Ancient and labyrinthine palace with carvings, paintings, shrines and pagodas left by a dynasty of Nepalese kings. Guarantied not to disappoint. One of the oldest wooden buildings in the world. The lovely pagoda was a rest spot on the Tibet road and gave its name to Kathmandu. Statues, temples and all manner of artefacts are jumbled along these stone-paved embankments.
Bathers share the holy waters with buffalo.
The gigantic hilltop temple is overrun with pilgrims and monkeys and is the most profound expression of Buddhist symbolism in Nepal. More on points of interest in the Rough Guide to Kathmandu Overview With nearly half a million people, Nepal's capital is far and away its biggest and most cosmopolitan city. For at least a thousand years it controlled the most important caravan route between Tibet and India - little wonder, perhaps, that Nepal's capital has so deftly embraced the tourist business. The Kathmandu most travellers experience upon arrival is Thamel, a thumping theme park of hotels and hoardings with cakes beckoning from restaurant windows and touts flogging hashish to hippies on holiday. Further towards the centre are the many temples and monuments of Durbar square and the former royal palace with the old city's tangle of narrow alleys immediately to the north and south.