Balthali’s altitude -1600 meter
Driving hours – about an hour
Hiking hours –
Overnight stay at a hotel in Balthali

Our first day of the Balthali Village hike package will start from Kathmandu. After you finish your breakfast in Kathmandu, we will pick you up from your hotel. Then you will get into our private vehicle heading east of the Kathmandu valley. We will head towards Dhulikhel, which is around an hour’s ride from the valley. The time might vary based on the traffic on the road.

After our arrival at Dhulikhel, we will walk towards Namobuddha. Namobuddha is a very popular visit location for both local as well as international tourists. It is a nearby getaway point from the city, away from all the urban hustle and pollution.

Namobuddha is essentially a monastery that also goes by the name Thrangu Tashi Yangtse. People from all around the world visit the monastery to meditate and practice Buddhism. The region is believed to be a sacred place for Buddhists. Myths say that Lord Buddha saved a tiger dying of hunger by cutting off his flesh here. Some myths also believe an incarnation of Buddha was born here.

From Namobudhha, we will head further toward our beautiful destination of, Balthali village. After around 3 to 4 hours of hike, huge terraced farmlands filled with greenery will welcome you. This will be the main part of our hike, the Balthali village. Upon arrival, we will check into our hotel and have our long-awaited post-hike meal.

After food, you can observe the nearby location and walk around. You will find beautiful vistas of mountains in the north and forests in the south. The overall experience of arriving in the village will be very relaxing. We will not exhaust ourselves a lot today and save exploration for the next day.

For the night we will get back to our hotel, have dinner and mark the end of day one.

Balthali village altitude – 1600 meter
Overnight stay at a hotel in Balthali village

Today, we have the day packed with an exploration schedule. The Balthali village has rich nature, wildlife as well as culture. We will try to catch every aspect of this beautiful village during our exploration.

We begin by walking towards a settlement that lies at the junction of the Ladku and Roshi streams. The region houses a thick lush forest with a myriad of faunas. You will find the forests are also a great location for bird watchers.

There will be terraced fields and local villagers working in the field. The locals here can be seen working conventionally and discarding modern tools. People of indigenous tribes, Tamangs, and Newards live in the area. There is even a small settlement of Tamangs called Danda Gaun. The Buddhist community of Tamangs lives in this region. You will find this settlement too is very secluded from the urban lifestyle.

After exploring the village, we will walk towards another village called Pada Gaun. The place gives you excellent vistas of the Himalayas in the north. Mountains like Lantang, Manaslu, Ganesh Himal, Gauri Shankar, and even Everest are visible. You can also see the forest of the Mahabharat range spectacularly in the south.

You can watch the sunset with the golden hour rays hitting the mountains and the forest. It will be a spectacular sight.

After the whole day’s worth of exploration, we will get back to our hotel. Dinner and a good night’s sleep will mark the end of day two of the Balthali Village hike.

Panauti’s altitude – 1504 meters
Hiking hours –
Driving hours – about an hour
Overnight stay at Kathmandu

We will bid the Balthali village farewell today and head back to Kathmandu. Our route will be a little different than the one we took on day one. We will first kick off a hike to reach the Newari village called Panauti. The city lies in the midst of the Araniko highway and is around 7km south of Banepa. The village lies in the sacred convergence point of Roshi Khola and Punyamati Khola.

The village lies in the shape of a triangle with an idol of a naga (serpent) on every three corners. People believe that serpents protect the village from flood, hence the statue.

The village has very fascinating buildings in its midst. If you walk west towards the brick lane at the north and turn right before the main road, there is a platform. This is a large square-shaped music platform. Along with that, there is a large white stupa, a temple of Brahmyani, and classic Newari complexes. These Newari architectures are very fascinating.

If architecture and craft pique your interest, you will love the woodcarving on temples of the area. There is a temple of Unamanta Bhairab in the south. It shows a structure of three faces seen through the upstairs window. Along with that, the temple also has a statue of Bhairab and a goddess. There is also a tiny Shiva temple in the vicinity of the temple. You can find it right in the courtyard of the Unamanta Bhairab temple. There is also a second shrine with a massive image of Vidhnu as Narayan on the west face. The compound of the temple is also considered the Panauti Museum. There you can find an exhibition of artifacts originating from the area.

There is also the Indreshwor Mahadev temple in this region. It is considered one of the most ancient architectures built in the pagoda style. History believes it was built in 1294 AD and then rebuilt back in the 15th century. The temple is a three-tier structure of the Hindu deity lord Shiva.

Along with these religious sites and temples, there are also vintage mansions in the area. The Ranas of Nepal had built some mansions in this remote village back in the day. Such mansions were modern for Nepal at the time as the French government assisted to build them.

After exploring all these fascinating structures of the Panauti village, we will take a drive. This drive will finally lead us back to Kathmandu. Upon return to the city, we will drop you off back at your hotel. This will mark the end of our short 3 days Balthali Village hike.