Lumbini
Lumbini, the birthplace of Siddhartha Gautam, the Shakya prince and the ultimate Buddha, the Enlightened One, is the pilgrimage destination of the world's millions of people faithful to all schools of Buddhism. Thisnativity site, identified by Indian Emperor Ashoka's comme-morative pillar is listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
The main attraction at the Lumbini remains the Sacred Garden spread over 8sq km and possessing all the treasures of the historic area. The Mayadevi temple is the main attraction for pilgrims and archaeologists alike. Here we find a bas relief of Mayadevi, the Buddha's mother giving birth to him. Standing west to the Mayadevi shrine is the oldest monument of Nepal, the Ashokan Pillar. The pillar was erected by Emperor Ashoka in 249BC to commemorate his pilgrimage to the sacred site. To the south of the pillar, we find the sacred pond, Puskarni, where Queen Mayadevi had taken a bath just before giving birth to the Buddha.
There are other places of interest too nearby. It is accessible by air from Kathmandu it takes about eight hours by bus or car.
Tansen
Tansen is a bright Himalayan town situated on the slopes of a hill called Shreenagar Danda. Situated at an altitude of 1343 meter above the sea level. Tansen is the most popular summer resort in western Nepal's most far stretching views of the country's chief attraction the Himalayas, From Dhaulagiri in the west to Gaurishanker in the north -east from Shreenagar Danda one can have the views of sweeping Tinau river valley below and the surrounding Churia and Mahabharat hills including Terai's flat lands to the far south. Tansen is the headquarter of Palpa District.
Tansen is easily accessible. It takes just five hours by bus from pokhara to reach Tansen along the Sidarth Highway. The distance between Pokhara and Tansen is 123 kilometers. Situated midway along the route from Pokhara to Lumbini birth placed of Lord Buddha, it is a convenient stop on the way to or form Chitwan National Park.
Trek to Ridi, Tamghas, Sandhikharka, Pyutan, Dhorpatan, Swargadware, Baglung, Beni, Jomsom, Muktinath, Annapurna Region, Dhaulagiri Region, Machhapuchhre Base Camp, Pokhara and other places as well can be organized from or to Tansen.
Nagarkot
There are various places around the edge of the Katmandu Valley which offer great mountain views, but the resort village of Nagarkot is generally held to be the best mountain watchers make their way up to the village, stay overnight in one of Nagarkot's lodges or hotels than rise at dawn to see the sun appear over the Himalayas.
Nagarkot is popular tourist resort of Nepal. It is situated 32 Kilometers east of Katmandu at an altitude of 2175m. Above from sea level. The panorama of the major peaks of eastern Nepal Himalayas including Mt. Everest can be seen from here. Himalayan peaks like Manaslu (8463m) Ganesh Himal (7111m) Langtang (7246m) Gaurishanker (7134m) can also clearly seen from Nagarkot. A motor able road links Nagarkot with Bhaktapur.
Gorkha Durbar
The Gorkha township is the Headquarters of the district of the same name Gorkha is the birthplace of king Prithvi Narayan Shah, the Great, the founder of modern Nepal, hence it is the ancestral home of the Shah. Kings of Nepal. Situated on a hill overlooking the snowy peaks of the Himalayas, there is said to have been built by King Ram Shah, King Prithvi Narayan Shah began his campaign to unity the Kingdom from this palaces of Gorkha.
There are two attractive temples of Gorakhnath and Kali inside the palace precinct Gorkha Durbar is certaily one of the most outstanding examples of Nepalese architecture. Only Hindus are allowed inside the temple of Gorakhnath , where from the town derives its name The World famous Gurkha Soldiers hail from this place. Gorkha cab be reached in about four hours from Kathmandu and in about two hours from Pokhara. Regular buses for Gorkha leave at 7 AM every morning from the center Bus Terminal. A side trip to manakamana either from Gorkha or from Kahireni of Prithvi Highway is very enjoyable and interesting.
Manakamana Temple
Goddess Manakamana is highly noted as a wishful filling goddess through out the country. The holy temple of goddess Manakamana lies on a beautiful ridge west of Kathmandu valley. It is said that she is the younger sister of goddess Kali. She is regarded to be a very sacred goddess. The temple is important from the historical and archeological point of view. It is a famous pilgrimage site for Hindus. Manakamana is four hours walk up hill from the highway. On the occasion of Visit Nepal Year 1998, the cable cars have been plied from Kurintar Village, Chitwan to the hill of Manakamana, which takes only 8 minutes to reach there.
Daman
Daman is situated 80 kilometers southwest of Katmandu at an altitude of about 2,400m. Daman is located on the Tribhuvan Highway in between Katmandu and the town of Birgunj. For the view of breathtaking grandeur of the world's highest peaks extending in one glittering are from far-west of Dhaulagiri to far east of Mt. Everest there is no better place than Daman. There is a view tower fitted with long-range telescopes. Daman can be reached in four hours drive from Katmandu.
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