Will be in Kathmandu a full day before and after our trip to Bhutan. Looking for a guide for the day. Any suggestions?

Absolutely no need for a guide. You will need a car and driver or you can use a taxi. There are official guides at each of the Durbar Squares if you want a guide.

There are so many world heritage sites in the Kathmandu Valley! Figure out which ones you want to visit, as you don't have time for all of them. Here are the photos from a trip in 2008. They may help you choose which places to visit: https://marlandc.smugmug.com/Nepal-2008

Don't miss the Stupa at Boudhanath. The best times are at dawn or dusk, too early or too late for most tourists, the place comes to life and is magical...

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attrac...al_Region.html

We stayed at the Shechen guest house in Boudhanath for our final 2 nights in Nepal...

https://www.shechenguesthouse.com.np/

...a wonderful and inexpensive place. It's also only a short taxi ride from the Airport, so v.convenient.

Thanks Kathie. We'll be staying at the Hyatt 2 nights before the morning flight to Bhutan. Gives us one evening and one full day. I'm sure the Hyatt can arrange a car and driver.

Which begs the question, is the Hyatt within walking distance to Boudhanatha?

Yep, but if you want to catch the magic of dawn and dusk, then it'll be dark.

Yes, it is walking distance. We walked there both morning and evening.

If you do decide to walk out in the dark in Kathmandu, then here's a few tips...

- Sidewalk [pavements] are more often than not broken up, with plenty of trip hazards.

- Power shed-loading happens daily, and often for hours on end. Big hotel like the Hyatt have generators so are fine. But out and about it can be dark, often very dark.

- There's a short way of getting from the Hyatt to Boudhanath, but it's not necessarily the safest way.

Always carry a torch and spare batteries, and keep to the beaten track.

It's almost 4 years since we spent almost 3 weeks in Kathmandu and Kathmandu Valley, and another couple of weeks in Pokhara and Bandipur. Amongst other stuff that I posted, I had a go at this, and please remember that I only used 8 letters of the alphabet...

KATHMANDU - WHAT'S IT LIKE? Like a lot of cities in Developing countries, Kathmandu will mean different things to different people. A lot will depend on how much homework you did on the place prior to travelling, your expectations, length of stay, who you're travelling with, and your budget.

I think that Kathmandu can be described by many with just a couple of words "S**t Hole" or by many other people by a million words. The former will have wanted to get the heck out of it within minutes of landing, and the latter will have been prepared to get stuck into the place and loiter for a while.

The following is a Cross-stick of the word K-A-T-H-M-A-N-D-U. I'll be glad to expand on any of the words in the cross-stick...

K – Kilns; Khaotic; Kalamatous; Kocophonous; Krazy

A – Acrid; Airless; Armless; Airborne; Amazing

T – Tortuous; Traumatic; Testing; Toilet; Tricky; Traffic; Tramps; Torch; Transport; Tuberculosis; Theatrical

H – Hellish; Horns; Harrowing; Hopelessness; Humbling; Homeless; Handwash; HIV

M – Manic; Mange; Menacing; Monotonous; Monstrous; Morbid; Melodious; Medicine

A – Arduous

N – Noisy; Nauseous

D – Dirty; Dusty; Dogs; Debris; Dank; Dangerous; Difficult; Draining; Deafening; Drinking-water; Diarrhoea

U – Ugly; Unhygenic; Unclean; Unreliable; Unhealthy; Unbelievable