Bagmati, Kathmandu Valley
Bhaktapur is the best-preserved medieval city in the Kathmandu Valley, about 13 kilometres east of Kathmandu, and part of the valley's UNESCO World Heritage listing. Brick-paved squares, carved wooden windows and temples fill its old core, including the five-storey Nyatapola temple, built in 1702. Potters still shape clay by hand in Pottery Square, and the local sweet is juju dhau, or king curd. Bhaktapur charges an entry fee for foreign visitors. The quiet Newar town of Panauti, with its old riverside temples, is an easy extension from here, and the road is one of the valley's most scenic.
