After about a five hour walk, we finally reached Namobuddha, a fairly pokey Buddhist temple sitting isolated atop a hill. The temple marks the spot where the Buddha was wandering about Nepal and came across a tiger about to eat a child, and the Buddha offered up his own flesh if the tiger spared the child (to end the suspense, the tiger spares both). It's quite a beauty spot, and the day we came there was some community festival, and we had a bit to eat and drink with the celebrants. All in all, a great day out, but one last word of warning before you set out. The word Circuit in Namobuddha Circuit is misleading, since once you get to your destination, your only choice is to retrace your steps all the way back to Dhulikhel.

I know, mountains, mountains yadda yadda yadda...But the Namobuddha Circuit, in addition to having great mountain views, is also a great walk because it passes through several villages and farms along the way. It takes all day, and is pretty dusty at times, but it's well worth the walk. Besides, these mountains are different from the ones I showed you near Pokhara, and somewhere in this range is Mt. Everest, with Tibet on the other side of the snowcapped peaks. Naturally when we saw Everest we dashed over there and scaled it as well, but I don't want to distract from our discussion of the Namobuddha Circuit, so I won't show the photos of our planting a Thaimerican flag at the top.

In the afternoon we walked around the fairly sizeable town of Dhulikhel. It's been around for centuries, but was never a power center and too remote to be caught up in all the constant battling. The result is a city with no real archtectural wonders, but also very well preserved. It's a fun place to explore and watch daily life away from the tourist circuit. I wouldn't make a special trip just to see it, and definitely not for the Sunrise Walk, but Dhulikhel is also the starting point for a great mountain walk to Namobuddha, which is our next activity for our final day in Nepal.

In the afternoon, the hotel provided us with a 4 year old guide to hike up the mountain to a Hindu shrine to Kali, (which is also very easy to find on your own without the child labour). The shrine was closed but it's a great place to chill and soak in the mountain views. The next morning we did what Dhulikhel is famous for, the Sunrise walk. Our hotel is located quite close to the viewpoint that is the Sunrise walk's destination, which is a good thing, because I'd be really pissed if I traveled far for this. Strike 1: We have to get up at 4 am and trundle up the hill in arctic conditions in absolute darkness. Strike 2: When we get there, there are a few fellow travelers and hordes of locals selling the usual tourist garbage or begging. They're relentless and you're outnumbered ten to one. Strike 3: It's just a sunrise, and I really couldn't see how it differed from other sunrises around the world. The view over the mountains is nice, but it's exactly the same view we would have had at our hotel over breakfast, without the touts and the biting cold. Not a big fan...

43. Dhulikhel

In Dhulikhel we stayed at the very friendly, and very basic, Himalaya Shangrila Lodge. The lodge is perched on the mountainside, with a fairly grand hall used for meals and drinks. Breakfast and drinking take place outside on a wraparound balcony with stunning views, while meals are inside in a pretty basic dining room. The rooms are located in fairly flimsy buildings spread along the mountain, which do a pretty poor job of keeping the frigid Himalayan blasts from freezing you in your sleep. They do provide you with a hot water bottle just before bedtime to try to warm the bed up a bit, but nighttimes were pretty brutal. And remember, this was April, so I can't imagine what the winter is like. Himalaya ShangriLa (3) Room-2, Facilities-2, Service-6, Wow-0 (unless you count the much appreciated hot water bottle)