One place I knew I really wanted to visit on this trip was Bhaktapur.
I’d heard so much about it since we arrived and knew it would have to be added to our itinerary as soon as I knew about it.
After leaving the historic town of Panauti, we headed straight for Bhaktapur – which is about halfway between Kathmandu and Panauti.
As soon as you arrive in Bhaktapur, you immediately see the impact of 2015 earthquake – ancient historic structures, whose former glory is now only evidenced in photos, have crumbled to the ground with a lucky few structures still standing.
Bhaktapur is a UNESCO World Heritage site and so unlike a lot of other places in Nepal, it still has some funding to help restore it to its former glory but as you can see here – the earthquake happened 2 years ago and so the funding is not quite as much as you’d like to think (again, if you want to donate money to Nepal to help with the recovery after the earthquake you can do so on the official UNESCO website here).
A trip to Bhaktapur is still worth it though – you can still see how glorious the site is and there’s still a fair few amazing sights still standing here.
When you’re here, the place to head to is Durbar Square – the palace complex.
We dipped in and out the temples, some of which don’t allow you to use your cameras and some others which only allow Hindus in.
The best guide for when you’re here is to wander from temple to temple and take your time to appreciate it all. Even the crumbling/half-rebuilt ones still look fairly impressive.
After a while, we left the Durbar square and headed a street away to see one of the most impressive sights in Bhaktapur – Nyatapola Temple.
Nyatapola temple is a temple that has stood here for over 3 centuries and has survived 2 major earthquakes (decades apart) which have destroyed other temples in Bhaktapur – a testament to the incredible work and architecture of the temple.
It’s easily one of the most impressive structures in Bhaktapur and also one with an amazing view of Bhaktapur once you get to the top of it.
Right next to Nyatapola temple is the impressive Bhairavnath temple – a sight that is probably best appreciated from the top of Nyatapola temple. (Actually, it’s equally as impressive from down below).
We stopped off for a couple of drinks (and to cool off from the sunshine), before heading back to Kathmandu for dinner, drinks and what turned out to be something of a party back at the rooftop of our hotel!
Funny thing is that our original plan for the day was to try to spend some time in Kathmandu but I’m so glad we decided to ditch those plans and head over to Panauti and Bhaktapur – places like these are absolute must visits in Nepal and should definitely be added to your travel plans when you’re here!
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