Nepal: a photographic journey
Expat, blogger and Tripper Danielle Koffler shares her photos from her 30 days of travel through Nepal...
Before arriving in Kathmandu for my second visit to Nepal, I contacted friend and fellow Tripper Tika Regmi to help plan my journey. A month in Nepal may sound like a long time, but the vast number of activities and destinations make thirty days go by in the blink of an eye.
My boyfriend and I started our travels in Kathmandu where we visited important Buddhist and Hindu temples before heading off to Chitwan National Park for a few days of elephant safaris, jungle walks, and canoe rides.
A trip to Nepal isn't complete unless you do at least one trek into the Himalayas. There's something magical about waking up each morning at a new teahouse knowing that your soul purpose that day is to walk through mountain villages and take in the stunning views along the way. We chose to do an eight day trek in the Annapurna region up to the village of Muktinath.
After finishing our trek we visited the village of Gorkha with Tripper Tika for a traditional wedding in his wife's village. The bus ride to get to the remote village was physically exhausting, but the smiles and welcoming faces of the villagers made it well worth the uncomfortable ride. We ended our month in Nepal in the chilled out town of Pokhara, where we dined lakeside while staring at the grand face of Fish Tail mountain.
Here are some photos from our journey.
On a walk from Thamel in Kathmandu to Durbar Square, we stumbled upon a small Buddhist temple where the local pigeons were making the rounds:
Swayambhunath, also known as the Monkey Temple, is a must see while staying in Kathmandu. This Buddhist temple sits atop a hill where you can view monkeys within touching distance and the city below if it's clear enough:
One of the many monkeys posing at Swayambhunath in Kathmandu:
Elephant safaris are one of the popular attractions in Chitwan. It's the only way to safely view the rhinos living in the forest area. Unfortunately it's a little heartbreaking to watch the mahoots poke, prod, and hit the elephants into submission:
While sitting in a huge hollowed out tree on the river, we watched in silence as a group of mahoots led some enormous elephants through the crocodile infested waters:
Dhaulagiri towers in the background at a whopping 8,167 meters:
Traditional village homes dot the hillside:
Chickens, goats, donkeys and water buffalo are common sights during a trek:
This was a guest post by Danielle Koffler. Danielle, a Los Angeles native, has been passionate about travel since she went around the world on Semester at Sea in 2006. In the last three years, she has taught English in northeastern Thailand, worked in eco-tourism on an island in Thailand, and backpacked solo around Asia. She just finished teaching English in Seoul, South Korea and is now traveling around Asia. Keep up with her via her blog, Wake Up and Dance. Check out her Tripping profile and connect with her through Networks like DIWYY.