Anxious first timer - talk to me about Nepal.

[seekinghoneymoon]

DH and I are currently looking for somewhere for our honeymoon and he’d like to visit Nepal.

He’s a seasoned traveler and spent most of his late teens and early 20s travelling (mainly Africa, Sri Lanka and Eastern Europe).

We went backpacking together on two separate trips to South East Asia about 8 years ago. I absolutely loved it but got a massive culture shock on the first trip that lasted about 2 weeks (both trips were around 4 months each). Since then, I’ve had issues with anxiety and feel less prepared for another big trip than I did in the first place!

Our loose plan is to go back to Thailand (more the North as opposed to the South) because I loved it there and it’s a great place for a more affordable luxury holiday, but DH has floated the idea of also visiting Nepal, he’s always dreamed of seeing the Himalayas.

I’ve heard great things, but we’re both nervous that my culture shock is going to “ruin” the experience. We'd be looking to go over Christmas for around 3 weeks, no itinerary set other than ending the holiday on a luxury note in Thailand lazing by the pool reading our books.

For added context: I’m not precious in any way, I’ve no issue with rustic accommodation, spent many an 8 hour bus ride in Thailand needing to wee in a bush in the middle of nowhere, was fine staying in the odd place with cockroaches roaming around in order to save money, etc. My main anxieties seem to be surrounding safety and transport and I find feeling unsafe to be rather scary rather than exciting.

Has anyone been who can give me some idea of what it’s like? What are the locals like? Is it safe overall? I don’t do well in big cities (no matter where I am in the world) but is the countryside totally secluded and likely to “freak me out”?

Any help/advice would be lovely, because I WANT to go, I'm just nervous.

Some of the roads in Nepal are terrifying as is the driving - much worse than Thailand IMO. Kathmandu is full on, more than Bangkok IMO I wouldn't have wanted to miss it but I went before the earthquake and have no idea what the temples are like now. I would say that everywhere I've been in Asia (Thailand, Malaysia, Bali, Cambodia, Singapore, Laos) were all less stressful than Nepal, there's a lot of hassle and a lot of poverty - but also wonderful people of course. It was beautiful but it's not somewhere I would go back. It also doesn't strike me as somewhere for a honeymoon and certainly not for someone with fears about safety and transport.

I love Thailand though and if you want a really great cultural experience with great beaches that has a similar but different vibe to Thailand then I'd say go to Mexico. Chichen Itza, Coba etc etc are just mind blowing, ceynotes, beautiful towns, wildlife and beautiful beaches (Holbox island is perfection), great food. Fly into Cancun but don't stay there or PDC and be aware of sargassum. Mexico is much more suitable for you for a honeymoon than Nepal IMO, the buses are great and there is a new tourist train around the area.

We have done 2 'easy' walking tours to Nepal but I can't find those holidays now, most tours seem to be harder walking. Both started in Katmandu which is super hectic, but there are some nice hotels with private grounds you can escape to. Flew to Pokhara then we did a 5 day teahouse trek (all room ensuite) with one tour, or day trips with another. The walks were not easy at all to us, loads of steps (flat means no steps!) And very hot.
The 5 day trek was good if hard to us, and fascinating to see how the people live. We didn't see any cars or buses the whole time.

The 'Explore Nepal' tour by Explore Worldwide is the closest I can find.
Note they don't do internal flights anymore as these don't meet their safety requirements.
I agree, go in the winter, even in October the actual mountains were only visible at sunrise. And usually it was the same mountain as it was an 'easy' trek so weren't going that far!

Kathmandu is way more like Delhi than Bangkok. It's a while since I went so can't give any proper reccos. We went up in that teeny plane to see the Himalayas from above!

We went to Nepal in 2016, a mix of travelling and walking in the Annapurna foothills. Kathmandu is busy but I felt far less hassled there than in Marrakech, which I hated. In a matter of a few minutes, you're off the main drag in Kathmandu and into quiet parks, so don't necessarily write it off altogether.

Most of our time was spent in the foothills. Scenery is hands down the most stunning I've ever seen and the people are so friendly and keen to practise their English. They are so proud of their beautiful country, rightly so. Altitude wasn't a problem for us, but there's no way to predict how you'll react, unfortunately.

I'd go back in a heartbeat. In terms of destinations for a honeymoon, I think Nepal would be a fab choice. When we climbed Kilimanjaro, there was a couple on their honeymoon - no luxury there, for sure 😂😂.

Yes, I'd absolutely recommend them. I did the Everest Base Camp trek (other treks are available!) so we went up to 5,200m. Most people felt minor effects of altitude but only one had to be medivac'ed out - our guides and our head sherpa (who has summited Everest about 9 times) stayed up with him all night until the chopper came first thing. We were also fogged out at Kathmandu and they managed the situation until we were safe to get to Lukla. When I was there the local operation was managed by a British woman who's been there years and knows Nepal like the back of her hand. I felt very safe.

If you do head to Kathmandhu then as other said Pashupatinath and Bodnath are must-sees. The Garden of Dreams is a wonderful respite from the noise and traffic fumes of KMD too - we spent a couple of afternoons there just reading and having lunch. Garden of Dreams – Kaiser Mahal, Kathmandu, Nepal

I did a trek with Exodus to the camp down from Everest Base Camp (name escapes me).

The scenery is fantastic, and the people are probably the kindest I've met anywhere.

In terms of safety, Kathmandu feels much safer than Delhi, and the route from Lukla to the everest treks feel completely safe. I flew to Lukla to start my trek, which is an experience - only airport I've been to where the planes have to do a three point turn. Depending on when your flight is, you might be a bit surprised when they pour hot water over the rotors to defrost them......

Wow lots more posts and lots more to think about, thank you so much everyone, I really appreciate it! Will go through all of this with my husband!

One of my top tips for travelling in less developed countries, as a very blatantly pale-blue coloured Westerner, is to learn a phrase or two in one of the Scandi languages.

Many people can speak a little English and won't be put off by a negative response in that language, but if you can learn to say 'no thank you, please go away' in Danish or Norwegian (or Finnish if you're feeling especially extra), coupled with the requisite body language, it's SO foreign-sounding to most that it will kill the interaction.

I've even used this approach in some European countries with great effect.

(My apologies to Scandinavians and their wonderful languages, but it's true 😉).

On the latest series of ‘race Across the world’ they visited Nepal and that area. May be worth watching.

I was just coming on to post this!

They started in China, then Nepal and then went on to India. Interestingly, one of the contestants was massively overwhelmed when they got to India but hadn't seemed to struggle in China or Nepal previously.