Mero Dhangadhi

Congratulations on moving house and Thank you for your beautiful and extensive reply! I appreciate the effort but I should have been a little more specific! I start my tour in Kathmandu so I've already booked flights to Kathmandu and I'll need to return back to Kathmandu before my Everest base camp trek :) that's why those 5 days may be a little too rushed but I really want to visit a more relaxed scenic area than just the hustle and bustle of the city :) will this be too hard? Jess xx

Thank you!! :)

In that case Pokhara area might be nice since it’s less crowded than Kathmandu and from there you can go visit Jomsom and area. Maybe two days in Pokhara then spend a day in Jomsom and head back to Kathmandu. BUT…. thing is with this, it might be a bit stressful if flights are cancelled or anything else happens since you have to be back in KTM for your tour. Might be hectic!

To avoid the stress, you could just go to Langtang National park North of Kathmandu and stay there for a few days and then just head back to Kathmandu before your tour. It’ll be closer and you can take a bus there – I think they have tourist buses running various times during the day. There are wonderful places right outside the Kathmandu valley too. Like the hill town of Nagarkot or Kakani. Look up places that might interest you near there and go for it. It’s probably best since you have 5 days and want to relax mostly.

Have you read the news that it's almost certain that China will build a railroad from Shigatse to Kathmandu by 2020? This is honestly a dream coming true, can't wait to take a ride on the trans himalaya train and trvaell all the way from KTM to Shanghai via Lhasa

That sounds nice. But I’ll believe it when I see it. I just can’t trust promises like these especially in Nepal. Usually I just get myself excited and then disappointment follows pretty soon.

This raises a lot of other questions for me but I’ll share them some other day when I have more energy 😅😅

Hi! I'm going to Nepal in late September and am staying there for 5 nights prior to my Everest base camp trek! :) I would really appreciate some advice on what I should do in those 5 days? I would really love to sight see the land and ive heard Gokyo Lakes and Pokhara are lovely. Is it possible to visit one of these places in those 5 days? if so, which one would you recommend? Thank you, Jess xx

Hi so so sorry for the very late reply. I just bought a new house so I’m very very busy with the move and lawyers and insurances etc etc…. it’s a lot more work than I initially thought 😫😫

For the first 5 days you could just hang out in Kathmandu + Bhaktapur + Patan and go to durbar squares and the museums etc, and for some light-ish hiking you can go to Langtang national park North of KTM. It really just depends on what you wanna do: whether you want to relax and just do down sightseeing or actually go for a hike. Pokhara would be nice to just relax by the lake side or go hike to poon hill or to sarangkot to check out the sunrises or trek up the hill to the world peace pagoda or zip line or paraglide or sky dive…..you name it Pokhara has it. Or if you wanna head to the Everest region earlier and get used to the altitude change and visit gokyo lakes and visit monasteries in the region and do other mini hikes before your EBC one – would be good as well because you might want to get used to the altitude since it can be very difficult for a lot of people.

Or you could also go to Chitwan and do a jungle safari and visit the elephants. September is such a wonderful time weather wise you can do anything. It all depends on what you wanna do. Maybe check out Manang/Mustang regions and read more about them and visit the caves or the monasteries there in the Tibetan plateaus. Or if you want you can travel to the far West and check out Rara lake (very beautiful + A LOT less crowded than Everest region or even Annapurna region) and then do Bardia national park safari along the way. Or go east to Barun-Makalu national park and hike around there (maybe you’ll see a red panda!).

Personally, since you only have 5 days, I would head straight to the Everest region and get used to the altitude change. Second option would be to visit Pokhara and while you’re in Pokhara get a flight to Jomsom and check out Manang Mustang area as much as you can. Although beware, flights to Jomsom can cancel with minimal notice but I think in September it should be good since the weather is very lovely. Keep in mind I have already done various jungle safaris so I would try to go to the high Himalayas before anything else. Hope this helps!! 😊😊