I visited Nepal in early June 2024. Those were days of unprecedented heat. The rains were held up, and the weather became like an inferno. As karma had it, I was there on some of those extremely hot days. I had a very intense yatra taking place and my inner experience was totally blissed out.

This trip was an amalgamation of the heat, vegetarian food challenges coupled with powerful spiritual experiences and personal breakthroughs. Here’s my Nepal itinerary to inspire your own, when you visit this enchanting mountain land.

10-day Itinerary for Katmandu Valley, Nepal

Katmandu city is huge. It is a mix of 3 cities – Katmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur. All these cities are near each other and over time they have merged to make a large, widespread urban sprawl. As tourists we may choose to stay in one part of the city and explore the others on day trips – or choose to shift to a new location and spend a few days in each area separately – depending on how you like to explore.

I stayed near Pashupatinath temple area in an Airbnb for the first 5 days. I had considered moving to Thamel for 2 days, but I felt too lazy to do that eventually and simply extended my original Airbnb.

Day 1: Pashupatinath & Boudhanath Stupa

A short walk from my Airbnb, Pashupatinath temple was my first exploration. There was LOTs to explore! Within Pashupatinath temple complex, there are many shrines including Unmatta Bhairava. Outside the temple there are other powerful shrines to explore including Parvati yantra temple, burning ghats and some caves of Naropa/Tilopa etc..

A little walk away is the Guheshwari Shaktipeeth – where the butt cheeks of Sati seem to have fallen. Thus, “Guhya” as in secret parts. But another understanding suggests that this is a secret Shakti spot – that is why it is called Guhya (secret).

On the way to this Devi temple, there is the Mrigasthali Gorakshmath. This is one of the leading maths of Gorakhnath in Nepal. It is a great visit, with the temple exuding powerful energies, which felt very familiar to me for some reason.

From Guhyeshwari Shaktipeeth, I walked to Boudhanath. As I like such random long walks in new cities. So much to explore. But you can take a taxi.

So, I ended the day exploring Boudhanath stupa – a powerful visual and lovely layout! I really think the way Boudhanath is structured with a mix of Buddhist shrines, monk activities, tourist shops and cafes are quite a nice mingling of different vibes. All in all, it comes together very well. I liked it a lot.

Day 2: Katmandu Durbar Square, Thamel & Linga Bhairavi Temple

At Katmandu Durbar Square, my main attraction was the Kaal Bhairava. Maybe one of the most popular Kaal Bhairava visuals in the world?

I also got my first Kumari darshan here… coincidentally, I reached at the right time to get that darshan. Read about my Kumari experience here.

Apart from this explored the Shwet Bhairava and other surroundings structures and temples. Spent some time at Gorakhmath here. Chatted with one of the kaanpath yogis there (they are a part of the Nath Sampradaya).

He allowed me to video shoot the aarti at this math, that happens later in evening.

Thamel was mostly a short walk, exploring a few more temples on the way. Like the Shwet Kali temple.

And then a taxi ride to Linga Bhairava temple, one of the main pulls for me to visit Kathmandu.

Day 3: Lalitpur Patan Durbar Square, Kumari Darshan and Gorakhmath Aarti

Saw the amazing Patan durbar square palace with the Taleju Devi temple and beautiful step-well. Much to explore here! Walked to the Kumari bhavan, took my second Kumari darshan. I walked a lot more and visited the Lagankhel Matsyendranath Chariot and Batuk Bhairava. Loved all of this. Powerful energies and strong Bhairava connection for me.

In the evening, I headed back to Kathmandu Durbar Square for the Gorakhmath aarti. Here’s my video from that aarti…

Day 4: Pashupatinath Temple Revisit, Mrigasthali Gorakhmath (Chat with Gorakhnathis), Linga Bhairavi temple and Sadhguru Darshan

So, on this day, I had the option of visiting Swayambhunath or some other place in Kathmandu like Dakshin Kali temple, Kirtipur square or Budha Narayan temple. But I chose to revisit the Pashupatinath temple, because I felt like experiencing those energies properly with one more visit.

This time, I spent more time at the burning ghats and at the Mrigasthali Gorakhmath where I chatted with the Gorakhnathis and sat by their Dhuni for some time. I loved that time.

I also visited the shaktipeeth again. Explored a few more places. There are many quaint temples, ghats, nooks and corners in that area. As a sadhaka, one can spend many enriching days just roaming in that area…

In evening, headed to Linga Bhairavi temple for one more darshan. And then Sadhguru’s darshan event – live telecast from Coimbatore ashram.

Lovely time.

Day 5: Drive to Namo Buddha Monastery via Vajrayogini temple and Panauti

I visited the Vajrayogini temple, and saw Nagarkot, Sankhu area. Which is a tourist spot near Kathmandu. To me, it didn’t hold much appeal. As I prefer a stronger sattvic ambiance. Thus, I headed to Namo Buddha Monastery.

Wrote an article on this monastery for Outlook Traveller. Read here.

I also passed by a town called Panauti which was a lovely exploration. Enjoyed it!

Day 6, 7, 8 at Namo Buddha Monastery

Absorbed the lovely Terai hill ambiance. Roamed around on the hills. Sat for Buddhist poojas. Partook in the meals with monks. One of the monk teachers happily gave me an interview for my YT channel. You can watch that here, we speak of many topics including meditation in Buddhism, Buddha’s past lives, 4 noble truths and more..

Lovely stay. Totally recommended place to visit for people who would like to slow down.

Day 9 & 10: Bhaktapur!

I was expecting some more explorations here and an end to a lovely (intense) Nepal yatra… but Bhaktapur was a jolt. It was too intense. And the Bhairava temple was a very powerful experience that had a lot of implications for me.

Have put a few videos of Bhaktapur here, will add more in coming days. So do watch out for that!

So that was my 10-day Nepal Yatra trip. If you are planning for Nepal … you can take some ideas from this. Make sure to plan your trip so that it makes the most sense to you. Sometimes revisiting places can make for a much more meaningful trip. Instead of trying to take one look at “everything”.

For the spiritual sadhaka, Nepal has a LOT to offer. And if you are the explorer type – then well, it can get very intense very quickly. So, be sure to consider what you actually want from your trip.

Have you visited Nepal? Share your experience here.