Day Hikes Around Kathmandu

Drive to Dhulikhel from Kathmandu for about 1.5 hours covering the distance of 35 Km. Dhulikhel is situated 19 miles (35km) to the east of Kathmandu at the foothills of the Panchkhal valley and is an old Newari town. It is accessed via the Arniko Highway that connects Kathmandu with the Tibetan border town of Kodari and takes about 1.5 hours to drive from Kathmandu. The numerous temples in Dhulikhel depict excellent examples of traditional and old Newari craftsmanship. Bhagawati Temple, which is situated at the top of the western part of the town, is a superb place to view Dhulikhel from a high vantage point with some of the best mountain views. It is 30 km east of Kathmandu .The hotels and resorts built along the ridge line gives a great view of the lower valley that rises up to the Himalayan range that seem to extends endlessly to the east as well as western direction. From Dhulikhel we walk up gradually for about 4 hours on the summit of Namo Buddha. It is situated on a hill above Panauti – a medieval town. It is best to hike up the ridge. It is one of the important religious sites for Buddhist. It is believed that Buddha came here in one of his incarnation and fed his flesh to a hungry tigress so she can feed her cubs. There is an ancient stone slab and a stupa with all-seeing eyes of the Buddha that commemorate that occasion. There are several stupas and colorful flags fluttering in the cool breeze. A big statue of Buddha and several uniformly lined up stupa in the back drop of the enchanting Himalaya provides an ideal scene for nature lovers and photographers. Drive back to Dhulikhel

Drive to Changunarayan covering the distance of 22 km for about 1 hour. Changu Narayan is a pagoda-style Hindu temple .In the Temple premises it houses the half a dozen Vishnu statue the 5th century image with 10 arms is the masterpiece. There is also an image of Garuda, the mythical bird that serves as Vishnu’s heavenly vehicle. Besides, there is one of the oldest and most important inscriptions of the valley dedicated to Lord Vishnu in his incarnation as Narayan and is one of the oldest temples in Nepal. Changu Narayan is adorned with the some of the best specimen of stone, wood, and metal craft in the valley. The Temple stands as the epitome of culture, religion, history and faith of the Kathmandu valley. After exploring the historical site, we gradually hike for about 3 hours to Telkot. Walking through the Telkot forest you could see the lovely views of Bhaktapur. Then drive back to Kathmandu in the private vehicle

A popular day hiking around Kathmandu valley, can include Bhaktapur on the way back to Kathmandu. An ideal walk and a scenic cultural hike with grand view of Himalayan range overlooking the Kathmandu valley and the city, with breathtaking close scenery of Langtang and Ganesh Himal range of mountains with sunrise and sunset, near two hours of drive from Kathmandu leads to the suburb of Kathmandu and Bhaktapur area, from Bhaktapur past the farm fields and villages and then a drive leads uphill to the famed Nagarkot mountain resorts. Nagarkot, at a height of 2,175 meters above sea-level, this hill top is visited for viewing beautiful sunrises and sunsets and visitors take delight in the layout of the Kathmandu Valley below, on a clear day Mt. Manaslu, Ganesh Himal. Gauri Shankar and Everest can be seen from this very spot. From Nagarkot, a slow easy hike downhill to the ancient Changu Narayan temple area, the walk follows through the farm villages and terraces fields overlooking grand view of the Kathmandu Valley, the walk takes about two hours to reach the destination at Changu Narayan situated on the top of the mid hills of Bhaktapur area. At Changu Narayan visit the temple premises, one of the oldest temples that date back to Licchivai’s era nearly 3,000 yrs old. It was built in 323 AD by King Hari Dutta Varma. This temple is decorated with beautiful sculptures and woodcarvings. It is believed to be the oldest temple in the Kathmandu valley built during the times of Licchavi dynasty. The vantage point of the temple provides scenic landscape of the surrounding valley all around. After all the good day tour return to the Kathmandu for overnight.

The literal meaning of Phulchowki is the flower covered hill. A perfect place to see vegetation (Botanical Garden) and also famous for bird watching: A great day hike to escape the city life for few hours an hour drive leads to the south east of Kathmandu Valley and Lalitpur and only away from the capital, from Godavari hike for few hours to the top ridge of Phulchowki the highest elevation around Kathmandu valley rim at 2,782 meters the small hill region is recommended for its quiet surroundings and skyline views of the surrounding landscapes and snowcapped mountain views in the distance to the far north west, it’s beauty is augmented by presence of a botanical garden, here you can observe rich display of hundreds of different species of flower, plants, trees and herbs, observe the wide angle panorama views from near Mt.Everest, Cho –Oyu, Gaurishankar Himal, Langtang Himal, Ganesh Himal, Mt. Manaslu all the way to Annapurna range towards far west, the place is rich in vegetation in spring and summer exotic flowers various flowers from rhododendrons, magnolia, orchids and wild flowers can be observed, from hike downhill towards visiting botanical garden with varieties of flowers, plants and herbs after marvelous day drive back to Kathmandu. On the way visit Godavari Spring found 200 metres from the Botanical Gardens main gate which is believed to have been created when the Buddhist Mystic Guru Padmashambhava struck the rock ( in order to demonstrate that the ultimate truth is clear and will fulfill people’s thirst ) : un surprisingly , the spring is the a popular Hindu and Buddhist pilgrimage site.

Champadevi, situated at an altitude of 2285 m south – west of Kathmandu, is a pilgrimage site having a Buddhist stupa and a Hindu shrine commands many pilgrims visit this place on full moon day. After breakfast at Hotel, we drive 16 kms south of Kathmandu for about an hour to a place called Pharping (on the way to Dakshinkali Temple) with packed lunch box. From Pharping we start our hiking gradually up for about half an hour along trail toward the north ridge and through pine forested area. From here we continue hiking gradually up following the trail for about another 3 hours to CHAMPADEVI. The view of central and western Himalayan Range is magnificent. After lunch and strolling around from sometime, continue hike down to Hattiban for about 2 hours and Drive back to Kathmandu.

Nagarjuna hill another view point’s close to the Kathmandu city located West of Kathmandu, the place is famous for rock climbing and bird watch tour and hikes, it is also popular spot for the local Kathmandu people to escape the city life for few hours, morning a short drive of 40 minutes leads to the west of Kathmandu through the Balaju water garden and then to the thick forested area of Nagarjuna from the gate which is guarded by the Nepal Army at the entrance after obtaining the park ticket hike uphill for near two hours in the midst of beautiful forest overlooking panoramic scenery of Kathmandu valley and distant peaks from Manaslu, Ganesh, Langtang, Jugal Himal to Gaurishankar towards east. Nagarjuna a view point hidden by the thick woods of rhododendron, oaks and pines with a small Buddhist monastery dedicated to Lord Guru Rinpoche also known as Padmashambhava and a view tower. The etymology for its name as Nagarjun is based in a mythological statement that it’s the location where Acharya Nagarjun has meditated. Nagarjun also described as Vindya Mountain in literatures. Here one can feel peace state of mind with natural setting and it’s the best place to meditate. Buddhist shrines, ancient caves and finally Jamacho view point are the main points of attractions offering valley’s widest mountain panorama. This is the spot where great legendry Manjushree back in 4,000 years observed the lake which is a valley now chopped the southern rim of the lake and made a fertile valley for the people to settle. From here descend back to the exit gate for a short drive back to the Kathmandu.

Shivapuri situated at an altitude of 2563m north of Kathmandu is second highest hill around Kathmandu valley, after the famous Phulchowki hill. In this hill is located the Bagdwar, source of Holy River Baghmati and is the biggest water supply to the Kathmandu valleys increasing population. We drive for about 45 minutes to Budhanilkantha Temple, one of the temples with biggest statue of Lord Vishnu sleeping in the ocean bed which lies about 8 kms north of Kathmandu. From Budhanilkantha we walk through Shivapuri conservation area. This is the Government protected forest where over 500 species of vegetation are found. We start our hike from the southern boundary of the area where the army check post is located.

Nagi Gumpa situated at an altitude of 2330m north of Kathmandu and above Budhanilkantha Temple is only Monastery for the Nuns where about 200 Nuns practice Buddhism and foreigners often come there for meditation.

It is a steep uphill hike through narrow and dusty trail for about half an hour and two hours gradual uphill trail to Shivapuri. After lunch and strolling around from sometimes, we take a short cut downhill trail to Budhanilkantha for about and half hours and drive back to Kathmandu.

Drive to Bhaktapur covering the distance of 20 km. Then visit Surya Binayak temple. The temple of Surya Binayak is situated in the Surya Binayak area, south of the ancient city of Bhaktapur. It is one of the four most important temples of the valley, other three being the Chandra Binayak in Chabahil, Jal Binayak in Chobar, and Ashok Binayak in Kathmandu Durbar Square. The devotees coming here mostly consist of parents with their ill children as this form of Ganesh in the temple is seen as the curing god, especially for deaf and dumb. Ganesh is one of the most popular Hindu gods who is worshiped at the beginning of any auspicious events and occasions. He is also considered as the god of literature, wisdom and worldly success and his head symbolizes the soul and his head symbolizes the earthly existence. We start our walking from here passing many beautiful villages, landscape etc. It takes about 3 hours to reach the beautiful Gundu village. The villages have few scattered houses of different ethnic groups most of the northern part are of Tamang community who traditionally practices Buddhist religion and the other houses of Cheetris and Brahmins. They yet live in harmony. Here you could see the traditional way of living, mostly people busy with farming, early morning carrying the milk from their houses to take them to the milk depos to sell them to the city.

After exploring the village we climb hill for the village which is steep and slippery. However when you reach the top of the hill, beautiful scenery of green lush fields and blue sky will welcome with the refreshing breeze. Pilot Baba Ashram and Somnath temple is situated at the top of the hill. The holy shrine is built by the sage Pilot Baba who is believed to have renounced the material world for the spiritual one. Indeed, Pilot Baba who spent many years roaming in Nepal has chosen a very beautiful spot to build his ashram. One can see the entire valley, including the three ancient cities, from a single spot near the ashram. The beautiful white ashram stands atop the hill. As the slopes on either side are vertical, nothing obstructs the sights of the surroundings. Kapil was a career pilot of the Indian Air Force in Assam before he gave up his materialistic life. The same pilot is now popular worldwide as Pilot Baba. This sage has a close connection with Nepal as he had received grace from Baba Gorkhnath and Hari Baba in the Narayani River near Devghat. He spent many years in the Himalayas of Nepal and India. He has several disciples in Nepal, and they have contributed to build the Shikhara-style Somnath Temple on the hill. Former Prime Minister Krishna Prasad Bhattarai was a follower of this sage.

Next we hike downhill to Doleswor Mahadev temple. Doleswor Mahadev is located at Sipadol VDC, south eastern part of Bhaktapur District, Nepal 20 Km. from Kathmandu city. It is approximately 30 mins. Drive from Kathmandu city to Doleswor Mahadev. The temple is believed to be for the head of the bull at Kedar Nath Temple of Uttarakhand, India. Legend has it that Pandavas reached the Kedarnath region to seek forgiveness from Lord Shiva for the loss of lives during the 18-day Mahabharata war. But Lord Shiva was not ready to forgive them and he took the form of a bull. The Pandavas soon realized that the Bull was Lord Shiva and tried to stop it by pulling the tail. Suddenly the head got separated from the body of the bull and the Pandavas could not locate it. The body of the bull is presently worshipped in the Kedarnath Temple. People have been searching for the head of the bull since the period of the Mahabharata as they believed that it was hidden in the Himalayas. But so far all search proved futile and now Bhim Shankarling Shivacharya who was on a visit to Nepal happened to visit Jangam math in Bhaktapur in Nepal and was surprised by the striking resemblance of rituals followed in Kedarnath and Bhaktapur. Thus the temple is believed to be for the head of the bull at Kedar Nath Temple.