Kathmandu Day Trip around Kathmandu: Budhanilkantha and Hike to Shivapuri National Park through Nagi Gompa
Shivapuri Day Hike is a perfect hike for those people visiting Nepal who cannot go for longer and higher treks. Shivapuri, located at the height of 2732 m in the northern part of Kathmandu, is the second-highest hill around Kathmandu Valley. It offers a nice jungle walk through sprawling forest to Shivapuri, a natural environment, and a spectacular mountain view of Manaslu, Ganesh Himal, Langtang Himal, and Gaurishankar Himal to the east. Exploring cultural villages is more rewarding, which are located near the source of the holy Bagmati River, a paradise for bird watchers. The good thing about hiking in the Shivapuri area is that there are numerous options—whether to hike for just 2 or 3 hours or for an entire day—there are choices. If you look for a short hike around this area, then we can walk up to Nagi Gompa and end the hike at Kapan Gompa.
From Budhanilkantha, we walk through the Shivapuri conservation area. This is the government-protected forest where over 500 species are found. We start our hike from the southern boundary of the area where the army checkpoint is located. Nagi Gompa, situated at an altitude of 2330 m north of Kathmandu and above Budhanilkantha Temple, is only a monastery for the nuns who practice Buddhism, and foreigners often come there for meditation. It is a steep uphill hike through a narrow and dusty trail for about half an hour and two hours of gradual uphill trial to Shivapuri. After lunch and hanging around from sometime, we take a short cut down hill trail to Kopan. We can visit the grand Full Hari and Kapan Monasteries on the way back, then drive back to Kathmandu.