Tiger1
Well-known member
In 2003 I spent a month in Nepal with a friend--he is not a birder. We spent a few days in Kathmandu, interesting if you can cope with the air pollution.
Flew to Lukla and did the Everest trail. We did not book a trek with a travel company and from what we observed that was a good decision. Some of the so called 'guides' are ok as long as nothing goes wrong and can be pretty incompetent when it does. You would have to be a complete idiot to get lost so the best plan is to just hire a porter and start walking. Follow acclimatization guidelines strictly, I can not emphasize that enough.
After the trek we spent some time in Pokhara. I was there in 1972 and the change has been dramatic. Once again the air pollution was dreadful. In 1972 we could lie back and enjoy views of the Annapurna range and Machapuchare but this time it was all hidden by the smog,
Next came a few days at Chitwan and our so called 'guide' was a complete numptie. Prior to our two hour sweaty trek through 'the jungle' we were told what to do if we encountered Tigers, Rhinos, Sloth Bears and some other mythical creatures. We actually saw one unidentified bird,one monkey, two small unidentified insects and piles of Elephant, Rhino, bird, monkey, dog, chicken and some miscellaneous droppings. A trip on the river in a very unstable canoe did produce a Crocodile, a Stork and a Kingfisher.
For us, Pokhara and Chitwan were a complete waste of time, we should have done more trekking.
Hopefully any forum members visiting those areas will have a much better experience. The one bright note is that SWMBO did like her very expensive Pashmina Stole.
Tiger1
Flew to Lukla and did the Everest trail. We did not book a trek with a travel company and from what we observed that was a good decision. Some of the so called 'guides' are ok as long as nothing goes wrong and can be pretty incompetent when it does. You would have to be a complete idiot to get lost so the best plan is to just hire a porter and start walking. Follow acclimatization guidelines strictly, I can not emphasize that enough.
After the trek we spent some time in Pokhara. I was there in 1972 and the change has been dramatic. Once again the air pollution was dreadful. In 1972 we could lie back and enjoy views of the Annapurna range and Machapuchare but this time it was all hidden by the smog,
Next came a few days at Chitwan and our so called 'guide' was a complete numptie. Prior to our two hour sweaty trek through 'the jungle' we were told what to do if we encountered Tigers, Rhinos, Sloth Bears and some other mythical creatures. We actually saw one unidentified bird,one monkey, two small unidentified insects and piles of Elephant, Rhino, bird, monkey, dog, chicken and some miscellaneous droppings. A trip on the river in a very unstable canoe did produce a Crocodile, a Stork and a Kingfisher.
For us, Pokhara and Chitwan were a complete waste of time, we should have done more trekking.
Hopefully any forum members visiting those areas will have a much better experience. The one bright note is that SWMBO did like her very expensive Pashmina Stole.
Tiger1
