There are surely many interesting towns in Nepal. For many people the most beautiful city in the country is Pokhara because of its lakeside ambience and its proximity to one of the best trecking locations in the world - the magnificent Annapurna range. Nevertheless the small, mountain- sheltered Kathmandu Valley is the historical and cultural center of Nepal. It's the place where kingdoms rose and fell, palaces and temples were built, destroyed and rebuilt, and Nepali art and culture were developed and refined. One of the biggest architectural attraction of Nepal is the old capital city Bhaktapur. Not fewer impressive are the Durbar Squares ("durbar" means palace) in Patan and Kathmandu. A remarkable place is Pashupatinath, the most popular place in the country for Hindus to be cremated. Nepal is an old kingdom and there are many palaces around the Kathmandu Valley. The country is said to be the only Hindu kingdom in the world and the king is revered as an incarnation of the god Vishnu. In Nepal, Hinduism and Buddhism have mingled wonderfully into a complex, syncretic blend. Nowhere is this more evident than in Kathmandu where spectacular Buddhist and Hindu temples stand side by side.