When I first booked my trip to spend three days at the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Royal Chitwan National Park, I had visions of trekking through the jungles to spy on tigers and dodge wild rhinos. Turns out, the adventuring at Chitwan doesn’t go quite that far. I did see one of the rare one-horned rhinos, …
The Nepali New Year dawned bright and early during my third week of living in the small village of Pharping, Nepal. Amrit, the charming man running our guesthouse, invited the volunteers staying at the guesthouse to celebrate the New Year with his family. The plan was to hike a nearby hill for views over the Kathmandu …
Pharping is a large town by Nepali standards. It’s small to be sure, but it’s bigger than the tiny villages that dot the hillside as the bus through the Kathmandu Valley putters through the mountains for an hour before arriving in Pharping, Nepal. Living in this small village gave me my first introduction to Nepali food. …
The monastery where I volunteered in Nepal, probably like any boarding school, runs on a regimented timetable. The boys have classes everyday except Saturdays and throughout the day they have brief breaks. I came to love the daily tea-time ritual every afternoon. Nepali chiya is different than Indian chai but just as enjoyable. Nepal’s version …
When I booked my volunteer experience to teach English to young monks in Nepal all those months before landing there, I could not have known what waited for me when I touched down in the country. I knew stories of trekking in the Himalayas. I knew of the deep and rich history in Kathmandu. But …
The warmth and humor of the Nepali people are among my best memories from traveling through Nepal and volunteering in a small town outside of Kathmandu, Pharping. Across my month living in Pharping, Amrit, the man overseeing my guesthouse during my volunteer experience, became one of my favorite new friends. Driven and charismatic, Amrit also exuded optimism. …
My volunteer travels in Nepal started with sightseeing around the Kathmandu Valley. I loved this part. Sightseeing gave my me a jump-start of sorts into the Nepali Buddhist culture into which my cousin and I were immersing ourselves for two months. We toured Kathmandu for a few days and we took a crash-course in Nepali language. …
The early morning light glinted off buildings of Kathmandu as our plane circled the Kathmandu Valley waiting to land. After two months exploring India, I moved into Nepal (full Nepal travel guide here) after traveling north from India for two months. My goal? Spend nine weeks at a slower of pace life while exploring everything …