Kathmandu Durbar Square

Royal palace square in the old city of Kathmandu, Nepal. In On the Hippie Trail it is the heart of the Hippie Trail’s destination.

At a glance

Source	Author	Role	In one line
On the Hippie Trail	Rick Steves	setting	Journey’s end: temples, the Kumari’s balcony and a night wander through the square.

On the Hippie Trail — Rick Steves (2025)

Source: On the Hippie Trail · Original · Readwise highlight

I lost myself in Durbar Square. This was a tangled, medieval-ish world of tall, terraced temples; fruit and vegetable stands; thin, wild, and hungry people praying, begging, and going through rituals;

• Role: setting
• In the book: In Kathmandu they take a hotel on the square, climb its temples, see the erotic carvings and the living goddess Kumari on her balcony, and return at night to wander the square and climb a pagoda. Nearby are the hippie cafés of Pig Alley.
• Why it matters: The square is the heart of the trail’s destination city.