Kathmandu in December

October 30, 2014 2:15 AM

My wife and I are going to Nepal for the first half of December. A Nepalese friend of mine will be there so I can have a little bit of guidance, but I suspect he will be busy. We're experienced travelers, but this one is outside my bailiwick. I know that December is a few months from the peak HimEx, et al. foreigner crush, and not the most touristy time to be there. I'm looking for suggestions on what to do, see, eat, buy, say, or anything else useful AskMe might know.
posted by lkc to Travel & Transportation around Kathmandu, Nepal (4 answers total)

The wonderful thing about Kathmandu the city is that it's in this middle of the Kathmandu Valley, which is incredibly rich with culture and history. There are dozens of villages and towns nearby with something interesting to do or see. It's been over ten years for me so I'm blanking on many of the names, but a guidebook can help there. There's also so much to do in the city itself: Durbar Square, the temple with the monkeys, even just breakfast at a rooftop restaurant with a view of the mountains is amazing.

I spent three weeks in Kathmandu and never ran out of day trips and sites to see. Have fun!
posted by lunasol at 4:35 AM on October 30, 2014

Getting out of Kathmandu a little bit is probably a good idea -- one of my close friends has family there, and when I met them they strongly encouraged me to explore a bit and not let the city be my only impression. I didn't get far away in the end, but Bhaktapur was a treat and can be done as a day trip or as a couple nights to break up your visit.

I don't know if it's feasible for you to get into the mountains at all, but if not you can always take an Everest flight from the Kathmandu airport. It's a little silly, and a little like cheating, but I was glad I did it. Even without Everest (which is, once you see it, just a noticeably large mountain after all) the views of the Himalayas and foothills are lovely.

Also eat the momo. All of the momo, if you can.
posted by postcommunism at 2:38 PM on October 30, 2014

It is really a wonderful city. Swayambunath at sunset is amazing, walk around the old town, Durbar square, it's all beautiful really, you can just wander for hours.

Don't miss Boudha (huge Tibetan stupa) and there are some good restaurants around it. There's a vegan place with yellow umbrellas on the roof that is great.

The ghats are pretty incredible if quite intense.

I think you do need a bit of a retreat sometimes in Kathmandu.
The Garden of Dreams is a lovely place to escape the lunacy and I also recommend it for a romantic dinner date one night.

Dwarika's for dinner one night is also really worth the splurge in my view, go early for plenty of time to have drinks around the pool first. It's one of the few places that do really high end Nepali food too.

Thamel is a crazy tourist trap of course but no two ways around it, there are some good restaurants there. I have always eaten well and never got ill at the yin and yang (and bakery next door) and New Orleans ( despite the name this is a lovely old courtyard).
I have tried a few "eat with the locals" places with varying results. Once we had truly wonderful curry, but I've also got very ill so be cautious. Steamed momos on the street are generally ok if you feel like living dangerously. Keeping it veggie is a really good plan and very easy to do.

Trips out, Pathan and bhaktapur are both really worthwhile. Nagarkot is supposed to have lovely Himalayan views and you can do a big mountain bike ride back from there which is supposed to be great.


Don't underestimate the pollution which is really dire. I keep a buff or similar on hand at all times for walking near roads. Look after your throat.
People are mostly very nice, it's a friendly place I found. Keep a stash of small notes for beggars (people with no legs etc not kids obviously)
It will be a great time to go I think! :)
posted by tardigrade at 2:38 PM on October 30, 2014 [1 favorite]

I think I once had momos every day for six weeks and didn't once tire of them.

mmmm momos

Yak wool blankets and handmade paper are lovely, light and inexpensive souvenirs. I have a lovely temple lamp that I got in Patan, where there's a better choice & quality of metalwork, but it was really heavy. I donated a load of gear to the porter charity to make room for it - this is generally a nice way to make room for stuff if you need to.
posted by tardigrade at 3:06 PM on October 30, 2014 [1 favorite]