In the morning, take a guided sightseeing tour to Old Kathmandu Durbar Square https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathmandu_Durbar_Square & Swayambhunath Stupa (2,000 years old) https://swayambhu.buddhism-foundation.org/about/. The Old Durbar Square is the heart of the Kathmandu city and used to be a formal Royal Palace Complex until 1896. Then after, the Royal Palace was shifted to the ‘Narayan Hiti Durbar’ at King’s Way located next to the Narayan Hiti (golden water spout). Interestingly, all the formal royal activities are being still carried out at the Old Durbar Square. Its premise covers a wide area comprising innumerable temples and other monuments, all rich in arts and architecture. The Kumari Temple live with the Living Goddess ‘Kumari’ is the main highlight of the Durbar Square Complex. Swayambhunath Stupa is the 2nd biggest stupa in Nepal. It is beautifully located on a hill top to the 3 km west of the Kathmandu city. The gigantic stupa presents a form of a white dome at its bottom with a golden pinnacle on its top. The Buddha’s meditating eyes in its four cardinal points in between the dome and pinnacle are the most beautiful aspect of the stupa worth understanding. Do remember to ask your guide about the eyes. The literal meaning of the almost 2000 years Swayambhu in Sanskrit is ‘self created or self manifested’. A bird’s eye view of the whole Kathmandu Valley from the hill top is highly rewarding. PM: Sightseeing tour to Pashupatinath Temple Complex and the cremation ghats where last rites of the Hindus are carried out with a special ceremony. Pashupatinath Temple https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Pashupatinath_Temple (UNESCO World Heritage Site) is nicely located about 5 km to the north-east of the Kathmandu city on the bank of holy Bagmati River where on its ghat the Hindu and Buddhist dead bodies are cremated with ceremonies. It is in a pagoda style with golden roof. The literal meaning of Pashupatinath is the Lord of all animals. It is the holiest temple complex for the Hindus in Nepal with more than 520 temples. It covers a huge area of about 265 hectares of land. It dates back to 400 B.C. There are different beliefs and stories behind its origin. After Pashupatinath, we visit Boudhnath Stupa, the biggest stupa in Nepal (5th century). Nepal is proud to have the Boudhnath Stupa (a UNESCO World Heritage site) as one of the biggest stupas in Asia. Historically, It is believed that the stupa was built during the Lichhabi era in the 5th century. The Boudhnath area claims to have more than 50 massive monasteries well decorated with heavy ornaments and jewelleries. In the 50’s, the migrant Tibetans from Tibet liked to live around the stupa. Hopefully,it reminded their Jokhang Temple of Lhasa where they could make kora (circumambulation) every morning and evening. The kora (holy circumambulation) around the Boudhnath is a beautiful sight every day. This is the reason why, a majority of the migrant Tibetans live in the Boudhnath area.

AM: After lunch, we visit Patan Durbar Square including Nepalese Handicraft Centre. Patan Durbar Square is located at the city centre of Patan city (Officially, Patan is called Lalitpur). This Durbar Square is one of the beautiful World Heritage site in the Kathmandu Valley where is 7 world Heritage sites just within a periphery of 20 km. It is the centre where you can appreciate the medieval Newar arts and architecture. The Durbar comprises several invaluable monuments. Among them, the main old palace building in pagoda style, Krishna Temple in shikhara style (Indian style), Patan Museum inside the palace in its first floor, Bhimsen Temple in pagoda style, etc. Nepalese Handicraft Centre is located at a nearby place at a distance of about 5 minutes drive from Patan Durbar Square. It includes Nepalese carpet weaving factory, handicraft factory and display. Besides, a visit to Tibetan Refugee Centre maintained by the Tibetan refugee authority supported by the international agencies. PM: Visit Bhaktapur – Hotel. Bhaktapur is the 3rd medieval Newar township that takes you back in time with its ancient tradition, culture and heritage. Many artists and architects accept that it is the most beautiful one among the 3 major cities in the Kathmandu Valley. A good road connection takes about half an hour drive to reach the city. Major attractions not to miss in Bhaktapur are the unforgettable age-old Golden Gate, Nyatapole Temple (the highest pagoda in Nepal with 5 floors), National Art Gallery, Dattatreya Temple, Potter’s Square, the palace of 55 windows, Bhaktapur Durbar Square and so on.

Pokhara proudly presents a magnificent view of the mighty Himalaya including Mt Ganesh Himal, Mt Manaslu, Mt Lamjung, Mt Nilgiri, Mt Annapurna I - IV, Mt Fishtail, Mt Dhaulagiri, etc. The flight to Pokhara is in fact a mountain flight. It offers a nice close up view parallel from the windows of the aircraft. Pokhara is a town famous for the uninterrupted (abrupt) view of the whole Annapurna range including Mt Fish Tail. An hour boating in the evening in Phewa Lake is the right activity we offer to enjoy this special moment with Mt Fishtail inside the lake (Weather permitting) – Overnight at hotel.

a hiking to Sharankot (1,500 m: 3 hours) from where the view of the Annapurna Himalaya is closer and clearer is always recommendable. It gives you a preview of the famous trekking in Nepal for which Nepal is recognized as a paradise. Overnight at hotel

After arrival at Kathmandu airport, transfer to your hotel. Free for the rest of the day for the independent activities like shopping, massage, etc. – Overnight at hotel.