This Chinese New Year holiday I traveled in Nepal. I took airplane there and I made some new friends.
24/25 Jan 2020 Friday, Saturday
My mom and I took taxi to the airport. When we were waiting for the airplane, I played my iPad. First, we needed to take the plane to Chengdu, then to Nepal. There were very few people at the airport.
When we reached Chengdu, it was already midnight. We took bus to a hotel nearby and slept till 8 am. When we woke up, we washed our face and went to eat breakfast. I ate dumplings and it was very delicious. Then, we took bus to the airport to fly to Kathmandu. Kathmandu is the capital city of Nepal. When we got to the airport, the staff took our temperature and checked our passport. We went on the plane in the morning.
When we reached Nepal, it was already 3 o’clock in the afternoon. We ate dumplings on the plane. We took our luggage and we changed the local money. We also bought a SIM card for 7 days of traveling. We went out of the arrival hall and saw 3 guides welcoming us. We went on the van to the hotel. The hotel is called Hotel Himalaya. One of the guides is from Nepal. The guide offered two hada around our neck. One of the guides said, “If you sit on the right of the plane, you will see the Himalayas.” We were the first family to reach Nepal.
We rode 20 minutes in the car to reach the hotel. When we reached there, we checked in and went to our room. We found out that on the 5th floor, there was a place to admire the view. At 5 o’clock, the other families came and checked in. Then, we went to Tamil Street for dinner. We ate Nepali set meal for dinner. We also watched dancing performances while eating.
26 Jan 2020 Sunday
The next morning, me, my mom, another child called Jianglai and her mom went out for a stroll. We asked each other questions about Buddhism and English. Jianglai is already at Grade 5. When we went back to the hotel, one of the guides took our temperature because we were going to another place in Nepal called Pokhara. If you were sick, you could not go.
Pokhara is a romantic place in Nepal and it is also a good place for paragliding. We would fly there so we needed to go to the airport. We flew the Yeti Airlines. I found out that most of the people in Nepal can speak a little bit of Chinese and they like to smile. They also say “Namaste” meaning “Hello”.
The plane delayed for one and a half hours. When we got on the plane, the staff gave us candy and water. We saw the Himalayas and I took many photos. We took the propeller aircraft.
After we reached Pokhara, we first went to a Chinese restaurant for lunch. It was beside a lake called Fewa Lake. Then we went to an attraction called the David Falls. After we left the David Falls, we went to Bodhi Hotel. I saw a cow on the opposite of the street. We rested for a while. After that, we went to a shopping street to buy souvenir. I bought some refrigerator magnets for my friends.
27 Jan 2020 Monday
The next day, we went trekking for two days in the mountains. We rode 2 hours in the van, then we started trekking. In the first day, we hiked for 13 kms. Once, we needed to cross the river but the bridge was broken so we stepped on the stones to cross the river. When we almost reached the place for lunch, we saw snow mountain. It was very sunny so we could see it clearly. It was very beautiful. The other children and I were always walking in the front. We saw many cows and goats.
We stopped halfway to eat lunch. One of the guides brought hot chocolate powder so all the children drank hot chocolate. Me, a few children and parents came to the river side to play with water. We saw a dog. We ate pizza, soup and noodles for lunch.
After we finished eating, we rested for a while and then continued trekking. In the afternoon, the trail was all stone stairs. I felt more tired than before but I still carried on walking. Several hours later, we reached the camp in Ghandruk. The camp is called Old Village. When we reached there, I was very tired. We waited in the dining hall for our room key. We needed to buy hot water for showering and drinking. We rested for a while then we went to eat dinner. There was even macaroni! After we finished eating, three other children and I played ghost catch game. Then, we went back to our rooms to rest.
28 Jan 2020 Tuesday
Next day, we hiked for 18 kms. It was even harder. In the morning most of the trail was stone stairs so I could not walk in the front because I was tired. My mom was more tired so she was always the last one. We first crossed a bridge, then we walked on many stairs. When we were halfway through, we saw many goats and a dog.
At noon, we stopped at a restaurant for lunch. We drank vitamin c water. It tasted like lemon juice. We ate pizza, soup, French fries for lunch. Some people also ate instant noodles.
We finished eating lunch, then we walked for several hours. When we were resting, one of the guides said, “The camp is on the mountain over there.” Everybody thought that we still needed 1 more day to reach there but the guide said, “You only need 1 hour to get there.”
When we got there, it was only in the late afternoon. We took our room keys and went to our rooms. The camp is called Australian Camp. We ate many things for dinner. After that, 2 boys and I played frozen mouse game and then we went to sleep. We saw many stars.
29 Jan 2020 Wednesday
The next day, we woke up at 6:30 to watch the sunrise. We went to the roof top to watch. We saw the sunrise at 7 o’clock. We also saw the Fish Tail peak and the Annapurna peak. My mom said that the snowy mountains looked like coming from the outer space.
After breakfast we walked down the mountain. The children did not feel tired but some of the parents did. We used 1 hour to get down the mountain.
Then we took a bus to the paragliding site. I would try paragliding but my mom was scared. We drove to the foot of the hill and rested for a while. The tour guide bought a bottle of soda and some children (including me) took a straw and drank together. After that, we took a van up the mountain. We waited for our coaches. After a while, my coach came. The coach helped me putting on the gear. Then he helped me to connect me to the parasail. The coach told me, “First you run with me, then sit down.” When I went into the sky, I felt big wind blowing across my face. The coach took videos and photos of me and the view. When I almost reached the landing place, the coach asked me, “Do you want to do somersault?” I agreed. Then we turned and turned in the air until we reached the island. I landed with my knees bent. I felt very good.
We took the bus back to Bodhi hotel. We went to the Chinese restaurant to eat lunch. Then my mom and I took a bath. After that, me, Jianglai and another boy went playing in the backyard.
After the break, we took bus to the Fewa lake to row a kayak. We all needed to wear a life vest. My mom and I sat with Jianglai and her mom. We rowed the kayak to an island in the center of Fewa Lake. There is a temple on the island. There are also many pigeons. When we rowed the boat back, we saw many monkeys in the trees. Some even went under water! It was rainy outside at night so we didn’t go outside to eat.
30 Jan 2020 Thursday
In the morning, we went to the hotel restaurant for breakfast. We needed to take 5 hours on bus to go to Chitwan. We were going there to see the Chitwan National Park. I was very bored on bus so I played my iPad. When we reached Chitwan, it was almost lunch time. Me, Jianglai and the other children found out that there was a hammock in the hotel, so we played on the hammock until lunch time. I ate very little for lunch. We rested for a while and then we went to the Chitwan National Park. We planned to visit a school and give presents.
When we got to the park, we first went to ride an elephant. One elephant can hold 4 people. My mom and I sat with Jianglai and her mom again. The person who directed the elephant used his feet to direct the elephant. The elephant is called Arget. The elephant ride was very bumpy. My mom said that she would never ride on an elephant again. We took 1 and a half hour to finish the elephant ride. Next, we rowed a canoe on the river to see crocodiles. The canoe is made from a log. We saw many birds also. And then, we hiked across the jungle. We saw 2 Indian rhinos. Then, we went to the elephant nursery and we saw many elephants.
When we left the park, it was too late to go to the school so we planned tomorrow there. After we ate dinner in the hotel, we went to watch folk dance performance. We went back to the hotel and played for a while.
31 Jan 2020 Friday
After breakfast, we went to the school. When we reached there, the school’s gate was not open yet so we went strolling around the village. We saw some cows and goats. We even saw roosters!
The school’s gate opened at ten. I gave them a set of badminton rackets and 2 other toys. Before we left the school, I taught the students how to play the toys.
After that, we went back to Kathmandu. We played games on the bus. We also played games on Jianglai’s iPad. We stopped halfway at a restaurant to eat lunch. When I finished lunch, I played with the other children. When we reached Kathmandu, we went to the Durbar Square. We also tried how to make pottery. When we reached Hotel Himalaya, me, Jianglai and the other two boys discussed adding each other on wechat.
1 Feb 2020 Saturday
This was the last day already for the trip. We went to the airport at 9 o’clock. Me and Jianglai’s airline was the same one so we could still meet! The rest of the people went to visit Pagoda.
I will miss Nepal.
