Our last destination in Nepal takes more than five hours of very scenic bus ride from the city of Kathmandu.

Pokhara is so vastly different from the previous cities we visited in Nepal. No grand temples here, no brick-paved roads, no crazy traffic. It was simply us, Lake Fewa, and the snow-covered range of the Himalayas on the far horizon.

Alright, we were only able to have a little peek of the Himalayas due to the hazy weather, but the butt-numbing bus ride to this place was well worth it even just for the the lake and the very chill-out atmosphere. And oh yeah, the buff steaks at the nearby restaurants rock too.

Spending two days in Kathmandu and three more in Dhulikhel, we were now ready for Nepal’s cultural capital, Bhaktapur.

If Kathmandu is crazy and Dhulikhel is laid back, Bhaktapur is a mix of both places. This UNESCO World Heritage Site is filled with unbelievably old architecture; it’s like stepping into a time machine and going back in time, only thing is, the hordes of tourists and shops also step back with you.

The walled city charmed us so much that we decided to stay for four days.

After the maddening daze of Kathmandu, we decided to head out to Dhulikhel, a quieter town recommended to us by a friend. He said life here is more laid back. And he is absolutely right.

I guess Dhulikhel is really not on most tourist maps since we encountered only a few backpackers roaming its very quiet streets.

It has its own tourist spots, like the Namo Buddha, where it is said that Lord Buddha gave his life to a starving tiger and her cubs, and its old town bazaar, but what really impressed on my mind during our three-day stay here were its very friendly people. Even though the language barrier is very strong, it was absolutely no problem. Well, especially after four glasses of their home made chhaang beer.

If you think Manila is crazy, think again.

My jaw dropped to the dusty roads of Kathmandu the first time I went out of Hotel Ganesh Himal, our lodging of choice at Nepal’s capital city. The place is crazier than a chicken coop during feeding time. The streets, which are more like alleys, are dusty and narrow as heck, but the traffic is as hectic as can possibly be. Motorcycles, trucks, rickshaws, street hawkers, and pedestrians all battle for space with horns and honks like there’s no tomorrow.

But once you get past that, Kathmandu is a really beautiful place. It’s full of interesting people, curious wares, grand sweeping temples, and archaic architecture.

The cliché that goes that there is beauty in chaos cannot be more true than in Kathmandu.