, Manjushri and Avoliketshavara.

Also here is a temple, the Marme Lakhang, “temple of lights”, dedicated at Padmashambhava, who visit Muktinath in the 8 the century.

Then we drive to Jomsom.
From where we make a trek of 2.5 hours to the small village Thini, or Thinigaon (2.880 metres). Thini is perhaps the most important village in the lower part of Mustang in terms of culture. Marpha, Syang, Chhairo, and Chimang.
This village is also worth a visit as close by are Dhumba Lake and the amazing Kutsapterenga Monastery.

Given the close proximity of the ruined fortress of Garab Dzong which used to be the seat of power before things settled down enough for people to start residing alongside the river, it isn't hard to guess that Thini is one of the oldest settlements in the region. Thini is also home to a Bonpo Monastery. This village is also worth a visit as close by are Dhumba Lake and the amazing Kutsapterenga Monastery.

Once back in Jomsom we will visit a very old Labyrinth, for both Hinduism and Buddhism, the labyrinth is seen as a path of contemplation for those seeking divine wisdom or peace.”

We take the morning flight from Jomsom back to Pokhara.
Once landed we will take the cabe car to check in our hotel, Sarangkhot Mountain Lodge.
This hotel has an unique location - we can see the sunrise on the Annapurna from out our hotel.
The surrounding of the hotel is also very nice for a walk in the forest or to the nearby village and observe the local life.
Or you can choose after the trekking to just enjoy the nice view on the balcony of your hotel and read a book.
We have dinner in the nice restaurant of our hotel.

Coming to Nepal without doing a hiking/trekking would be a missed opportunity.
Everybody should at least experience this unique adventure and go to places cars and trucks can't reach.
Today we start on our Nepal trekking/hiking experience.

We leave from Pokhara with the jeep to Hille
Hille is a hamlet, small village, and has an elevation of 1,579 metres.After a short climb we will reach Tikhedhunga (1565m). Now there’s only ahead of us, a steep staircase made of stone. By climbing the steep steps you reach the Magar village Ulleri (2070m) which is located about 400m above the Bhurundi Khola.
There are no roads to Ulleri to get here, the only way is to hike.
In total we will hike around three hours on the way we will see local villages, rice terrace, people working on the fields, rivers and so much more.
We sleep in a local lodge in Ulleri.

On the second day of the extraordinarily beautiful trek to Poon Hill, we will leave Ulleri at sunrise and headed uphill for a walk for about five hours towards another village - Ghorepani.
Ghorepani means "horse water" and was a wattering stop for the mule caravans that carried goods between Pokhara and Josmsom.
It is located at the elevation of 2750 meters, and it differs from other towns with the distinctive blue roofs and houses. 

During the day we'll notice the difference in the climate as well as the flora around you as you climb higher. The forest will become denser and more humid, with beautiful flowers everywhere and you'll see more and more rhododendrons. There are eight different species of rhododendrons, including the crimson-red flowering "Lali Gurans", Nepali's national flower.
The rhododendrons make the entire area a magical place. Sometimes it seems impossible that it's all wild - it resembles more of an exotic garden rather than an ordinary forest.
On our path we will have incredible views of Machhapuchhare or Fish Tail (6997m.), Hiunchuli (6441m.), and the Annapurna (7219m) South on the way.
Tonight we will again stay at a local lodge.

Gorepani is a gateway to the most important point of the trek - Poon Hill (around 3200 meters above sea level).
Early morning, we start for a 1-hour hiking where we will have a360-degree view of the Annapurna range in the Himalayas.
From here we will have a panoramic view of several mountain peaks. Some of them are:

• Dhaulagiri (8,167 m)
• Annapurna South (7,219 m)
• Annapurna II (7,937 m)
• Annapurna III (7,555 m)
• Gangapurna (7,455 m)
• Machapuchare (6,993 m)
• Tukuche peak (6,920 m)
• Dhampus peak (6,012 m)
• Hiunchuli (6,441 m)
• Gurja Himal (7,193 m)
• Nilgiri Himal (7,061 m)

After our breathing view we come back to Gorepani for breakfast.

We trek to Tadapani through another village of Banthanti, where we take lunch and then  we wiil have a short walk to Tadapani.
The trek begins through the rhododendron forest to Tadapani. The great views of Dhaulagiri range, Annapurna range and Lamjung Himal range will be in-front of you.

The total time of walking today will be 5 hours.

As we are above the 2600m the vegetation, flora and fauna waterfalls, and wide range of landscape can be seen. This day is short day to walk so will have village sightseeing in the Ghandruk.
Our trekking today will take around 4 hours.

After breakfast we have a drive of 5 hours to Chitwan, national park and arrive at our exclusive Lodge “Barahi Jungle Lodge”.

The lodge is situated on the banks of the Rapti River, and the rooms are housed in thatched cottages built with materials used by Tharus, an indigenous tribe of the area, in the building of their traditional huts. Each space features a private veranda / balcony and unrestricted views of both the national park and the water.

Upon arrival, welcome drink is served and there will be a short briefing on the program and our facilities, rooms will be assigned.

At 1:00 O’clock Lunch is served at Banyan Café or by the Pool.

3.30 PM: Boat safari (Afternoon) with Sundowner at confluence point

Floating downstream the Rapti River, towards the western boundary of the park formed by Himalayan Narayani, boat safari will be arranged for evening time offering our unique sundowner experience at the confluence point. Duration – approx. 2: 00 Hours

6:30 PM: Tharu Cultural dance OR Kumal Cultural Dance: Farmers of the nearby villages will show some of their traditional skills and dances

8.00 PM: Dinner at Banyan Café or by the pool

6:30 AM- Jeep Safari with Breakfast in the jungle: Duration – Approx 3.30- 4.00 Hours:

Proceed for the Jeep Safari crossing the Rapti River by Patela Boat to start with from Bhimle army check post. There are two choices of routes available, which our naturalists pick upon their experience on current sightings and animal movement.

Breakfast will be served in between the safari in a scenic and safe spot chosen by the Naturalist. 

After Safari leisure time to relax by the pool or use of Spa Facilities till the lunch time.

After breakfast we will departure in direction of Lumbini, in south Nepal close to the Indian border.
After a drive of approx. 4 hours we will reach the birthplace of Lord Buddha.

We will first have lunch and check-in in our hotel.

Afterwards we take electric driven Riksja ‘s to visit the birthplace of Lord Buddha place.

In many ways, the story of Buddhism all begins in Lumbini, under a full moon more than 2600 years ago. It was on that night that Queen Mayadevi is said to have stopped here during her travels to give birth to a son, Prince Siddhartha, who would find enlightenment and become Buddha 35 years later.

Legend says Queen Mayadevi bathed in a pond and lay down under a tree in Lumbini Garden before the birth.

For visitors, Lumbini is an incredibly spiritual place, and the tranquility of the site is felt the strongest in the Sacred Garden that surrounds the central Mayadevi Temple. A large water feature, said to be the same pond where Prince Siddhartha was given his purification bath, reflects the trees of the garden. Prayer flags hang from the branches and gently sway in the breeze as worshippers sit below in deep meditation. For pilgrims who have made the long journey to get here, this is the moment they have been travelling towards.

After our visit to the sacred garden we come back to the hotel for our dinner.

After breakfast we start with our riksja ride to go to the peace flame.

From here we start to discover the monasteries of the West Monastic Zone consists of monasteries that follow the Mahayana school of Buddhism. There are currently 14 monasteries.
Stepping inside each of the monasteries is almost like being transported to a new country. In the large Chinese Monastery, a golden pagoda is at the center of a manicured garden, with gateways guarded by statues. While at the South Korean Monastery, the tall and colorful façade of the temple gives way to a strikingly minimalist interior.

In the center of the West Monastic Zone is a lake, around which you’ll find several interesting monasteries. The most striking of these is the Great Lotus Stupa, sponsored by Germany, with has an intricately painted interior and a large garden full of decorations.

We will come back to the hotel for lunch and afterwards depart to the airport for our evening flight to Kathmandu.
Arrived back in the capital we will check-in to our hotel, Dolmaling, and have dinner there.

After breakfast we drive to Nagarkot. We already had a glimpse of the Anapurna Range here we come to see the Everest Range.

On the way we make a stop in Bhaktapur - one of the three royal cities.

It was also the place that has already been used as a scene for many films. It is as if you end up in an open-air museum with the many temples. We also take a walk of about 3 hours through the small streets from Bhaktapur where we can see different crafts the potters, the woodcarvers, the coloring of fabrics, ... it is a real spectacle for the eye ... We have free time to shop and then we have our lunch on a roof terrace around one of the known squares.
Afterwards we continu our drive up to  Nagarkot where we can have a breathtaking view of the Himalayas. 
We will have dinner in the restaurant of our hotel, Mystic Mountain.

On the way we will have a stop at Changu Narayan temple; the oldest temple of Nepal.

We will arrive around lunch in Kathmandu.
Our hotel is  in the heart of Thamel,  the center of the tourist industry in Kathmandu for over four decades, starting from the hippie days, when many artists came to Nepal and spent weeks in Thamel.

Afternoon lunch we leave by the bus to Swayambhunath, the monkey temple.

Swayambhunath

It is a very impressive experience to make a trip to the stupa on a hilltop in Swayambhunath in Kathmandu. Centuries-old statues, carved icons, hundreds of butter candles and the sweet scent of incense give this ancient religious complex a magical atmosphere. Swayambhunath dates to the fifth century and is a holy destination for both Buddhists and Hindus. Because of the many monkeys that live there, it is often called Monkey Temple.

We start at the backside of the stupa," The three golden Buddha statues at Swayambhu Amideva Buddha Park".
The three golden statues are - the most common in Buddhism - Buddha, Avoliketsvarra and Guru Rinpoche.

Swayambhunath

Then the bus brings us to the entrance halfway up the mountain. accompanied by the monkeys we start climbing up to the top of the hill. On the road we will see some diiferent kind of Buddha statues.
Once we reach the top you will have some free time to walk around the stupa - and explore this special area.

Swayambhunath

Then we start with walking down the stairs to the parking place of the bus.
On the way down again we will have many monkeys around us, see many different statues and on the way down also many people sell all kind of stuff, even you can let a fortune teller predict your future.

Before we go back to the hotel we make a stop at one of the Vajrayogini places, Vidhyeshvari Vajra Yogini Temple.

The Vidhyeshvari Vajra Yogini Temple is a Newar Buddhist temple in the Kathmandu valley dedicated to the Vajrayāna Buddhist deity Vajrayoginī The temple stands on the west bank of the Bishnumati river  and is on the main path from Swayambhunath stupa to Kathmandu. The Temple is an important pilgrimage place for Tibetan Buddhists .

We will have a dinner in a Roadhouse a restaurant in Thamel.

Drop-off at the airport