Bandipur

Bandipur is a small, pretty village set on a high ridge in the foothills of the Himalayas. I decided to stop there to break the long journey from Pokhara to Kathmandu into smaller parts. As the bus drives, it is about two hours east of Pokhara and five hours west of Kathmandu.

My guesthouse was more basic than I expected: no hot water, no sink in the bathroom, and the house itself looked as if it had not been changed from its original appearance from when it was built. (I did not know the age of the house but I suspected it would have been over 100 years old). Despite the very rustic accommodations, the place met my three criteria of safety, cleanliness, and helpful staff. And at 500 rupees per night, it was very affordable!

My corner room was bright and airy, with two sets of big windows that allowed a nice cross breeze to flow through. Outside the windows I could look out over some banana trees and see the hillside dropping away, allowing dramatic views of the nearby valley.

View at Breakfast

There was not much to do in Bandipur — no museums, no movie theaters, no live music, no bars, no adventure travel companies. It was simply a small, quaint village that attracted tourists due to its idyllic location, interesting architecture and lack of any kind of traffic other than pedestrians. Motorized traffic could drive up the hill to the edge of the village but could not enter the cobbled main square or side streets, and besides, other than the main square the other streets had too many twists, turns and steps to be friendly to anything that rode on wheels.

While it attracted tourists the village was not overrun by them, and the basic restaurants and guesthouses were tourist friendly, offering English menus, a wide variety of cuisine from various parts of the world, and WiFi (even my rickety guesthouse had WiFi!).

Not a bad place to spend a few peaceful days.

Still Life at Ke Garne Cafe (Ke Garne means “What to do?” in Nepali)