Divinity of Nepal

Upon arrival in Kathmandu, Luxury Travel guests will be greeted with flowers by our local guardian. From the airport, they will be transferred to the hotel, from where, after checking in, they will go on an afternoon sightseeing tour of the cities of Patan and Bhaktpur. The first place that guests will visit is Patan, also once called the Beautiful City - Lalitpur. It is believed that Patan was founded by Emperor Ashoka in the 55rd century BC. It has a medieval urban layout with historic houses and temples rising above the narrow streets. The center of Patan - Patan Durbar Square - is one of the three main squares in the Kathmandu Valley, located opposite the royal palace. It is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List, as is Bhaktapur Durbar Square located in the city of Bhaktapur, which guests will visit next. Around Bhaktapur Durbar Square there are, among others: Palace of XNUMX Windows, built by King Bhupatindra Malla; Nyatapola temple - the largest and highest pagoda, whose five floors symbolize the five basic elements; and richly carved gates - Złota and Lwów.

Dinner and overnight stay await the guests at the hotel.

After breakfast served at the hotel, we invite guests for a full-day sightseeing tour of Kathmandu. The first place of the tour will be the complex of nearly 500 Hindu temples, Pashupati Nath, which is the holiest place of pilgrimage for Hindus in Nepal. It rises on the banks of the Bagmati River. Listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the temple serves as the abode of Nepal's national deity, Lord Pashupatinath. The large temple, with a triple, gilded roof, was built in 1696 on the site of an older one. Entry to it is allowed only to residents of Nepal. Tourists can visit hundreds of other temples in the complex or observe the ritual of cremation of the dead on the ghats set above the river.

Then they will go to the Boudha Nath Buddhist temple towering over the horizon. Measuring 35 meters high, the huge stupa is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. Boudha Nath is one of the largest spherical stupas in the world. It is also the holiest place for Buddhists in Nepal and Tibet. Tibetan lamas - rinpoches - living here made it one of the most important centers of teaching Tibetan Buddhism.

From Boudha Nath, guests will go to another stupa - the great Swayambhunath stupa rising on the top of a green hill west of Kathmandu. This place has over 2500 years of history and is an important center for teaching Buddhism, and the huge eyes of the Buddha painted on the walls of the temple at the top of the huge dome look in the four directions of the world.

Kathmandu Durbar Square (Basantapur Darbar Kshetra) opens in front of the old royal palace of the Kingdom of Kathmandu and is one of three Durbar Squares in the Kathmandu Valley in Nepal, all of which are UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The Hanuman Dhoka palace complex rises above the square. The palace is decorated with richly carved wooden windows and panels.

At the southern end of Durbar Square there is one of the most unique attractions in Nepal, Kumari Chok. In this gilded cage you can see Raj Kumari, a girl who is the human incarnation of the Hindu mother goddess, Durga. Well, we go back to the hotel for dinner.

After breakfast, guests leave the hotel in Kathmandu for Pokhara. Nepal's second largest city was founded on an important old trade route between China and India. Lying at the foot of the Annapurna massif, it is a place of wonderful and unique natural beauty. The most charming place in the city is Lake Fewa. After checking in at the hotel and freshening up, guests are invited to take a boat ride on the lake and climb to the viewpoint. The image of snow-covered mountain peaks rising above the calm depths creates a unique atmosphere of peace and magic.

After returning to the hotel, we invite guests for dinner.

Early in the morning, before breakfast, we will take the guests to Sarangkot, from where they will be able to admire the sunrise illuminating the valleys and peaks of the Western Himalayas. After sunrise, guests return to the hotel for breakfast, after which they are invited to explore the area. 2 km south of where the Pardi Khola River flows from Lake Fewa. The extraordinary Devi Falls falls about 30m into a sinkhole, then the river flows about 200m underground before reemerging to join Phusre Khola. Near the waterfall there is the Gupteshwar cave, which has been used as a temple to the god Śiva - Shri Gupteshwar Mahadev - since the 50th century. Then, guests will visit the Mahendra Cave, which is an example of a karst cave, richly decorated with stalactites and stalagmites. After visiting the caves, guests will have the opportunity to visit the International Mountain Museum - dedicated to the mountains of Nepal and the mountaineers who climbed them. At the end of the tour, guests will stop at the gorge of the Seti River, which has carved a deep and narrow canyon through the center of the city. In some places, the canyon is less than a meter wide and the water flows through the gap more than XNUMX meters below street level.

We return to the hotel for dinner.

In the morning, after breakfast, we leave for Chitwan National Park. After checking in at the hotel, guests will begin their jungle adventure. The park was established in 1973. It was the first national park established in Nepal and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The park is one of the last habitats of the endangered Indian rhinoceros and Bengal tiger. After returning to the hotel, we invite guests for dinner and a program presenting traditional folk music and dance.

In the morning, after breakfast, we invite Luxury Travel guests for an exclusive safari around Chitwan National Park. After returning to the hotel, it's time to head to Lumbini, one of the four holiest sites in Buddhism. The results of archaeological works from the beginning of the 21st century prove the religious importance of the place already in the first millennium BC. Discovered here, among others: remains of a temple from the 6th century BC - considered the oldest holy place of Buddhism discovered so far. According to the Buddhist tradition, Lumbini, inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, is the birthplace of Prince Siddhartha Gautama - Shakyamunim Buddha. In the 3rd century BC, the Maurya emperor Ashoka made a pilgrimage to Lumbini, erecting a column on which an inscription has been preserved identifying Lumbini as the birthplace of the Buddha. For unknown reasons, pilgrimages to Lumbini stopped in the 15th century and the temples were gradually abandoned and fell into ruin. Lumbini was rediscovered in the 19th century.

After visiting Lumbini, we invite guests for dinner and overnight stay in the city.

In the morning after breakfast, guests cross the border towards Varanasi. Our journey together ends in this important center of worship for followers of both Hinduism and Buddhism, known for ritual bathing in the holy Ganges River and burning the bodies of the dead on platforms above the river.