Pharping Dakshinkali Tour – 1 Day

• Dakshinkali: A Kali shrine in a gorge where sacrifices are made on Tuesdays and Saturdays.

• The Asura Cave at Pharping: Where Guru Rinpoche is held to have attained realisation, still used for retreat.

• The Self-Arisen Tara: A Tara image emerging from the rock face, said to be growing out of the stone.

• Tibetan Monasteries: A hillside of gompas and three-year retreat huts above the valley.

• Living Practice, Not a Monument: Two sites that exist for their practitioners rather than for visitors.

Everything on these tours is reached by private vehicle with a driver, which matters more in Kathmandu than most cities — the traffic is heavy, the one-way system changes, and parking near the monuments is difficult. Your guide travels with you and the vehicle waits while you walk each site.

Distances look small on a map and take longer than they should. Boudhanath to Swayambhunath is nine kilometres and forty minutes in the middle of the day. The itineraries are sequenced to work with the traffic rather than against it, which is why the order of sites is not always the obvious one.

Every UNESCO site in the valley charges foreign visitors an entry fee, and they are included in your tour price — Kathmandu, Patan and Bhaktapur Durbar Squares, Swayambhunath, Boudhanath, Pashupatinath and Changunarayan. Keep the ticket; Bhaktapur's is valid for several days and can be extended free of charge if you tell the office.

Photography is allowed in the squares and courtyards but not in most inner sanctums, and never at the Pashupatinath cremation ghats. Ask before photographing people, particularly sadhus, who will usually ask for money afterwards — agree it first or decline politely.

Comfortable shoes that slip off easily, since you will remove them at temples. Modest clothing covering shoulders and knees is expected at religious sites and appreciated everywhere. Leather belts and bags are not permitted inside some Hindu shrines, so carry a cloth bag on temple days.

Bring sunscreen, a hat and water; the valley sits at 1,400 m and the sun is stronger than the temperature suggests. Small notes are useful for offerings, tea and the occasional donation box. A mask is worth having between January and April when the valley air is at its worst.

October to March is the most comfortable, with clear air, mild days and, from the valley rim, mountain views. Early morning is the best time at every site — Boudhanath, Pashupatinath and the Durbar Squares are all at their most alive and least crowded before nine.

The monsoon from June to September brings heavy afternoon rain, though mornings are often clear and the light is dramatic. Festival dates transform the sites they belong to: Indra Jatra in September fills Kathmandu Durbar Square, Bisket Jatra takes over Bhaktapur in April, and Maha Shivaratri brings a hundred thousand pilgrims to Pashupatinath.

• Pharping & Dakshinkali Tour: The Complete Guide — Two of Nepal's most charged religious sites within a few kilometres of each other on the southern valley rim.

• Animal Sacrifice at Dashain: What Travellers Should Know — On the eighth and ninth days of Dashain, goats, buffalo and birds are sacrificed at temples and in household yards across Nepal.

• Where to Meditate in Kathmandu Before a Trek — Kathmandu is loud, dusty and one of the great meditation cities of the world.

• Bungamati & Khokana Village Tour: The Complete Guide — Two working Newar villages ten kilometres south of Kathmandu — the birthplace of Rato Machhendranath and the valley's mustard-oil town.

• Kathmandu During Dashain: What the City Is Like and What to See — Kathmandu has two Dashains.