Introducing Bhaktapur

Bhaktapur, also known as Bhadgaon (pronounced bud-gown and meaning 'City of Rice') in Nepali, or Khwopa (City of Devotees) in Newari, is the third major town of the valley. Traffic free, the traditionally intact town is also in many ways the most timeless. The cobblestone streets link a string of temples, courtyards and monumental squares, and the sidestreets are peppered with shrines, wells and water tanks.

The lack of traffic makes walking through Bhaktapur a pleasure and certainly more enjoyable than walking in Kathmandu. The town's cultural life is also vibrant, with centuries-old traditions of craftsmanship and strong communities of potters, woodcarvers and weavers. Look for rice laid out to dry in the sun, people collecting water or washing under the communal taps, dyed yarns hung out to dry, children's games, fascinating shops and women pounding grain - there's plenty to see.

Perhaps most entrancing of all is Bhaktapur's effortless blending of the modern and medieval, thanks largely to the German-funded Bhaktapur Development Project, which restored buildings, paved dirt streets and established sewerage and wastewater management facilities in the 1970s.