The road to Lumbini – Changing Buses

Before reaching Pokhara. Typical for Nepal, the road from Sauraha to Lumbini lasted almost one day. However, there were less than 200 kilometers between the two destinations. In the morning, the Nepali man from the travel company in Sauraha gave me a ride to the bus station located in the middle of nowhere. He patiently waited next to me. Finally, the bus for Lumbini appeared in the so-called ‘bus station,’ leaving behind a smothery cloud of dust. After a long wait, we finally left Sauraha. The bus gradually filled up with people, luggage, and chickens imprisoned in carton boxes with small holes (they needed to somehow breathe).

During the long bus ride, a Chinese named Qi adopted me and shoveled me with bananas and peanuts. The night before, Qi had slept on a terrace on the riverbank of the Rapti River in Sauraha. After visiting Lumbini, he wanted to go to India for a couple of days and had only a small backpack. He was traveling with another Chinese, an acupuncturist in Algeria. He didn’t like Nepalese food and, therefore, he ate only chapatti (Nepalese flatbread) with wine. In Bhairawa, all three of us changed the bus. For another hour, we rode a poky bus to Lumbini Bazaar, just 12 kilometers far. As a Nepalese rule, the bus stopped every 300 meters whenever someone wanted to get on or off the bus.

Lumbini: lunch at Three Vision Restaurant, on the main street of the bazaar

When we arrived in Lumbini, I urgently went to the Lumbini Garden Ecolodge – the guesthouse recommended by the French man I had met in Sauraha. There, I found a cheap and clean en-suite room, with hot water for shower. I would have never dreamed of such a great room in Nepal. After checking in at the guesthouse, I crossed the street to the Three Vision Restaurant. Meanwhile, Qi and his friend rented two bikes. They wanted to go to the Royal Thai Buddhist Monastery and try to stay for free there. Before leaving, they came to have a cup of coffee with me at the restaurant. We chatted for a while, and Qi put a compassionate arm around my shoulder when I told him my sorrows.

Lumbini – The birthplace of the Buddha

Lumbini is a pilgrimage site with a special meaning. It is listed as a UNESCO Heritage Site as Buddha’s birthplace. The Lumbini Bazaar had only one street with restaurants and guesthouses lined up along the dusty unpaved road. On the opposite side, the religious zone spread over a larger area, measuring at least a few kilometers in length. The religious zone was interspersed with Buddhist monasteries from different schools, countries, or influences. The west monastic zone gathered the monasteries of the Mahayana School, while the eastern monastic zone grouped the ones of the Theravada School. A water canal separated the two monastic zones, and a tiny ship transported pilgrims along the water canal from one side to another of the religious zone.

Lumbini: Maha Devi Temple with the Sacred Pond. Maya Devi bathed here before giving birth to the Buddha

In the morning, I crossed the street and ate again at the Three Vision Restaurant. The generous breakfast included an omelet, smashed potatoes, coffee, juice, and fruit. While I was having breakfast, I watched a huge monkey walking on the roof of my guesthouse.

Lumbini: breakfast at Three Vision Restaurant, on the main street of the bazaar

Later, I went to the complex of the Maha Devi Temple, built in the place where the Buddha might have been born. Inside the complex, there was a pond where Maha Devi would have bathed before giving birth to the Buddha. Ruins of former monasteries could be seen all around the temple and the pond. Inside the complex, pilgrims and visitors could enter only barefooted after leaving the shoes outside in a special place. Tourists (including me) had to pay for their visit to the religious complex. Once I entered the complex, a queue of pilgrims waited to worship at the temple. In the garden, a lama lectured to a group of people fascinated by his teachings. While I was walking throughout the religious complex, a few young Nepalese insisted on taking a photo together with me. This time, I accepted.

Lumbini: Maha Devi Temple – pilgrims listening to the lama

After visiting the religious complex, I went toward the monastic zone. There, most of the monasteries had been built in the middle of a large green area. I turned down all the bike-rickshaw offers, even though the route of the monasteries spread along ten kilometers. I preferred to walk slowly among the temples. Vipassana Meditation Center Panditarama was in a deep forest, Karma Samtenling Monastery in a park, and Thrangu Vajra Vidhya Association in a large manicured garden. In the same monastic zone, Linh Son Temple, Lama Yuru Meditation Center, and Drigung Kagyud Lotus Stupa stood by an artificial lake with water lilies.

Lumbini: Linh Son Temple

Lumbini Museum was a modern one, but it was closed. Close to it, the Thai Royal Buddhist Monastery was entirely composed of white wooden temples dazzling in the sun. The Monastery of Cambodia was under construction, the Golden Temple of Myanmar was incredibly luxurious, and pilgrims circumnavigated Lokamani Cula Pagoda. When I reached Goutami Nuns’ Temple, I smelled cooked food reminding me it was about lunchtime.

Lumbini: Royal Thai Buddhist Monastery

Back in Lumbini Bazaar, I suddenly heard Barbara calling me. She had just arrived from Sauraha with a bus. I accompanied her to my guesthouse, where she decided to stay. In the afternoon, we went to eat chicken chowimen (Nepalese spaghetti) at Buddha Regency.

Tansen – A quaint provincial town

Early in the morning, I had a bus from Lumbini to Tansen. In the bus station, a Nepalese yelled at me to go and buy a ticket. At the counter, the women selling tickets charged me more than normal, but I wasn’t in a mood to bargain at that early hour. She didn’t want to give me a ticket, so I had to yell at the man who asked for a ticket. He came and yelled at the woman from the counter. Eventually, I received a ticket with a seat written on it. I climbed in the bus and occupied my seat. We crammed into the bus when we passed Bhairawa and Butwal but I relaxed as I had a ticket with a seat. After that, the road snaked through the mountains and followed an exposed path along impressive gorges.

Tansen: the street where I was randomly looking for accommodation

I got off the bus at the main crossroads for Tansen and there the jeep drivers jumped on me. A kind Nepalese whispered the correct price of a jeep ride to me. One of the jeeps quickly filled with people and in ten minutes, I found myself in the crowded and dusty bus station in the center of Tansen.

I was supposed to have a collaboration at the tourist center. I spoke again with Man Mohan, but he confused me too much, so I changed my mind right away and went directly to the Royal Regency Guesthouse. There, I negotiated a basic room, without a bathroom, and more expensive than I expected. Having a room, though, allowed me to drop my luggage as soon as possible. I quickly gulped two eggs with chapatti and gave back the milk with muesli because it had only one spoon of muesli sprinkled over the milk. I ordered another portion of eggs, appeased my hunger, and went out to explore the historic center of Tansen.

Tansen: Bhimsen Mandir Temple at the beginning of a decorated street

In the afternoon, I explored Tansen, which spread out over several hills. The main landmark was Sitalpati Square, while a few temples and the former royal palace were the highlights of the town. I discovered Jama Mosque hidden in a backyard and the tailor shops lining up along the main street. From the main square, a few steep streets climbed to a lookout place from where I could see the whole region of Tansen.

Tansen: Jama Mosque

I came back to the city center and spent the rest of the afternoon at a respectable restaurant in the main square. By dusk, I went directly to the bus station where I decided to buy a ticket to Pokhara for the following day. I announced at the front desk of the guesthouse that I would leave early in the morning and asked the staff to leave the door unlocked.

Tansen: tailor workshops along a traditional street

The road from Tansen to Pokhara

In the morning, the door of the guesthouse was open, but there was nobody at the front desk to pay for my room. I quickly calculated how much I had to pay, left the money behind the front desk, wrote a small message on a piece of paper, and ran to the bus station.

The bus for Pokhara filled with a group of teenagers traveling with the whole class. They sang, yelled, and shouted all the way to Pokhara – almost six hours, out of which three hours the bus stopped for a pee (in the middle of the road, at a bend of the road), at a tiny eatery for a quick lunch, and anytime someone got off or on the bus. The serpentine road snaked through enormous gorges for a couple of hours, and all people in the bus exclaimed full of admiration when we approached Pokhara and the Himalayas appeared on the horizon.

The main street in Pokhara Lakeside

In Pokhara, the bus helper told me to get off the bus at the crossroads toward Lakeside. There, I changed the bus and activated the GPS to find the closest bus station to my hotel. I found the Lotus Inn Hotel, where I had a booking for the following day, but they accommodated me anyway. From the balcony of my room, I enjoyed the view of a courtyard decorated in European style, with manicured grass and small stones carefully arranged.

Lakeside was the tourist quarter in Pokhara and it spread along the Phewa artificial lake. For the first time after Kathmandu, I saw luxurious shops, massage centers, and countless restaurants alternating with travel companies every here and there (very similar to the Thamel quarter in Kathmandu). Finally, I felt spoiling myself after the never-ending bus trips full of Nepalis spitting every minute and playing loud music. I deserved it.

The main street in Pokhara Lakeside

In the afternoon, I went to several travel agencies to find a porter for a short trek in the Annapurna Conservation Park. It seemed that Ghorepani Trek lasted only three to five days, just perfect for me. For a couple of hours, I negotiated, sounded out several treks on the market, and tested the agencies’ staff. Eventually, I agreed to pay an advance to a Nepali who could answer a basic question. “What is the average difference of altitude on each day of the trek?”

After paying an advance to him, I constrained him to write on my invoice what “all-inclusive” meant for him. Accommodation in a single room, three meals per day, tea and coffee for breakfast, guide-cum-porter, trekking permits, and transportation by taxi to and from Naya Pul. After such a great victory, I went for a walk along the Phewa Lakeside. In the evening, I had chowimen again at a Tibetan restaurant this time.

The first day in Pokhara

Short Description. On the first day in Pokhara, I walked around the tourist quarter of Pokhara Lakeside and relaxed in the afternoon.

Long Description.

I walked along the Phewa lakeside and went only to the island with Varahi Mandir Temple. The temple was dedicated to both Hindus and Buddhists. Phewa Ghat pier was very crowded and I could hardly get on a boat. I had to pay a roundtrip to the same boatman, although I would have come back with a different one.

Pokhara Lakeside: Phewa Lake

Back to Lakeside, I tried at least ten bank machines until I could withdraw some money. Afterward, I decided to have a Deep Tissue massage after receiving a generous ‘lunch discount.’ My masseuse, Nishal, was 19 and kept telling me how beautiful and young I was. At the end of the massage, she climbed with her feet on my back and carefully stretched me.

The second day in Pokhara

Short Description. On the second day in Pokhara, I made a hiking loop to the World Peace Pagoda, leaving from the Damside area and coming back to the main pier by crossing the Phewa Lake on a boat.

Long Description.

In the morning, I enjoyed the breakfast offer from the Pearly Gate Restaurant, which sat just across the street from my hotel. I gorged eggs, toasted bread, mashed potatoes, milk coffee, and a banana. As I decided to hike to the Japanese Pagoda, I had to take a bus to the Damside. From there, I activated my GPS and walked along a street without losing sight of the world peace pagoda’s white peak.

Pokhara: going up to the World Peace Pagoda

A few Nepalis guided me toward a pack of stairs. I crossed the Pardi Khola (a small stream coming out from the Phewa Lake) where Nepalese women washed themselves and their clothes. There, I talked with a cyclist who was confused because he didn’t know which path to follow. Afterward, I turned right on a path with never-ending stone steps.

I quickly reached two Belgians and a British and, most of the way, I hiked with them. We lost the footpath several times, but we kept going uphill until we met a Nepalese guide with two Dutch tourists. We abruptly climbed endless stairs, I sweated a lot, and we finally reached a mountain pass with restaurants. From there, I had a panoramic view of the Annapurna Range. From the pass, I walked for another 15 minutes and reached the garden of the World Peace Pagoda.

Pokhara: at the World Peace Pagoda

The World Peace Pagoda was a Buddhist stupa, entirely painted in white, built on a high base where people climbed to spin the prayer wheels clockwise. The Japanese monks who built it wanted to dedicate it to the peace of the whole world. For one hour, I sunbathed in the garden of the stupa looking at the Himalayas. Eventually, I decided to follow the advice of the Nepalese guide and hike down on the footpath toward Phewa Lake.

Pokhara: going down the stupa walkway (from the World Peace Pagoda)

I went down along the Stupa Walkway – first through the woods, and then among traditional households, lodges, colorful flowers, and banana trees. Surprisingly, many Nepalese wanted to take photos with me. Soon, I reached the small bay of Pumdi Bhumdi, and from there, I rented a boat with a boatman and crossed the lake to Phewa Ghat.

Pokhara: crossing the Phewa Lake with the Himalayas in the background

The third day in Pokhara

Short Description. On the third day in Pokhara (and the last one), I made a riding loop with ponies up to Mount Sarangkot.

Long Description.

Two ponies waited patiently in front of the travel agency – one for me, one for my horse groom. We rode our ponies through the Lakeside. After we left Pokhara behind, we turned right at Bulandi Khola and went up along a dirt road to the villages of Gupha and Mathland. From up there, I could see the whole Phewa Lake and Valley.

Pokhara – Going down from Sarangkot: with our ponies

In Gothadi village, I climbed a hill to see the panoramic view of the Annapurna Range. After that, we passed below Sarangkot peak from where dozens of paragliders soared in the air and swarmed the sky.

Pokhara – Going up to Sarangkot: the view of the Annapurna Range

We came down through Horedanda hamlet and reached the Phewa Lake at Happy Village, even though I had known we would ride a longer route to Pame. However, I wanted to walk normally after six hours of riding and get ready for the upcoming trek in the Himalayas.

From Lumbini to Pokhara passing through Tansen is the travelogue about my stay in the southern-to-northern part of Nepal. You can find the version of this post in Romanian at ‘‘De la Lumbini la Pokhara, Nepal‘. If you want to read more about the trip through Nepal, here are all the Travelogues from Nepal (x12).

Have you been to Nepal or plan to go there? Leave a comment below this post and tell me what you liked in Nepal or what you want to see there.

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