The oldest settlement in the Valley, this venerable city of artists began to be built around 299 AD and, located on the southern bank of the Bagmati River five kilometers south-east of Kathmandu City, perhaps has more Buddhist and Hindu temples than Kathmandu itself. Two-thirds of the people here are Buddhists. Locals claim that the bronze and wooden gateways and windows, statues of deities, wood carvings and metal works demonstrate Patan’s superiority in craftsmanship and stone architecture over Kathmandu and Bhaktapur. This could be true when one visits the small but exquisite Golden Temple tucked away in a small by-way and the Krishna Temple in the Patan Durbar Square, considered by many as being the finest example of stone architecture in Nepal.

Visitors to the cities of Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and Patan or any other places that you visit in the Valley will be able to buy uniquely Nepali souvenirs to take home, such as demon masks, beautiful “thangkas’ (religious wall-hangings), paintings and scrolls on “lokta’ paper (indigenous Nepali parchment), pashmina shawls, fabulous locally woven carpets, religious icons and statuettes, dolls, wood and metal carvings in various sizes, the famous singing bowls, Buddhist rosaries or the Hindu “rudraksha” worry beads, kukris (the curved decapitating knife of the Gurkhas)…. And so much more. You just have to look around carefully and choose. Our guides will assist you in making your choice, confirming authenticity of what you buy and making sure that you don’t get ripped off. 

For large souvenirs which you cannot take with you on your flight back home, Blue Sapphire staff will arrange shipments to your homes through reliable international cargo delivery firms and you will probably arrive home at the same time as your souvenirs.