Overall, I had a very enjoyable three-day visit to Kathmandu, Nepal. Here, I’ll share a little bit more about what I did and my impressions on the Nepalese capital city.
My Impressions Of Kathmandu, Nepal
My reasons for visiting Kathmandu were three-fold:
- I’m on a quest to visit every country in the world and had never been to Nepal
- A helicopter tour of Mount Everest has long been a bucket list item
- I wanted to fly the Nepal Airlines A330
The flight on Nepal Airlines from Bangkok to Kathmandu was excellent.
Visiting a new country and not just staying a night but staying for a few days was quite enjoyable and even relaxing.
But the city is rough. It’s not clean, either, and the air quality is poor. Crossing a street is a dangerous thing. It reminded me of Vietnam a bit…you just go for it and somehow the heavy traffic weave around you. It is when you stop that you get hit. The people were generally pleasant, though.
We spent one day relaxing, one day touring Kathmandu, and one day doing the helicopter tour.
I already mentioned our problem with the tour guide…
Below are some pictures of our stops at Taleju Bhawani Temple Bhaktapur in Durbar Square, then Gokarneshwar and a walk around Boudha Stupa.
This was the restaurant–Roadhouse Café–our guide insisted had the best food in town:
The final segment of my trip report in Nepal will be about the Mount Everest day trip…one of the thrills of my life (I already teased it here). Stay tuned.
But is Kathmandu dirty and hectic? Most certainly. Is it worthwhile? For sure. I cannot wait to return with my family.
Kathmandu (and Nepal) is one of my favorite places on the planet (I’m up to 189 countries and all seven continents). Yes, it is “dusty,” and can be hectic, but the people are wonderful. When I flew for Etihad, I was one of a handful of pilots who were KTM qualified, so we’d fly in several times a month for nice, three day layovers. I got to know many of the local pilots and controllers (and shared many a Gorka Beer). One of my friends flies for Yeti airlines, and he took me on the Everest flight, where we got to within two miles of the face of the mountain. Truly, an incredible experience. I just went back for his wedding, and it was so great to catch up with everyone after all these years. Anyway, I’m rambling here, but enjoyed your write up and photos. They brought back a lot of wonderful memories. Most everyone ought to put Nepal on their bucket list. I think when your kids get a little older, they’ll appreciate it even more….it’ll rock their world, so to speak.
I am from India and based on your pictures, Kathmandu looks cleaner than most Indian cities. I am ready for all the hate I will get from your other readers :).
I do think many South Asian countries suffer from poor air quality due to concrete jungles, lack of green space in urban areas and use of poor quality fuels for transportation, cooking and heating.
Visiting Nepal in 2 weeks for the first time after many trips to India. looking forward to experiencing it and comparing it to India. Thanks for the report and pics!
I visited thos year during the Festival of Colors. Try to return during that time. Makes it even more worthwhile!
It seems the tour guide would have appreciated the free happy hour menu at the Regency,providing you with hours of fascinating anecdotes.
Visiting every country in the world is an admirable goal but some countries are large enough that visiting every region would be just as good a goal. For example, would one’s journey to the US be complete if they only visited New York? No. On the other hand, is there a lot of difference between The Gambia and Sierra Leone? I don’t know.
Like asking is there any difference between Denmark and the Netherlands, I suppose.
I cannot highly enough recommend trekking into the Himalaya after a couple of nights in Kathmandu, I think you missed out by just staying in KTM. I know you did a helicopter trip but the slow discovery through a trek is something else.
After it, I understood why people really want to climb the high mountains but also how daunting that is
Excellent photos. And a “Gorka Beer Dedicated to the Brave” T-shirt would have been an absolute “must” souvenir.
Nepal has so much more to offer than just Kathmandu. Trekking in the mountains or visiting Chitwan National Park are possibilities. You can even take an easy guided one day hike outside Kathmandu to visit local villages. Hike or take a helicopter to The Hotel Everest View, the highest altitude hotel in the world – it’s an unforgettable experience.
I was pretty taken aback by the Buddha getting a – ahem – lap dance statue so I asked the nearest religious studies alum I know and my wife informed me that Buddhists would indeed find it offensive and that it looked like the woman was added afterwards.
I thought it was one of the kama sutra type depictions?
No, Buddhists get angry when you use Buddha’s image for a planter or as a tattoo. Him getting frisky is a big no no. Kind of like Jesus doing the same to a Christian.
Nepal is country of not just Kathmandu and Mount Everest. If you wanna experience the real Nepal you need to explore the rural areas too.
Here are my some suggestions:
Mustang, Pokhara ( the tourism Capital), and Chitwan
Appreciate the tips. I hope to return.