Kathmandu Durbar SquareIn the distant dawn of unrecorded time, so legend tells us, the valley of Kathmandu was a turquoise lake with a wondrous lotus flower resting on it. Manjushree, a patriarch saint from China sliced the valley wall with his flaming sword of wisdom at Chovar and let the dry land appear. The lotus flower settled on the valley floor over which Manjushree built the great stupa of Swayambhunath. The Kathmandu valley comprises the three ancient royal cities of Patan, Bhaktapur and Kathmandu having their own palaces and ornate palace squares each listed as World Heritage sites. You will walk through the cobbled lanes of the palace squares with a fascinating maze of temples, shrines, market places and the valley life revolving around it. Included in the program are the holiest Buddhists sites that keep watches over the valley from atop a hillock and Boudhnath stupa, the largest stupa in Nepal that rises 36m and Pashupatinath, regarded as the holiest temple for the Hindus and also a site for cremation rites.