3 Days Kathmandu Cultural Tour

Between visiting Bhutan and Tibet, we decided to take the 2-night Kathmandu Valley Sightseeing tour organized by Nepal Tour & Trekking Services. As our flight from Paro to Kathmandu landed 40 minutes later than scheduled and due to 1-hour queue in Kathmandu airport for getting Nepal visa, we ultimately went out of airport doors late in the afternoon. We were concerned that we might not visit all the sights planned according to the tour program or, otherwise, we might face very tight and uncomfortable schedule (as we had one full day and several hours instead of 2 full days for the completion of tour program). Fortunately, due to the professional tour organization our concerns proved groundless. We were met timely at the airport and transferred to the Bliss International Hotel in the heart of Kathmandu. Our guide Mark met us at the hotel and gave us sufficient time to check-in and even to have late lunch. He reshuffled our tour program to make it more comfortable for our changed schedule. On the first day (right after the lunch) we had relatively short tour around the historic center of Kathmandu while on the second day we visited all other planned sights (Swyembhunath stupa, Patan city, Pashupatinath cremation ghats and Boudhanath stupa). Despite the tight schedule on the second day, we felt rather comfortable: we started at 9:30 AM and arrived at the hotel by 4 PM, thus, having sufficient time for sleep before upcoming night flight to Lhasa. We enjoyed all the sights visited (except for Pashupatinath cremation ghats with the unpleasant burning smells and atmosphere). Durbar squares in both Kathmandu and Patan are wonderful, original and memorable, however, unfortunately, many building are under restoration now due to the destructive earthquake of 2015. Hill views from Swyembhunath site are breathtaking. Our guide Mark was very professional, knowledgeable and structured and spoke English fluently – we stayed at each site just right amount time so that we explored everything, got relevant details, did not hurry, enjoyed and ultimately did not get tired. The hotel was not luxury but very clean, comfortable and conveniently located. After Bhutan, we were really impressed by the local food and the local beer called Everest – one of the best that I have ever tried. What we did not like in Nepal is Kathmandu airport – it is small, old, overcrowded and has the dry law as in some Islamic countries – I would not recommend arriving there well in advance of the scheduled departure. But the country itself is very nice – I will definitely return to Nepal for a longer trip (probably, combining some more sightseeing and trekking).

Excellent tour, very informative and friely guide. Highly recommend Januka and the Hotel Bliss International team for an excellent 2 night stay.