A group of my new friends were in the mood for some walking/hiking this weekend, so we decided to try Lonely Planet's recommendation of a walk that goes from Boudha village to Kopan Monastery and then to Gorkana temple. Unfortunately it was cloudy and rainy in the morning, so the photos are a bit grey overall.
Starting at 9:30am, we took a taxi to Boudha (also spelled Boudhanath and other variations) which has the one the largest spherical stupas in Nepal and is an UNESCO heritage site. Around the base of the stupa there are lots of little shops and cafes to visit. I liked that we could also climb up the stupa to see it up close.
After a bit of exploring, we started our walk to Kopan Monastery. This walk is actually along a paved road that winds through a neighborhood and then eventually climbs up a big hill to the monastery. I wasn't actually timing our walk, but I'd estimate it took about 40 minutes...just enough for us to get extremely hot and hungry as we climbed toward the Buddhist monastery.
We ate lunch at Kopan Monastery too. No food picture attached, but my friend and I split plates of vegetable pokara, cooked vegetables and fruit & yogurt for about 160 rupees each / $1.80 USD.
Leaving the Monastery to the Hindu Gokarna temple, we walked for about 45 minutes along a dirt path that wound it's way around the hills (see photo below). It was a really pretty walk, surrounded by beautiful hills and I bet you could see more mountains if it was a clear day.
To reach the temple we eventually walked downhill into a town.
Starting at 9:30am, we took a taxi to Boudha (also spelled Boudhanath and other variations) which has the one the largest spherical stupas in Nepal and is an UNESCO heritage site. Around the base of the stupa there are lots of little shops and cafes to visit. I liked that we could also climb up the stupa to see it up close.
After a bit of exploring, we started our walk to Kopan Monastery. This walk is actually along a paved road that winds through a neighborhood and then eventually climbs up a big hill to the monastery. I wasn't actually timing our walk, but I'd estimate it took about 40 minutes...just enough for us to get extremely hot and hungry as we climbed toward the Buddhist monastery.
We ate lunch at Kopan Monastery too. No food picture attached, but my friend and I split plates of vegetable pokara, cooked vegetables and fruit & yogurt for about 160 rupees each / $1.80 USD.
Leaving the Monastery to the Hindu Gokarna temple, we walked for about 45 minutes along a dirt path that wound it's way around the hills (see photo below). It was a really pretty walk, surrounded by beautiful hills and I bet you could see more mountains if it was a clear day.
The temple is situated along a wider section of this river.
I love those places so much I have been to Nepal x6 times...what an amazing country. Namaste.
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