My guide to the Kathmandu valley

deej

As I have recieved such useful information on this forum about my forthcoming trip to India I thought it would be nice to try and give something back, but as I don't know much about India (yet!) will give some info about my recent trip to the Kathmandu Valley in Nepal (August 2009).

I won't talk about sites as I went to the fairly obvious places you could find in a guidebook (I was primarily there for work and only had a few days for exploring) - Kathmandu old city and Durbar Square, Bodhnath, Bhaktapur, Patan (my favourite of the 3 Durbar Squares), Bhimsen Tower, Pashupatinah, Swayambhunath, and Changu Narayan - all of which were fantastic.

Hotels.

Dhulikhel
As I was there for a conference I was well looked after, and got the opportunity to stay in places that would be normally way out of my budget . For most of the trip I stayed at the Dhulikhel Mountain Resort (they have a website easily found through google), about 4km outside the town of Dhulikhel. It's a great spot with fabulous views of the Himalayas (which we were lucky to catch a glimpse of through the clouds despite it being the off-season and fairly rainy and cloudy much of the time). The rooms were very spacious and clean, food lovely and varied, masala chai on demand, and filter spring water which I drank without any health problems. The resort staff were very friendly and helpful, and they arrange events like yoga classes and a cultural show. It's a rural setting, but the town of Dhulihkel is easily reached by local bus, and offers shops and chai stands, an interesting temple and old Newari buildings, as well as regular bus connections to Kathmandu (around 1.5 - 2 hours).

Kathmandu
In Kathmandu we stayed at the Hotel Gangjong. This is in the embassy and business district of Lazimpat very near the Royal Palace. The rooms were good with AC and cable TV and reasonable bathrooms, but try and get a room at the back as the road out front gets very busy early in the morning. The hotel's own restuarant is ok, but better is the attached Tibetan restuarant -yummy momos and stir fried greens.

Places to eat

Bodhnath
Namtso - You'll see this Tibetan place if you are circumnavigating the Stupa (about a third of the way round from the entry arch) - you have to go up some stairs. It looks like a pricey place but is actually very reasonable for the amount of food you get - delicious momos and veggie soup, and fantastic decor - colourful murals and a very furry model yak!

Patan
New Orleans - A little pricey and popular with the 'Patan-elite' set of journalists and NGO workers (the UN is just down the road). Lovely food (mix of Western and south Asian dishes) and nice ambiance, expecially the fairy-lit outdoor tables. They have a book shop but this was closed when I was there in the evening.

Kathmandu
Nepali Chulo - again a little pricey (did I mention I wasn't paying!)A great experience - you sit on the floor at long low tables and get a large silver platter that the waiters come along and put little bits of different traditional dishes on. I loved it, although my Nepali friend said the food her mum cooks is better!

Hope this is useful to someone