Top 10 Day Trips You Must Not Miss while you are in Nepal

This is the ultimate collection of the ten days trips you must not miss while you are in Nepal. It does not take very long to see all the sights Kathmandu has to offer. However, there are lots of day trips out of the city too. 

Within about two hours’ drive – by bus from Kathmandu, if you are feeling adventurous (these are very frequent but often crowded), you can be in a completely different world. It does not take long to get away from the dust of Kathmandu, into the Kathmandu Valley.

Top 10 Day Trips You Must Not Miss while you are in Nepal

Here there are many places worth visiting in Kathmandu. I have tried to list places outside or just outside Kathmandu. Obviously, there are many other places within the city that you could easily spend all day like Boudhanath and Pashupatinath, Kopan Monastery, Asian and Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and Patan Durbar Square, depending on your interest.

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Staff photography for Sustainability ‘Creativity Unleashed’

Photography is the story I fail to put into words! ~ Destin Sparks.

We conducted a Photography session by Mr. Sudan Budathoki, for our colleagues (Royal Mountain Travel and Community Homestay Network) on October 27th, followed by a challenge in which the participants were divided into 6 teams and were assigned to submit 12 best shots and tell a story on different themes. We had Tihar (Deepawali) coming up, so the teams seemed excited with quite challenging themes! They got ample time to present what they could capture and what story needs to come across. And as a result, everyone did their part and we got good results. On November 15th, the teams presented their photographs and the Best photos were chosen based on Good Composition and Messages well received.

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Five festivals to experience in Nepal

With its bright colors and fun energy, the festival of Holi has gained a good deal of attention in the U.S. and now brings travelers to Nepal and India regularly each spring. Participating in any of Nepal’s festivals is an engaging way to learn about the culture and religions, as well as to meet local people. They often bring people out to public spaces for celebrations and include feasts and special foods, as well as important traditional ceremonies. Many of Nepal’s festivals occur in the fall and spring, and we often suggest timing a trip to coincide with one. Here are a few to consider:

Bijaya Dashami

Held over fifteen days in September or October, Dashain or Bijaya Dashami is the longest Hindu festival in Nepal and one of the most important. It celebrates the victory of good over evil and honors the Hindu goddess Durga. Many people return home to celebrate with their families and receive tika (a dab of red vermillion on the forehead) from their elders. Kites are commonly flown; large swings are set up for children; new clothes are purchased and worn; and various rituals, including sacrifices, are held on specific days. The Taleju Temple in Kathmandu’s Durbar Square, typically closed to all, opens to the Hindu people one day a year during the festival.

Dashain Festival. Photo credit: Wikipedia Commons

Buddha Jayanti
Buddha’s birth, enlightenment and death fell on the same day and are celebrated by Buddhists and Hindus throughout Nepal on the full moon of Vaisakha, a month on the Hindu calendar (usually April or May). The grandest ceremony occurs at Buddha’s birthplace in Lumbini in the western Terai plains. In Kathmandu, Buddha’s devotees pay respects at the Boudhanath Stupa, one of the holiest sites in Nepal and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. And in Kathmandu Valley, Swyambhunath Stupa and the city of Patan also draw Buddha’s disciples and admirers. Continue reading

Holi: The Most Fun Day of the Year

Nepal’s celebration of Holi is a colorful festival that is open to all, locals and visitors alike. The revered Hindu holiday, which dates back to the fourth century and signifies the arrival of spring, has gained attention in the U.S. in recent years and a number of travelers feel called to participate in the joyful revelry. A care-free celebration with people of all ages smearing each other with colored powders and drenching each other with water in the streets seems like the perfect excuse for a vacation, right?

Photo source: Inside Himalayas

While Holi truly begins with the installation of a ceremonial pole in Kathmandu Durbar Square almost a week earlier and religious ritual and prayer around a bonfire the night before, the free-for-all of color is found all around the square, the city streets, temples, parks and into the hill region on the day immediately following the full moon in March. The second day of festivities continues in the Terai with celebrations and feasts in area homes. Continue reading

Nava Durga Jatra – The Festival of Tantric Goddess

Every year Panauti celebrates the Navadurga Jatra, the festival of Nine Durgas, which falls – normally – during the end of April or beginning of May. It is a masked dance ceremony dedicated to the nine Durgas, Durgas – The Goddess of War – The sources to the all energy of Lord Shiva. The multiple demonic representations are the manifestations of Parvati; the power of Shiva in the Tantric tradition. It is celebrated for, continuous, three days. Continue reading

Voluntarism in Nepal from Melbourne University with Royal Mountain Travel


Since 12 years of the establishment of the Royal Mountain Travel, and in these twelve years we’ve been firmly committed to the sustainable and responsible tourism. We have always believed in the development of the society, community, and the country should come first before the development of our company. Especially in the travel industry; adding the valuable experience in the vacation of the travellers’ and settling them in the safest destination is the harvesting process and this will continue for a longer period of time. Continue reading

Women Entrepreneurship in Nepal


The recipe, or say secret recipe, for a healthy family, and for a successful community is to trust, empower, and enhance the skills of women/housewives. This is not just an assumption, but the fact, and one of the references (example) I am attaching hereby is from two distinct communities, where housewives (now successful entrepreneurs of their own) proved that if equal opportunities were given to the women/housewives they could handle the family, and at the same time they will operate a ‘successful’ business.
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Maha Shivaratri — The Night of Lord Shiva

Nepali saints smokingMaha Shivaratri (21 Feb 2020) is the day when thousands of Shiva devotees will be heading towards the holiest of Hindu temples in Nepal, the great Pashupatinath Temple. There they will be meeting with thousands of sadhus (holy men) already congregated in the temple precincts.

It is the day of one of the biggest festivals in Hinduism—Maha Shivaratri—the night of Lord Shiva, god of both creation and destruction. Continue reading

Holi — Festival of Colors

holiThis year, Holi, the ’festival of colours’, also known as ‘Fagu Poornima”, falls on March (12th March 2017).  Holi, actually, begins a week ahead of the day, at least for many young guys who believe that the Holi season gives them licence to harass young girls by hurling water filled balloons (‘lolas’) at them. Continue reading