November 9

Following breakfast, travel by car or van (half hour) to nearby ridge (Sarankot) for mountain viewing and short hike (half hour) to guest house on the ridge and overnight stay.

Early morning views of peaks and Pokhara Valley. Following breakfast 1-2 hour guided hike along the ridge for better views and exposure to small Nepalese villages. Return to Sarankot lodge for overnight stay.

Following breakfast, choice of returning to Pokhara hotel by car or by hiking down the steps on the lakeside of the ridge (about a 3-hour walk). Stay at Fishtail Lodge.  Cultural program with dinner scheduled for the evening.

Bandipur – Following breakfast, a day walk around Bandipur and nearby Magar village. (Magars are one of Nepal’s 35 ethnic communities that occupy the mid-hills of Nepal)

Explore the jungle on elephant back, and accompany a lodge-provided naturalist for guided nature walks, bird watching, elephant bathing, canoeing, observation tower viewing, jungle drive in a jeep, slide show/documentary film, and in the evening, local Tharu cultural dancing.

Following breakfast, depart lodge for the airport and fly to Kathmandu (about a 20 minute flight). Stay at Hotel Malla. A short evening walk through Asan Bazaar and the old part of Kathmandu near the hotel.

Morning free. (optional Everest Mountain flight can be arranged which flies out to Everest and back; ticket costs are refunded if weather is bad or flight is cancelled).  Afternoon visit to the Boudha Stupa with lunch at Stupa View or other restaurant with roof-top viewing of the stupa.

Following an early breakfast, visit to a rural clinic (in Hinguwapati, Kavre District, about two hours drive from Kathmandu to the east). The clinic is managed by a local nonprofit with focus on maternal health. Return in the afternoon to Dhulikhel (about half way back to Kathmandu) for night stay at Dhulikhel Lodge and hopefully sunrise on the peaks from your hotel room.

Following breakfast, day walk to Namobuddha, an old Buddhist stupa, and return to Dhulikhel for the night.

(Options to consider for 18^th & 19^th:  (1) spend two nights near Nagarkot at the Farm House, a small hotel managed by Hotel Vajra on the outskirts of Kathmandu Valley, surrounded by fields with good views of Dorje Lakpa and other peaks; (2) extend earlier visit to Pokhara for two additional days for more day walks or short drives out of Pokhara Valley with an overnight stay in another part of the valley – Dhampus is one place, a well-known Gurung village with good views of Fishtail peak and basic but clean lodges;)

Monday – Depart Korean Air (3:40PM)