Heritage walk through Bandipur's bazaar

Start at the Bindebasini temple at the head of the bazaar, a two-tiered pagoda where locals offer puja in the morning and evening. Then walk the main street slowly, looking up: the houses have carved wooden windows, some with lattice panels, neoclassical facades from the Rana era and shutters painted in faded colours. On the north side a covered veranda runs almost the whole length.

Your guide will point out details visitors miss: the old slate slabs surviving at the street edges and in side lanes, the doorways of former trading houses, the library granted to the town in its heyday, and shrines tucked into walls. Ask about the families who came from Bhaktapur after 1768 and what they traded: cloth, salt, metal goods and more passing between India and Tibet.

Climb to the Khadga Devi temple, a modest building with a powerful reputation, and end at Tundikhel at the ridge end as the sun sets behind the hills. Then come back for dinner on the street. Bandipur after dark, lit by shop lights, is quiet and friendly.