Nepal Tourism

The kingdom of Nepal is bounded on the north by the Tibet Region of the People's Republic of China, on the east by Sikkim and West Bengal and on the south and west by by the Indian States of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. Nepal civilization stretches back thousands of years before the birth of Christ. As the popular legend goes, the original settlers of the Kathmandu Valley were the Kirantis, who were later succeeded by the Lichhavis who, in turn, were succeeded by the Mallas. In 1769 the Shah Dynasty ascended the throne of the unified Kingdom. The present King of Nepal, His Majesty King Birendra Bir Bikram Shah Deva, is the tenth King in the Shah Dynasty. Nepal is a country of amazing extremes. There is the world's highest mountain, Everest. It extends over 2400 kms as a vast south-facing arc between the Indus and Brahamaputra rivers with Nanga Parbat(8125 m) and Namcha Barwa (7755 m) as its terminal high points. Fully a third or 800 kms of its central section traverses through Nepal and is known as Nepal Himalaya. Of the 31 prominent Himalayan peaks over, 7600 metres, 11 are in Nepal Himalaya includng out of the world's highest giants. These are Saarmatha (8848 m), Kanchenjunga (8586 m), Lho Tse (8516 m), Makalu (8463 m), Cho Oyu (8201 m), Dhaulagiri (8167 m), Manaslu (8163 m) and Annapurna (8091 m). Kathmandu valley covers an area of 218 sq miles. It is situated at 4423 ft above sea level. Major tourist attractions in Nepal are: Kathmandu Valley : Machhendra Nath Temple* Hanuman Dhoka* Durbar Square* Statue of King Pratap Malla* Temple House of Kumari * The National Museum Pashupatinath Temple* Patan * Bhadgaon (Bhaktapur)* Swayambhunath * Boudhnath * Changunarayan* Budhanilkantha* Gokarna* Dakshinkali* KirtipurOutside Kathmandu Valley : Daman*Dhulikhel*Gorkha*Kakani *Nagarkot *Pokhara*Rapti Valley (Chitwan)*Pokhara*

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Kathmandu

"Travelers will cross many rivers and climb many mountains. Plainsmen may always live within a valley. But only those seeking truth will ever reach the summit." — Anan, 11th century Indian saying

OK, I'm not going to say much about Nepal. First because I don't know much about it and second because there are books (and websites) with much better things than what I could write. We were not in Nepal long enough to have the time to learn much about the country, just playing tourists around Kathmandu for a few days before going on to Lhasa in Tibet and then to Cho-Oyu. Here are just a few pictures.
Nepal / Tibet. Katmandu / Lhassa. The same or different ? One on either side of the Himalaya. One city Indian at heart, the other forcefully Chinese. Late monsoon clouds drifting above bringing drizzles of rain. We spend some days in Katmandu, getting our gear ready in large heavy plastic drums that we roll all through the hotel, visiting Buddhist temples, sorting things out with the trekking agency. A hot an humid city, bursting with energy, cars surfing around the many pedestrians and bicycles. There we purchase our last missing pieces of equipment, try new foods, start getting sick too.
Like in many countries, the most interesting things to visit are the temples (Durbar Square in Patan, left). I wonder why... Looks like mankind has never been able to show much ingenuity for better things than religions (and war by the way)...<>

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