Thamel is a commercial neighborhood located in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal. It is a heaven for tourists visiting the city. Thamel is known by its narrow alleys crowded with various shops and vendors commonly sold goods include food, fresh vegetables/fruits, pastries, trekking gear, walking gear, music, DVDs, handicrafts, souvenirs, woolen items and clothes. Thamel is a house of numerous hotels, restaurants, pubs and clubs that caters specifically to western tourists. It is located in the northern region of Kathmandu. Thamel is an easy walk from anywhere in central Kathmandu. Though the roads can be quite busy during the day, and the traffic can be quite busy.
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Best Things to do in Thamel
Thamel has been a booming tourist destination for many years as it offers lots of leisure, shopping and dining options. When you want to relax and have fun this is the best place to go in Nepal, as it contains several bars, clubs, motels and restaurants. Stick around as we take you through the best things to do in Thamel, Kathmandu. Get more information now
Freak Street - the forgotten utopia
Freak Street or Jhochhen Tole, is a small street located at the south of Kathmandu Darbar Square. Presently known as Old Freak Street, this ancient street was named Freak Street reffering to the happie trail of the 1960s and 1970s. a strict regulation for tourists regarding the
Freak Street was the epicentre during the Hippie trail from the early 1960s to late 1970s. During that time the main attraction drawing tourists to Freak Street was the government-run hashish shops. Hippies from different parts of the world traveled to Freak Street (Basantpur) in search of legal cannabis. Direct bus services to Freak Street were also available from the airport and borders targeting the hippies looking for legal smokes. Freak Street was a hippie nirvana, since marijuana and hashish were legal and sold openly in government licensed shops. A young restless populations in the west, seeking to distant itself from political and social frustration, had first hand contact with the fascinating culture, art and architecture, and unique life style that attracted hippies to Freak Street. But in the early 1970s the government of Nepal started a round-up of hippies on Freak Street and they were physically deported to India, an action propelled largely by a directive from the government of United States of America. The government imposed a strickt regulation for tourists regarding the dress code and physical appereances. After imposing such regulations by government the hippies felt vulnerable and the hippie movement of Nepal died out in the late 1970s. It was under this directive that the Nepali government came to ban the production and sale of hashish, and marijuana in Nepal. The hippie tourism was quickly replaced with the more commercial businesses of trekking and cultural tourism.
10 Facts About Thamel
If you are coming Nepal to cover Kathmandu tour or other adventures in the Himalayas, it will be a fantastic idea to know amazing facts about Thamel, a site always bustling with hordes of tourists. The 10 facts about amazing Thamel are listed here.
- Thamel has recently emerged as the most popular tourist area of Kathmandu. Thamel is 15 to 20 minutes walk from the center of Kathmandu. Ason Bazar, Darbar Square, and Syambhunath are a mere 10 to 30 minutes walk from Thamel
- Thamel has developed itself an epicenter of entertainment and glamour blending local and global experiences of human wonders. From its origin, it was established with the theme to satisfy the needs of tourists in every desired way. In-fact it gratifies all sort of entertainment from visual to physical to mental.
- Thamel has transcended itself to a new hub of glitter and glamour where it wakes-up in the night showcasing a new exhilaration and excitement in satisfying the zeal of visitors, where the sun sets down in Kathmandu, Thamel and its lifestyle rises up. It is a happening place in Nepal. The only place in Nepal where night life exists.
- Thamel also acts as the pre-base camp for mountaineers. It boasts a wide range of mountaineering gear shops, trekking agencies, foreign money exchange booths, pubs, clubs and nightlife along with the numerous travel lodges and guest houses.
- It is the best place in town to have fun. So there is no doubt that Thamel provides even domestic travelers with all what it takes to define luxury.
- It has hundreds of restaurants, cafes and coffee shops serving Nepali-western dishes in a single location. Visitors can nearly find anything they want in Thamel. German styled wannable backeries to WI-Fi enabled cafes. There are dozen of restaurants clustered in the Thamel serving everything from Italian, Israeli, French to Tibetan.
- Thamel has a vibrant ethnic culture practiced by its core population of the Newar community
- It is the image of Thamel that tourists carry in their mind for their remaining life as it is their first destination in Nepal.
- Being a main tourist hub of Kathmandu, Thamel boasts amenities such as Bank/ATM, Money exchange, Internet, Clinics, Guides, Cargo, Travel and Tour agencies, tailing and rental.
- Thamel recently became the most popular tourists area of Kathmandu. Thia area has become the center of Budget Travelers in recent years.
Get In: Gettng into Thamel is easy. It is about a 20 minute taxi drive from Tribhuvan International Airport or about a 15 minute drive from the bus station. Both will cost you around NPR 500 (around $5). You can also take the local bus from the station on Trivedi Marj next to Ratna Park. This costs as of June 2014 NPR 400 for tourists.
See: There are lots of shops selling everything from glass pipes to Tibetan singing bowls. Make sure you haggle the price to about 2/3 of the original price, also never state your price first always let the seller asks for a specific amount of money.
Buy: This is the shopping Mecca in Nepal. You can buy most of the things you want here. Some favorites are the incences, sold almost every where, prayers flags, and kurki swords. There are also a number of bookstores, outdoors outfitters, and banks in this district. ATM can be easily found and will give you 100, 500, or 1000 rupee notes. And don't forget to bargains as foreigners are always charged 2 to 3 times the actual prices.
Eat: There are numerous restaurants through out in Thamel. Thamel is known for having better hygiene than other parts of the country. Most hotels will have good restaurants in the same building. The food is more expensive here than in Chettrapati and elsewhere in the city and you can expect to spend around NPR 450-650 a plate (around $5-7). This doesn't include tea or beers. Tea will usually cost NPR 50 and beer can cost from NPR 200-350.
Ace Cafe and Bar: Good mix of Indian, Nepali and Western. Costs generally NPR 50-120. Located on first non-touristy street most of Thamel, across from the People's College.
Alchemy: a newly opened Italian restaurat. Excellent Italtian dishes and nothing else. Pizzas from NPR 300 and Pastas from NPR 280. It's about 100m before Chatrapati Chowk.
Al- Madina Halal Food: North Nepal. Excellent value for money, and some of the best food you'll find in Thamel. Simple little place, but friendly and the qualitys excellent . Typically tandoori offerings, curries and wraps. (Recommended)
Aqua Java Zing: A new restaurant in Thamel dining scene. Serving excellent international cuisine, including risottos, pastas, Thai curry and five-spice exotic vegetables. The dessert range and quality is excellent, and so is the coffee. They also serve Hookahas/ Shishas will over 100 flavours. Cost NPR 200-350. They are located just next to Helena's and opposite Galleria Cafe.
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Hotel Thamel Centrally located in Kathmandu City, Hotel Thamel is a 20-minute walk from Monkey Temple, the Garden of Dreams and the King's Palace. Providing free WiFi in the property, it also has 24-hour room service and same-day laundry services. Free parking is available.
Some guestrooms at Hotel Thamel have a balcony overlooking the city, as well as air conditioning or a fan. A TV and electric kettle are included. En suite bathrooms have a bathtub and shower. A tour desk offers travel assistance and car or motorbike rental. Currency exchange, laundry services and free private parking is available.
source wiki travel
Accomodation In Thamel
