This is what it was like staying at a guesthouse in the temple town of Manakamana, the 'temple where wishes come true'

There are many temples in Nepal, but one of them is the Hindu holy site Manakamana Temple, located about 100km northwest of the capital, Kathmandu, known as the 'temple where wishes come true.' I had the opportunity to visit, but heavy traffic delayed my travels and prevented me from arriving as planned, so I ended up staying at a guesthouse in the temple town across from the ropeway station.

The location of Manakamana Temple is here. It's a little hard to see on the map, but the temple is located on the ridge of a high mountain, and the most common route to get there is by ropeway from the river on the south side.


The ropeway station at the foot of the mountain is just over 100km from Kathmandu Tribhuvan International Airport.


The plan was to leave the hotel in Kathmandu at 9:00 a.m. and finish praying by the evening, even if it took a little longer, and then head back to the accommodation. However, due to road construction and heavy traffic, there were two traffic jams along the way that meant our car couldn't move for over an hour.

By the time we arrived at the entrance to the Manakamana ropeway station, it was already dark.

There are hotels around the temple, but the ropeway had already stopped operating, so we decided to stay at a guesthouse in the temple town that had formed around the ropeway's base station. We were shown to our room, but the neighboring guesthouse was also built close together, so the moonlight couldn't get in and the hallway was pitch black.

They opened the door and turned on the light, and I finally noticed that there was a picture of Shiva on the door.

The inside of the door was also decorated with vivid illustrations.

This is what the room looked like. This time, I chose a room with a hot shower because it was available, and it turned out to be a double room.

Another angle.

There are two lights above the door and on the wall, making the room quite bright.

There are two locks.

Light switches and power outlets. Some rooms face the road and have internet access, but this room was right in the middle of the building, so the signal was very weak and it was difficult to send or receive messages.

The bathroom, which is the room's most distinctive feature, is located at the back of the room. The bathroom is slightly elevated, and a red gas cylinder is placed under the stairs.

The bathroom has a toilet and a shower. The toilet is a fairly decent type with a toilet seat.

To use hot water in the shower, you simply turn the yellow knob on the gas cylinder to release the gas, then turn on the hot water faucet. The water is directly connected to the water heater, and the temperature is around 50 degrees, so you need to mix it with water to the right degree. If you let out too much water, the water heater will shut off, so you couldn't take a strong shower. Towels are not provided, so you'll need to bring your own.

The next morning, we left the inn before the ropeway started running. The exterior looked like this, and the shuttered area on the bottom left where you can see the light is the entrance.

When I got out onto the road, I found myself in a temple town lined with several guesthouses and cafes. There was a Cablecar Ticket House, but there was one near the ropeway station, so there was no need to buy tickets here.

By the way, the accommodation fee for two rooms is 2,000 Nepalese rupees per night, or about 2,200 yen. At the time of writing, the guesthouse where we stayed did not appear on Google Maps.