Nepal is one of those rare travel destinations that consistently produces accounts of genuine transformation. Here are five reasons why a Nepal trip reliably produces this effect.
1. The scale of the Himalayas. No photograph adequately prepares you for Himalayan scale. Standing at Kala Patthar above Everest Base Camp with 8,848m of mountain filling the sky 20km away, or walking into the Annapurna Sanctuary enclosed by eight peaks over 7,000m, produces a visceral experience of human smallness that is genuinely perspective-shifting. Learn more about reaching these viewpoints on our Everest region trekking and Annapurna trekking pages.
2. Nepali hospitality. Nepal's culture of hospitality is genuine rather than commercial. The warmth and curiosity with which Nepali people approach foreign visitors – particularly on the trekking trails and in village homestays away from the most touristy areas – consistently surprises travellers who came expecting transactional tourism.
3. The living culture. Nepal's ancient cultural traditions are alive rather than preserved. The cremations at Pashupatinath are a continuing community practice. The circumambulation of Boudhanath at dawn is the morning prayer practice of thousands of devotees. Encountering living culture of this depth and continuity – 2,000-year-old practices unchanged and earnest – is increasingly rare in the modern world.
4. The challenge and achievement. Nepal demands something of most of its visitors – whether the physical effort of high-altitude trekking or the navigational challenge of moving through a completely unfamiliar cultural landscape. The sense of achievement that comes from completing a Nepal trek consistently produces satisfaction that few other travel experiences deliver.
5. Perspective on contentment. Nepal's mountain communities – people living at 3,500m with limited material resources, doing physically demanding work, maintaining elaborate religious practices and extending extraordinary hospitality to strangers – consistently present travellers with a living example of contentment that challenges assumptions about what prosperity requires.
It's easy to spend days, weeks, or even months wandering around Nepal's capital city of Kathmandu. This is where you'll travel back in time at Durbar Square, where the city's kings formerly ruled, and discover a Buddhist stupa named Boudhanath that dates back to the first century AD.
The giant stupas, located throughout Kathmandu and the entire country, serve as reminders of Buddha's path to enlightenment, and you'll see locals practicing Buddhist rituals there at all times of day. You'll quickly discover that the 50-square-kilometre city of Kathmandu offers more culture than most cities 10 times its size.
The magnitude 7.8 earthquake that shook central Nepal on April 25, 2015, didn't ruin the spirit of its people. Everywhere you go, you'll be visited with a smile and a "namaste." You'll find that the Nepalese people are eager to show you their favorite cultural sites and scenery. You'll notice that the younger generation and many of the people living in larger cities and near tourist destinations speak English very well.
The recent earthquake affected Nepal in more ways than one. More than 9,000 lives were lost and hundreds of thousands of people's homes were destroyed. Visit Nepal now, and you'll notice the residents are extremely grateful for your tourist dollars. You'll quickly discover that many of the people from which you're buying souvenirs and food were affected in one way or another by the earthquake. Your money may even help them rebuild their home, restaurant or shop.
If there's one part of Nepal that will remain with you for the rest of your life, it's the postcard-worthy scenery you'll see. Nepal is known as the home of Mount Everest, but whether you're sightseeing on a hike or by plane, the images of the towering, snow-covered peaks of the Himalayas will forever be etched in your mind.
You probably won't venture to the top of the highest mountain in the world, but you'll be blown away by Nepal's scenery whether you're snapping photos of the Gokyo Lakes of Sagarmatha National Park, exploring Bhaktapur, hiking in the Annapurna Mountain Range or boating along the Narayani River. The best advice when visiting Nepal is to come equipped with a quality camera.
Nepal is known more for its mountains than its cuisine, but you'll find yourself wanting to stop in every restaurant and momo shop you see. Momos, or Nepalese dumplings, can be purchased on just about every corner and are something that should be tried numerous times on your visit. They can be filled with a variety of vegetables or meats to suit a wide variety of pallets. Curries, homemade flatbreads, fresh fruits, spicy chutneys, dal and fine Nepali teas are just a small portion of the country's numerous cuisines, which vary with each geographic and cultural region.
Source: www.huffingtonpost.ca/allison-eberle/traveling-to-nepal_b_8921904.html
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