BHAKTAPUR

Bhaktapur,aslo known as Bhadagaon in Nepali,or Khwopa in Newari,is the third major town in this valley.Traffic fee,traditionally intact town is also in many ways the most timeless.The cobblestone street link a string of temples,courtyards and monumental squares,and the side streets are peppered with shrines,wellls and water tanks.

The lack of traffic makes walking through Bhaktapur a pleasure and certainly more enjoyable than walking in Kathmandu.The town`s cultural life is aslo vibrant,with certuries-old traditions of craftsmanship and strong communities of potters,woodcarves and weavers.Look for rice laid out to dry in the sun,people collecting water or washing under communal taps,dyedyarns hung out to dry,children`s games,fascinating shops and women pounding grain-there`s plenty to see.

Perhaps most entrancing of all is Bhaktapur`s effortless blending of the modern and medieval,thank largely to the German-funded Bhaktapur Development Project,which restored buildings,paved dirt streets and established sewerage and wasteeater management facilities in the 1970`s.