Kathmandu is the biggest city in the country and, before I say anything else…yes , there is absolutely no problems visiting the city after the terrible earthquake from last April. As a matter of fact, Nepal depends on tourism more than ever.
If you go to Kathmandu in a low-budget, very likely you will stay in Thamel area where you will have enough hostels, bars, restaurants and shops to spend some rupees.
Thamel is very close to the Kathmandu Durbar Square.
It is worth to give a walk through the surround streets to get away from such tourist place and get into a more authentic Nepalese atmosphere
Being in Thamel, if you face the west and keep walking for around 30 minutes you will find another must see: Swayambhu (aka monkey temple)
We will have to take a taxi or any other kind of public transport in order to reach Pashupatina. Here, besides monkeys and crematories you will find several Sadhus . Some of them might be just normal people pretending to be Sadhus so they can easily ask for tips to tourists. Some parts of this temple (like the big yellow building) are not allowed for tourists.
Close to the airport is located the last main spot I was going to be able to visit: Boudha Stupa which besides being one of the most sacred places for Tibetan Buddhism is one of the largests Stupas in the world. Unfortunately, it suffered some damage during the earthquake (it seems like the dome is going to be rebuilt) . All these spots (Swayambhu, Pashupatina & Boudha Stupa) have secret paths from where the locals get in without paying the entrance, though I think it is fair to pay them as a tourist.
No visit to Nepal is complete without being able to see the Everest. Unfortunately it takes a long time to reach even the first base camp (around 18 days) so I had to console with watching it for a small plane. I would not say that doing one of these tours to see the Everest worth it because , as you can see with the pics, the mountains are pretty far but… I had to see the Everest with my own eyes 😉
