Yet another reason Nepal is freaking awesome: it’s one of only two places in the world where you can go parahawking. (h/t Gadling) What, you may ask, is parahawking? It’s your chance to literally soar with the eagles (or in this case, the trained Egyptian vultures).

Parahawking involves paragliding (in tandem with a trained pilot if you’re inexperienced, though you can go solo if you know what you’re doing) with a trained bird of prey to guide you to the best thermals. Thermals are updrafts of warm air that help both raptors and paragliding humans soar effortlessly.

Even better,  at the moment the only organization that offers parahawking is also involved in conservation and rescue efforts for local birds of prey. So, the €125 you pay is money well spent as it helps support those efforts. All the vultures used in Nepal are rescues who became strongly imprinted on humans and cannot be released into the wild. Parahawking helps the Himalayan Raptor Rescue organization raise money for their care and also gives the birds a chance to fly and get some exercise.

Parahawking is available in Pokhara, Nepal from  November to late March. You can book online here.

To visit Nepal, you’ll need a valid passport and a Nepal visa. Visas can be obtained on arrival, or you can apply before you leave the US if you’d prefer to have all your paperwork ready before your trip. To learn more, see Nepal Visa Requirements for Tourists.

RushMyTravelVisa can help you get the visas you need for your trip. We’ll walk you through the paperwork, answer any questions about the process, and expedite your visa for the fastest possible processing. You’ll leave for Nepal with the security of having the paperwork completed and your visa in hand.

Apply for your Nepal visa today!

Boudhanath Stupa is one of the most beautiful and impressive Buddhist temples in Nepal. Towering over the country’s capital Kathmandu, it is one of the city’s chief tourist attractions. It’s easy to see why — the glistening white dome is topped with a gold canopy and surrounded by innumerable brightly colored, fluttering prayer flags for an amazing visual impact.

According to legend, the stupa is the final resting place of an important sage called Kāṣyapa. There are several interesting legends describing how it was built. In one, recounted on the NileGuidance blog, an old woman petitioned the ruler of the area for land to build a temple to house the remains of the sage. The king granted her “as much land as a buffalo skin could cover,” so she cut the buffalo skin into thin strips and used the strips to encircle the area where the stupa now stands.

Per Wikipedia, another story is that after the old woman was granted permission to proceed building the temple, the scale and grandeur of the construction made nearby wealthy noblemen uneasy. They went to the king and said “if such a poor old dame were allowed to complete building such a stupendous tower, they themselves would have to dedicated a temple as great as a mountain, and so they decided to ask the King to disallow the further progress of the work.” The King refused, saying that he could not take back permission once he had already granted it. That is why the temple’s name literally means “Have finished giving the order to proceed with.”

Go during the Tibetan New Year, in February or March, to witness the Losar festival, which according to Sacred Destinations is the largest festival in Nepal.

To visit Nepal, American citizens need both a valid passport and a visa. You can get a visa on arrival, but of course you’ll get through the immigration line faster if you apply ahead of time, before you leave the US. No matter where you apply, to get a Nepal visa you need the following documents:

• One Nepal visa application
• One passport photo
• The appropriate visa fees for your desired length of stay. A 15-day multiple entry visa is $25, a one-month visa is $40, and a three-month multiple entry visa is $100.

RushMyTravelVisa makes getting your Nepal visa a breeze. We walk you through the paperwork and expedite your visa application for the fastest possible processing. If you plan to stop in other countries along the way, we’ll also research your itinerary to ensure you have all the visas you need to make it to and Nepal and back. Let us help you get your Nepal visa today!

If you’ve ever dreamed of hiking Nepal’s Annapurna circuit, long hailed as one of the most amazing trails in the world, you’d better get your Nepal visa and book a trek.

By 2012, a road will be open along the Marsyangdi Valley side of the trail. There’s already a road on the other side, shrinking what was once an epic 17-day trek to 11 days. When the new road is complete, hikers can look forward to a much less epic 4-day trek away from the road.

Of course, you can still walk on the road, but competing with vehicles and the dust and fumes they create makes the trekking experience much less enjoyable. New York Times reporter Ethan Todras-Whitehill walked the entire 17 day route in March, including the part that coincides with the existing road. Lest you think that fears about the impact of the road on the trek are overblown, he reported that the sections shared with jeeps were much less pleasant, filled with dust and absent the company of other trekkers:

But I would be lying if I said that every time I saw a jeep or a bus picking up passengers, I wasn’t tempted to jump on and end what, as we coughed in the dust of motor vehicles, was beginning to feel like a pointless exercise.

Of course, the road won’t take away the breathtaking scenery of the Himalayan mountains, and it will no doubt make life easier for the local people. However, if you want to hike the Annapurna circuit without the cars, you should go soon.

To go, you’ll need a valid passport and a Nepal visa. You can obtain your visa on arrival at certain entry points, including the international airport in Kathmandu. You can also apply ahead of time, saving you some time and hassle when you get off the plane. For more details, see Nepal Visa Requirements for Tourists

Apply for your Nepal visa today!

On the other side of the world and shrouded in mystery, Nepal seems more like a dream than reality to most Americans. However, if you’re willing to brave the long plane ride, you’ll find a welcoming country filled with awe-inspiring scenery and plenty of opportunities for adventure. Here are 5 reasons to get a Nepali visa and go:

The Annapurna Circuit:

The Annapurna circuit is 128 miles of rugged but spectacular terrain: a parade of rivers, mountains, small friendly villages and remote Buddhist monasteries. Backpacker Magazine calls it “the world’s best trek.” If it’s on your bucket list, I’d recommend hiking it in the next year-a road is set to fill more of the circuit with Jeeps in 2012, according to the New York Times.

The Great Himalayan Trail

Eventually, if the dream behind the Great Himalayan Trail is realized, you’ll be able to walk all the way from Nanga Parbat mountain in Pakistan to Namche Barwa in Tibet, but so far, only the Nepal portion is complete. Expeditions start this February. The entire Nepal section of the trail would take 157 days to finish, so you may want to consider just doing a small portion. This trail is more remote than Annapurna and, if you walk the whole thing, you’ll get to see all of Nepal’s 8,000m peaks.

Everest:

Most people don’t have what it takes to climb Mount Everest, but getting to base camp is doable and is definitely a worthwhile experience.

Wildlife at Chitwan National Park

Nepal’s oldest national park, Chitwan’s name means “heart of the jungle.” The park is a great place for safaris to see rare animals like rhinos, tigers, leopards, antelopes, crocodiles, monkeys and more.

Lumbini

The birthplace of the Buddha, Lumbini is a popular place for Buddhist pilgrimages. The Maya Devi Temple is said to mark the exact spot where he was born. The temple is surrounded by colorful prayer flags and many different monasteries.

To get to Nepal, you’ll need your passport and a Nepali visa. You can apply for your visa on arrival, but if you’d prefer to have it ahead of time you can apply at a Nepali embassy before leaving the US.

To find out more, see Nepali Visa Requirements for Tourists.

RushMyTravelVisa can help you apply for your Nepali visa, walking you through the paperwork and expediting your visa at the appropriate embassy or consulate.

Apply for your Nepali visa today!

Have you ever dreamed of climbing Mount Everest?  For most people, standing on top of the highest mountain in the world is an impossible dream. The altitude and terrain mean that to make the climb, you have to be extremely athletic. (And just because a 13-year-old recently summited, that doesn’t make it an easy climb. Jordan Romero is one tough kid.)

For most of us, Everest Base Camp is a much more doable goal. Every year, thousands of people visit the South Base Camp in Nepal, making it one of the most popular hiking trails in the country.  Although the trip to Base Camp is not nearly as strenuous as actually climbing the mountain, you will still get a fairly intense workout. You’ll also get a chance to meet local people and experience the local culture along the way. Kraig Becker, a writer for Gadling.com, recently made the trip.  Here’s how he described the experience of finally reaching Base Camp:

Finally reaching BC gives you a sense of relief, satisfaction, and exhilaration all at the same time. For many of us who made the trek, visiting Everest was a dream come true, and while we were “only” at 17,600 feet, it is probably as close to the summit as we’ll ever come. The actual “camp” can be a bit anti-climactic if you see the location as just a destination to add to your list, but when you take in the whole experience, you’ll understand that an Everest Base Camp trek is more than the sum of its parts.

To visit Everest Base Camp, you will need a Nepal visa.  You get a visa on arrival at major points of entry, but if you like being prepared, you can also apply for a Nepal visa ahead of time, before you leave the US. Either way, see Nepal Visa Requirements For Tourists for details. Remember, you will also need a trekking permit to hike.

RushMyTravelVisa can help you get all the necessary visas for your next trip, quickly and easily.

Apply for your Nepal visa today!

Nepal is justly famous for its Himalayan treks, but the capital city of Kathmandu is the country’s beating heart.  No matter where you’re going, you’ll start out here. If you came to Nepal in search of solitude, you may be a bit put off by the city initially. Here’s how Gadling describes it:

From the time you leave Tribhuvan International Airport, the city is an assault on the senses, with the constant noise of traffic, the smell of incense (often used to counter the smell of trash), and the sights of the busy market places, awash in a myriad of bright, garish colors. The narrow, twisty streets are clogged with cars, the sidewalks are teeming with people, and air is thick with smog.

And yet, if you were to rush out of the city as quickly as possible, you would definitely be missing out. Kathmandu has been a center of both government and trade for centuries, and its busy exterior camouflages timeless temples of many different faiths as well as a rich artistic tradition.

For example, the city was named after the Kasthamandap,a pagoda-style temple in the city of town. Legend has it that the temple was built using the wood from single, divinely planted tree, and it was built without nails of any sort to hold it together.  The streets of the city are filled with gorgeous sculptures and carvings, as well.

To visit Kathmandu, you do need a Nepal visa. American citizens can apply for a Nepal visa on arrival at Tribhuvan International Airport, but you can also apply in advance. Applying in advance means that you can leave the airport more quickly, which is a blessing after a long trip!

Here’s what you need to get a Nepal visa:

• One Nepal visa application
• One passport photo
• The appropriate visa fees for your desired length of stay.  A 15-day multiple entry visa is $25, a one-month visa is $40, and a three-month multiple entry visa is  $100.

Backpackers take note: you will also need to apply for a trekking permit.

RushMyTravelVisa can expedite your Nepal visa, walking you through the application process to help you avoid common mistakes that could delay your application. Then, we forward your paperwork to the appropriate embassy or consulate for the fastest possible processing.

Apply for your Nepal visa today!