My journey back to Nepal starts in a few weeks time when I fly out to Kathmandu on Sunday 22nd April, 2012. I will be staying in Nepal for 4 weeks, returning to the UK on Sunday 20th May.
After much persuasion, I’ve managed to convince my girlfriend Karen to join me. We fly out together, with Karen returning after 2 weeks on Sunday 6th May. I’m really excited about going back but more so for Karen as this will be her first trip to this part of the world. After years of me going on and on about how wonderful Nepal is, I just hope it lives up to her expectations.
Our plan is to spend a day or two in the capital Kathmandu getting acclimatised and then catch the bus to the lakeside town of Pokhara. From there we are planning a short trek in the Annapurna region of the Himalaya, reaching Chomrong at 2,210m after a couple of days, before making our way back to Pokhara for a rest. From Pokhara we will be taking another bus, this time to Sauraha in the south of Nepal, located near the Royal Chitwan National Park. We will be staying there for 5 nights before making our way back to Kathmandu for Karen’s flight home. 2 weeks is not a lot of time to spend in Nepal, as there is so much to see and do, but hopefully we can do all the things we have planned for the time we have available.
For the next 2 weeks my plan is firstly to make my way back to Pokhara for another trek, this time to Annapurna Base Camp which sits at an altitude of 4,130m. Then it’s back down to Chitwan to visit the village of Patihani, where I volunteered in 2002 and 2003. I want to get involved with some local programmes or initiatives and my trip is really just to see how feasible this is. It also gives me a chance to catch up with some friends. I’ll spend the last couple of days of my trip in Kathmandu, again meeting with friends, before flying home.