Bhaktapur

Bhaktapur (भक्तपुर) is the best preserved of the valley's royal cities, a maze of brick lanes and open squares where cars are largely kept out. Its landmark is the Nyatapola, a five-tiered pagoda raised in 1702 and at thirty metres the tallest temple in Nepal, its stone stairway guarded by five ascending pairs of figures from Rajput wrestlers to lion-headed goddesses. The Durbar Square holds the Palace of Fifty-Five Windows, named for the carved wooden gallery that runs across its front, along with the Golden Gate and the shikhara-style Vatsala temple. A few lanes east, Pottery Square is still a working yard where wet clay is thrown and left in rows to dry in the sun. Bhaktapur is also known for juju dhau, a thick sweetened buffalo-milk curd set in clay bowls.