Visit Kathmandu in Nepal

The beautiful Kathmandu certainly deserves a visit of a few days to fully appreciate its temples and the lively atmosphere of the capital of Nepal.

When you visit Nepal, the capital Kathmandu is probably where you will start or end your journey.
It's worth taking some time to visit this captivating city and immerse yourself in its atmosphere.
The main things to see and do in Kathmandu include its beautiful architecture, culture, spirituality and finally shopping.

What to see in Kathmandu
Swayambhunath
Swayambhunath, the famous Buddhist temple of Nepal, is located atop a hill west of the city of Kathmandu. It can be reached by a strenuous walk on a flight of 365 stone steps. One of the first things you will notice is the monkeys that are found in the hundreds in the temple.
Fortunately, most of the Swayambhunath temple complex survived the 2015 earthquake.

Pashupatinath Temple
Pashupatinath is the most sacred Hindu temple in Nepal dedicated to Shiva and attracts devotees from the Indian subcontinent along with numerous Hindu ascetics each year.
The ancient Hindu rituals, surprising and unchanged over time, are practiced inside the temple complex. Enter and you will get a new perspective on life, death and reincarnation, including the open cremation of bodies along the river bank.
The main temple is forbidden to anyone other than Hindu, but you can visit the rest of the vast surroundings.
The most interesting moment to visit is early in the morning from 7 to 10 to see the cremations, or in the evening from 18 to see the Aarti (adoration with fire).

Old town and Durbar square
The ancient old city of Kathmandu is located around Durbar Square in Basantapur, south of Thamel, where the royal family lived until the 19th century.
World Heritage Site by UNESCO since 1979.
In addition to the Royal Palace (Hanuman Dhoka), there are many Hindu and Buddhist temples dating back to the 12th century.
Unfortunately, a huge earthquake destroyed most of the southern part of the temples and severely damaged other buildings, including the palace.
There are two more elaborate and historically important Durbar squares in the vicinity of the Kathmandu valley, in Patan and Bhaktapur. These two attractions are certainly worth the visit.

Thamel district
Kathmandu's Thamel tourist district is sometimes crowded and hectic, but it still manages to retain an old-world atmosphere, surrounded by rows of Tibetan prayer flags and rickshaws moving in the narrow streets lined with shops overflowing with clothes from bright colors, jewels, paper lanterns, Thanka paintings, wood carvings, bronze statues, music and books.
When the day turns to sunset, Thamel takes on a completely different atmosphere with its streets lit up with the warmth of a multitude of lights and the sound of live music from its bars covers the noises.

Garden of Dreams
The beautifully restored Swapna Bagaicha (Dream Garden) remains one of Kathmandu's most serene and beautiful enclaves. It is just two minutes walk from the center of Thamel.

Hanuman Dhoka
The royal palace of Kathmandu, known as Hanuman Dhoka, was originally founded during the Licchavi period (from the 4th to the 8th century AD), but the complex was considerably enlarged by King Pratap Malla in the 17th century.
In front of the main entrance is the rectangular Nasal Chowk courtyard, named after the dance image of Shiva ("Nasal"), located on the east side of the square. While the courtyard was built in the kingdom of Malla, the buildings around are creations of the Rana dynasty. Near the entrance of the Nasal Chowk there is a portal - with the carving of four deities - which leads to the private apartments of King Malla.
A golden statue of Maha Vishnu is visible from the veranda of the eastern wall; it was placed here after the original temple of Maha Vishnu, which housed this image, was destroyed by the 1934 earthquake.
Other attractions in Nasal Chowk are the Audience Hall of Malla kings (in the northeast corner), the throne of the Malla kings and some portraits of Shah kings. The Panch Mukhi Hanuman temple is located in the northeast corner of Nasal Chowk, and has a very particular structure, with five circular roofs; the temple priest is the only person who can enter the sanctuary. On the southern side of the Nasal Chowk is the Basantapur tower; it is a nine-storey tower, with several erotic images carved on the struts of this tower. This tower is one of the four red towers that King Prithvi Narayan Shah built to delimit the four ancient cities of the Kathmandu valley.

Narayanhiti
The Narayanhiti Palace Museum is the former royal palace in the center of the Nepalese capital.

Freak Street
The most famous street of Kathmandu, since the hippy days of the 60s and 70s, stretches south from Basantapur Square. The exact name is Jhochhen but since the early 1970s it has been known as Freak Street.
And if the days of glory