The Buddhist landmark of Boudhanath exudes an austere yet commercial vibe

The capital of Nepal, Kathmandu is like a beginner’s India – colourful chaos.

The city sits in Nepal’s largest fertile bowl and is ringed by lush green mountains. On the outskirts, lucid green rice paddies break the city into pieces.

The architecture resembles the surrounding mountains - tall and narrow apartment buildings stand like sentinels in the fields, which are slowly squeezed out at the heart of the city, although chunks of remnant forest remain in large royal parks still stocked with deer and other exotic animals.

Kathmandu is growing at a rapid rate due to the increasing number of peasants leaving the land and moving into the city looking for work. This makes the narrow and inadequate roads a living hive of activity. Motorbikes, taxis, rickshaws, cyclists and pedestrians all jostle for right of way with friendly beeps on the horn, and the footpaths are swarming with street vendors and shops. Everywhere you look is life exposed. 

There are many important religious sites within Kathmandu, including Nepal’s main Hindu and Buddhist temples within walking distance of each other.

Pashupatinath is the country’s main Hindu temple and the place to die. Most Hindu Nepalese will either be carried to the temple to die in its attached hospice, or cremated on its funeral ghats and their ashes scattered into the Bagmati River running through the temple and on to join the holy river Ganges through India. It’s believed if you can die at the temple it will break your attachment to the life you’re leaving and therefore make it easier for your soul to be reincarnated at a higher level. Tourists are welcome at the complex, but the main temple is off limits to non-Hindus. A visit to Pashupatinath is an education in both life and death as across from the smoking ghats, hundreds of families gather to honour the souls of their departed loved ones, while pilgrims chant in the temple above. The whole complex throngs with the complexity of life. 

If you follow the stone stairs beyond the temple, past the brightly coloured Saddhus (holy men), and along the edge of the Slesmantak Forest which still has deer, you can see the Buddhist’s main stupa, Boudhanath, on a nearby hill top. It’s about a 15-minute walk through twisting streets to the white, glistening stupa surrounded by tourist shops selling every Buddhist product under the sun. Exiled Tibetans own most of the stores stocked with prayer drums, prayer flags, Tibetan singing bowls and mantra CDs. Burgundy robed monks - both Nepalese and Western - walk three times around the massive stupa adorned with fluttering prayer flags and the eyes of wisdom for good luck. The temple’s austere yet commercial vibe is such a stark contrast to the mess and humanity of the Hindu temple and it gives you an even greater appreciation of a country that successfully allows two religions to flourish side by side. 

Thamel is the main tourist area of Kathmandu and definitely worth a visit. You can buy mountaineering kit for a fifth of what it would cost anywhere else. It’s trekker heaven and be sure to bring an empty suitcase to lug your purchases home. There’s also an abundance of silver jewellery, hippy clothing and religious relics for sale and good restaurants and bars. Check out New Orleans restaurant for a delicious meal and great ambiance.