What to do in Kathmandu || Nepal Travel Vlog

Nestled in the foothills of Mount Everest, Kathmandu serves as a perfect launching point for treks throughout Nepal. It's a city full of backpackers shops and touristy cafes, but also bustling with the life and culture of the local Nepalese. It's a beautiful culture, and the city is full of adventure. I was last here in 2015 to do earthquake relief, so when I had an opportunity to come back, even just for a few days I took it. I wanted to see how the city had been rebuilt, and see the city through a touristic lens. There's so much to do in Kathmandu, and here's how it went. Good morning guys and welcome to Kathmandu, Nepal. I just got in on one of the most beautiful flights in the entire world. I just flew from Pado Bhutan to Kathmandu, and it's about an hour flight, but you just have beautiful views up above the clouds, looking to the north to just the massive Himalayas. Just tons and tons of mountains as far as you can see, and it was such a beautiful ride. I'm going to be in Kathmandu for just two days, and it's a quick layover before I head off to Pakistan. I'm not actually spending that much time in Nepal, but just going to see Kathmandu and show you guys a little bit of the city here, which is usually a base for a lot of people going off trekking up into the Himalayas, to Everest Base Camp, to Annapurna, but I'm just here to see the city. I really wanted to come back because the last time I was here was eight years ago, in April of 2015, when the massive earthquakes were. So last time I was here in Kathmandu, I saw a lot of the destruction of a lot of the buildings. Jabbar Square was just full of rubble. It was very scary, there was lots of aftershocks, so I'm kind of excited to come here and not have to worry about aftershocks and see a little bit of how the city has rebuilt itself over the last eight years. So I'm going to start off this morning, I'm staying in Thamel, which is a big place for a lot of hotels, a lot of cafes, coffee shops, restaurants, it's a nice, kind of central place to stay with a bunch of winding alleys, and there's tourist shops, and there's mountaineering shops everywhere. And so I'm going to kind of wander through these narrow streets of Thamel and head to Durbar Square, which is kind of like the downtown, central area of Kathmandu. It's like the historic center, there's a lot of temples and stuff. So yeah, let's wander through Thamel here, through these streets, and we'll show you guys Durbar Square to start off our tour of Kathmandu. So we've just been walking through Thamel here a little bit, and Thamel's just this amazing mix of, there's like backpacker shops, but then there's just so many local streets and so much life and activity, and like little market stands selling vegetables. We are just about to enter the Durbar Square here, which is just almost like central part of the old part of Kathmandu, and there's lots of beautiful old architecture and temples, so let's head in and check it out. So we've just entered the Durbar Square here, and right as you enter, there's this massive kind of courtyard here, we have a couple beautiful pagoda temples here, we have a big white house over here, and then all through here we have these markets where you can buy some old souvenirs and some old looking antiques, old rings, old statues, and yeah, just kind of a big open plaza here to walk around. And in this courtyard here, all along the edge you have these rooftop cafes and restaurants, and that can give you a nice view overlooking Durbar Square and some of the monuments here. So we're gonna head up to Himalayan Cafe, which will have some nice rooftop views overlooking the square. So we've just come up to the top of the Himalaya Rooftop Cafe, and we just have these beautiful views. It's kind of hazy, so you can't really see the Himalayas off in the distance, but if it was a clear day, you'd be able to see some of the mountains way off there. You can look down on the Durbar Square where we just were with the antique market. Over here you can see the monkey temple, which we'll be checking out later. And so it just gives you a nice overview of Kathmandu City. So we're gonna hang out up here, get a coffee, get some breakfast, and then we'll show you guys a little bit more of Durbar Square on the ground down there. So we're back down in Durbar Square, which has been a main meeting point and center of town of Kathmandu for hundreds of years, and right behind me we have the Royal Palace. And so there's often like coronation ceremonies that are happening here, and then all throughout the Durbar Square you have a bunch of old like Hindu temples that are dating back to like the 14, 1500s. So we're gonna kind of walk around Durbar Square and show you guys some of the old temples. Right across the street from the Royal Palace here is the Kimari House, which is at a very young age, at about three years old, a young girl is chosen to be the Kimari, which is basically like a Buddhist goddess. And she remains in this house, and the house has like some beautiful windows and architecture to it. And you can go into a little courtyard and you can see some of the windows, and people come here waiting for a glimpse of the Kimari to look out the window down on the people. Really cool architecture and a cool little thing to check out and see if you can catch a glimpse of the Kimari through the window. As we walked around the Royal Palace here, you enter this other square, and there's just all of these powering pagoda-like Hindu shrines. So there's all these like little temples, and there's just really beautiful woodwork on the ceilings of these pagodas. And there's so many pigeons flying around, there's a bunch of people hanging out, and on the edge of all of these temples, you have just these red curtains that are just kind of like flapping in the breeze. And you can hear people ringing bells, there's a couple shrines where people are doing worship, and it's just kind of like a religious center for Buddhists and Hindus here in the center of Durbar Square. That was the main Kathmandu Durbar Square. Lots of temples, the big Royal Palace, great views from some of the cafes and the rooftops surrounding Durbar Square. So beautiful place and definitely one of the top things to see and do here in the center of Kathmandu. Anyways, we are going to jump in a taxi now and head to Pashupatna, which is a very famous Hindu heritage site here along the rivers of Kathmandu. So let's head there. We've just taken about a 20-minute taxi ride out to the Pashupatna Temple, which is right along the Bhagmati River here in Kathmandu. And it's one of the most famous sites for the Hindu belief. It's one of the places where Lord Shiva got one of his incarnations of Pashupatna, which is the spirit of the animals. And so it's right along this holy river here, the Bhagmati, and Hindus come from all over. And it's a cremation burial ground. So we'll see a bunch of bodies burning along the river here. There'll be a bunch of temples. And it's just like a big pilgrimage site for a lot of Hindus right along the river here. So I'm starting to see some of the smoke and some of the temples over here. So let's head to the river and check it out. We've just come straight to the river and right past the cremation grounds where they're just lighting bodies on fire for passing into the next life. And then we've just come up along the river a little bit, and there's just a huge hill with a ton of like stupas. Along the river here, there's a couple bridges and then some temples. There's some more burnings going on over here. So yeah, we're just going to kind of walk around the Pashupatna complex here, checking out some of the temples and some of the rituals that are going on today along the river here. Just as we got to the temple here, we're looking across the Bagmati River and we're seeing a couple bodies being prepared for cremation. One's down here and they're taking the holy water of the Bagmati and dousing the body in it. And then another family is putting some flowers over another body here that will soon be cremated along the rivers here. We're going to explore a little bit more of the temple complex here. There's some sadhus sitting over there that have their face all painted, who are like some of the holy men here. And then we're going to head up the hill a little bit to some of these stupas. And it looks like you can get a little bit higher, which will give us some nice views of the temple and overlooking Kathmandu. So let's head up the stairs and explore the temple a little bit more. We've just climbed up to the top of this hill and you have a beautiful view looking back across at the Patnupashanet temple. And then you can see just a couple of the foothills of the Himalayas off in the distance. You can look down on all these stupas. You can see the smoke from the cremations off there. And yeah, just a beautiful view. I think there's a way to actually go up a little bit further along this path here and there might be another temple at the top of the hill. Om Shanti, Om Shanti, Om Shanti, Om Shanti, Om Shanti, Om Shanti, Om Shanti, Om Shanti. We've just come up the hill from that temple a little bit further and we're on top of this little plateau here. And there's just tons of these like old brick shrines here that people can do different ceremonies on. And then at the top, there's this pretty big white domed temple to Lord Shiva here. So yeah, pretty cool. You're up on a little hill. There's a nice little breeze coming across and yeah, just a little bit of a quieter place to kind of explore the history of this Hindu religious site here. We've just come down the other side of the hill from those temples that were up higher a little bit. So that's about it for the Pashupatna temple, but you can't enter too much of the temple area because it's for Hindus only. So we couldn't go actually inside the temple, but all along the outside there and all along the river, it was really interesting to just see those cremations and some of the ceremonies that went along with those cremations. And then just, yeah, beautiful views up on that hill overlooking some of Kathmandu. So from the Pashupatna temple, you're only about a mile from the Buddha Nat temple, which is one of the biggest stupas in the world. And it's a really famous site, but I think I'm actually going to head back to Tamil for the afternoon. And then because tonight I want to go up to the monkey temple, which is on the other side of town for sunset. So I don't think I'd have time to do both of those today. Okay, so we're going to jump in the taxi, head back to Tamil, and then later this afternoon head up to the monkey temple for sunset, which is on this nice hill, and we'll have nice views of the mountains of Kathmandu. So yeah, let's jump in the taxi and head back to Tamil. So we've just come back to Tamil and was just hanging out at the hostel for a little bit, catching up on some stuff, but I'm going to head out this afternoon and just go for a little walk through Tamil and show you guys a little bit of the streets here. And again, there's just lots of cafes, restaurants, it's a very touristy place to walk around. And then I have about a mile and a half walk to the monkey temple, all the way on the other side of town. So yeah, just going to enjoy the walk in the afternoon, wandering through Kathmandu. I'm just heading out of the kind of like downtown touristy hub of Tamil now, but it's just such a cool vibe. There's so many amazing coffee shops, a lot of bars, restaurants, just a really cool place to kind of hang out. And it's just like, again, a great base camp for a lot of people before they go off on their expeditions all over Nepal. So heading west of Kathmandu now, over a little river, through some more local neighborhoods, up to the monkey temple. So I've just come across a river here, which has had some beautiful views looking off on the mountains. And then you come up this hill, and there's just this very local Hindu temple. And it's just kind of cool to see such a quieter temple that's a little less touristy, off the beaten path a little bit. And just seeing like all of the little stupas in here, a lot of the fire, some of the doors, the gods all around the edge, the bells. And yeah, very interesting to see this local temple up here. So I've just made it to the base of the monkey temple, which is also known as Swayen Bayu. And it's called the monkey temple more commonly because there's just tons of monkeys. And even as I'm entering here, I'm seeing them all over the place, and I'm a little scared because I saw one jump on someone already. And that happened to be an Indian. It scared me, and the monkey stole my glasses. So I'm very cautious of these monkeys. But anyways, we're at the bottom of the hill here, and we have about 365 stairs, one step for every day of the year to head all the way up to the temple. And we should be getting just gorgeous views of Katmandu, the valley, and some of the mountains off in the distance. So let's start to climb up. After 365 stairs and paying about $1.50, I've made it to the top of Swayambhu temple here. And it's just this massive Buddha stupa on this big yellow dome with a gold tower on top of it. And you can see the Buddha eyes. And then you're up on top of this hill, so you have like 365 degree views of the Katmandu valley. You can look down on the city over there, and then you can see some of like the foothills of the Himalayas that are just surrounding us. And then up here, there's like a bunch of cafes and shops and other little stupas and you know, tourist shops. And there's just actually like tons of people here, and they're all just circumambulating the stupa here, going around clockwise, spinning the prayer wheels. And yeah, so probably gonna hang out here for, it's still about like an hour and a half until sunset, so should just be getting some nice golden light through the valley here and enjoying the views. That's about it for Swayambhanu Temple. Again, just a beautiful big stupa, then there's a lot of other like little temples, shrines, shops, everything. And then again, just the beautiful views of all of the mountains all around us here. And so yeah, that's about it for my first day here in Katmandu. It's a massive city, so it takes a while to get to all these different places, but have loved just like hanging out in the Tamil area and then jump into a couple of these other religious sites around here. Tomorrow, there's like the biggest stupa in Nepal that I want to check out. So I'll be getting up pretty early to head over there to show you guys that, but I'm just going to enjoy the sunset from the top of this hill tonight, enjoy the views, and then I'll head back. So that's it for now. And yeah, I'll see you guys tomorrow morning. Good morning, guys. It's my second day here in Katmandu, and I'm going to start off the morning by heading over to the Buddha Nath, which is the big Buddha stupa. It's back in the eastern part of the city here, so I'm just going to try to find a taxi or a scooter that can take me over there and show you guys a little bit more of Katmandu. That was fun cruising through town on the back of the scooter there, and he dropped me off at this gate. And then you walk in and you just see the eyes of Buddha on this massive stupa and all these Tibetan prayer flags as we walk in, so let's head in and check this out. Alright, guys, so I've just made it to the Buddha Nath now, and a lot of people are here and you're just walking clockwise around this thing. And it's one of the largest stupas in the entire world. And the actual dome of the stupa is about 100 feet in diameter, but then to walk all the way around here is actually quite a long walk. I mean, it would probably take, like, five minutes to walk around the whole base of this thing. And then there's a bunch of, like, prayer wheels here as you're walking along, and then all along the outside here, it's almost like a little village. There's all these little shops, coffee shops, restaurants, cafes, these, like, rooftop seating so you can get nice views looking over the stupa. And then on the north side of the temple here, there's a temple, and I hear some, like, chanting and music up there. So let's head in there and check out what's going on. Alright, so on the second floor of this little temple, just to the north of the stupa, there were, like, a bunch of Buddhist monks chanting, and they were looking straight out, and you had this, like, nice view of the stupa. Behind the monks, there was, like, this shrine with, like, a big Buddhist statue and a bunch of just, like, beautiful artwork that you couldn't take any photos or videos in, but it's just an interesting place to walk around. And then you can keep coming up the steps here, and you can make it to the roof of the temple, and you have even just a better view looking down on the stupa here, and you just get such an idea of the scale and size of it from up here, and you can look down and see everyone circumambulating around the stupa, and you can look down on all the little coffee shops and the tourist shops, and, yeah, just a very beautiful view from up on top of this temple, getting up above the stupa below. That was cool going in the temple and, yeah, just seeing some of those monks chanting and doing their rituals there, and, yeah, just such beautiful artwork in the temple there, and then getting up on the roof and getting a nice view looking down on this massive stupa. So, yeah, I'm back down outside the stupa, and I'm gonna continue my journey all the way around here, checking out some of the shops and the views, but, yeah, it's just so big. And then, so you have, on every side on the gold tower here, you have Buddha's eyes looking in all four directions so that he can have his eye on all corners of the world. And, yeah, so there's, and then you have all these beautiful prayer flags reaching up to the gold tower, and just massive temple and architecture here, and it's just such an iconic thing to see here in Kathmandu. So that was about it for the Buddha Nat temple and whole stupa complex, and it was just such a beautiful landmark, and it's such an iconic temple here in Nepal and in the Himalayas, and, yeah, just so many people out, and, again, it has, like, it feels like a village all around there. There's so many cool coffee shops and cafes, I ended up just coffee shop hopping for a couple hours there, just reading in these little cafes with nice windows overlooking the stupa. So, but, anyways, that's about it for my time here in Kathmandu, I have to go back and pack up for my flight to Pakistan this afternoon, so, yeah, just a really quick layover, just like two and a half days here in Kathmandu, but glad I was able to stop in Kathmandu at least for a couple days here to see it in a little bit more of a tourism context, because last time we were doing earthquake relief, so, yeah, and it definitely makes me want to come back to Nepal, like, talking to all these travelers and seeing all of, everybody getting ready for their treks, it's a good base for a lot of people heading out to all regions of Nepal to do their, like, multi-day, multi-week treks, so, definitely makes me want to come back here, and Kathmandu's just such a comfortable city to hang out in for a little bit, there's so many cool coffee shops and cafes and restaurants, and so, yeah, very cool place, and then one of my favorite parts is just kind of wandering some of the back streets of Tamil, and just finding these hidden little, like, temples and little complexes just in the middle of the city, so, yeah, that's about it for Kathmandu here in Nepal, though, again, just a short trip, heading back to Tamil now to pack up and head off to the airport for my flight to Pakistan, so, I'll see you guys in Pakistan.