Hi Kathy,
Here's a rundown of the changes for Walking in Nepal, we have changed and improved a lot of the included walks and also the optional excursion.
Day 3 – Kathmandu
Monastery Walk
Drive from hotel to south of Kathmandu for about 45 minutes to a serene mountainous village called Pharping. This is a sacred place for Tibetan Buddhist as one of the great master – Guru Padmasambhav also referred as Guru Rimpoche (Precious Master), meditated in the caves around this area. Because of the sacredness and religious significances of this area, many monasteries are built around here and many pilgrims visit the holy caves. We will stop by at one of the very beautiful and impressive monastery in Pharping called Neydo. If time and schedule of the monastery favors us, we will get to participate in the morning prayer ceremony and chanting by the residents monks in the main sanctum of the monastery. We then take a tour of the monastery and immerse ourselves in the beauty of the monastery, intricate arts and iconography and pray for positivity and good vibes to big statue of Buddha in the main sanctum. We will be having simple breakfast at the monastery. After breakfast, we will take a short walk around the area for about an hour or so with the option of visiting one of the very few nunneries in Nepal. This nunnery is called Arya Tara School.
Day 4 – Panauti
After visiting the Budhanilkantha Temple
Drive to Sanga (45 mins to one hour drive). Walk slight uphill for around 45 minutes and then after gradual uphill walk all the way to Panauti town. The hike last up to 4 hours and it is pleasant walk. Upon reaching Panauti town, enjoy local lunch experience with locals of Panauti town/ explore Panauti with your host family and return back to Kathmandu
The starting point, Sanga, is just outside the eastern edge of the Kathmandu Valley, and will be better known by most as the place with the tallest Shiva statue in the world. After a steep ascent for about half an hour, the hike mostly flattens out, and takes walkers along ridgelines with steep drops below, views of rice fields and farmland, the town of Banepa and–on clear days–unobstructed views of the Himalayas. The paths we followed were mostly just local paths that the villagers of this area have always used. The curious faces with which we were met proved that these people weren’t used to outsiders passing through.
The hike ended at Panauti, a beautiful Newari town surrounded by rice fields, and famed for being one of the best-preserved Newari settlements in the whole of Nepal.
Day 8 – Dhampus
Dhampus Walk in Annapurna:
After breakfast, we take a short drive for about an hour to our hiking starting point Kande (1883m). Stretching our legs and we start our hike up to Australian Camp (2200m) through rough trails and steep steps. It will take us around 1 hour to 90 minutes to get to Australian Camp. It has a great vantage point from where we get to see beautiful panoramic view of Annapurna Mountains, the valley, Phewa Lake, Pokhara City and World Peace Pagoda. We can take a short break for tea, coffee or cold drinks and enjoy the beautiful scenery. We will then hike downhill to Dhampus (1600m) through rough trails and steps for about an hour. We will then stop for lunch at Dhampus still enjoying and appreciating the beautiful Annapurna Mountains. We will take some time to relax and settle our belly, walking around the village of Dhampus before we start our downhill hike on steps for about an hour to Phedi to catch our bus back to downtown Pokhara.
Day 10 – Patan
Cultural Walk of Bungamati & Khokana:
A classic Newari village, Bungamati has rows of brick houses lining streets paved with flagstones. The village is the winter residence of the Rain God as well as being justifiably famous for the significant number of skilled woodcarvers among its inhabitants. Nearby is another ancient Newari village, Khokana which has earned quite a reputation for its mustard oil made in the traditional ways of oil pressing. If you come across somebody with a weathered face carrying two tin drums hanging at the two ends of a pole across his shoulders in the old marketplaces of Kathmandu, it is likely that he is from Khokana and in town to sell mustard oil. A day exploring these 2 villages will be one of the most genuine experiences of traditional life in the Kathmandu Valley you will find.
For the optional excursion walk to the Peace Stupa you can now take an alternative route that involves a boat trip.
Thanks,
Vickie