Patan is at its best before the city wakes up. At sunrise its Durbar Square belongs to the people who use it every day: women carrying offerings of flowers and rice, men ringing temple bells on the way to work, and the first tea stalls lighting their stoves.
Start beside the stone Krishna Mandir, then walk north through narrow lanes to the Golden Temple, a Buddhist monastery courtyard glittering with gilded metal. A little further on, the five-tiered Kumbheshwar temple rises above a sacred water tank.
As shutters lift, you'll hear the tapping of Patan's metalworkers, whose families have cast and hammered statues here for generations. Stop for a cup of milky chiya and a plate of sel roti, then return to the square when the Patan Museum opens — the palace building itself is one of the most beautiful in the valley.
Take your time, step aside for people at prayer, and follow the smell of incense. In Patan, the side streets are the main attraction.
