After our long drive from Pokhara and exploring the places on the way like Bandipur and the Trisuli River, Niraj of Himalayan Encounters invited us for dinner and took quickly around Thamel.  Here I got to see the markets still alive at night bustling with tourists and people enjoying then night.  It was a Monday night though and Niraj said, it is more active on the weekends.

We wanted to get a massage after the entire day’s activities but we decided to head back to the hotel to rest and relax.

First Impressions

I’ve already seen pictures of Kantipur Temple House and I was very excited to stay in this hotel mainly because of the architectural design and its features.

Outside view of the hotel and its hallways

We arrived at the hotel at night and even though it was quite a bit dark to judge the entire building, I felt like I wasn’t only in a different country, but I felt like I just stepped inside a time capsule.  It has modern facilities but the design and structure preserves the traditional nepalese architecture. 

The Hallways are quite dramatic.

*cues Game of Thrones theme song cover by Jiggypuff*

C’mon hit PLAY!

The hotel seems like a temple on the outside that serves a tranquil setting.  But you can also take advantage of the beautiful landscaped gardens and pation because it has ample space for dining and meeting areas.  The rooftop terras has panoramic views of Kathmandu and the surrounding hills. 

Our room

I actually felt like I was in the TV series “Game of Thrones” or one of those movies set in medieval time.  The rooms are appointed with heating and hot showers.  Wifi is free in common areas like reception, restaurant and garden, but sometimes the signal goes up to our room.

Game of Thrones? Should be Khaleesi and Khal Drogo’s room or something

The room doesn’t have air conditioning facilities.  They provide fans in summer and electric blankets and hot water bags during winter.  It was autum when we were there so the room temperature was just comfortable even without using A/C or electric blankets even.  

Our bed with electric blankets. Take note of the deco above the headboard.  There are detailed carvings by hand, a common craft in Nepal.

They also don’t provide televisions in the hotel rooms.  This forces you to INDULGE in your holiday experience away from modern chaos.  You have no choice but to enjoy your vacation and have quite a few serene time for rest.

The Patio – view from our room.

Door to our room. Wooden Floor.

“No Plastic Policy” – they don’t give you water bottles, instead they serve you free water inside these jars 🙂

Social Responsibility

One feature that’s quite unique for Kantipur Temple house is that they are one of the finest eco-hotels in Kathmandu.  Apart from the aforementioned no A/C, no TV policy, they also care for environment preservation and this is their priority while providing their customer’s needs.

Kantipur Temple House is an eco-hotel with a social responsible philosophy.  The hotel tries to protect the environment and preserves the cultural heritage of Kathmandu Valley.  In doing this, they do the following:

• Solar heated water is provided to all guests for bathing.
• Towels and bed sheets are not changed everyday unless specifically requested.
• A green purchasing policy using local materials and food has been adopted.
• Traditional architecture and construction methods are used in building and maintenance.
• “No plastic philosophy” is maintained.
• Purchases made for the restaurant are done without using polythene bags.
• Mineral water bottles are not sold to guests, instead free water is provided in jugs.
• An in-house waste management system of biodegradable waste is set up.
• Employment opportunities are given to locals.
• All staffs are encouraged to volunteer on clean ups of heritage sites.
• There are no televisions/bathtubs/AC/central heating system to avoid excessive energy consumption. We use traditional and energy saving mediums for comfort like hot water bags, electric blankets.

Restaurant

There’s really nothing special about the restaurant.  Like most hotels in Kathmandu Valley, they offer Nepali, Indian, Chinese, Thai and Continental cuisine.  

One notable thing about the food selection though is that the restaurant provides an Organic selection and offerst most of the food fresh and home-made.

Other Facilities

They offer the usual:

Free Wifi Service in the common areas like reception, restaurant and garden.
Free Use of Internet in the Hotel’s Computer Center
Tailor-made guided tours to Kathmandu Valley’s cultural heritage sites.
Exclusive tours all over Nepal, from city tours, rafting and trekking.
Laundry Service
Restaurant Room Service

Hang-out areas

The Hotel’s cat 🙂

Purrrrr!

Outside the tall gates of our hotel – MONKEYS!

Wild monkeys are as common as stray dogs in Nepal.

Here’s another beauty. A GRAY CAT! First time I’ve ever seen one by this color.

View more photos of Kantipur Temple House here.

Visit my other blog posts about Nepal here.

Book at Nepal Hotels via Agoda.com

Hotel Booking through Agoda.com

You can book through Agoda.com via FlairCandy.com! Book just right below the title post 🙂

Registered tour guides for hassle-free trip

Tour Guides: Himalayan Encounters

PO Box 21218(Courtyard Kathmandu Guest House), Thamel, Kathmandu, NEPAL
Tel: +977-1-4700426, 4700335

Fax: +977-1-4700354

info@himalayanencounters.com

himalayanencounters.com

Til the next blog post…

Namaste.

Flair Candy

Pokhara is one of the towns in Nepal.  It is the second destination of tourists after Kathmandu.  There are many ways you can go to Pokhara from Kathmandu, which I listed out on my previous post here.

We flew from Kathmandu to Pokhara and right where we landed, it has that feel of “Boracay” in Nepal.  Of course, Nepal is land-locked and it doesn’t have any ocean or sea surrounding it.  It has lakes, waterfalls and rivers though.  Beside Phewa Lake (Fewa Lake).  Beside the lake, there is a “City Centre” and it has little shops, restaurants, hotels, traveling agencies and even yoga places.  Oh, they have Tattoo places there too!  That’s where I got my first Tatt!

This town was full of tourists and reminds me so much of Boracay.  It’s totally different and less crowded, but I would say, it had that sort of feel.

A 10-minute ride from the city centre would take us to our hotel in Pokhara.  The serene hotel that lies on the lakeside – Watherfront Resort.

Waterfront Resort, Lakeside Pokhara

Our hotel was not far from the city center (10 minute ride).  The town is even walkable as I would see some tourists walk or jog from our hotel to the city.  If you don’t want to walk, the hotel has a van that you can ride to the city 3 times a day.  If I’m not mistaken, 11am to 5:30pm.  Also, they have FREE pick-up and drop-off to the airport.

Like I said, Waterfront Resort is not far from the city center, yet its location is away from pollution and noise.  It was a perfect place to unwind, relax, enjoy the view, and be with nature without having to go far the center.

We wakeup to morninings that light up the lakeside and the hills where the Peace Pagoda rests.  It’s pretty chilly in the mornings and you will see fog covering some parts of the mountain in a mysterious way, then it will slowly unfold at around 9am to reveal the mountain, the lake and the Pagoda.

You will also see local fishermen taking out their rods or paddling their boats with their nets.

Mid morning, the land warms up and you will see paragliders coming to land beside the hotel.  Quite a relaxing sight especially when you dip in the pool or enjoy a cappuccino on your own balcony.

Oh, and when you do visit Pokhara and stay at Waterfront, bring a book!  It really has a great view and simply, you just want to spend time taking it slow with the scenery.

Location

Pokhara’s Waterfront Resort lies on the tranquil rural northern shore of the beautiful Phewa Lake. With supremely comfortable, air-conditioned en suite rooms, each with a lake-view balcony, it is the perfect place to relax and unwind.  Nepal’s main source of energy is hydro-electric (through waterfalls) and they say it’s not enough to power all communities so at night, you will experience a bit of power surge and black-outs.  Waterfront is equipped with power generator so you wouldn’t have to worry about this.

View Larger Map

Commuting and Transportation

Pokhara’s Waterfront Resort is just a 10-minute ride from the airport, and just a 15-minute walk from the busy tourist hub or 5 minutes in a taxi. There’s no need to walk: the hotel provides free shuttle service into Lakeside at intervals throughout the day.

Facilities

Waterfront Pokhara is fairly a new hotel when we stayed there.  Despite the complete ammenities that they have, the manager said, they will still improve a lot of things for this place.

Their current facilities in house include:

• 24 hours house keeping service
• 24 hours reception
• 24 hours cashier and foreign exchange
• Swimming Pool
• Massage and beauty parlour
• Parking
• Boating
• Multi cuisine restaurant and bar
• 24 hours laundry service
• Group 4 security guard
• 24 hours generator backup (full silent Kuboto generator)
• Free airport pick-up and drop
• Internet room and WiFi
• Illy coffee bar
• All room lake view
• Travel desk and counter

In-Room

• 40 inches LCD TV with cable
• 24 hours hot and cold shower
• Bath tub
• Toiletry set
• Modern style bathroom
• Hair Dryer
• Tea coffee maker
• Complimentry tea
• 2 bottles of mineral water
• Ironing

Activities

• Boating in Fewa and Begnas Lake
• Pokhara local sightseeing
• Peace Stupa Hike
• Paragliding
• Ultra-light flight
• Biking Tours
• Hiking Tours

Lush Experience

Overall, we had a great stay here at Waterfront Resort in Pokhara.  We stayed here for three days and we had a hard time leaving.  The staff of the hotel were very helpful and would address our concerns quickly.  They would help with our questions regarding activities around the area and enjoying Pokhara.  It’s pretty sweet when the staff suggested restaurants we should try and then the next day, follow-up on us if we liked it.  

Management and staff are very friendly, it seems like they don’t treat us as costumers but as friends.  I can see it also when they talk to other tourists and foreigners currently staying at their hotel.

Popular Tourist Spots Nearby

Phewa Lake

Devi’s Falls

Mahendra Cave

Sarangkot Hill and Himalayas

Annapurna

Senti Gandaki Gorge (Uniquely deep but narrow river)

World Peace Pagoda

Restaurants you need to visit

Once Upon a Time

Olive

Moondance

Mike’s

Book Waterfront Resort Hotel via Agoda.com

Hotel Booking through Agoda.com

You can book through Agoda.com via FlairCandy.com! Book just right below the title post 🙂

Registered tour guides for hassle-free trip

Tour Guides: Himalayan Encounters

PO Box 21218(Courtyard Kathmandu Guest House), Thamel, Kathmandu, NEPAL
Tel: +977-1-4700426, 4700335

Fax: +977-1-4700354

info@himalayanencounters.com

himalayanencounters.com

Til the next blog post…

Namaste.

Flair Candy

More Photos

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Read more about Nepal

Nepal Visa on Arrival Requirements and Application

Touchdown Nepal: Important Reminders

Boudha Stupa Kathmandu Nepal

Dwarika’s Hotel in Kathmandu, Nepal – Indulging in the Nepali Culture

Insights in Nepal

In Transit: Kathmandu to Pokhara and the Going Around the Nepal

If you are a Filipino, you’re already used to this traffic.  But You’d have to be careful and  look left and right.  They drive on the left side of the road.

Boudhanath Stupa, Kathmandu

You pay NPR 150 (Php 75)  upon entry.

It was very nice and relaxing inside.  You get to see different people of different nationalities, going around the Stupa Temple.  Some are meditating, some offer prayers and some chant a mantra.

When you look above the Boudha Stupa, it would look like a giant mandala or a diagram of the Buddhist cosmos.  You will see that everywhere.  Some shops offer Thaka workshops where they teach you how to draw this.  There are many symbols to this temple.  There are five Buddhas that personify earth, water, fire, air and ether (five elements) which is represented in the architecture.

Our guide Prakas from Himalayan Encounter also told us that there are 13 rings from the base to the top – a symbol of the path to enlightenment.  13 rings first before you reach “Nirvana.”

People usually come here every day after work.

Around the Stupa are shops.  you can buy souvenirs. 

There are also coffee shops and boutique restaurants by the rooftop where you can chill and have a nice top view of the Stupa with the rocky mountains in the background.

This is the prayer wheel.  You pray, in my case I made a wish and rotated three times around it.  You can buy a miniature version of this as a souvenir.

This is a very photogenic place.  It is very colorful and I’m sure tourists who love to take photos would be very happy.

We were happy we didn’t have to fuss around Kathmandu, thanks to the very friendly and helpful people of Himalayan Encounters.  Our trip was hassle-free indeed.  We didn’t have to worry about transportation or where to go, they took care of it.  Nepal is really a great country to visit.  However, it is not very convenient to commute around here.  Your best way around Kathmandu is to ride a Taxi Cab which is not expensive.  Your budget per trip just around the city would be around NYR 100-300 (Php 50-150).  Your option is to rent a car for the day which is around USD 40.  This would be best if you need to go to different places and you need to save time trying to figure out your way to each destination. 

Hotel Booking through Agoda.com

You can book through Agoda.com via FlairCandy.com! Book just right below the title post 🙂

Tour Guides: Himalayan Encounters

PO Box 21218(Courtyard Kathmandu Guest House), Thamel, Kathmandu, NEPAL
Tel: +977-1-4700426, 4700335

Fax: +977-1-4700354

info@himalayanencounters.com

http://himalayanencounters.com/

Read more about Nepal

Nepal Visa on Arrival Requirements and Application

Touchdown Nepal: Important Reminders

Boudha Stupa Kathmandu Nepal

Dwarika’s Hotel in Kathmandu, Nepal – Indulging in the Nepali Culture

Insights in Nepal

And I’m so excited I just need to write a blog post! Like I highlighted in this post, I will be staying in Kathmandu and Pokhara area. My mode for this trip is relaxation and maybe some slight meditation 😛

And so with Agoda.com, we booked the following hotels. Hotel accommodation is a huge part of my trip this time. Sometimes I hop from one place to another when I travel, but this time, since I want to enjoy the view and get comfortable, this is where I will stay.

Water Front Resort in Pokhara, Nepal

Hotel Dwarika’s in Kathmandu, Nepal

Kantipur Temple House in Kathmandu, Nepal

I wrote more about my trip here and how easy it is to go to Nepal these days also thanks to AirAsia new flights to Nepal!