March 30, 2012.

Have hired a car to take us to Bhaktapur and then to Nagarkot. Bhaktapur is the third of the medieval city- states on the Kathmandu valley.  Most of the buildings date back to the 15, 16, and 17th. century. It had 172 temples and monasteries.  The Royal Palace is now the National Art Gallery. One could spend hours just wandering the streets exploring but  we only have about four hours here.
Then it was off to Nagarkot, elevation 2175 m , is the place to view the Himalayas but unfortunately the haze and smoke from Kathmandu has made it impossible to see the mountains.  We have been told that is is like this in the dry season due to the smoke from the brick factories.  During the wet season on a clear day it is possible to see the mountains.
The road to Nagarkot could be a bit of a nail bitter, very narrow, has numerous switch backs and passing an oncoming, car, bus or army lorry can be a bit hairy, but we made it up and back and did see lots of interesting scenery along the way. No not have many good photos of the trip to Nagarkot as the haze has made taking photos less than optimal.

Bhaktapur

Street in Bhaktapur

Guarding the entrance

carving at door entrance

entrance to one of many temples

Carving along side entrance to National Art Museum

elderly lady sitting at door to temple

doorway to Hindu temple but non Hindus not allowed in

Elderly Nepalese Lady

Interesting tractor like vehicle that the farmer use.

Elderly lady on the roof top above the paper factory

 three wheel min cab.

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view long way to Nagarkot

Local bus service

This is the view from Nagarkot , from here you should be able to see Mount Everest