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A plane flies up out of the cup of the mountain and leaves the runway behind. A cicada takes over from the roar of the jet engines and chirps an insistent note. On the tarmac the shocking pink shirted Europeans pick up their rucksacks and head into the airport building. Indoors is warm glass lined and startlingly woodworked in shades of dark walnut. This is 'abroad' an international airport with signs that divide holders of Indian and Bangladeshi passports. Lines of customs inspectors are scrabbling in and out of the rucksacks. This is Kathmandu.

Kathmandu has given rise to many legends in the Bengali ethos, from the time of the Buddha to Satyajit Ray. Or perhaps it might be better to call them myths. For example, anyone who lives in Kathmandu is called 'Bahadur'. Or the name Kathmandu originated from the number of executions in the city and the fact that the thoroughfares were lined with severed heads. But then, the legends in the international context are equally numerous, misting into a collage of sadhus among icy mountain streams, the world's highest mountain and the Beatles.

At one point in time it was said that there were more temples than houses in Kathmandu. In fact, it was these temples in intricately carved wood that gave the city its name. There are still small pointed structures with a smear of sindoor at the four corners of every block in the old city. Nepal is the only Hindu kingdom in the world, despite being the birthplace of the Buddha. The bathing tanks in Kathmandu are womb shaped with stone apsaras, reincarnations of Vishnu and guardian gods decorating the sides of the older ones.

There is a lot to see in the legendary Kathmandu valley. The ideal package tour guide says that Kathmandu can be 'done' in three days or so. Most foreign tourists disappear out of the place with their rucksacks bound for the Himalayas. Indian travellers have one aim in mind - the casino. They count their money and sit and plan gambling coups for the night, working out combinations of cards. In between, some of them find time to take in the local sites.

Prakash A Raj's book is an attempt to offer an alternative to these canned tours. Walking and cycling were popular ways of exploring the place in the 1970's and now certain areas have been designated pedestrian zones. Raj takes the tourist down these walks with snippets of useful information designed to make the experience both easier and more enjoyable. The book sets out ten of the most historic walks with one walk each dedicated to the seven UNESCO world heritage sites that the valley houses.

Until 1769, there were 20 kings in Nepal. Each one with a capital and each one battling for a larger piece of the valley. All these kings built palaces, which were like miniature temples with a yoni shaped pool in the forecourt. Sometimes the palace and the temple confronted each other across the main square with the temple gaining predominance.

With the various influences of Nepalese life, three types of temples came into being. The shikhara with its distinctively pyramidal shape, the brass sheathed pagoda and the inverse cone of the Buddhist stupa. These three types of temple recur again and again in various parts of the valley.. According to the legends the five Pandavas were searching for the god Shiva after Kurukshetra. However, Mahadeva disapproved of the fratricidal war and decided to elude the Pandavas by shape shifting. He took on the form of a huge black bull and burrowed underground. But his horns stuck out at Hardwar and his body at what became Pashupatinath.

Pashupatinath lies within easy earshot of the planes that land and take off at Tribhuvan Airport. Sightseers and devotees pick their way down a descending road to stop at the entrance to the temple in a courtyard of hibiscus sellers, prasad sellers and footwear minders. Nothing leather goes past the main gate, an edict that includes wallets and camera bags. 'You can leave your slippers with the flower sellers in the square,' advises Raj, though there are more organised slipper racks at hand. However, non-Hindus are not allowed within the main gate of the temple.

Pashupatinath is Kathmandu's cremation ground, with a quiet sweep of river, an authentic arm of the Ganges. On the side facing the temple are laid out gleaming brass game sets, bones, skulls, white metal dragons, Buddhas and puppets designed to tempt passersby into parting with some Nepalese rupees. On Durbar Marg the same vendors are to be found though again with wares carefully edited. On an early morning walk you might be accosted by a 'gem' seller who unwinds strings of beads at you, by a wave of peacock feather fans or a gum seller who hisses at you in French. There are five star shops on Durbar Marg too with credit card signs in the windows and five figure items on display inside. Everything is made out of pure silver, or pure something. Even the brass statuettes are gilded and enamelled. Boudhinath is the oldest stupa in Kathmandu. The Buddha's eyes look pervadingly out at the world from every brochure on Kathmandu. The stupa is ringed round with brick, with 108 prayer wheels set into the base. It is said that this place is the centre of all psychic energy in the valley, a natural mandala.

10 Walks in Kathmandu abounds with pieces of information like this. The book, in fact is designed to replace the ever present tourist guide and let you go on your walking way with as few interruptions as possible. The only ones allowed are peacock feather vendors or a trip over an old stone. Otherwise there is nothing to interrupt your concentration on the old buildings or even the new ones.

The thing to do, say jaded regular travellers to Kathmandu, is visit the supermarket. There under one roof you can buy all the latest smuggled goods. 'You can get an 8-band transistor radio here for just $5. A similar set with a Japanese brand name would probably cost five times as much in another part of the world.'

The book takes you through Bhaktapur and Patan, the ancient capitals of the kings of Nepal. The whole of the valley is based on a plan of palaces facing temples with narrow roads meant for foot traffic leading to them. The one thing it does not do, perhaps unhappily for Indian travellers, is take you on a tour of the famous casinos. But then, Raj's Kathmandu is the Kathmandu of myth and legend, not the place where fortunes are lost on a whim during a rushed three-day hover. This is a book for a week of walking - a week that, to most outsiders' dismay, begins on a Sunday and ends on Friday afternoon, with a holiday on Saturday. It takes a little getting used to, like the city itself. However, your chances of finding yourself again, with this book in hand, are excellent.

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