Morning breakfast at the hotel & at 9am drive to Pashupatinath temple - 30min drive. Visit Pashupatinath Temple: Pashupatinath temple is a Hindu shrine and most visited temple in the country. It is a Lord Shiva (Shiva literally means that god which is not: formless) temple. Shiva is also the greatest guru for all the yogis (who traditionally believe in yoga and meditation and live an ascetic life). So we see a lot of colorful Yogis here. At the Bagmati River bank we also get to see the Hindu death rituals. Everyday and every moment, many dead bodies are being burnt in the open air. Tourists basically see them across the holy river (just small steam). Pashupatinath temple is the earliest human settlement in Kathmandu Valley. Pashupatinath literally means lord (Pati/Nath) of all the living beings (Pashu). Yogis normally explain it as the consciousness which guides us every moment and prevailing in all the beings. Some interesting activities will include taking photographs with yogis, observing death rituals (before burns there are some rituals family members do), walk through deer park and temple park on the other side hill and observe the main two storied Pashupatinath temple from view point across the river. We enter from the Southern side and walk through the temple complex and end the tour at the northern gate where our car will pick up. And from here, we drive to Bouddhanath Stupa, 10min drive.
Here we come to the number one tourist attraction in Kathmandu!! Bouddhanath Stupa is the biggest and tallest Buddhist stupa in South Asia. And the best way to observe the magnificent stupa is a coffee break at one of the rooftop restaurants in the temple complex (it's about noon or 1pm and I suppose it's already a break time as we started at 830am in the morning). The Stupa is surrounded by human settlement with tourist shops and restaurants and rooftop restaurants offer great views of the stupa. After the coffee break, circumambulate the stupa clockwise walking and probably spinning the prayer wheels. We will also visit some of the Tibetan monasteries in the temple complex and observe their everyday rituals or stay in meditation for some minutes in silence. One of the rooftop restaurant at Bouddhanath Stupa could be your lunch stop for today. From Bouddhanath temple drive to Jan Narayan temple, the sleeping Vishnu temple - 30min drive. Dharshan of Sleeping Vishnu!
From Jal Narayan, drive to Swayambhunath - the. Monkey temple - 30min drive. Visit Swayambhunath - the Monkey temple. As we arrive at the bottom of the temple (Bhagwan Pau = feet of the God), It will be a great experience to walk to the top of the temple hill, as it also offers great views of the Kathmandu Valley on a clear day. And normally Kathmandu is. very clear in winter as Kathmandu is located at 1350 meters altitude. Monkey temple is a Buddha temple, some 20min drive away from the hotel and about 10min walk to the top. It is an ancient Buddha period temple in north-western Kathmandu. We will pay a visit to the main Stupa and other temples in the temple complexes. Four of many stupas are dated from the ancient period. Alongside, also enjoy the panoramic view of Kathmandu Valley and Himalayas in the northern side. The tour will be about 1and half hour to explore the temples and visiting monasteries (where children monks live and study). After the Monkey temple tour, drive back to Kathmandu Durbar Square - 15min drive.
Kathmandu Durbar Square is the medieval Palace square and home to dozens of temples including living goddess Kumari Temple, an Old Nepali style Palace and a classical palace. It has been the main center of cultural and financial activities in Nepal since ancient times. At Kathmandu Durbar Square also called Basantapur Durbar Square we will visit Kasthamandap Temple (temple of wood and recently restored after 2015 earthquake), Maru Ganesh, Kumari Temple, Shiva and Vishnu temple (under renovation after earthquake), Classical Palace, Kalbhairav Statue and Akash Vairab Statue, Hanuman Dhaka Palace courtyards (main palace with Newari wooden architectures), Taleju Temple (distant sight since it very sacred temple and open only one day in a year), a small museum portraying earthquake devastations and other temples. Kathmandu Durbar Square also offers great Coffee places. It will be about 2-3 hours of walking around the Palace square.
From Kathmandu Durbar Square, a new tour experience will start - that is a rickshaw tour to the oldest part of town in Kathmandu from the Hotel through the oldest markets of Ason and IndraChowk. The iconic rickshaw tour (the main means of transport for tourists around Kathmandu Durbar Square and Thamel since the 1960s) will take about 30min and will go through the old market. Ason and Indrachowk are the places where Nepalis find everything they need from Noon to Soon (literally salt to gold).
