Travel Photography | Magnificent Sunrise at Nagarkot | Nepal

© 2014 Wazari Wazir | Sunrise at Nagarkot | Nepal

Nagarkot is a village and Village Development Committee located 32 km east of Kathmandu, Nepal in Bhaktapur District in the Bagmati Zone. At an elevation of 2,195 meters, it is considered one of the most scenic spots in Bhaktapur District.

It is renowned for its sunrise view of the Himalaya including Mount Everest as well as other snow-capped peaks of the Himalayan range of eastern Nepal. Nagarkot also offers a panoramic view of the Kathmandu Valley.

Nagarkot is an international tourist destination with spectacular views of the whole Langtang range, sunrise on the mountains and sunset views. Located approx. 7000 ft (2000 m) above Sea level and 28 km from Kathmandu international airport, Nagarkot is a world famous hills station commanding breathtaking views of the majestic Himalayas, rolling hills, deep valleys, lush pine forests in a quaint rural atmosphere.

Considered as the best viewpoint spot to enjoy the magnificent sunrise and sunset with spectacular Himalayan vistas, Nagarkot commands one of the broadest views of the snow capped Himalayas in the Kathmandu valley (8 Himalayan ranges of Nepal out of 13 from here).

The ranges include Annapurna range, Manaslu range, Ganesh himal range, Langtang range, Jugal range, Rolwaling range, Mahalangur range (Everest range) and Numbur range with splendid views of the Kathmandu valley and shivapuri national park.

– Wikipedia –

This is my second visit to Nepal but my first in Nagarkot. From photography point of view, the best thing that you can do or bring to have a close up via of the Great Himalayan Range is to bring a telephoto lens, at least 70-200 mm. The photographs above were taken with 24 mm lens and you can see how far the Himalayas is. During our visit there, the weather was not very clear, too much fog and the mountain view is not really good but the environment here is wonderful.

The photographs above were taken from Hotel View Point where we stayed. There are plenty of viewing point to choose from, but we didn’t manage to visit a lot of other places, maybe we need to come back again, fully equipped and choose another  location.

Visiting Nepal without witnessing the Great Himalayas will never be complete, yes some of you might be lucky to get a peek of  Himalayas from an airplane but you really need to get a close up view of Himalaya, especially during sunrise and sunset to completed your journey and Nagarkot is among the top choice to view the Himalayas during sunrise because its location, not very far from Kathmandu.

Anyway, frankly speaking, travelling is not just about getting from point A to point B, what really matters is the journey and experience we gain from it. It doesn’t really matter whether we have a camera with us or not, it is just a tool to document our journey visually so that we can show to those who are not so lucky to join our journey, how beautiful some place is.

The truth is, we will never be able to captured God creation fully with a camera, it doesn’t matter how sophisticated or great our equipment is, we will never do justice to God creation with our camera. Himalayan region is so massive, you really need to experience it yourself, with your very own naked eyes, not through a computer screen or glossy magazines.