The Longest Way Home Travel Blog

The Dog Festival or Kukur Tihar Day two of the week long Tihar festival in Nepal and it’s much more colorful than the previous days crow festival. It’s the celebration of “man’s best friend” the dog. Known as Kukur Tihar (Nepalese) or Khichā Pujā (Newar) it’s celebrated all over the country by both Hindus, Newars and tourists …

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Tihar in Nepal is a festival of crows, dogs, cows, people and light Tihar is the second largest festival in Nepal, (the largest is Shivaratri) which consists of several smaller festivals. It is also known as Deepwali (India) or Swanti (Newari). It is an incredible festival of color, animals, lights and people. Over the next five …

Continue reading “The Crow festival: Day one of Tihar Festival in Nepal”

The Fourth Kumari While many people have heard of the Kumari Living Goddess in Nepal, few more know that there are three main Kumaris in the Kathmandu Valley. Located in Kathmandu city, Bhaktapur and in Patan. What many people may not know about the Kumari culture is that there is a fourth, main, Kumari. The …

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Patan’s famous cityscape has not changed much! Patan, or Lalitpur as it’s known locally, is one of the central attractions in the Kathmandu Valley. It’s known as the “city of artists”. After the 2015 earthquake people said Patan had been flattened. This is simply not true. Patan lost over five temples. However some are not …

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Coming to Nepal during the Dashain festival? Here’s how to handle it Dashain in Nepal is commonly referred to as Nepal’s greatest festival. However to a tourist visiting Nepal, you may not feel the same way. In fact Dashain can be a serious annoyance to you on your holiday or you take advantage of it and …

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Nepalese Weddings I’ve never been to an actual Nepalese wedding. I’ve come across a few, tentatively. Usually by accident on a Saturday when out for a walk. The most common sight is a tent, lots of ladies in colorful sarees and gents in suits. But as an outsider with a camera I never felt it …

Continue reading “A Nepalese Wedding in an Ancient Newari Temple”

Nine long years after Nepal’s civil war the people finally have a constitution About nine years ago I arrived in Nepal. The country had just ended a civil war, had removed a monarchy and were still battling Maoist violence. Bandas (strikes were common) as were riots and protests. For the following nine years political turmoil hindered nearly …

Continue reading “Nepal Celebrates its New Constitution”