Nepal Trip: Guide Book, Costs, Misc

This is the final post of my 14-day trip to a wonderful country called Nepal.  In this post, I will share with you about our planning, the cost of airfare, trekking, etc. 

1. Airfare

There are limited choices when it comes to airlines flying to Kathmandu from Singapore.  One is Silk Air, the other is Thai Airways.  You may also choose Cathay, but you might have to transit at Hong Kong, which is not going to be very time-efficient if you origin from Singapore.

Silk Air offers direct flight, the cost is around S$1000, plus and minus a bit.  Thai Airways has no direct flight to Kathmandu, you have to transit in Bangkok.  The cost is also around S$1000.  However, if you are lucky and have sharp eyes, you can fish for some good deals at Zuji Singapore website.  For our case, we found that if we set off on 18 Dec, and return on 31 Dec, we could get the tickets at S$724/person, inclusive of taxes and surcharges.  If you just move the dates by one day, the price will be the normal S$1000 plus.  A little bit of research will save you quite a bit of money, and a S$200 saving will expand your spending power in Nepal quite a lot.

2. Accommodation

I will recommend that you book the very first night of your stay in Kathmandu in advance.  If you fly in, the numerous touts at the airport will make you feel dizzy.  If you make an advance reservation, most hotels and guest houses will offer you free airport transfer, as they don't want their guests to be snatched away by others.  It helps to have someone to pick you up if you are in a foreign country for the first time.

Guest houses in Nepal in general are quite ok by backpackers' standard.  No fancy furniture or interior deco, but with basic facilities and reasonably clean. 

3. Trekking

We engaged our trekking service at our guest house.  The total cost of our 10-day trek to Annapurna base camp is US$560, including the airfare from Kathmandu to Pokhara, trekking permits, guide cum porter, food and lodging along the trek, return tourist bus from Pokhara to Kathmandu, etc.  Basically everything is included, except personal expenses such as drinks, extra food, etc. 

We paid our guide cum porter US$100 at the end of the trip as tips.  I think it is considered as not too bad.  My Singaporeans friends told me for the guide, usually the tip is around S$80, while for the porter, it is around S$50-60.   As we combined with a Japanese tourist and his guide 2 days into our trip, so we also paid his guide US$50 for his good work.  That tip amount is above average.

4. Guide Book

I was using a 4th Edition of the Lonely Planet guide book on Nepal, while the current version is the 8th Edition.  Some things don't change, especially the cultural stuff.  The prices have gone up, the political system has changed, but the rest remains about the same.  If you can afford it, get the latest guide book.  However, I personally don't recommend Lonely Planet's guide book, it is confusing and making simple things difficult.  Our Japanese friend uses a simple guide book which is more clearly cut and focused. 

In addition, I highly suspect Lonely Planet has some hidden agenda, as some 'famous' sites mentioned in Lonely Planet are really not that great, and I have doubts on their motives.  One example is Devi's Falls.  It is nothing but just a hole in the ground, but it took up quite a bit of space in Lonely Planet's guide book. 

You can find a complete list of blog entries about my Nepal trip here.

Nepal Trip: Day 14: Usher-in 2010 in A Blue Moon

Our flight from Kathmandu to Bangkok was smooth.  At Bangkok's new airport, we went through the same ordeal of walking for more than 1km to catch our transfer flight.  When I boarded the plane to Singapore, I picked up a copy of the Bangkok Post

There were articles on the review of 2009 and the vision for 2010 in the Bangkok Post, but one caught my attention.  In the article, it said tonight, 31 Dec 2009, we would see a blue moon!  I often hear the idiom of 'once in a blue moon', but never thought there really is a blue moon.  As I was reading the article, I couldn't help but to look out of the plane window.  It was a full moon, bright and peaceful.  I couldn't really tell its color, whether it was really blue, or just normal white.  20,000 feet down, the lights of Bangkok were bright, yet fading away. 

We flew past Malaysia, Indonesia.  You might wonder why Indonesia, because Singapore is too small, we had to fly to other countries to land :P

Along the east coast of Singapore, hundreds, maybe even thousands, of ships were stationery on the sea.  Their lights were on, making them look like a metropolitan.  Long have I heard some ship owners idle their unchartered ships in the international waters around Singapore to cut the over-supply in cargo ships, but now I could see them myself.

The lights from Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia were spectacular.  Fireworks ushering in the new year could be seen here and there. 

In the music ushering in 2010, our plane landed safely at Changi Airport, just in time for me to welcome a new year, 2010 :)

You can find a complete list of blog entries about my Nepal trip here.

Nepal Day 14: Kathmandu Airport Security Check

31 Dec 2009

It has finally come to the last day of 2009, also the last day of our stay in Nepal, a poor country with nice people.

We arrived early at the Airport, just in case anything that might cause a delay somewhere.  Enough of power outage and strikes.

Our taxi was stopped when we came near the airport for a routine check, but the security guy just waved us through when he saw foreign tourists on board.

To enter the departure hall, we had to first queue up, showed our passport and air ticket.  I was not too used to this as ever since the introduction of e-tickets, I seldom have my tickets on hand.  After that, went through the first level of security check, which we put our check-in luggage through the x-ray machine.

Inside the departure hall, it was a bit chaotic, with no clear signs of which counter you should go to.    I asked an airport staff, he kindly pointed us to the Thai Airways counter, with very short queues.

It was great that at Kathmandu airport, they also issue our onward boarding pass from Bangkok to Singapore.  In contrast, Guangzhou's Baiyun airport still can't issue onward boarding pass till today.  They really need to improve, man.

The immigration hall is small, with only 2-3 counters for foreigners, so it is not unexpected to see long queues.

After the immigration, we had to go through a second security check.  Your hand-carry goes through the x-ray machine, you walk through the metal detector, as well as undergoing a manual body search.  There are two separate queues, one for men, one for women.

After that, it is still not over yet.  You have to carry your hand carry to one of the security officers and go through a manual check of your hand carry luggage.  Once the officer is satisfied, he will sign on the back of your boarding pass to say ok, you can board the plane.

After that, you have to show your boarding pass to another security officer before you can enter the waiting area.

Just when you thought all that security check is over, just before you board the airplane, you still have to go through one more time body search.

This is the most tedious security check I have ever experienced in airports across the world, however, its effectiveness is very much in doubt, in my humble opinion.

You can find a complete list of blog entries about my Nepal trip here.

Nepal Day 13: Swayambhu Stupa

Swayambhu Stupa, more commonly known in the English world as the 'Monkey Temple', is another one of the 7 world heritage sites in Kathmandu.

Our road to Swayambhu was full of obstacles.  First, it was the heavy.  You could barely see what was 50m ahead.  We first headed to Durbar Square, from there, we walked west from Maru Tole of Durbar Square, down to a small bridge covered almost completely in fog.  Streets in Kathmandu have no names, except some really big ones.  I had originally hoped to be able to see the giant Stupa sitting atop of the hill from afar, so that we could just walk toward it.  However, in this heavy fog, I could see nothing but fog, and fog.  Luckily, Nepalis are friendly in general.  I asked people along the road for directions, they all happily pointed me to the right direction. 

We had our breakfast at a road side store, where the locals have their breakfast.  Well, the price is really hard to believe, breakfast for two, including 4 roti prata, plus curry, plus tea, was only Rs60+.

 

After quite a bit of struggling, we were led to the Stupa by a kind Nepali man.  The stupa, or temple to be more exact, was covered in fog too.  The fog gave the Buddha statues a sense of mystery.

 

Awaiting for us is another long flight of stairs, another uphill.  Haiz, after climbing all the way to Annapurna Base Camp, what is this man?  

After climbing up all that hundreds of steps, and paid Rs200 per person for admission, we were greeted by this Dorje, or giant thunderbolt, a symbol of power.  

I used Lonely Planet's 4th Edition of Nepal guide book, which says if you climb up the steps yourself, then you don't have to pay admission charges.  Well, bluff.  Ok, 4th Edition was published in 2000, now it is 2009.  Things may have changed :)

The stupa, disappointingly, was under renovation.  The spire was covered up.  Sigh.  But, by Buddha's blessing, the fog cleared a bit when we arrived at the stupa.  

In a clear day, you can see the entire Kathmandu valley right in front of the stupa, now, we could only see the entire Kathmandu valley masked under fog, with the stupa, which is on top of a hill, was clear under the bright sunshine.  

It is known as 'Monkey Temple', because of the many monkeys playing around in the temple ground, enjoying the offerings from us mere mortals to the gods.

As the stupa is under renovation, I can only look for the finer details.

 

  

  

  

 

You can find a complete list of blog entries about my Nepal trip here.

Nepal Day 13: Boudhanath Stupa

 

Boudhanath Stupa is the largest Buddhist Stupa in Kathmandu Valley as well as Nepal.  It is also one of the 7 world heritage sites in Kathmandu.  

The stupa has a very broad base, which signifies earth; the round dome represents water; the spire is the embodiment of  fire; the umbrella is the symbol of air; and finally, the pinnacle is ether.  The five elements that form the entire world are all included: earth, water, fire, air & ether.  

There are many different names of Boudhanath Stupa in English.  There are many different spellings, too.  The admission ticket to the stupa calls it BOUDHANANTH, Lonely Planets calls it BODHNATH, while there is one more name or variation of its spelling.   

Surrounding the stupa, there is a wall with 147 niches, each niche houses 4-5 Tibetan prayer wheels.  You will see lots of Tibetans, young and old, walking in clock-wise direction, praying, rolling the prayer wheels.  

The outer ring of the stupa is basically all kinds of shops and restaurants, cafes catering mainly to the tourists.  There are some Tibetan temples too, which they call 'gompa'.  

There is a temple that is directly facing Boudhanath stupa, and it seemed to me they are forever having some praying ceremonies.  The music, or noise from their drums, bolts, bells, can be heard all over the stupa compound.  The lamas there speak Tibetan and English. 

Young Tibetan lamas maybe are also receiving their education at one of the many Tibetan temples in the area. 

Boudhanath Stupa is a very popular place for tourists from all over the world, including those from India.  Local Nepali students seem to come here too.  So you can expect quite a bit of shoulder rubbing.  

Kathmandu's weather is very bad in December.  It gets very cloudy and foggy after 2-3pm, but to have a good view point of the stupa,  you need to wait for the sun to go west.  However, by the time the sun does go west, the fog will ruin your photo by adding too much mystery.  It is not an easy subject to shoot.  If you have the time, try to search for a vintage point at one of those building encircling the stupa.  That might give you some nice shots.

Admission to Boudhanath is Rs200 (~USD3.00).  The taxi fare to Boudhanath Stupa from Thamel is around Rs200 too.  

You can find a complete list of blog entries about my Nepal trip here.

Nepal Day 12: Kathmandu Durbar Square

Kathmandu's Durbar Square is one of the 7 world heritage sites in Kathmandu.  It is famous for the elegant architecture and wood carvings decorations.  Durbar Square basically means 'royal square'.  It is right outside of the old royal palace of Kathmandu.  There are many 'temples' around Durbar Square.  I said 'temples', but Nepalis definition of  a 'temple' is very different from that of Chinese.  When we say 'temple', we would expect a couple of big or small halls with Buddha statues.  In Nepali context, a temple can be just a single structure with any Buddha statue or image. 

Durbar Square is also a big market place for both the tourists and the locals.  The tourists come for the souvenirs, while the locals use another part of the square in the early morning as their flower market as well as vegetable market.  The above is the Basantapur Square, which is part of the Durbar Square, in the afternoon, filled with souvenir stalls.  

   

Lohan Chowk is one beautiful structure at one corner of the Durbar Square, with two elegant towers.  As usual, everything is covered with a thick layer of dust.  

Near the entrance to the old Royal Palace, stands a 3-story brick building, with magnificent windows and a long bronze ribbon hanging down from the roof, signifying this is a residence of a living goddess.  Here is Kumari Bahal, the official residence of the most powerful, & most respected living goddess of Nepal.  

Inside the building, the corridors are dark, the courtyard is small and depressing.  Behind the intricately carved windows, I could see nothing but darkness.  

Kumari Bahal is a place where touts are abundant.  When I entered the Kumari Bahal, a guy waved to me as if he were my long time friend, then he tried to explained to me about Kumari Bahal.  My interest was totally turned off, as I knew he was one of those 'guides'.  

 

Durbar Square was the center of Kathmandu, and it still is.  A political debate was hosted right at the Durbar Square.  

I visited Durbar Square 3 times during my stay, but I was stopped and asked to buy admission ticket only once.  The time when I was stopped, I had my camera hanging on my neck, a Lonely Planet guide book on hand, planning to spend some leisure time in the square and admire its architecture excellence.  Out of no where, a lady came to greet me in Nepali.  At first, I thought the people here were so nice, then she continued to ask me to buy admission ticket.  I was totally turned off, turned my back immediately, and left.  

I quickly stuffed my camera and guide book into my bag, made another turn and entered Durbar Square from another place.  Nobody stopped me for admission ticket!  If Durbar Square is properly maintained, then I will be more than happy to pay my dues, but it is not.  The whole Durbar Square is in an appalling state, going to look more like ruins than anything.  Well, that's a bit out of topic.

The image of Kala Bhairava in Kathmandu Durbar Square is often seen in travel books.  

You can find a complete list of blog entries about my Nepal trip here.

Nepal Day 7: Snow Storm

Thanks to Y who managed to capture the snow storm we experienced on the way from MBC to ABC, I can share with you how bad it was.  Well, actually it was not that bad.  Just another snow storm which is pretty common in countries such as Japan or Switzerland or Denmark, etc.

I was lucky to have put on my raincoat before I got myself wet and cold. 

 

In that vast open space, with a gray sky, snow flakes dancing around, and a boringly gray footpath, that was me walking alone, bravely :P

Our guide, Abi, also had to brave the strong wind and the heavy snow, and the heavy burden on his shoulders and walked with joy and courage...

You can find a complete list of blog entries about my Nepal trip here.

Nepal Day 6: Himalaya - Y's Perspective

As I had expected, I did have some photos of myself in Y's camera, with me walking through the heavy fog.  Courtesy of Mr Yamaguchi, I got the chance to show you how heavy the fog was, and how steep the path that we walked on was.  WJ looks like a solder who just lost a battle, walking with his head down.  I was looking up for a bright future :P

 

This was when we were about 50m before we reached our guest house in Himalaya.  Can you see the visibility was so bad.  I didn't experience such poor visibility even when I did my scuba dive in the sea.  

This photo was taken after we finished our coldest ever shower.  I was wrapping myself with my dear down jacket, and yet I was trembling.  It was only around 5.30pm but it was already completely dark, dark with heavy fog.  Air had such smell that irritated my throat.  

You can find a complete list of blog entries about my Nepal trip here.

Nepal Day 12: Kathmandu Street View

After settling down in our hotel, I set out for a stroll in the city.

 

At the intersections of some small lanes, which they call 'street', lies their market.  Just like any other wet market, it is messy and a bit dirty.

And there is always some religious structures at the intersection.  People go about their daily chores without forgetting their religion, although the religious structure is very run down, at the brink of being a ruin.

  

 

Streets are narrow and dark.  People, local & foreign, rubbing shoulder along the narrow alleys.  Shops and street vendors line the streets.  Rickshaws, taxis, and motorbikes compete with humans for space in such dark narrow alleys.

 

  

Near Kathmandu's Durbar Square, finally small alleys turn into bigger streets.  More modern style shops dot both sides of the street.  People were happily shopping.  

You will encounter such buildings from time to time.  The building is elaborate with decorations.  The long bronze deco hanging all the way down from the roof to the 2nd level window seems to signal a living goddess stays here.  The elegant window where the bronze arrow is pointing might be where the living goddess may one day grace the public.  

It seems to me religion has ceded for business in today's Kathmandu.  As you see in the picture above, the 2nd level is still for religious purpose, but the 1st level has been converted into shops.  Anyway, let's take a look at the beautiful bas relief on the bronze window, before they disappear with time.

  

On one side of this religious building, stands a Ganesh shrine.  

Ganesh is the Hindu god of prosperity and wisdom.  His shrines are almost everywhere in Kathmandu, which shows he is a very popular god among all the Hindu gods.  He can be easily recognize with his elephant head.

On the sides of the Ganesh shrine, statues of life and death stand.

 

  

Another common scene you will see in Kathmandu is the Tibetan Buddhist Stupas.  

Whenever you see such stupas, you know there is a Tibetan establishment nearby, maybe it is the Tibetan refugee settlement, or their temples which are called 'Gompa'.  

Western influence has not been fell greatly in this land-locked country.  Globalisation has yet to make its impact.  It is good because they can still retain their old age innocence, it is bad because life in this country is too tough.  What is worse is the pollution.  Kathmandu is always misty, hazy, with gray skies, and heavy fog.  The once splendid buildings are still splendid, except their true beauty lies underneath a thick layer of gray dust. 

You can find a complete list of blog entries about my Nepal trip here.

Nepal Day 12: Pokhara to Kathmandu

29 Dec 2009

We bid farewell to Pokhara this morning.  At 7.00am, we took a taxi to the 'famous' Tourist Bus Terminal.  In contrast with yesterday's emptiness & quietness, Tourist Bus Terminal was buzzing with life.  Some people were selling freshly baked bread, some selling postcards, posters, etc.  Yesterday's empty car park now was lined up with all different types of tourist buses.

We took the BABA Tourist Bus.  The bus was quite new, and the drivers have a cockpit like the pilots in their airplanes.  The seats are very comfortable.  Btw, the group of Korean students were taking the same bus as we did.  What a coincident!

Some tourist tips here:  There are many different tourist bus operators plying the Pokhara to Kathmandu route.  Based on my own experience and also observation at the Pokhara Tourist Bus Terminal, plus some feedback from other tourists, it seems like BABA offers a good deal.  The other very popular bus operator, which has been mentioned by Lonely Planet, is the Green Line.  However, their bus seems to be a bit old, and small.  Another operator is Skyline, I think.  The seats are just of normal size, and the two Taiwanese tourists we met didn't give good feedback on Skyline.  

The bus ride to Kathmandu was smooth.  One thing bad is that they have no such concept as a 'toilet stop'.  Don't they know people have such needs for a 7-hour long journey?  I couldn't take it, so I went up to ask the driver.  He then just stopped the bus in the middle of nowhere and let me go down to relieve myself at the road side.  I was thinking, so embarrassed, I was the only one and holding up the whole bus load of people.  But when I finished my own business and turned my back, my gosh, one whole group of passengers from  our bus doing the same thing.  I wondered, why didn't anyone else come up to ask the driver to stop for a toilet break but me?  Haiz....

About 3 hours into the journey, we stopped at a 'resort' for lunch, which was included in the bus fare (btw, the bus fare was US$18.00).  Lunch was buffet, the food was just so-so, just for the purpose of filling up the empty stomach.

At around 2pm, we already entered Kathmandu, but the traffic condition in the city is terrible.  Jams everywhere, and it was nothing but chaos. 

 

We were constantly greeted by such rubbish dumps.  It reminds me of some rural areas in China some 3 decades ago.  Today's Kathmandu, looks very much like a small Chinese town some 30 years ago.  Nepal will have to work harder to catch up with the rest of the world.  

3pm, we reached our final destination.  We thought we would stop at a bus terminal or something, but hell no.  We just stopped at the road side.  The drivers didn't tell us we had reached.  Luckily one Nepali passenger alerted me, so I asked the driver.  The rest of the foreign passengers were still sitting there, not knowing what is happening.  I had to be the self-declared tour guide to tell them that we had come to the end of our bus journey, and everybody please get down.  

One salient feature of Kathmandu is most of the streets have no names.  I didn't know where I was, other than somewhere near the backpacker's heaven - Thamel.  After many askings, we got our way to Hotel Center Point (北京饭店).  It is a hotel catering to Chinese visitors.  You see, I used the word 'visitors', instead of tourists.  There are some Chinese tourists, but later I noticed most people staying there were more business oriented.  

The cost for a standard double room with attached bath is US$30.00.  Almost double the cost than Hotel Blue Heaven.  The location is not bad, in the center of Thamel.  The room is spacious, stairs are  spacious, and there is a lift in the hotel, except very few people use it.  Nobody wants to get stranded in the lift during Kathmandu's frequent power outages.  

There is also a Chinese restaurant on the ground floor, managed I think by some Chinese-speaking Nepalis.  The food there was ok, but not of exceptional quality. 

You can find a complete list of blog entries about my Nepal trip here.

Nepal Day 11: Pokhara Street View

Pokhara's lake shore area is mainly catering to tourists.  The area is purposely kept very clean, the roads are more proper.  Part of the reason may be also the royal palace is located in that area too.  However, once you go out of the major tourist area, then it is another story.  The roads are more dusty, the buildings are more run down. 

In the morning, we went to look for the Tourist Bus Terminal, which Abi said it was 10 minutes walk from our guest house.  Wow,  Abi walks a lot faster than me.  His 10 minutes turn out to be many more minutes.  Along the way, I had to ask quite a number of people for directions.  Luckily, Nepalis are in general very kind.  They are happy to direct me to the right direction. 

At one time, I was a bit lost at a traffic junction.  A van driver behind us asked us whether we were looking for a taxi.  When I told him that we were looking for the Tourist Bus Terminal, he smiled to tell us it was just 200 meters away and pointed us to the direction. 

So as I walked to the tourist bus terminal, I also captured some random street views.  I sincerely hope that I am capturing part of the history of Nepal, and when I return the next time, Pokhara have changed for the better.

 

 

 

I thought the Tourist Bus Terminal should be some building with a big car park for all that tourist buses.  To the contrary, there is hardly anything at the tourist bus terminal, not even a sign in English saying hey, this is the tourist bus terminal, man.  Nothing but a dusty empty land.

Do you see that piece vacant land there beside the 3-story building?  That's where the tourist bus terminal is.  I doubted my judgment at first, until I asked someone there to confirm it was indeed the tourist bus terminal.  It is rudimentary, but functional.  The bus terminal is only crowded and full of life in the morning, before 7.30am.  7.30am seems to be the time that ALL the tourist buses will leave.  After that, the bus terminal returns to its emptiness and quietness.

There is hardly any modern building in town, let alone Singapore type of shopping centres.  People there in general still seem to be very poor.  I don't quite understand.  Nepalis are in general hard working.  And they have been ushering in western tourists since the 1970s.  After so many years of tourism development, why is this country still so poor?  However, WJ, my friend who just paid a visit to Tibet last May, told me that Nepal is in many aspects better than many parts of Tibet, in terms of tourist facilities, and hospitality.  Sanitation facilities such as toilet is rudimentary in Nepal, but it is still one class better than Tibet. 

In that case, more so Nepal should be a bit more rich than they are now.  I sincerely wish Nepali people having a better life in the not too far future.  They deserve a better life for their hard work. 

You can find a complete list of blog entries about my Nepal trip here.

Nepal Day 11: Fewa Lake & Devi Falls

Pokhara is famous for its lake and the lake side area, so how can I miss the lake?

 

That's how Fewa Lake looks like.  It is a small lake at the foot of the Himalaya mountains.  The softness of water gives the tough mountains a romantic look.  It also makes people to slow down and relax at her side.

There is a small island with a Varahi Temple near the palace area.  The only way to get to the island is by boat.  Right opposite the island, there is a place where you can rent your boat.  You can rent the boat only, and do the rowing yourself; or you can hire a boat and a boat man.  Not really cheap.  The price is anything from Rs300 onwards. 

Another attraction in Pokhara is Devi Falls.  There are many variations of its name, but they are all referring to the same thing.  When you first heard of Devi Falls, what would come to your mind?  A water fall?  That was what I thought.  We took a taxi to go there, which is in the southern part of Pokhara, and outside of the main tourist lake shore area.  The taxi ride was only about 10 minutes.  The taxi driver asked us whether we wanted to hire him for one way only or for return as well.  One is Rs250, and return is Rs400, and he would wait for us for around 30 minutes or so.  I thought, hell, only 30 minutes for us to enjoy a water fall?

When we got to Devi Falls, we got a HUGE surprise!  It is NOT a typical water fall.  Only when I read my Lonely Planet guide book line by line carefully did I realize Devi Falls actually is overflow water Fewa Lake, and it drops down suddenly into a hole in the ground. 

Holy shit, this is Devi Falls.  And we came at the wrong time of the year some more.  There was hardly any water in it.  According to the sign board in the Devi Falls area (btw, you have to pay Rs20 to visit Devi Falls), the best time of the year is between July & Sept.  Hello, we were there in December, hardly any water, dry season, no rain, no snow, so no water fall either.  Even if there is plenty of water, I doubt we can see a nice fall, other than a big stream.  

You can find a complete list of blog entries about my Nepal trip here.

Nepal Day 11: Pokhara Street Festival

To usher in the western new year of 2010, Pokhara had their annual street festival at the lakeshore area. 

 

The road was closed for the parade and outdoor dining.  Everywhere you could feel the sense of happiness and the mood of festival.

 

Some scattering groups first came out for the parade in the afternoon.

 

Take note of the lackluster stone wall in the two pictures above, that was the Royal Palace in Pokhara.  

As the sun was about to set, some VIP came to the lake shore area.

 

Too bad, I don't know who was the VIP, what was the VIP.  I supposed it was the one with the white 'hada'.  Watched too much news on terrorists attacks and suicide bombers in the Indian subcontinent, so I had better stay far far away from the VIP.

After the VIP passed, it came the more colorful and bigger parade groups. 

 

 

 

 

 

Ok, enough of their street festival, how can we miss out something that you can only see in Nepal. 

 Too small?  You can't see what is there?  Here is an enlargement.

And it is not unusual to see man and man holding hands in the streets here in Nepal, however, there is quite a fundamental difference in its meaning in Nepal and in places such as San Francisco.

You can find a complete list of blog entries about my Nepal trip here.