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INTRODUCTION
Where to go Nepal’s capital, Kathmandu, is electrifyingly exotic, with its medieval warren of alleys, Hindu temples and Buddhist stupas, and its uniquely relaxed nightlife. The city is increasingly hectic, however, so many visitors make day-trips into the semi-rural Kathmandu Valley, and the astoundingly well-preserved medieval cities of Patan and Bhaktapur, or overnight at one of the mountain viewpoints on the valley rim, such as Nagarkot, in the Central Hills. A few explore the valley’s wealth of temples, towns and forested hilltops in more depth, or make road trips to the Tibet border or down the tortuous Tribhuwan Rajpath towards India. Most people will take the tourist bus six hours west of Kathmandu to Pokhara, an engagingly easy-going resort town in the Western Hills, set beside a lake and under a towering wall of white peaks. While many visitors are happy just to gaze at Pokhara’s views, or hangout in its bars, it also makes a great base for day hikes and mountain-bike rides, yoga and meditation courses, and even paragliding and microlight flights. Other towns On April 25, 2015, as this book went to press, Nepal was devastated by a massive 7.8-magnitude earthquake – the country’s worst in over eighty years – and several powerful aftershocks, killing thousands and creating a humanitarian disaster. The epicentre was in Gorkha district, in the Western Hills, but the densely populated Kathmandu Valley was badly hit too. There were also avalanches on Everest, killing climbers and Sherpas and leaving many others stranded; it was the deadliest ever incident on the mountain. Along with the horrifying loss of life, the earthquake destroyed significant parts of the country’s cultural heritage, including much of the historic durbar squares in Kathmandu, ipi8hfBu+Fu1Tqp6g5eaALs= Patan and Bhaktapur. It was Nepal’s third tragedy in just over twelve months: on April 18, 2014, sixteen Sherpas were killed in an avalanche on Everest’s Khumbu Icefall; some six months later at least 41 people died when freak blizzards and avalanches swept across the Annapurna region (see box, p.306). The impact of these disasters will be felt in Nepal, one of Asia’s poorest countries, for many years to come: tourism, one of the biggest sectors of the economy, has a vital role in helping the country recover.
ABOVE PUPPETS, BHAKTAPUR OPPOSITE DAAL BHAAT
