pokhra trip

rrorthop

hey all you fellas
i intend driving down to pokhra from lucknow - i need the following advise-
1. distance/route n is the road ok??
2.time-may 15th- whats the temp there
3.places to see around
4.any suitable place to stay
any other info
regards

atala

How are you travelling? Motorbike, car (self-driven?), bicycle, 3-wheeler, bus, bullock-cart...

Be a little less abbreviated.

rrorthop

dear atala
i am travelling by car maruti versa-self driven- i have about a week to spare travelling with wife n 2 grown up kids-flexibility is the key- we might even drive down to kathmandu if you all advise

atala

What do you want to see and experience? I do not have much Nepal-experience. But I was in Lumbini recently, and if you are interested to see the Buddha's birth place and would like to stay in a monastery there, I could recommend you to go there. It is sort of like Bodhgaya, but less touristy and more structured, more diverse monasteries being built there, some of them finished, some under construction, some in planning phase.

I think you could probably make it in one day from Lucknow to Lumbini, assuming that the leg from Lucknow to Gorakhpur is a decent highway where you can travel fast, and you start really early in the morning. Gorakhpur then is a bit of a bottle-neck, would be worthwile if you could bypass that in some way. The stretch Gorakhpur-Sonauli takes about 3 hours. I cannot recommend the over-land way from Lucknow via Sravasthi and Balarampur to Anandanagar (on the way between Gorakhpur and Sonauli), the roads are full of potholes there. At least in a luxury bus it was a rather rough trip, and the bus could often not go faster than 30 km/h. But speeding cars did pass it, so it may be viable for smaller cars.

Are you interested in visiting Lumbini? If yes, I'll give you the details later how to find your way around there and where to stay to have an exceptional experience for 2 nights and a day.

If Lumbini is out you could stay overnight at Bhairahawa (new name Siddhartanagar), 4 kms from the border, then proceed next day to Pokhara which is 180 kms from Bhairawa, if you go straight up the winding road which is supposedly a bit rugged, or if you go via Mugling it is 263 km.

Now tell me whether you want to know about Lumbini or not.

rrorthop

sure would love to see around lumbini for a day-how far is lumbini from gorakhpur,& lumbini to siddharthnagar.We intend some sight seeing n just moving around covering apprx 300 ks /day when the goin is on tough pot bellied roads.We intend stayin @ gorakhpur too for a day
thanks

atala

Gorakhpur to Sonauli (border town Indian side) is about 90 km, border to Bhairahawa/Siddhartanagar is 4 km, on to Lumbini is 22 km. In Lumbini ask for the Korean Temple, that is where I suggest you stay. it has huge guesthouses with several hundred rooms, partly under construction though. You can stay there, incl. three sumptuous meals, in a very nice room. Any pilgrim can stay for 3 days on a donation basis. If one wants to stay longer one can talk to the head-monk. Bring mosquito net, Nepal has frequent scheduled load-shedding (power-cut), 8 hours per day, except on Monday (none).

You have two options to find the Korean temple. The more difficult one (less people to ask directions) is if you approach towards the Peace Pagoda and take a back-way into Lumbini Gardens. When you come from Bhairahawa and enter the Lumbini area, you come to an intersection, there you would go straight.

The second option is easier to find, but partly, towards the end, on a rough road. On that intersection you take the left road which turns towards Buddhanagar (2 km), that is where tourist buses go to park outside, at Buddhanagar you will find a large guarded gate to the right which leads to the birth-site and the monastic zone. Go down that road for about 300 Meters until you come to a sign to your right: Mahayana Monastic Zone. The road follows the edge of what is supposed to become a large tank of water going around the birth-side, a tank that looks like a river. After about 600 meters you come to another "Monastic Zone" sign, follow it until you come to the Peace Lamp. There you continue on the left, which is the Mahayana temple zone with monasteries from Tibet, China, Japan, Korea, Nepal etc (to the right is the Theravada Zone with monasteries from Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand plus the Mahabodhi Society of India).

Go down about 400 Meters until next large turn to the left, from where you approach the Korean Temple and Monastery, a huge structure. It is opposite the Chinese Temple (yellow color) which is finished.

At the Peace Lamp (above) you can ask a guard always sitting there.

You need about a day to see the major attractions inside Lumbini Garden, which includes all the monasteries and temples that are completed. For obvious reasons the Mahayana Temples are heavily decorated (Mahayana Buddhism teaches about Bodhisattvas which are depicted a lot), while for instance the Thai temple is more imposing as an architectural structure (Theravada follows more the original teaching of the Buddha which does not encourage personal representation).

The most heavily decorated Mahayana Temple is the one of the German Tara Foundation. You can walk to it from the Korean Temple. It is behind the Chinese Temple, and again behind another large temple under construction.

The main attraction of course is the birth site which you passed when you came in the last described way. You pay an entrance fee of 50 Nepali Rupees (31 Indian Rupees) per person. There are some ruins in a nice meditative area with lots of trees and flowers, plus a temple structure called the Mayadevi temple (dedicated to Gautama Siddhatta's mother).

Here you have an overview of Lumbini Garden (blue part of the map). The Peace Pagoda on top, and what is called Sacred Garden (the birth-site) on the bottom, with the body of water around it.

http://www.lumbinitrust.org/lumbini_map1.htm

I hope this is clear enough that you find your way.

There is no tourist hassle, no touts, within the very large Lumbini Garden with the temple zone. It is a very peaceful area, much recommended for people interested in meditation.

rrorthop

where do i get my money converted into nepali currency? are indian 500/1000 rs legal there?? what is the fuel position on the way??
thanks for the lumbini info=very elaborate!!!

atala

You can pay in Indian Rupees, fixed exchange rate is IRS 1 : NRS 1.6. You can get NRS in change when you pay in IRS (for small change). Otherwise there are money-changers everywhere, and banks.

I do not know about the petrol situation. The strike of the Madeshis in border area is over since Feb 29. On April 10 is a constitutional assembly election which is heavily contested, trouble could be expected on or right after that day. I suppose you do get petrol normally now. During the strike it was difficult in Kathmandu valley (week-long queues).

Get informed, for instance here

http://www.kantipuronline.com/

500 Rs bills are accepted by private businesses, but not by Govt. offices.

rrorthop

think that should make me sail through-any idea on the distance road condition between pokhra n kathmandu???

atala

Distance Pokhara-Kathmandu is 200 km.

Official site for general info:

http://www.welcomenepal.com/

aadil

I went from Lucknow to Gorakhpur by UP State Transport bus and then by private bus till the Sonauli border and entered Nepal on foot from where we went by bus to Kathmandu, Patan, Bhaktapur, Nagarkot, Dhulikhel, Namobuddha, Panauti, Pokhara, Chitwan and Lumbini with an inbetween overland trip to Tibet and returned by flight from Lhasa to Kathmandu. It was a really wonderful trip and I must say it was well worth the time and trouble that went into it. The roads in Nepal are not so good so if you are taking your own vehicle then be prepared to rough it out and also carry proper spare parts for your vehicle. An SUV would be a better option than a normal car. Exchanging money is no problem since Indian currency is easily accepted everywhere. Hope you find this info useful.

Cheers,
Aadil.

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Lalit Agarwal

Hello,

I'm Lalit Agarwal, basically from hyderabad, i have a travel plan from Hyderabad to Kathmandu for coming December. I had already booked the tickets for getting there. I want information for return journey, for returning from Kathmandu to Surat (Gujarat). I dont have passport, so pleas suggest the best way to reach surat at cheaper cost.

Also i had found that there is a train from Gorakhpur at 13.15 hours, please take into consideration if this can be done.

I can leave Kathmandu at 20.00 hours on 7th of December.

Thanks in advance.