Chances are you are going to Nepal for one of four reasons, a trekking adventure, a volunteering trip, working, maybe you are going to backpack around Asia and Nepal happens to be a stop. No matter the reason, at some point you are going to want to cut loose for a night or two in Kathmandu, because you've deserved it #treatyoself. Here is a recommendation on how to enjoy your evenings in Kathmandu, I personally researched all of these places, it was tough work you guys.
A few key pieces of information you'll want to know before you start your night off:
* Bars typically close around 11pm - I use the word typically because they might stay open later, it completely depends on the establishment.
* There are after hours bars - careful though because I went to one and at 12:15am they locked every floor of the 3 storey building. Was I finally realizing my dream of being locked in a bar? Or was it the start of a made for tv movie, about the travelling nomad daughter who decided to go to the "after hours" bar with a guy who knew the area, except that Liam Neeson is not her father. But I digress.
* I would recommend starting dinner at 6pm, by the time you leave the restaurant it will be around 8pm, and then you only have about 4 hours of partying time. I mean if you're staying in a hostel and strike up a good relationship with the owners you can easily have an after after party at your place.
Alright let's start your night off, this was the song I chose to be my anthem of the evening, just to set the mood of what nightlife will be like.
Whether you are starting off your trip with partying, or ending your trip with a night out, you will want/need to eat food other than Dal (rice, lentils, curried vegetables). A place I went to twice was Fire & Ice in the Thamel District of Kathmandu, a great italian restaurant with a huge selection of pizza and pasta. Please note the Spicy Buffalo pizza was very spicy, a guy in our team ordered it, it was sometimes painful to watch him try to eat it.
So following Lonely Planet's stellar recommendations, my friend and I headed to the legendary Sam's Bar, where for an evening I was transported back to Negril Jamaica, because it was all reggae music. The clientale of this bar ranged from ex-pats, backpackers, members of a commonwealth country's army (the country shall remain nameless), and a wide range of ages, late teens to people in their 60s. So literally everyone who you would see walking around Kathmandu during the day will be here. Everyone is super friendly here, you just grab a seat whereever and starting chatting with people at your table. They have an extensive drink menu, everyone signs the walls, the bathrooms are pretty bad so make sure you have your hand sanitizer.
Around 11pm, my friend and I left this bar with a person we met at Sam's, and said person knew where there was an after hours, I want to say the name of the place was The Fire Club (go to the 3rd floor of the club - trust me), it was probably a 3 minute walk from Sam's. It was obviously dodgy, but the moment I entered I thought ok this is so awesome, there are cats in here, they are showing English Premiership soccer on the television, its super dark, just epic right? Time passed and then when I saw members of the Kathmandu Police force enter around Midnight, i thought "yup, ok meaghan, this is starting to resemble a scene from Dateline NBC, perhaps we should go" - the 3 of us tried to leave the bar but as we went down the stairs we realized we were locked in. You know what came to the rescue? My good old trusty maglite !!
For the rest of the story of that evening, stay tuned for my never to be published memoir entitled "So this one time in..."
After my friend and I recovered the next day, thanks to the Roadhouse Cafe, hands down one of the best greasy spoons I've been to, I had a delicious plate of nachos with a side of regret. The food is great, they have a solid drink menu, and the BEST soundtrack, solid 90s grunge, I highly recommend this place, it has a lovely patio, if you like the sunlight.
So on this evening, my friend and I decided to "take it easy", again what started as an evening with good intentions, ended with us walking through an alleyway, into an emergency stairwell going into the Lhasa Bar, a really awesome bar with a great cover band, I took so many videos, I might upload a few to youtube. This was a really neat place to spend my last night in Kathmandu, you sit on a raised platform of a floor, you can order shisha's, and just spend the night singing along with the band. Someone from the bar even joined the band for some covers of The Doors.
In conclusion, have a great time in Kathmandu, trust me you will.
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