Nagarkot – The Hill Town of Kathmandu Valley

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You don’t need to go too far from Kathmandu to see beautiful scenery and a spectacular sunrise behind Himalayan mountain range. Nagarkot Nepal is just 32 km from capital city of Kathmandu at an elevation of 2,195 meters. There is bus service between Kathmandu to Nagarkot but I decided to go by taxi. Nagarkot was a summer retreat for the royal family in the 19th and 20th century before becoming popular as an international hill town.

I traveled to Nagarkot twice. First time solo and the second time it was a family trip with parents. The second trip with my parents was uneventful but my solo trip had some mishaps like a broken car or no electricity. It started raining the moment I crossed the Kathmandu city area but fortunately rain stopped within 15 minutes. During the rain, the driver started driving at a very slow pace.

I have noticed during my Nepal trips that most of the drivers drive at a slow pace and they are in no hurry like big Indian city drivers. For me, this is a good thing because I can enjoy the landscape on both sides of the road during my drive. We reached almost halfway and the car suddenly started making a strange noise. The driver stopped the car on the side of the road.

I am not expert in cars and don’t understand the machinery. The driver opened the engine compartment and after inspecting he declared that fan belt is broken. The engine was not cooling and water inside was boiling because the cooling function of the car was not working due to a broken belt. I looked at the boiling water near the engine and got nervous because we were stranded in the middle of nowhere.

I can see a village far away on the hill, some motorist crossed by but traffic was very light and clouds were creating the dramatic effect. He called someone and spoke in Nepali for few minutes. The engine compartment was opened and he declared that we have to wait for sometime, so that engine cools naturally because there is no other option. After 15 minutes, he started the car. Now he was driving very carefully at slow speed to avoid heating of engine but the engine was getting hot faster because it was an uphill journey.

After driving for some time he stopped again for another 15 minutes before proceeding further. We reached a small village and he searched for the mechanic but unfortunately, the repair shop was closed. We waited another 15 minutes so that engine gets cool. Before starting he declared “Mam no problem we have a small uphill journey and after that, it is all downhill”. I was nervous but felt better with his optimistic words. Thankfully, I discovered he was right and I reached my resort without stopping.

It was a beautiful resort at the edge of a hill and near a village in the valley. The view was spectacular and I forgot all the trouble I had with the car. I explored the trails around the resort and met some school children before coming back to the resort. It was cloudy so it got dark little early. It was weekday so there were I, one couple and a family of 4 in the resort.

My room was nice with full glass window towards the valley. The balcony in front of the room was near the trail going down to the village. I settled in my room and all was well then suddenly electricity went and I found myself in the complete dark. Intercome in my room stopped working due to this and to be honest I got very scared.

I had traveled solo before but I never stayed in a property, which was as quiet as this. Moreover, there was no one staying in my row of rooms. I sat still in dark with no clue. After 5 minutes, somebody knocked on my door and announced that he got some candles for me. I opened the door (Due to dark I was quite scared, to be honest), the attendant gave me few candles and a matchstick box. He informed that they have no idea when they will have electricity and due to some problem the solar energy backup is also not working.

The whole scenario made me a bit nervous but I had no option and pretended to be calm in front of him. He politely enquired if I would like to have dinner in a restaurant or in the room. I decided to have dinner in my room, which they served on time as per my requirement.

There was nothing to do in the dark because I didn’t carry my beloved Kindle for reading. I didn’t want to exhaust my phone’s battery. My room was looking very romantic is candles light but somehow I was feeling anxious. I decided to sleep because I have to wake up early next morning to watch the sunrise behind mountains.

Initially, I was not able to sleep because there were many insects creating strange noise in open area around my room. It was very quiet so every little noise was very prominent. Some of the inspects were colliding with the glass wall because the light of candles was passing through the curtains. I had set the alarm for morning and blown off the candles. Thankfully I slept instantly and woke up next morning around 5.00 AM when my alarm went off.

Fortunately, there was electricity when I woke up next morning. I was happy because I have hot water for bathing as geyser was working. Getting up at 5 in the morning probably isn’t one’s idea of a holiday, but it is something that I regularly do whenever I am traveling and wanted to watch the sunrise in hills or sea. I went to the upper area of the resort, which was adjacent to the restaurant.

Nagarkot Nepal is one of those places, which commands one of the broadest views of the Himalayas in Nepal. The 8 Himalayan ranges in Nepal out of 13 are visible from here. These ranges include Annapurna range, Manaslu range, Langtang range, Jugal range, Ganesh himal range, Rolwaling range, Mahalangur range also known as Everest range and Numbur range.

It is good place to prepare before the Everest base camp trek.

I watched a beautiful sunrise behind the mountains in Nagarkot Nepal. I had a wonderful vantage point high on the roof of my peaceful resort in Nagarkot Nepal, from where I was fortunate to watch a good sunrise with clouds.

I guess it would be difficult to describe in words the magical sight with the surreal glow of sun over the snow-capped peaks. Turning blue to grey and then to the orange ball of fire rising in Himalayan peaks. It was a month of August but morning and evenings were cold.After breakfast, I went for a walk in raw trails of Nagarkot Nepal. I didn’t go for a hike because I was alone and secondly I just wanted to relax.

When it was time to go back to Kathmandu, I asked the driver if car is repaired. He informed that there is no mechanic in this area and we have to drive till midway. He enthusiastically informed, “Mam no problem because engine is absolutely cool and we have few km of uphill, then it will be downhill journey”.
After surviving a ride in broken car and no electricity at night, I was feeling relax.

I started from Nagarkot Nepal in our broken car. After driving uphill for few km, it was all downhill journey. We reached the repair shop without any hessal. The mechanic was ready with the fan belt and within 15 minutes we were all set to drive back to Kathmandu.

For nature lovers and outdoor enthusiasts, there are lots of hiking opportunities in and around Nagarkot Nepal.

There are several trails around the Nagarkot and leads to different villages around. These are a great way to explore the rural life of Nepal.

The Paragliding in Nagarkot Nepal with Everest view is another popular activity, though there are more options for paragliding in the Pokhara Valley.

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