For a while when I was younger, I thought that Kathmandu was just a made up place. Turns out, it’s the capital city of Nepal, nestled in a beautiful valley among the Himalayas. There’s plenty of things to do within Kathmandu, from Swayambhunath (the monkey temple) to Durbar Square. However there are some interesting and great places to visit as a day trip if you base yourself in the city.
Bodhnath
About 4 kilometers from Kathmandu you can find Asia’s largest stupa in Bodhnath. This quiet little suburb of Kathmandu is a great place to stay if you aren’t so much into all the people and business in Kathmandu.
Come in the afternoon, most tour groups and day-trippers come in the morning, and stay through the evening. If you really want to soak in some of the culture, plan your visit for the night of a full moon when Tibetian pilgrams come for a monthly circumambulation. Join in with the crowds and they walk around the stupa, spinning the prayer wheels.
Patan
Patan used to be its own city-state, like Kathmandu once was. It has its own Durbar Square full of temples and shrines, but the back streets between the city gate and Durbar Square all have their own delights to be stumbled upon.
One thing you shouldn’t miss is the Patan Museum. The building itself was formerly a palace, and with the support of the Austrian government, the museum houses an excellent collection of religious art and historical artifacts giving great context to the culture of the valley.
Do a bit of digging and you’ll find some excellent self-guided walking tours.
Budhanilkantha
Visiting Budhanilkantha temple is a really great day trip to get away from tourist crowds and spend some time people watching. This temple is home to one of the more impressive pieces of Hindu sculpture.
The sculpture depicts a recline Vishnu on top of a Ananta, the 11-headed snake god. It dates back to the 7th or 8th century and was actually brought to the Kathmandu valley by devotees.
Gokarna
Another stop for intriguing temples that are off the tourist path is Gorkarn Mahadev Temple. This temple is an excellent place to see the mixing and mingling of Buddhism and Hinduism that is rather unique to Nepal. This is also a great destination to walk to from Bodhnath.
The temple itself is rather small, but dotted around the perimeter of the main structure are stone carvings of seemingly every Hindu deity, and some Buddhist idols as well. Some of the icons are over a thousand years old. Relax by the Bagmati river, which is much cleaner here than many other places, and soak in the beauty and culture of the valley.