From the valley to the mountains - Feb 2026

 

Our next destination turned out to be the Gabar (Gavar) Valley.  We hadn't planned on it.  We just heard about it from someone in Bardia and thought - why not!  It is in the Banke district near the Banke National Park.  It encompasses the Chure range which is the southernmost and youngest  of the Nepal Himalayas.

We travelled inland from Kohalpur by tuktuk to reach the homestay.  The road left a lot to be desired and we were pleased to be here in the dry season.  Our homestay was a visual feast.

It also doubled as a hotel where the bees come to stay during the winter months.  A clever idea indeed.

There were a lot of these carvings about the place too.

We enjoyed a thali each evening with our own personal fire pit.

And made friends with the locals.

Nancy's mum and dad work at the homestay

Grandma always happy to see us and proud to show
us her coil basket making.  Inspiring.

Banke National Park is a relatively new National Park, established only in 2010.  It covers and area of 550 square km and buffers Bardia National Park.  We didn't get a chance to visit the park this time.  Instead we went for a walk around the very rural district.

View from our room

Agriculture.  Everyone has a patch for growing
their own food or for barter.

Very new baby goat

Plowing the field with buffalo and baby on shoulders.

New build!

Bringing the buffalo for a drink.

We don't see a lot of sheep in Nepal

Walking back through the park

The park is sponsored by Lions International

We managed to find a very local stall for snack.

We got invited to share a meal prepared by and for a group of young people studying Tourism.  They were very excited to recieve us and learn about our own country.

We absolutely loved the feeling of this very rural area and felt like we fitted right into the quiet, industrious community.  It is exactly the environment we feel most comfortable in.

Our next stop was also and unplanned one.  You see, James likes to wear the traditional mens' topi - Dhaka Topi.  Due to the fact he has a much bigger head than most Nepali men, he always had trouble buying one from the many outlets across the country that sell them.  It was suggested to us that the main manufacturer of the fabric, and thus the topi itself, is in the hill town of Tansen and if we went there wer may be able to get a couple made to measure.  Off we trotted to Butwal for a night.  There is not much reason to stay in Butwal except that it is one the cross roads of many other places one may want to go.

In the very good company of these two cuties.

Chat purchased out the bus window.

Our hotel in Butwal was the most modern we have every experienced in Nepal.  In fact, we are daily surprised by the level of improvements in infrastructure, hygiene and general living standards.  Even since we were last here two years ago.

The thali did not disappoint!

The jouney up to Tansen the next day was very picturesque.  We took a micro bus as the road is a little sketchy.  It reminded us of some of the roads in the mountains in NZ but there is a lot more traffic here.  Everyone trying to edge past eachother in precarious spots on the mountainside!

When we got dropped off in Tansen we were a little suprised at the lack of tuktuks.  There aren't ANY.  The streets are too steep.  So we asked a guy in a wee van to take us to our hostel.  We were going to walk as it didn't look that far on the map.  But yeah nah.

The view from our room

The stairs up to our room.

Tansen is about as close to the Himalayas as we ever wish to be.  It was noticeably cooler here but very much worth it for the views.  All of these views from our room at different times of the day.