A small tour that runs through a rural environment of small villages, farms and terraced crops, where you can see the typical traditional houses so common throughout the geography of Nepal. Here you will meet no other tourists, almost no phone connection, no bars or restaurants, but you will live a genuine experience that will bring you closer to a part of the reality of the country without filters.
3 days / 2 nights itinerary
Sited south of Pokhara, it can be done from or to there. Also recommended from/to Bandipur
4 people maximum (Could be few more people, check it with us)
Any season
Local guide English speaking
Meals and overnight in homestay
Transfers in private vehicle and collective jeep
One or two hiking days
description
itinerary
included/not included
price
notes
description
The Raipur area is in the south of Pokhara and is a clear example of the lifestyle for most of the Nepali people. Located in a more or less abrupt rural area with hills and low mountains, between leafy forests and areas of crops in terraces, where families work in the farmlands and take care of cattle, children walk every day to the nearest school, and people move by rough roads at a better or worse shape and a network of footpaths that wind up here and there.
Villagers here don’t survive thanks to the tourism, which is practically non-existent. A bit more in the “Millenium Trek” itinerary that runs northern, an initiative that aimed to promote the whole area but not start-up yet, to the point that there are almost no guides to know the itineraries.
In Raipur, a small village with few houses on the side of a mountain, we have the house of Champa, where her father lives, a Ghurka retired from the Indian army. It is a traditional house in the area and it is a “real” private home. With this, we mean that it is not intended to accommodate “tourists”, although we control that its conditions get a minimum of comfortability and clean. It has few luxuries and the rooms are very simple Nepali style, but we have done works in the bathroom. It is clean, the surroundings are beautiful, the food is excellent and the treatment is very friendly, cosy and natural.
The hiking route we propose runs through different sections with footpaths and rough roads, through forests, crops in terrace and farms, to Chisapani, literally “cold water”, from where we will return to Raipur in a 7 or 8 hours day walking slowly, with breaks and stops. You do not have to reach Chisapani if you are tired and you can also add someday and do another route or change the one from Chisapani for a shorter itinerary.
The proposal uses a private vehicle to/from Shyanja and Dulegaura, but it can also be done by public bus, with the consequent economic savings. Between both villages, the collective jeep is used.
On the other hand, the route can be done in both directions, either from Pokhara, as described here, as coming from Kathmandu or Bandipur, or also coming and going back to the same point.
Like all our routes, the itinerary can be customized and adapted to your needs and preferences.
itinerary
day 1 |
| Private vehicle from Pokhara to Shyanja ~2h. Collective jeep to Raipur ~2h/3h Soon in the morning after breakfast, your vehicle and your guide will pick you up at your accommodation in Pokhara to go by road to Shyanja where you will arrive in a couple of hours, more or less. In Shyanja we will wait for the local collective jeep to leave and we will start our off-road tour on a track that may have a variable condition, but it is sure is going to be an “entertaining” journey. Two or three more hours may take us to Raipur where your accommodation awaits you. This house does not usually host tourists, but we have incorporated it into our itineraries and we have improved it. It’s a private house where a retired Ghurka lives taking care of the crops and its trees. It is a simple house, a typical two-storey construction that reproduces with few variations throughout Nepal. In fact, people spend little time inside the houses and the porch is used much more, as the temperatures are never too cold. The toilet and shower are apart from the house as usual here and we have taken care of renewing it recently. It is located on cultivated terraces, with fruit trees, rice, corn, open to views over the valley, within a set of other small farms that do not reach but to form what we could understand as “village”. · Guide starting service · Private vehicle from Pokhara to Shyanja · Collective jeep from Shyanja to Raipur · Lunch and dinner · Homestay at Raipur
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day 2 |
| Hiking to Chisapani ~7h/8h (or other itinirery) It’s a day to hiking quietly through farmland and small villages and scattered farms. The itinerary does not have any technical difficulty but it is a long day that, nevertheless, we can walk on our pace, fast or slow. As most of the route is a round trip, if we notice that we are tired there will be no problem in shortening the itinerary and returning from any point. Apart from the beautiful landscape, it is interesting to be able to stop in some village to rest and watch the peaceful and calm of its few inhabitants. It is the best way to be able to interact with them, even if it is simply by crossing a smile, and naturally, if there are children, they will be the best vehicle to feel the contact with the local population once overcome the initial shyness. Most of the itinerary runs through a rough road, so it is comfortable to walk on it and less susceptible to leeches if we are in monsoon season, although there are still stretches of trail and some shortcuts. You start descending (keep in mind that when you come back it will be a climb up) and during the day there are successive hill ups and hill downs but never too steeply and practicable for anyone who is used to walk in the mountains. On clear days there are points where you can see the Himalayan peaks. A comfortable shoe for walking, sports footwear or light boots, and protection for the sun or rain will be all we need to enjoy a very nice and quiet day, where we can capture much of the essence of Nepal. · Breakfast, lunch and dinner · Homestay at Raipur
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day 3 |
| Collective jeep to Dulegauda ~2h/3h and After breakfast we will wait for the arrival of the collective jeep for, once we have said goodbye to the house, undertake our route by the track with its bumps towards Dulegauda where we will arrive in a couple of hours and where we will find the Prithvi Highway, the road that connects Pokhara with Kathmandu. From there our vehicle will take you to your accommodation in Kathmandu or any other destination that we have agreed in the program, although we recommend that you move to nearby Bandipur, a beautiful village. · Breakfast · Collective jeep from Raipur to Dulegauda · Guide ending service
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included/not included
PRICE INCLUDES
· Private vehicle from Pokhara to Shyanja
· Collective jeep Shyanja – Raipur – Dulegauda (can be done by private jeep)
· Local English-speaking Mountain Guide
· Accommodation in homestay full board according the itinerary description
· All government taxes and VAT
· Wages, food and accommodation, expenses, and insurance for all staff
PRICE EXCLUDES
· Does not include accommodation in Pokhara or anywhere outside this extension, which is included in your general travel program
· Does not include the private vehicle from Dulegauda to your next destination
· Tips to staff
· Hot and cold drinks, phone calls, internet connection or any other personal expense. In fact there’s almost nothing to buy.
· Medical and/or travel insurance
· In general, any concept not specified in the program, as well as any type of personal assistance to the traveller for matters outside the program of this trip.
price
Inquiry
notes
This itinerary may not be for everyone. This is real life in rural Nepal, with no facilities for “tourists”. Nothing too bad or hard, but there are no bars or restaurants, almost no coverage, the roads are what they are, and the conditions of the house are simple and basic. However, all of our travellers who have been here, have enjoyed this simple experience, and it is one of the parts of their trip that they remember the most.
WE ENJOY TALKING WITH YOU
Contact us to obtain the complete dossier of this itinerary, inquiry for all the information you need and ask us any questions you may have.
