Lonely planet has listed Nepal on the top of the most valuable destinations for travelers. Nepal is bouncing back after the earthquake and fuel crisis and remains as one of the favorites for budget travelers. It offers a wide range of activities for a very reasonable price.

The Irish Government ruled against travel warnings to its citizens from traveling to Nepal. After the devastating quake of April 25 2015, Irish citizens were cautioned not to travel to Nepal.

The travel warnings circulated by countries, including UK, US, and New Zealand after the quake was lifted already few months ago.

Best of Nepal caters the best glimpses of Nepal’s culture, wildlife and natural magnificence. However, the best of Nepal tour does not include trekking activity in Nepal. Kathmandu valley a political and the commercial hub of Nepal is also the center of medieval culture, amazing landmarks and spirituality. Pokhara, a nature’s bride surrounded by lush hills wows on its natural wonders that include deep emerald lakes, deep seated caves & gorges and the fascinating mountain views. Chitwan in close proximity to urban life caters the extreme thrills of wildlife tours in Nepal that include Elephant Safari, Nature Walk and the canoe ride.

Recently Ms. Margaret Parker from United Kingdom had a visit to Nepal. Here is what she says about her trip:

Due to the bad weather in Nagarkot, I couldn’t see any sign of Mountains. However, my guide who went out of his way and took me to elevated viewpoint in Pokhara, where I saw the wonderful view of Mountains including Annapurnas turned out to be the best memory of my trip.

Explore Himalaya’s meeting and handling was excellent. The hotels were very good. Guide were both great at Pokhara & Kathmandu. All the staffs were good. The transportation was also excellent.

I can’t really single out anything but any traveler willing to visit Nepal do not need to hesitate to book their trip with Explore Himalaya.

Trekking, peak climbing and expeditions are the biggest and the most popular holiday activities in the Himalayas of Nepal. Forgetting all these activities in the Himalayas and still, Nepal is a great holiday destination in the Indian sub-continent.  Without the Himalayas, how can Nepal be a holiday destination, which is potential enough to attract the visitors who are continuously seeking something new and fascinating? Here we have the list of ten most popular amazing aspects of Nepal, which are important holiday activities in Nepal apart from the Himalayas.

Ethnical tribes: Gods walk with the mortals

The home to more than 100 ethnical tribes, Nepal is culturally very rich. Every ethnic group has their own culture, which totally contrast to the culture of another tribe. Each tribe has their own comfortable region to live, costume, language and festivals to celebrate. For example, the Newars of Kathmandu enjoy many carnivals (jatras) throughout the year and in most of them Living Gods and Goddess walk and celebrate with the mortals.

UNESCO Heritage Sites: Time travels back to medieval era  

Nepal houses seven UNESCO World Heritage Sites and seven of them lie inside Kathmandu Valley, which makes Kathmandu, the valley with the densest concentration of UNESCO Heritage Sites. Lumbini, the birthplace of Buddha, Chitwan National Park and Sagarmatha National Park are also UNESCO enlisted Heritage Sites in Nepal. While traveling around some places in Kathmandu, the travelers literally feel like traveling back to the time- few centuries ago.

History: Sovereign forever and the land of Gurkha warriors

Talking about the history, no powerful empire has been able to colonize Nepal ever. Besides, since the time Nepal had 2,400 small kingdoms ruled by various dynasties until date, it is the land great warriors including brave Gurkha soldiers. In almost every district, the remains of rich Nepalese history in the forms of forts are still available. Besides the history of Nepal is itself is a fantastic tale, not less interesting than any bestseller book or blockbuster movie- full of bloodshed massacres, romances and intriguing twists.

Lakes: Each of them has distinct feature

Nepal is the home to many beautiful lakes and they are scattered in every corner of the country. Fewa Lake in Pokhara is probably the most visited lake in Nepal. However, Gokyo Lakes in Gokyo Valley, Rara Lake in Mugu, Tilicho Lake in Manang and Phoksundo Lake in Lower Dolpo are the most popular lakes in Nepal; all having distinct features to stand out from rest of the lakes in the world.

People: Happiest people on Earth

Despite of million problems, Nepalese are considered one of the happiest peoples on Earth. They are ever welcoming with the kind smiles on their faces. Nepalese treat guests as Gods and hence visitors to Nepal certainly can enjoy quality time with the natives regardless the place they are in.

Food: As good as Nepali and as cheap as chips

Nepal is a paradise for food lovers. Availability of every kind of cuisines including the authentic Nepali food (Daal Bhat Tarkari), the restaurants of Nepal are good at serving the typical Nepali beverages in style. Momo, the most popular fast food in Nepal is available in almost every place in Nepal. Every plate of food in Nepal is delicious and nutritious, which is as cheap as chips compared to European or American Food market.

Extreme Adventure: Hair raising activities in air, water and road

Nepal hosts every possible adventure activity supported by its resources. Everest Skydive, Pokhara Skydive, Bunjee Jump, paragliding and Ultra light flights are the most popular sky adventures in Nepal. Similarly, the adventures related to water like rafting and kayaking run throughout the year in raging glacial river that penetrate the deep gorges and canyons in the mid-hills. And the mountain biking is real adventure that includes the longest and the most elevated trail the Great Himalayan trail.

Weather: Sunshine is beautiful and rain is more beautiful

The weather of Nepal is one of the most beautiful aspects of the country. Not many times the weather in Nepal has been harsh. The bright sunshine is good to travel and the rainy day is wonderful for adventurous activity if one is at the right place. Nepal has sunlight for almost twelve hours in the winters and more than twelve hours during summers.

Wildlife: A wildlife protected area in every 100km

Nepal is the paradise for wildlife lovers. If the traveler has will, enough to explore in every 100km distance traveled Nepal houses a protected park. Altogether the home to 14 National Parks and Conservation area, Nepal boasts on several wildlife activities including safaris, bird-watching, nature walking and jeep drives among others.

Elevation Change: Rise to thinner air instantly

The elevation of Nepal changes in an unbelievable way. For example, Pokhara 800m is less than 25 miles away from Annapurna, which is 8000m + mountain peak. In case Nepal had easy road access, the journey from sea level to the Base Camp of Everest could be matter of few hours.

Three weeks in Nepal is a celebration. Ms. Mathilde and Ms. Tinna Kellbergs from Denmark celebrated their 3 weeks’ vacation in Nepal with Explore Himalaya. The visitors from our sole Danish partner Kipling Travel explored the cultural heritage sites of Kathmandu and Bhaktapur, trekked in the mid-hills of Nepal, recreated during the meditating hours at the serene environment in Kapan Monastery and visited the couple of hilltops during the visit that began on March 24 and ended on April 12, 2012.

The trip began at Kathmandu with the cultural sightseeing tour. Kathmandu is unique. Despite of colossal hustles and bustles the cultural treasures of the city are incomparable. The carnival city never gives up with the enriched Newari culture of merriments and enjoys almost every day at the scattered Hindu and Buddhist shrines worshipping the numerous symbolic deities within the sacred monuments.

Beyond few kilometers from the city, Kapan Monastery is an ideal location for getting the closer know how with the Tibetan Buddhist culture and meditation. Kellbergs experienced the eternal peace at the Gompa for three days. The spiritual peacefulness at the Gompa was followed by the bounty of scenic beauty in nature during their mid-hills trek to Kalobari, Samari and Nuwakot. Hilltops in Nepal are very special as they provide the glorious wide range of Himalayan views to the north. Kellbergs took the opportunities to visit one of the best hilltops of Nepal; Bandipur and Nagarkot.

As their trip ended at Nagarkot however, they had planned to spend their last days on a hilltop resort, Coontry Villa at Nagarkot. During those two days they explored the nearby regions in Nagarkot and got even closer with the country-side culture and beauty in Nepal.

On April 12, 2012 the departed Nepal with the joyful hearts.