About the Book: Thamel: Dark Star of Kathmandu
For long a sleepy rural enclave, Thamel is today the beating commercial and
cultural heart of Kathmandu-a dizzying square kilometre of hotels, bars, cafés,
bookshops and temples to which visitors and residents gravitate, drawn by its
dazzle and its possibilities.
In this unusual biography of the place, Rabi Thapa revisits the haunts of his
youth. Tramping around its temples and monasteries, he unravels its layered
history as well as the tales of the kings, monks and travelling merchants who
laid its foundations. From residents-both Nepali and those who visited and never
left-he pieces together the story of Kathmandu