Pottery Making and Heritage
Three unhurried days in medieval Bhaktapur, your hands learning the wheel beside a Prajapati potter family while the old brick city turns slowly around you.
Three days, one medieval city, clay under your hands.
Bhaktapur is the most intact of the Kathmandu Valley's three medieval cities, a UNESCO-listed warren of brick lanes, carved wooden windows and temple-lined squares where daily life still moves to the rhythm of ritual and craft. We base ourselves here for three full days, long enough for the city to stop being a sight and start becoming familiar.
At the heart of the journey is Pottery Square, where the Prajapati community has thrown clay for generations. You will not watch from behind a rope. A potter family takes you on as a beginner: wedging local valley clay, centring it on the kick-wheel, coaxing up the walls of a simple bowl or oil lamp, then carrying it out to dry in the sun among rows of finished pots.
Between sessions at the wheel we wander the living heritage that surrounds you — the five-tiered Nyatapola in Taumadhi Square, the wood-carved Dattatreya temple and its quiet eastern lanes, and a cup of thick, clay-set juju dhau, the king of yoghurts. Few places, long stays, the pace of the land.
How the three days unfold.
Day 1Arrive into the old city+
Settle into a restored Newar guesthouse inside the walls and let the afternoon be slow. We walk Durbar Square and Taumadhi Square at golden hour, standing beneath the towering Nyatapola, and end with juju dhau in a courtyard as the bells start for evening puja.
Day 2At the wheel in Pottery Square+
The full day belongs to clay. With the Prajapati family you wedge valley clay, centre it on the kick-wheel and throw your first vessels, breaking only for a homemade Newar lunch. By late afternoon your pots join the rows drying in the square.
Day 3Wood, carving and a last firing+
We walk east to quieter Dattatreya Square to read its astonishing wood-carved facades and the Peacock Window, then return to glaze and see our pieces through the traditional straw-and-sawdust kiln. A final unhurried wander before farewells.
What's included
- 3 nights in a restored Newar heritage guesthouse
- Multi-session private pottery tuition with a Prajapati family
- All clay, tools, firing and your finished pieces to keep
- Daily breakfast and two home-cooked Newar meals
- Local English-speaking guide and Bhaktapur entry permit
Not included
- International and domestic flights to Kathmandu
- Nepal entry visa fees
- Airport and intercity transfers (arranged on request)
- Lunches and dinners not specified above
- Travel insurance, tips and personal expenses
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