Learn Nepal before you go

10 phrases to learn

In Nepali. Capital letters show the stressed part. Tap the heart to practise a phrase later.

At the table

• Many Nepalis eat with their right hand. The left hand is not used for eating or for passing food.
• Wash your hands before and after the meal. Mix rice and dal with your fingertips and push the food into your mouth with your thumb.
• Do not touch food that other people will eat, and do not put anything that has touched your mouth back into a shared dish. Some strict Hindus consider such food impure.
• Dal bhat is often refilled until you say you have had enough. The Nepali word for that is 'pugyo'.
• Because Hindus hold cattle sacred, beef is not part of traditional Nepali cooking. Goat and chicken are the usual meats; buffalo is eaten by some communities but avoided by others, and some families are vegetarian.
• Avoid touching shared water jugs and containers. Let your host pour water into your own glass or bottle.

Local tips

Dishes to try

• Dal bhat (दाल भात): The national meal: steamed rice (bhat) with a thin lentil soup (dal), served with vegetable curry, pickle and sometimes meat.
• Dhindo (ढिँडो): A very thick porridge made by stirring buckwheat, millet or maize flour into boiling water until it is stiff. A small ball is shaped with the fingers, dipped in soup or gundruk and swallowed.
• Gundruk (गुन्द्रुक): Leaves of mustard, radish and cauliflower that are fermented in a pot for about a week and then dried in the sun. It is cooked into a sour soup or a spicy pickle and keeps all winter.
• Momo (मम): Small dumplings of thin wheat dough filled with spiced minced buffalo, chicken, pork or vegetables, steamed and served with a spicy tomato-based dipping sauce (achar). They are the most popular snack in the country.
• Sel roti (सेल रोटी): A sweet, ring-shaped bread made from a batter of rice flour, sugar and ghee, poured by hand into hot oil. Crisp outside and soft inside, it is made in large batches for the Dashain and Tihar festivals.
• Yomari (योमरी): A steamed dumpling of glutinous rice flour with a pointed tip, filled with chaku (a dark molasses) and sesame, or with sweet milk solids called khuwa. It is the star of the Yomari Punhi festival at the end of the rice harvest.
• Juju dhau (जुजु धौ): A thick, creamy, slightly sweet yoghurt from Bhaktapur, made from buffalo milk and set in clay pots. It is served at the end of Newar feasts and sold in pots all over the Kathmandu Valley.
• Chatamari (चतांमरि): A thin rice-flour crepe cooked on a griddle and often topped with minced meat, egg or vegetables. It is made for festivals and special days.

Cities to see

• Kathmandu (capital): Kathmandu Durbar Square and the Kumari's house, Swayambhunath, the Monkey Temple, The great stupa of Boudhanath.
• Pokhara: Phewa Lake and the Lakeside district, Views of Machhapuchhre and the Annapurnas, The start of Annapurna treks.
• Lalitpur: Patan Durbar Square, The stone Krishna Mandir of 1637, The Golden Temple (Hiranya Varna Mahavihar).
• Bhaktapur: Bhaktapur Durbar Square, The five-roofed Nyatapola temple, Juju dhau, the king of yoghurt.
• Bharatpur: The gateway to Chitwan National Park, The Narayani River, Narayangadh market.
• Biratnagar: The Biratnagar Jute Mills, Industry and trade, The border crossing to India at Jogbani.

Landmarks and the city map are on the Nepal trip