Nepal Things to Do Tips by MrBill

shivayura national park Kathmandu Review

Shivayuri National Park is an easy one to get to as it is right on the outskirts of Kathmandu. That means you can reach it by taxi and then walk from there. What is there to see? Well, you can climb through the park in the hills surrounding Kathmandu until you reach the Buddhist temple at the top where many female monks live. This will take you about two hours, and is an easy first day if you are a little jet lagged from your long journey. On top you will have commanding views of Kathmandu itself. On the way down you can stop by Vishnu’s water temple where he is sleeping on a bed of snakes. As an introduction to both Hindu and Buddhist temples this is not a bad start. Enjoy.

Address: Shivayuri National Park

Directions: outskirts of Kathmandu

the first flight into Lukla

In 1964 Captain Emil Wick from Switzerland made the first flight from Kathmandu to Lukla landing his Canadian built Twin Otter overwing airplane on what would have been at that time, literally, the side of a mountain making him one of Nepal’s first ever aviation pioneers.

This opened up the Khumba region of Nepal to groups wanting to climb its peaks in the wake of Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tansing’s first successful ascent of Mount Everest in 1953. Up until that time everything had to be carried in by porters or by yaks. Expeditions took months.

Photos of the early pioneers of Nepal’s peaks can be found in a collection kept at the Sherpa Museum above Namche Bazar on the trail to Mt. Everest. The flight into Lukla that makes this possible was due to courageous fliers like Cpt. Wick and men like him. Enjoy.

Address: above namche bazar

Directions: on the trail towards Khumjung and Khunde

garden of dreams Kathmandu Review

The Garden of Dreams and the nearby Kaiser Library are an oasis of quiet in the middle of Kathmandu not far from the city center and the Royal Palace. Both can be reached by foot.

Admission to the garden is 160 rupees while the library is free. However, the library, which contains a real, stuffed tiger, is only open Sundays through Fridays and is closed on Saturdays. The opening hours are 10.00 to 15.00, while the gardens are opened longer.

The Barkha and Basanta Pavilons in the gardens were long left abandoned and partially destroyed before being rescued and renovated more recently. The style of architecture is turn of the last century colonial. The gardens themselves are immaculately kept. It is a nice place to hang out on a warm sunny day and take a few hours away from the daily hum of the traffic outside its walls. Enjoy!

Address: downtown Kathmandu

Directions: near the Royal Palace

Sherpa Museum near Namche Bazar Mount Everest Review

The Sherpa Museum consists of roughly four separate parts. A typical sherpa lodge. A Buddhist prayer room. A picture gallery depicting daily sherpa life in the village past and present. And an Everest mountain museum dedicated to the pioneers of air travel in Nepal as well as the climbers and sherpas that have immortalized Nepal as the home of Mt. Everest. It is definately worth a look if you are in the neighborhood already in any case. Entrance as far as I know was free or a very minimum cost paid for by our guide and it takes in all about one hour or so to see everything. It can easily be combined with a hike from Namche Bazar to Khunde and Khumjung in one day as you aclimatize to the altitude on your way from Lukla to Mt. Everest Base Camp.

Address: Namche Bazar

Directions: take the main trail above Namche Bazar on the way to Khunde and Khumjung