Beyond Bodnath

September 19, 2009 11:48 AM

I have 5 days coming up in Nepal. Looking for photoshoot opportunities on the beaten path and off in Kathmandu and beyond, Pokhara perhaps?
posted by Xurando to Travel & Transportation around Nepal (2 answers total)

If you only have 5 days, I would pick either Kathmandu or Pokhara to focus on. Which you pick depends on whether you're more interested in outdoors stuff (ie, trekking) or cultural stuff: Kathmandu is better for the cultural stuff, Pokhara is better for the outdoors stuff.

Using Kathmandu as your base, you have the whole Valley to explore. And while a lot of it is pretty well-touristed, it's not very hard to get off the beaten path. In towns like Patan and Bakhtapur, most tourists stick around the main square, so just striking out from there will yield some great off-the-path experiences. FWIW, I enjoyed Bhaktapur more than Patan - it was a bit less touristy for whatever reason.

I love the valley because it is such a rich cultural crossroads - seriously, almost any village you go to will have some really interesting culural thing that's unique to it. The temple at Dakshinkali has an animal sacrifice ceremony once a week, I think - stomach turning but definitely culturally unique, and an interesting counterpoint to the Buddhism of Bodnath.

If you do stay in Kathmandu, I recommend staying on Freak St instead of Thamel. It used to be where all the hippie trail guesthouses where, but that scene's pretty much died out and now it's reverting back to its origin as a middle class Newari neighborhood. Neat architecture, and more families than backpackers. I used to sit on the stoop at night with the guy who ran my guesthouse (Monumental Paradise, nice place) and got to meet the whole neighborhood this way.

Also, if you get a chance, read Shopping for Buddhas by Jeff Greenwald. It's a good 20 years old, but a great introduction to the history and diversity of the Valley.
posted by lunasol at 12:41 PM on September 19, 2009

I strongly recommend Bhaktapur. It's close to Kathmandu and its medieval appearance is very photogenic.
posted by justkevin at 7:05 PM on September 19, 2009