GORKHA
Gorkha is an interesting town midway between Kathmandu
and Pokhara. The surrounding area is fantastic. Gorkha
is 25km north of the road between Pokhara and Kathmandu.
There are some interesting walks in the area. Not
many tourists visit here.Prithvi Narayan Shah became
the king of Gorkha in 1743 and two years later started
a 25-year campaign to eventually take over the Kathmandu
Valley and the rest of Nepal. After conquering Kathmandu
Valley in 1769, Prithvi Narayan Shah moved the capital
of Nepal to Kathmandu. By the beginning of the 18th
century Gorkha had become a minor town.The main thing
to visit here is the interesting Gorkha Durbar (Fort).
The area around Gorkha is a place of Maoist insurgents,
and there have been some problems in the area. The
police may be having a 10 pm curfew.There is no place
to change money in Gorkha.
Gorkha Durbar
The Gorkha Durbar is a half-hour (250m ascent) walk
from town, high above the town. The entrance to the
Durbar is from the western entrance and you reach
it by taking the path to the east of the wall.
The east wing of the Durbar is the palace, where
Prithvi Narayan was born. Parts of the palace date
from the reign of King Ram Shah (1606-36), but additions
have been made successive rulers. It has some excellent
18th century brick- and woodwork. It is well renovated.
Much of the building is done in the Newari-style,
who came here from Kathmandu to do the work. It is
only open on the 10th day of Dasain. If you look through
the lattice window on the east side of the palace,
you can see what is said to be Prithvi Narayan Shah's
throne. The central palace, Dhuni Pati, was the birthplace
of Prithvi Narayan. There are latticed windows on
the top floor. Upstairs is the throne of Prithvi Narayan
and an 'eternal' flame, which has been burning since
he united Nepal. Foreigner can not go upstairs in
the palace, but the throne can be seen from a small
window.
There are excellent views over the interesting area,
and great views of the Annapurna and Ganesh mountain
ranges. The old part of the city where the Durbar
is located has no vehicle traffic, so it is a nice
place to wander around to old traditional buildings.
If you go up a few steps and there are on the right
are two bells. On the left of the bells there are
stairs that led down to the cave where Gorkhanath,
a solitary sage lived, near the entrance. Gorkhanath
is the Indian guru, from which the town of Gorkha
got its name and is considered to be a guardian of
the Shah Kings.
Past the bells is a four-faced Siva-lingam. You can
then go down to an interesting carving of Hanuman,
the monkey servant of Lord Rama.
In the west (left) wing of the palace is the Kalika
Mandir, a temple dedicated to the goddess Kali. This
is the first building on the left if you enter from
the west. It has an intricately carved 'Star of David'
window. Only the king and a particular caste of Brahmin
priests can enter the temple. It is said that other
people would die if they saw the deity of Kali in
this temple. There are sacrifices done in front of
the temple. It is especially busy during the twice-monthly
Astami day. The main days are the Chaitra Dasain festival
and the 10th day of Dasain in October.
To get to Gorkha Durbar from the bus station, you
walk north until you get to a tank surrounded by several
temples. You then bear right until you get to a square.
On the right side of the square is Tallo Durbar, which
was built in 1835 in the Newari-style for a Rana who
was exile here from Kathmandu after being engaged
a court conspiracy.
From Tallo Durbar, you go north and it is a steep
climb for one hour up to old part of town, from where
you go left and walk up a modern set of stair 100m.
If you reach the place where the women do washing,
you have gone too far. When you get to the pipal tree
you can take either fork, but the one to the left
is not as tough. You then come to another fork and
you take the left one. When you reach the ridge you
make a right to reach the palace.
Cameras and leather items are banned and there is
no place to leave them, so it is best to leave them
in your room. There is a great view of the Himalayas
from here, and another good viewpoint on another hill
a half-hour walk away.
Viewpoints above the Fort
If you walk up another half hour past the Gorkha Durbar
you come to a ruined fort and the telecommunication
tower. The views of the Himalaya Mountains are outstanding.
Other Places
Above the bus stand is the Tallo Durbar Palace.
There are good walks in the area to Hanuman Bhanjyang,
Upallokot and Tallokot
BANDIPUR
An ancient trading outpost of a bygone era, the town
of Bandipur has only recently come into the limelight
as a hill-resort after a 7 km vehicular road was constructed
to connect it with the Kathmandu-Pokhara Prithivi
Highway. Before the advent of vehicular transportation
in western Nepal, Bandipur's location made it a significantly
important trading station
between western Tibet, British India and all of West
Nepal. Bandipur is the ideal getaway for those in
quest of peace and solitude since this trade-entrepot
of times forgotten has long lost its use. Besides
the gorgeous view of the central Himalaya and the
Marshyangdi Valley, there are a couple of peculiar
natural sights like limestone caves, an endless tunnel
and the surrounding hills too are very odd looking.
For the best board in Bandipur, contact Island Jungle
Resort's reservation office in Durbar Marg, Kathmandu,
phone- 220162 , 229116. They have a tented camp outfit
by the name of Bandipur Mountain rewarding.
Comfortable Hotels & Resort
are avaliable
