Elephant Polo

Among adventure sports in Nepal Elephant Polo carries a unique feature of being distinct from others. The World Elephant Polo Association (WEPA) organizes an annual Elephant polo tournament in the airfield of Meghauli Chitwan, south west of Kathmandu and north of the Indian border.

The World Elephant Polo Association (WEPA) was established in 1982 with it's headquarter at the Tiger Tops Jungle Lodge in Chitwan, Nepal. WEPA has also established the governing rules for the Elephant Polo Tournament. The first games were played on a grass airfield in Meghauly which is located just on the edge of the National Park. The co-founders, James Manclark, a Scottish landowner and former Olympic tobogganer and Jim Edwards, owner of Tiger Tops Jungle Lodge and Chairman of the Tiger Mountain Group, came up with the idea in a bar in St. Moritz, Switzerland, where they are both members of the Cresta Club.

Somehow, Elephant polo is similar to the Horse polo but you can easily a bit difference. The primary difference between horse and elephant polo, besides the substitution of an elephant for a horse, is that the elephants are "driven" by their trainers, called "mahouts." The mahouts have generally worked with the elephant for many years and the elephants respond quickly to the mahout’s signals and commands. The mahout communicates with the elephant with verbal commands and by applying pressure to the back of the elephant's ears with their feet. The player's responsibility is to let the mahout know where to go, how fast, when to stop, etc. Most of the mahouts and all of the elephants only understand Nepali, so the communication is difficult at times. The professional players tend to learn some basics Nepali to help with the communication on the pitch.

The game is played by four players of each team on a marked pitch 140 x 70 meters, using a standard size polo ball and consists of two 10-minute chukkers of playing time, with an interval of 15 minutes. The whistle blown by the referee stops and starts play. The pitch is marked with a centre line, a circle with a radius of 15 meters in the centre of the field, and a semi-circle with a radius of 30 meters measured from the centre of the goal line at either end of the pitch. Elephants and ends are changed at half time.

Teams participate from all over the world including Scotland, Thailand, England and Hong Kong. The local favorites, the Tiger Tops Tuskers, also take a part. After the day's play all the players and guests have dinner in the Golghar, a traditional round house with a great bar. Elephant Polo in Nepal runs between last week of November and 1st week of December.

Fishing Sports

Our mission is to provide you with quality sport fishing adventures around the country. We offer you a knowledgeable staff with quality service. The friendly and experienced crew has a desire to make your fishing experience a memorable and fun filled trip to remember.

Nepal has a dense net of rivers and streams, as well as numerous lakes of cold water character. Nepal is a landlocked country, where snow-clad Himalayas, eternal glaciers, ice-cold torrents, clear-water and lakes contribute too much of its hydrosphere. These vast stretches of inland water support many and varied forms of freshwater life including fish. Many wild and scenic rivers and lakes of Nepal provide opportunities for recreational fishing.

Betrawati, Indrawati, Karnali, Trisuli and Koshi are some of the major rivers where fishing and angling both are possible. In some of River fishing are strictly prohibited but while fishing, fisherman should not forget to take care of some other aquatic species such as fresh water dolphins, Crocodiles etc in the Koshi, Rapti and Narayani River system.

The Himalayan rivers and lakes camps offer good grounds for fishing for the fishing adventure lovers. Approximately more than 185 species of exotic fish are dancing around the fresh Himalayan water, ranging from the much sought after Mahseer to the mountain stream trout, catfish, Murrei, rainbow trout, common trout and crap (the crap is the largest fish which can be of several kilos).

Sport of fishing like hunting, is not well-advertised in Nepal, but is possible and rewarding. Approximately 118 varieties of fresh water fish live in these Himalayan waters. Mahaseer is the most commonly sought sport fish, besides mountain stream trout-like varieties and lowland water species. Anglers can try their luck in Pokhara’s crystal clear lakes, or in west Nepal’s Bardia Wildlife reserves where local agents can organizes guided fishing trips. While trekking or rafting, bring along your pole, or give the locals’ method a try vita bamboo pole or crude fish trap. We organize fishing trips in streams close to Kathmandu.

Nepal offers some of the finest bike trails on Earth! There are virtually millions of tracks out there. Some people have even started calling Nepal a "Mecca for Mountain biking." Until few years back, visitors came to Nepal mostly to trek, climb, and raft or to see the Tigers in the wild. Mountain biking in Nepal has been gaining much popularity among the adventure enthusiasts from around the world over the past few years. Fascinating mountain villages, nomadic lands, high passes, rugged and tough mountain terrain, winding rivers, rice fields, temples and monasteries as a backdrop of majestic snowy Himalayan peaks makes mountain biking trail in Nepal an exceptionally inspiring play ground for riders with any level of experience and fitness.

We offer bike tours to Nepal, Tibet, Ladakh, Sikkim and Bhutan. Our tours are specially designed to take you deep into the culture and lifestyle of the local people and show you the best trails in the Himalayas, where most mountain bikers rarely get a chance to ride!

Mountain Biking routes in and around Kathmandu

1) Some of the regular routes that cover the valley are those which weave in and out of Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and Patan.

Day 01:
Kathmandu (24 km/ 3-4 hours): Start from the nerve center of old Kathmandu, the Durbar Square, and wind your way up to holy Swambhu, also known as the monkey temple. Then ride up and over ring road, to say, kakani, and re-enter Kathmandu from the Northwest corner through terraced farmland and hamlets abandoned by time.

Day 01: Kathmandu to Nagarkot (38 km)

Ride starts early after breakfast from Kathmandu, you pass medieval town of Bhaktapur. Bhaktapur is an ancient city present full of Newari culture, many temples and squares. After exploring Bhaktapur you head northeast to Nagarkot on pitch road. We slowly climb 20km to Nagarkot passing steeply terraced rice fields and houses. When we reach on the top, if weather permit, we will be able to see the Himalayan range of Langtang and Khumbu region. You stay overnight in hotel.

Day 02: Nagarkot - Namo Buddha- Dhulikhel (35 km)

You eat breakfast with sunrise views over the Himalayas. After you ride downhill leaving Nagarkot top to Nala other Newari Village. On the way you pass some interesting villages of Chetri and Bharamans people and their daily lives on the fields. Then you leave for Dhulikhel on a dirt trail climbing and descending small hill before reaching the holy Buddhist site of Namo Buddha. According to legend it was here that Buddha, in a previous incarnation, fed his flesh to a hungry tigress as an offering. A stone statue marks the site; there is an active monastery on top of the hill. You follow the picturesque view along tarmac and dirt roads back to Dhulikhel. You spend a night at Dhulikhel. Enjoy sunrise in the morning.

Day 03: Namo Buddha to Pauwa - Timal Danda (36 km)

After breakfast trip begin to famous Timal Danda, where lives majority of Tamang people. First part of the riding up to Bhakunde Besi is fine pitched road. From there you start up hill with full of dust road up to Timalcot. From top of the Timal Danda you will see fantastic views of Himalyan range and Sun koshi river valley to north and south to Mahabharat range. Once you are on top the trip follows will small up and downs and passes many Tamang village up to Pawa.

Day 04: Pauwa to Dhulikhel (37 km)

Ride starts after breakfast with Himalayan views on the north side. Return same trial up to Timalkot. From Timalcot will take a fantastic downhill dust road to Panchal valley. You cross a small river called Ghue Khola and follow the small track of Valley up to Tinpiple of Tamaghat. You continue upto Dhulikhel. You stay overnight at hotel in Dhulikhel.

Day 05: Dhulukhel to Kathmandu via Lubhu Sisneri (33 km)

Final day of ride passing ancient city of Panauti. This is less known town rarely visited by tourists. Indreswor Mahadev Temple in Panauti is the oldest surviving temple in Nepal, believed to be constructed in 1294A.D. Climbing west; you follow small track along the Roshi River. Beyond the town of Madhuban, you enter into a narrow pristine valley ascending 300m on superb trail to reach the summit of Lakhuri Bhanjyang. This is probably the oldest route east out of Kathmandu Valley, connecting the ancient cities of the valley with Panauti. The ethnicity of the people change as you descend from Tamangs, Thakuries and Chhetris to lowland Newari farmers. You then cycle the last part of our journey from Sisneri to Kathmandu city with short visit to Patan Durbar Square.