Kathmandu's great escape
On the outskirts of Kathmandu, forested ridges rise in sweeping arcs, wrapping protective arms around Nepal’s enduring historical centre. Carved with verdant rice terraces and studded with ancient gilded stupas and thriving monasteries, they elevate mountain dreamers to grand Himalayan viewpoints and promise respite far from the riot and chaos of the city.
After too long submerged in Kathmandu’s intoxicating mayhem, I head for the hills, escaping for a weekend of bliss at Shivapuri Heights Cottage just 12km out of the city. Soothed by homecooked food and rejuvenated by good conversation and long walks, I teeter at dusk on the valley’s rim, shadowed by monsoon clouds that cling to the peaks of Shivapuri National Park at my back, gazing spellbound at the city’s luminous nightscape where street and starlight fuse in one dazzling, shimmering vista.
Transfixed, I make a plan. It’s a pilgrimage of sorts, kindled by an oversized glass of Indian Chenin Blanc and the heady scent of Ayurvedic massage oil that lingers on my skin. Sticking to foot trails and forested tracks as much as I can, I join the dots, linking the Kathmandu Valley’s most beguiling sacred sites
