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.
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| umbrella street |
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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