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For many people, stepping off a plane into Kathmandu is an exhilarating shock ¨C the sights, sounds and smells can quickly lead to sensory overload. Whether it be buzzing around the crazy polluted traffic in a taxi, trundling down the narrow winding streets of the old town in a rickshaw, marveling at Durbar Sq or dodging the tiger balm sellers and trekking touts in Thamel , Kathmandu can be an intoxicating, amazing and exhausting place.

As the largest city in the country, Kathmandu also feels like another developing-world city rushing into a modern era of concrete and traffic pollution. Take a walk in the backstreets, however, and the capital¡¯s amazing cultural and artistic heritage reveals itself in hidden temples overflowing with marigolds, courtyards full of drying chills and rice, and tiny hobbit-sized workshops largely unchanged since the Middle Ages.

Kathmandu has been a travelers mecca since the 1960s but these days you¡¯re less likely to see a tie-dyed hippy in search of enlightenment than a well-heeled Gore-Tex-clad tourist in search of a good espresso. With tourists numbers down and political tensions up, the last few years have been uncertain, yet residents have retained a good-humoured self-respect.

Kathmandu id well worth a week of your time, but it¡¯s too easy to spend too much time stuck in touristy Thamel. Enjoy the internet cafes, the Western music and the lemon cheesecake, but make sure you also get out into the ¡®real Nepal¡¯, before your time runs out.

HIGHLIGHTS
*Stroll around Kathmandu¡¯s medieval-like old town and soak up its atmosphere
*Appreciate the amazing architectural monuments of Durbar Square, an artistic and architectural tradition that rivals anything you¡¯ll find in the great cities of Europe
*Dine in one of the city¡¯s superb Newari restaurants, with the accompaniment of traditional dances
*Shop till you drop in Thamel for cut-price CDs, books, backpacks, carpets and handicrafts
*Chill out in one of Thamel¡¯s rooftop garden restaurants, with a good book and a slice of chocolate cake
*Take day trips out to the nearby Unesco World Heritage Sites of Swayambhunath, Pashupatinath, Bodhnath and Patan