April 8 – 9 : Kathmandu

My first impression of Kathmandu was ‘Wow, this is peaceful!’ The city is much less populated than most places I saw in India, and the car honkings – although not completely absent – are limited to a bare minimum. I also noticed how clean it actually is. I saw almost no litter on the streets; I feel like Kathmandu might just be cleaner than even some European capitals. That is for the ground. Now, the air is a whole different thing. Sadly, Kathmandu has the most polluted air I have ever breathed. There is traffic, of course, but no more than in other cities. The main source of the smog seems to be the many forest fires and the lack of regulations regarding open fires, which leads to people just burning about anything they want to get rid of… (which then, potentially, leads to more forest fires). Kathmandu is surrounded by mountains which should be clearly visible from higher elevations, but sadly, at best, you can see grey silhouettes in the clouds of smog.

Most tourists stay in the Thamel district, which is a nice area with a lot of shops where you can buy or rent just about any material you might still need for your trek. There are also plenty of restaurants, tour operators, and hotels in just about any price range.

The main sights of Kathmandu, which can be covered in about 2 days, are the following:

• The well-known Buddha Stupa (a few kilometers from Thamel, best to grab a taxi)
• Pashupatinath Temple district (in walking distance from the Buddha Stupa), a rather large temple complex, sadly only Hindus are allowed into the central part (which looks the most interesting from outside).
• Bhaktapur: a large area east of Kathmandu, full of traditional temples and palaces. Although it is an open public area, foreigners still have to pay an entrance fee just for being there. Still worth it, I think this was one of the most beautiful parts of Kathmandu.
• Kathmandu Durbar Square (close to Thamel) and Patan Durbar Square (a few kilometers south of Thamel). Both of these are smaller but still quite similar to Bhaktapur and worth a visit if you have time to spare. Between Patan Durbar Square and Kathmandu Durbar Square, the latter one is probably the one which I found nicer to visit, and it is also much closer to the Thamel area.
• Swoyambhu Mahachaitya, ‘the monkey temple,’ a Buddhist temple sitting on a steep hill west of Thamel. Be prepared to climb some stairs! I visited this temple on April 23 (on my return to KTM after the trek), which was the birthday of Hanuman (the monkey god), and there was a large crowd on the stairs and around the temple for this occasion.

Kathmandu is a rather small city, and many things can be seen just by walking around. As in any city, it’s nice to just walk around and breathe in the city vibe (though don’t breathe too deeply in Kathmandu…). Otherwise, you can easily find cabs or motorcycles whose drivers will gladly offer their services to drive you around the city. As in India, you can easily negotiate the price down by at least 30% from what they initially ask you.

Uber is not commonly used in Nepal. Instead, I recommend the app “InDrive,” through which you can easily hire cabs or motorcycles to move around in Kathmandu. If you input your location and destination, it also provides you with a reliable price recommendation, which you are free to modify.