"Kathmandu The Ancient City - Dream Destination." Top 5 Page for this destination Kathmandu by goutammitra

Yes finally I could come to Kathmandu. I had life time's experience today. I took that early morning Mountain flight and saw Mt.Everest besides other mountains for one full hour. I shall never be able to go there in my life and that's why God granted this wish of mine. It was a real real wonderful experience! It was so close. Just wait till I download those pictures and videos I took. I shall load them in VT as soon as possible may be tomorrow itself. Just wait for those wonderful pictures and videos!

We visited Kathmandu & Nepal from 8th September to 16th September07. It was one of our most memorable trip. I had been to Kathmandu about 50times from 1974 to 1990 for work and tourism as I was educated and posted in Patna. But this visit is really memorable as I went with my family. We also had the opportunity to meet out VT friend Urvashi and her husband Mr.Divya Rana, who incidentally also a decendant of Nepal's famous Rana family, who once ruled Nepal.( More on Urvashi & Divya in next chapter).

The Kathmandu Valley may have been inhabited as early as 100 BC, but the oldest known objects in the valley date to a few hundred years BC. The earliest known inscription is dated 185 AD. The oldest firmly dated building in the earthquake-prone valley is almost 1,992 years old. It is said that the Buddha and his disciples spent some time in the area of present-day butan in the 6th century BC, although there is no evidence for this. Four stupas around the city of Patan said to have been erected by Charumati, daughter of Ashoka the Great, a Mauryan king, in the 3rd century BC attest to the ancient history present within the valley. As with the tales of the Buddha's visit, there is no evidence supporting Ashoka's visit, but the stupas probably do date to that century. The Kirats are the first documented rulers of the Kathmandu Valley, the remains of their palace are said to be in Patan near Hiranyavarna Mahavihara (called "Patukodon"). The Licchavi Dynasty whose earliest inscriptions date back to 464 AD were the next rulers of the valley and had close ties with the Gupta Dynasty of India. The Malla Dynasty consisted of Newar rulers, who ruled Kathmandu Valley and the surrounding area from the 12th century till the 17th century when the Shah Dynasty under Prithvi Narayan Shah conquered the valley as he created present-day Nepal. Most of ancient Nepalese architecture present in Nepal today is from the Malla/Newar era.The city of Kathmandu is named after a structure in Durbar Square called Kaasthamandap. In Sanskrit, Kaasth (काष्ठ) = "wood" and Mandap (मंडप/मण्डप) = "covered shelter." This unique temple, also known as Maru Satal, was built in 1596 A.D. by King Laxmi Narsingh Malla. The entire structure contains no iron nails or supports and is made entirely from wood. Legend has it that the timber used for this two story pagoda was obtained from a single tree.
Kathmandu is also sometimes called "Kantipur". Newars, the native people of the Kathmandu valley use the original term from Nepal Bhasa, Yne.

The Everest Experience

I just had this wonderful experience! For the last ten years I wanted to take this flight but the time we landed Kathmandu it was always cloudy. After my arrival at Kathmandu, I found the representative from Buddha Air was waiting for me at hotel Excelsior lobby with the ticket and credit card punching machine. I called their manager reservation Mr. Karna( 009779841291008) from Kolkata on 17th and then on 18th, May and expressed my desire to take the flight if the weather is clear. I also sent him mail and he was kind enough to sent his instant reply.

Next morning I got us at 5.00 and was at the domestic airport at 6.00AM. After a while we were given our boarding passes and we were there at the Beachcraft aircraft, which accomodates only 16 persons. Just after leaving Kathmandu airport, with in five minutes the ranges started. It was just breath taking view. The sky was clear with sunshine and the pilot took us to the Everest after showing many peaks. The air hostess Ganga, also gave us detailed descriptions of each peak we were crossing. She attended each person separately and also invited us to in the cockpit. The pilot and the co-pilot allowed us to take pictures from the cockpit. I took as many pictures and videos with my both hand. I think, I have taken almost 100 pictures and about 9 video clips in all. I shall load almost all the video clips ( they are better than the pictures as I did not have a professional camera with long zoom) in VT. I think, I shll be the first VT member to upload videos of the mountain flight. I give here the link of the videos.

http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/vb/13d326/6f618/

• Pros:Great country, great simple people, good climate, great culture!
• Cons:Political unrest and unpredictable govt. puts everything in bad shape
• In a nutshell:A great place to visit and remember