Annapurna Base Camp Trek information

 

Umbrella Street Patihani Ghadgai, Chitwan 

Patihani is a part of metropolitan Bharatpur in Chitwan District in Bagmati Pradesh of southern Nepal. It lies in the southwestern part of Chitwan, facing Chitwan National Park and Churia range. Patihani is one of the top 100 new tourist destinations proclaimed by the government, which touches UNESCO World Heritage site Chitwan National park, on the bank of Rapti River and a small village called ‘Ghatgai’ where we can discover one of the wonders, “Umbrella Street “and first in Nepal.

Umbrella Street has been a very popular destination since its prelude. Both national and international visitors appreciate this elegant beauty. Visitors usually realize that this street has a Gambrel roof with hanging umbrellas, which looks gorgeous already, but the real aesthetic part of the street becomes apparent at its end.

umbrella street 

It spans about 10 Khatta of land or 3386.3 sq. meter or 36450 sq. feet. Our tour inside Umbrella Street begins by witnessing a statue of the one-horned rhinoceros just in front of the gate. The ticket counter is just on its side. The ticket costs Rs. 20 for Nepalese and Rs.100 for international visitors. It is open at 8 o'clock in the morning and closed at 6 o’clock in the evening.

The entrance of umbrella street 

After entering the street, we can behold 480 colorful umbrellas hanging on top and clean tiled road below. A short walk along the street, we will reach a gorgeous fountain, spouting water in all directions. And from there, the magnificent scenery of Chitwan National Park and Rapti river becomes dominant.

The width of the street widens as we reach the fountain. The walls on both sides of the street are decorated with paintings and pictures of indigenous ‘Tharu’ people and their traditions.  A few steps below that and we will see a beautiful ‘Waterfall fountain’ on one side and ‘Spouting fountain’ on its other side.

 

This spouting fountain spouts water from the mouths of different animal statues. These statues signify the different animals of Chitwan National Park.

spouting fountain spouts water from the mouths of different animal

After a few seconds of descent, we will reach the widest part of this street, from where we can witness the magnificent natural beauty of this place. Just in front of us, our gaze will hit the Chitwan National Park, with the Rapti River below it. We will gain aesthetic pleasure gazing at the large open bank, which spans as far as our sight can reach.

The magnificent natural beauty of River and National Park 

Standing facing the national park, we will be able to see different animals of the park-like one-horned rhinoceros, Gharial crocodile, Deer’s, wild boar, tiger, and Sloth bear, and so on. On our right, our gaze will meet ‘Kasara Bridge’ and reach up to ‘Panchpandab’ hill. It looks majestic when the red sunsets on that hill. On our left, we will be able to see up to a part of the Churia range.

sunset view at Rapti river 

We can use both public and private vehicles to reach there. While using private vehicles, we have to take a short detour from the main road to reach Umbrella Street. The optimum point to take detours from depends on where we are coming from but people popularly do it from “Bankatta Chowk”. From there, we can follow the road signs and easily reach Umbrella Street. There are communal jeeps that take us directly to the Street from Chaubiskoti (Bharatpur Airport), but buses will drop us at “Bankatta Chowk”, and hence we can have a short walking tour to the street. It takes around 10 to 15 minutes. If you fill confuse please follow google map at UMBRELLA STREET it makes it easy for you or follow the direction which indicates singe in different public locations.

Both air and road transportation facilities are accessible from cities like Kathmandu, Pokhara, Lumbini, and so on. Air conveyance from those cities will descend on Bharatpur Airport near Chaubiskoti. Although there are few scheduled buses directly from Kathmandu or Pokhara to Bankatta Chowk, most of the buses will alight us at Bharatpur. After you arrive at Bharatpur/Chaubiskoti, you can find local buses or jeeps to Bankatta Chowk or Umbrella Street.

It is about 17 km away or a 30-minute drive from Chaubiskoti via the main road. Even though the main road is well paved and with low traffic, with public buses or jeeps, it might take more than an hour to reach there.

village tour an ox cart 

Although some jeeps drive us through the off-roads (which will give us a ‘bumpy’ and slow ride), they provide us an excellent opportunity for some sight-seeing. The golden paddy and yellow mustard fields, traditional houses, their gardens, waving kids, farmers, housewives, and so on are some of the vistas to enjoy during our off-road travel.

bambo@ umbrella street         

If we wish to do an overnight stay, there are many restaurants and lodges around Umbrella Street. Patihani is regarded as one of the tourist destinations of Nepal so restaurants and lodges have been already available before it was constructed, but after its construction, the number of restaurants is increasing. And the businesses of old restaurants are also going well.

Among those many restaurants & lodges, one of the oldest is “Ghumtee Riviera Resort”. Run by family members, the landscape seen from here parallels the beauty seen from “Umbrella Street”. Family environment, beautiful gardens, aesthetic river view, clean rooms, delicious meals are some of its salient features. Various types of rooms are available there, garden view rooms, river view rooms, rooms with AC and underground rooms. Underground rooms are made especially for those, who prefer to spend their time closer to nature and witness wild animals nearby at night. This room has gotten the name “Rhino room” due to frequent rhino sightings from its window. The restaurant mainly serves Nepali dish cooked by the father and mother of the house whose taste and homelike environment, fills anyone with nostalgia. The pretty flowers and majestic landscape overwhelm us with serene emotions. Not only Fooding,  lodging, and sight-seeing, this place also provides facilities for different adventurous activities like Jungle walk, Canoe ride, Elephant safari, Jeep safari, and so on. It doesn’t provide us with such facilities so we have to contact lodges like these and give them advance notice. Due to such qualities, this place has been serving both national and international tourists for more than 25 years.

In essence, Umbrella Street is one of the places in Nepal, where every tourist must visit at least once in their life. This place does not just show off hanging umbrellas rather it gives a glimpse of how man-made beauty and natural beauty can blend together in such perfect harmony. The village life, wild animals, and the beautiful umbrellas are really the “perfect trio” for visitors.