Hi Memphis Queen,
Your hotel is in the extremely touristy area Thamel so my first recommendation is - if you would like to see Nepal (or even Kathmandu) try to leave this area as much as possible. It is fun for a little while but is really overcrowded with tourists, touts, and not the best side of Nepal.
In Thamel there is a good Banana Leaf restaurant across the road from Pilgrim's guest house serving local food.
As far as local beverages - the beer is just standard but there are some home brews (tongpa (a barley based drink) and chang (rice beer)). Also try to find some "rak-si" which is moonshine.
Stuff probably not in the guidebooks...
If you decide to stay a bit longer and are around for a full moon (This year May 17th) then head to Pashipati temple for a free Nepali classical music concert at one of the smaller temples starting late afternoon (usually around 3) and going into the night (7-9). There is usually an assortment of tablas, sitars, and singers that rotate through. It's a casual event but is a great time to experience the temple. Also on the full moon- May is the time of the Buddha's birthday which is a fairly large event throughout Nepal but especially in Boudhanath. In the evenings there will be many butter lamps around the stupa and prayer ceremonies.
In Boudha most Saturdays there is a free lecture on varying topics in Buddhism at the Rangjung Yeshe Institute. starting at 11am. An awesome local place to eat is an unsuspecting place across from the Stupa main gate "Stupa Thakali" (The thakali set is highly recommended here)
If you want to go for a mini trek for a few days then check out the
Indigenous people's trail . You can start at Nepalchowk and just trek up for a few days and see waterfalls, caves, local villages, etc. It is one of the nicest treks that is within a few hours of Kathmandu.
This is probably in your guidebook but if you would like to experience a small bit of the mountains for a day or two and get out of the city then places of interest are Nagarkot, Dhulekel (Namo Buddha), Shivapuri park, and Parphing.
Hope some of this helps. Let me know if you have specific questions.
Originally Posted by
MemphisQueen
My (then) husband and I will be in Kathmandu for a few days prior to the start of an overland Nepal - Tibet (via base camp) trip as part of our honeymoon. The Crowne Plaza seemed to be a bit away from the action when we looked online. We booked the top rated hotel from tripadvisor -
Hotel Courtyard - which seems to be in a good location.
As we have to give up our passports for these few days while the tour agency obtains our visas for entry into Tibet and onward into mainlaind China, we are looking for suggestions of off-the-beaten-path-FT-approved places to visit / restaurants not to miss, etc within Kathmandu itself. Our official tour begins in Kathmandu on the 10th, and I assume they'll take us to some of the biggies - like Durbar Square, etc. So stuff not in our guidebooks!
We'll be there May 8-10, 2011, if that helps.