Old Kathmandu

Walk the ancient trade route to Kathmandu's great medieval bazaar, exploring an unusual but underrated part of the old city with Nepali writer Rabi Thapa. Thamel, Kathmandu’s designated tourist quarter, began as a medieval site of Buddhist learning connected to the now-defunct trans-Himalayan route between India and Tibet. Your tour traces these beginnings from Sohrakhutte in north Kathmandu before passing through Bhagwan Bahal, Narsingh Chowk, Chusya Bahal, Shree Gha and the marketplace of Asan. You will visit monuments old and new, accompanied by a fantastical cast of Tibetan demons, flying stupas and tooth goddesses as well as the equally adventurous set of warrior kings, traders, artisans and hippies who made Nepal the fantastic place that it is today. Your journey will take you a thousand years back but bring you face-to-face with the very real problems faced today by people living in a city such as Kathmandu. Your guide Rabi is well placed to tell you the story of Thamel, warts and all - he's written a book about the place and grew up in Kathmandu. Many travellers treat Thamel as a pitstop to streamline their trip to Nepal, too often making a beeline for the world heritage sites scattered across the Kathmandu Valley before heading to the mountains. But skating over the surface of this neighbourhood does it - and you - a great disservice: this is a chance to trace an alternate history of Nepal’s capital - once the greatest urban hub in the Himalayas.

Price: £3.99 from VoiceMap