© Lonely Planet Publications 108 www.lonelyplanet.com KATHMANDU •• History 109 KATHMANDU KATHMANDU IN… Two Days Start off with the two-hour walking tour ( p129 ) south from Thamel to Durbar Sq. Grab lunch KATHMANDU Kathmandu overlooking Basantapur Sq or in nearby Freak St ( p149 ) and then spend the afternoon taking in the grandeur of Durbar Square ( p114 ). Finish the day with a cold beer and dinner in Thamel. Next day walk out to Swayambhunath ( p162 ) in the morning and spend the afternoon shop- ping ( p153 ) in Thamel. For your final meal splurge at one of the blowout Newari restaurants like For many people, stepping off a plane into Kathmandu is an exhilarating shock – the sights, Bhojan Griha or Nepali Chulo (see p147 ). sounds and smells can quickly lead to sensory overload. Whether it be buzzing around the crazy polluted traffic in a taxi, trundling down the narrow winding streets of the old town Four Days in a rickshaw, marvelling at Durbar Sq or dodging the tiger balm sellers and trekking touts If you have an extra couple of days, take a short taxi ride out to Patan ( p184 ) for a full day exploring in Thamel, Kathmandu can be an intoxicating, amazing and exhausting place. its Durbar Square, Patan Museum (the best in the country) and more fascinating backstreets. After an early lunch on day four, take a taxi to Pashupatinath ( p166 ) and then make the short As the largest (and pretty much the only) city in the country, Kathmandu also feels like an- walk out to Bodhnath ( p169 ) to soak up some Tibetan culture as the sun sets. other developing-world city rushing into a modern era of concrete and traffic pollution. Take If you are in town on Friday, splurge on the Friday barbeque at Dwarika’s ( p150 ). a walk in the backstreets, however, and the capital’s amazing cultural and artistic heritage reveals itself in hidden temples overflowing with marigolds, courtyards full of drying chillis One Week With a week up your sleeve you can spend a day at Bhaktapur ( p196 ). At the beginning of and rice, and tiny hobbit-sized workshops largely unchanged since the Middle Ages. the week sign up for a two-day rafting ( p89 ) or canyoning ( p78 ) trip up at Borderlands or Kathmandu has been a travellers mecca since the 1960s but these days you’re less likely to The Last Resort. When stress levels build, fit in some quiet time at the delightful Garden of Dreams ( p126 ). see a tie-dyed hippy in search of enlightenment than a well-heeled Gore-Tex–clad tourist in Seven days gives you the chance to gorge on Thai (Krua Thai), Indian (Third Eye), Japanese search of a good espresso. With tourist numbers down and political tensions up, the last few (Koto), South Indian dosas (Dudh Sagar), yak steak (Everest Steak House), felafel (Nargila’s) and years have been uncertain, yet residents have retained a good-humoured self-respect. maybe even some Nepali food! Don’t get me started on lunch… Kathmandu is well worth a week of your time, but it’s too easy to spend too much time stuck in touristy Thamel. Enjoy the Internet cafés, the Western music and the lemon cheese- HISTORY vulnerable to the 1768 invasion of the valley cake, but make sure you also get out into the ‘real Nepal’, before your time runs out. The history of Kathmandu is really a his- by Prithvi Narayan Shah. tory of the Newar people, the main inhab- The ensuing Shah dynasty unified Nepal itants of the Kathmandu Valley. While the and made the expanded city of Kathmandu documented history of the valley goes back its new capital – a position the city has held HIGHLIGHTS to the Kiratis, around the 7th century BC, ever since. Stroll around Kathmandu’s medieval-like old town ( p131 ) and soak up its atmosphere the foundation of Kathmandu itself dates from the 12th century AD, during the time ORIENTATION Appreciate the amazing architectural monuments of Durbar Square ( p114 ), an artistic and of the Malla dynasty. The most interesting part of Kathmandu is architectural tradition that rivals anything you’ll The original settlements, in what is the the crowded backstreets of the rectangular- find in the great cities of Europe southern half of the old town, grew up shaped old town. This is bordered to the Dine in one of the city’s superb Newari res- around the trade route to Tibet and in early north by the main tourist and backpacker taurants (p147 ), with the accompaniment of pilgrim resthouses such as the Kasthaman- district of Thamel (pronounced Tha-MEL) traditional dances dap, which later lent its name to the city. and to the east by the sprawling modern Shop ( p153 ) till you drop in Thamel for cut-price Originally known as Kantipur, the city new town. Thamel is bursting with hun- CDs, books, backpacks, carpets and handicrafts flourished during the Malla era, and the dreds of hotels, restaurants, Internet cafés, Thamel bulk of its superb temples, buildings and travel agencies and shops that can be ri- Old Town Chill out in one of Thamel’s rooftop garden res- other monuments date from this time. valled only by Bangkok’s Khao San Rd. taurants ( p145 ), with a good book and a slice of Durbar Square Initially, Kathmandu was an independent In the centre of the old town is the historic chocolate cake city within the valley, but in the 14th cen- Durbar Sq and Hanuman Dhoka (old Royal Take day trips out to the nearby Unesco World tury the valley was united under the rule Palace). Freak St, the focus of Kathmandu’s Heritage Sites of Swayambhunath ( p162 ), of the Malla king of Bhaktapur. The 15th overland scene during the hippie era, runs Pashupatinath ( p166 ), Bodhnath ( p169 ) and century saw division once more, this time south from here. Thamel is 15 or 20 minutes’ Patan ( p184 ) into the three independent kingdoms of walk north from Durbar Sq. Kathmandu, Patan and Bhaktapur. Rivalry Running east from Durbar Sq is New Rd, AREA CODE: %01 POPULATION: 740,000 ELEVATION: 1337M between the three city-states led to a series constructed after the great earthquake of of wars that left each state weakened and 1934, and one of the main shopping streets 110 KATHMANDU www.lonelyplanet.com www.lonelyplanet.com KATHMANDU •• Information 111 Kathmandu Kathmandu KATHMANDU 0 1 km KATHMANDU 0 0.5 miles in town. At the eastern end are the offices of To Tiger Karts To Budhanilkantha Royal Nepal Airlines (RNAC). South of the (1.5km) (5km) junction of New Rd and Kantipath is the INFORMATION Krishnarpan Restaurant............(see 18) INFORMATION Hotel Greenwich Village............ 19 C6 a l 99 main post office and Sundhara district, easily Australian Embassy.......................1 F1 Mike's Breakfast.........................22 E3 o KATHMANDU Australian Embassy.......................1 F1 Hotel Shangri-La........................20 D2 Bansbari h 1 1 BangladeshBangladesh Embassy..................... Embassy.....................2 2F1F1 Soaltee Crowne Plaza................Mahad21ev KA5hola K located by the minaret-like Bhimsen Tower. i 8 CanadianCanadian Consulate..................... Consulate.....................3 3 D3 D3 ENTERTAINMENT s Nagarjun u The street known as Kantipath forms ChineseChinese Embassy.......................... Embassy..........................4 4E3E3 NewEATING Himalchuli Cultural Group..23 D3 h 22 Forest k Dutch Consulate.......................... 5 C6 a the boundary between the older and newer Dutch Consulate.......................... 5 C6 BhojanReserve Griha..............................22 D4 m German Embassy.......................... 6 E4 SHOPPING a German Embassy..........................6 E4 Krishnarpan Restaurant............(see 18) S j Site of New Balaju n Site of New parts of the city. On the east side of Kanti- Japanese Embassy........................7 D2 Mahaguthi................................. 24 D3 u Japanese Embassy........................7 D2 Mike's Breakfast.........................23 E3 g US Embassy Pakistan Embassy..........................8 E1 Sana Hastakala.......................... 25 D6 ra Pakistan Embassy..........................8 E1 10 ha path is a large, open parade ground known Thai Embassy................................9 F1 Sana Hastakala..........................To Kakani 26 D3 a 15 Thai Embassy................................9 F1 (15km) 10 M 15 as Tundikhel, and on the eastern edge of TribhuvanTribhuvan University University Teaching Teaching Ring Rd Hospital..................................10 E1 28 Hospital..................................10 E1 13 Samakhusi this is the City (Ratna Park) bus station, for US Embassy............................... 11 D2 N 29 US Embassy............................... 11 D2 a y buses around the Kathmandu Valley. a B SIGHTS & ACTIVITIES a Maharajganj SIGHTS & ACTIVITIES z North of the Tundikhel is Durbar Marg, a a Dhum Varahi Shrine...................12 F2 r B Dhum Varahi Shrine...................12 F2 alu Indigo Gallery..........................(see 22) w wide street flanked by airline offices, restau- a R Indigo Gallery..........................(see 23) 11 t a in Mahendra Park.......................... 13 B2 r Mahendra Park.......................... 13 B2 Sama Pani g rants and expensive hotels, and at its north- khu National Birendra Art Gallery......14 E3 si Kh Pokhari R National Birendra Art Gallery......14 E3 ola d a Pasang Lhamu Climbing Wall......15 F1 7 l ern end is the New Royal Palace. Further Pasang Lhamu Climbing Wall......15 F1 o Patanjali Yoga Centre................. 16 B5 h Patanjali Yoga Centre................. 16 B5 17 K 12 12 north are the embassy and NGO districts of e r a SLEEPING a h Lazimpat and Maharajganj. To the south of SLEEPING h 20 Baluwater a k h Astoria Hotel............................. 17 D2 a K Astoria Hotel............................. 17 D2 P town is Patan (see p184 ), an historically dis- Dwarika's Hotel..........................18 F4 Dwarika's Hotel..........................18 F4 o 24 3 k Hotel Shangri-La........................ 19 D2 l a tinct city, which has now partially merged J 26 Soaltee Crowne Plaza................u 20 A5 G 25 Dhumbarahi g ola e Kh with Kathmandu’s southern sprawl. Kh See Central Kathmandu map p116 Tukucha ola t 4 EATING a Both Kathmandu and Patan are encircled p Lazimpat im Bhojan Griha.............................