I stated in my book, Nepal On a Budget, that the Thamel district in Kathmandu can be very ruthless to unsuspecting tourists. The merchants seem to be waiting for you to walk by with too much money and not enough brain cells. I have to admit that I wasn't prepared to purchase my first pashmina scarf and that scarf's price seemed to be determined by the country I came from.  I learned a lot about pashmina since that day and I've found a few places to buy silk and wool scarves/shawls at excellent prices. One of those places is just outside of Thamel in the Arson Chowk area and one is in Bhaktapur. However, there are some bargains to be found in Thamel and if you have the energy for it, it can be a lot of fun to shop and haggle with the merchants.  The best way I've found to shop in Kathmandu is to just walk down the street and see what you pass along the way. Have a mental list and see what you can check off. I have a habit to peak into any box or sales rack I see along th...

Me and five friends of mine trekked to Panch Pokhari (4100 m), the five sacred lakes situated within the laps of Jugal Himal from 12th to 17th October of 2010. I had thought of writing a travelogue at that time but was unable to. However, as I found some readers really liked the two travelogues I have written in this blog so far and was asked to write about other treks as well, here is my travelogue of my Trek to Panch Pokhari with all the details as far as my memory serves me. Before we begin: Trek to Gosainkunda previous year had been one of the most amazing moments in my life. It was my first long trek and the experiences I had in the trek were instrumental in making an ardent trekker out of me. I had shared about the trek during much more conversations than I care to remember. So, I was excited about this upcoming Dashain for another trekking opportunity. The only question was: what shall be the next destination? Click! Panch Pokhari. That's the place I was going to this year I...