Library
TU Central Library
(http://www.tucl.org.np). it is one of the largest library of nepal situated within tribhuvan university premise at kirtipur. you can get there by regular bus or micro-bus for kirtipur. it has a large collection of old and new books, journals and newspaper.
Festivals
Tihar, Festival of Lights (Also called Deepawali)
A five day festival which takes place each year on the fifteenth day of kartika around the end of october/start of november celebrated by all hindus with ritual house-cleaning, lanterns, candles, and fireworks. the nepali version tends to be more picturesque and less explosive literally than those celebrated in india.
Holi
Is celebrated in march with splashes of water and coloured powder that is both good luck and very messy.
Indra Jatra
Harvest festival held in kathmandu's dubar square for 8 days each september. the goddess kumari is paraded in her sacred chariot.
Himalayan Blues Festival
Himalayan Blues Festival is one of the most acclaimed music festival in Kathmandu. It takes place in the months of October-November in Kathmandu. It boasts of having the best venues like the Garden of Dreams and Patan Museum. It also happens in many bars and different hotel venues. It features musicians from all around the world.
Bikram Sambat's New Year's
april a day of pilgrimages often from kathmandu to the holy bagamati river that separates it from patan
Teej
The most important women's festival, is celebrated in september with married women dressed in their red marriage saris visiting male relatives and unmarried women and girls staying up all night to celebrate and pray for their future husbands.
Kathmandu and Dubar Square is the centre for many of Nepal's festivals. Note that many businesses are closed for all of these holidays-- and often a few days before and after. Dasain in particular tend to shut down much of the city for October.
Meditation courses
Nepal Vipassana Centres
(http://www.np.dhamma.org). vipassana meditation a popular buddhist meditation as taught by s. n. goenka.
Yoga courses
Bikram Yoga College of India
(http://bikramyoganepal.com/) daily hot yoga classes in the heart of thamel on a drop-in or monthly basis.
Buddhism
Rangjung Yeshe Institute
(http://www.shedra.com). an international institute for buddhist higher studies in baudha - modeled on a traditional tibetan buddhist college. the institute is affiliated with kathmandu university, and located on the premises of the monastery ka-nying [short for "kagyu and nyingma"] shedrup ling. it offers bachelors and masters degrees in buddhist studies with himalayan language tibetan, nepali, and sanskrit, as well as six week stand alone intensive courses in each.
Kopan Monastery
(http://www.kopanmonastery.com). founded by lama yeshe and lama zopa as the core of what has become an international network of gelugpa dharma centres, the foundation for the preservation of the mahayana tradition fpmt. located near baudha, kopan offers ten-day meditation courses regularly throughout the year, and a month-long course for which it is famous every november-to-december. reservations are necessary.
Kathmandu city itself has limited activities for visitors beyond the amazing sightseeing and general experience of being there, but it is the starting point for numerous adventures in the rest of the country including trekking, rafting, jungle adventures, and more extreme sports.
If you would like to see some of the Himalayas, but do not want to go on a trek it is possible to spend a few days two or more walking from Kathmandu out of the valley. This is less intense than the trekking available in the rest of the country, but can still reward you with some great views of the mountains. For instance, the walk up to Nagarkot, which offers a great spot for watching surrounding mountain ranges at sunrise or sunset from atop the hill, can be done in a couple of days. Any of the trekking companies in Kathmandu will be willing to organise this for you.
The Healing Hands Centre
(http://www.ancientmassage.com). classes in ancient massage / thai massage. five-day course, ten-day course and one-month professional course, runs every month and recognized by thai thai healing alliance international worldwide and natural health practitioners of canada nhpc.
KEEP
(http://www.keepnepal.org/) kathmandu environmental education project have a centre in kathmandu behind kilroy's, which provides environmental information about nepal. they provide books for trekkers to record their experiences in for others to read before they set off. you can ask to see a bbc film entitled "bearing the burden" about nepalese porters. they also provide a water bottle refill service that is also cheaper than buying new bottles rs 10. you can also buy there some biodegradable soap and iodine for your trek.