Katmandu

KATMANDU, Nepal -- The little girl became Nepal's official living goddess the day before she turned 4, a grandly ceremonial event that made her parents enormously proud, for a divine spirit was about to enter their daughter and she would be worshiped by the nation, carried around on a gilded chariot and bowed down to, even by the king.But now, seven years later, her parents, Amrit and Namita Shakya, are sorry they allowed their girl to be plucked from obscurity and turned into the pampered goddess, the royal kumari.

People always ask me how I decide where to go. I read, I see movies, I stare at maps, I dream. In doing so, I arrived at these 10 places that are tops on my list for 2009. Some are old favorites that are newly affordable. Others have a particular reason to shine this year or suddenly are being talked about by well-traveled people I know. A few are raw, off-the-beaten-track destinations that I doubt can long remain untransformed by globalization. Money's tight, so I know I won't get to them all. But tough times have forced travel providers to reduce prices, meaning that now might be the time to take the grand tour.

KATMANDU, NEPAL // The all-seeing eyes of Buddha stare blankly over Katmandu's Palace Square from a huge wooden portal. The door is shut tight. But standing here on the very day in November when Maoist rebels signed a peace accord ending 10 years of turmoil and isolation in Nepal, I could almost hear the giant door crack open, bidding visitors back. A Hindu adage says guests are like gods. But travelers have largely stayed away since 1996 when Maoist insurgents began a terror campaign.

KATMANDU, NEPAL // The all-seeing eyes of Buddha stare blankly over Katmandu's Palace Square from a huge wooden portal. The door is shut tight. But standing here on the very day in November when Maoist rebels signed a peace accord ending 10 years of turmoil and isolation in Nepal, I could almost hear the giant door crack open, bidding visitors back. A Hindu adage says guests are like gods. But travelers have largely stayed away since 1996 when Maoist insurgents began a terror campaign.

Thamel is a small, congested, frenzied tangle of semi-paved alleyways in Katmandu, Nepal's capital. A reasonable walk from the temple-filled Durbar Square, Thamel is a commercial district of bars and neon and cheap hotels and power failures and dazed, scruffy First World pedestrians and, here and there, an amputee hustling rupees. You can't see the Himalayas from Thamel, not even on days when the air in the Katmandu Valley isn't full of dust and smoke and powdered dung from sacred cows, but they are a presence.

The Kingdom of Nepal is a small, isolated and impoverished nation that occupies critical geopolitical space, wedged between the world's two emerging global powers, China and India. What happens there, on the roof of the world, may seem obscure but resonates widely. Peace, stability and democracy in Nepal are in America's interest. Thus the Nepalese king's announcement Monday that he would restore the nation's parliament - after the last several weeks of people-power demonstrations in Katmandu - is a very welcome development for Southeast Asia and beyond.

The talk circuit:The ways of the talk-show circuit are new to Jeanne White. The other day she said she had yet to become acclimated to them. "I'm on the circuit with Kitty Kelley and Ali McGraw, and it's just not me," said the mother of Ryan White, the teen-ager from Indiana who died of acquired immune deficiency syndrome last year after becoming a national symbol of courage.The book she has been promoting on such venues as ABC's "Good Morning America" and the Phil Donahue and Joan Rivers talk shows is "Ryan White: My Own Story," written mostly by Ryan and finished by Ann Marie Cunningham.

In a wholesale killing of royalty not seen since the deaths of the last Czar of Russia and his family in 1918, the King of Nepal and at least a dozen relatives were reported shot to death in their palace in Katmandu over dinner last night. Early reports were sketchy and contradictory. The Associated Press said that Crown Prince Dipendra, a 30-year-old graduate of Eton College in England, opened fire, killing his parents, King Birendra Bir Birkram Shah Dev and Queen Aiswarya, and the other royal family members before shooting himself.

A photograph of a dental clinic in Namche Bazaar, Nepal, that appeared in yesterday's Maryland section was incorrectly credited. The photographer was Larry Canner.A seasoned traveler with a taste for the exotic, Brian Hollander went to Nepal 13 years ago with one goal in mind: to see the world's highest mountain. Hike its trails. Gaze at its majesty.Roll the tape forward: In March, he's dedicating one of the world's highest dental clinics, a two-story stone building that sits 11,500 feet high in a Himalayan village on the trekking path to Mount Everest.

Prem Raja Mahat bustles through the lunch rush, topping off the ice water and making cheerful small talk. He weaves between the clothed tables. He recommends a refreshing glass of iced mango yogurt. He buses the dirty buffet plates - in every way the consummate Charles Street restaurant manager. It's a performance that provides a comfortable life for Mahat, his wife and four children. But it is his other gig - headlining concerts and singing in villages nestled atop the world's highest mountain ranges - that makes him a favorite son in his native Nepal.

The Kingdom of Nepal is a small, isolated and impoverished nation that occupies critical geopolitical space, wedged between the world's two emerging global powers, China and India. What happens there, on the roof of the world, may seem obscure but resonates widely. Peace, stability and democracy in Nepal are in America's interest. Thus the Nepalese king's announcement Monday that he would restore the nation's parliament - after the last several weeks of people-power demonstrations in Katmandu - is a very welcome development for Southeast Asia and beyond.

Prem Raja Mahat bustles through the lunch rush, topping off the ice water and making cheerful small talk. He weaves between the clothed tables. He recommends a refreshing glass of iced mango yogurt. He buses the dirty buffet plates - in every way the consummate Charles Street restaurant manager. It's a performance that provides a comfortable life for Mahat, his wife and four children. But it is his other gig - headlining concerts and singing in villages nestled atop the world's highest mountain ranges - that makes him a favorite son in his native Nepal.

In a wholesale killing of royalty not seen since the deaths of the last Czar of Russia and his family in 1918, the King of Nepal and at least a dozen relatives were reported shot to death in their palace in Katmandu over dinner last night. Early reports were sketchy and contradictory. The Associated Press said that Crown Prince Dipendra, a 30-year-old graduate of Eton College in England, opened fire, killing his parents, King Birendra Bir Birkram Shah Dev and Queen Aiswarya, and the other royal family members before shooting himself.

Thamel is a small, congested, frenzied tangle of semi-paved alleyways in Katmandu, Nepal's capital. A reasonable walk from the temple-filled Durbar Square, Thamel is a commercial district of bars and neon and cheap hotels and power failures and dazed, scruffy First World pedestrians and, here and there, an amputee hustling rupees. You can't see the Himalayas from Thamel, not even on days when the air in the Katmandu Valley isn't full of dust and smoke and powdered dung from sacred cows, but they are a presence.

KATMANDU, Nepal -- The little girl became Nepal's official living goddess the day before she turned 4, a grandly ceremonial event that made her parents enormously proud, for a divine spirit was about to enter their daughter and she would be worshiped by the nation, carried around on a gilded chariot and bowed down to, even by the king.But now, seven years later, her parents, Amrit and Namita Shakya, are sorry they allowed their girl to be plucked from obscurity and turned into the pampered goddess, the royal kumari.

Even before she could read, Rebecca H. Harman would stare at pictures of Africa and vow to see the wild animals and lush vegetation for herself.It took nearly 60 years, but Harman went to Kenya and back again -- three times since 1981. From her home in New Windsor, she also has traveled to Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Swaziland and Tanzania, all nations that had not been born when Becky Harman was growing up on a farm in Frederick County.At 80, Harman has just earned a berth in the Travelers Century Club, whose 1,200 members have visited 100 countries.

Even before she could read, Rebecca H. Harman would stare at pictures of Africa and vow to see the wild animals and lush vegetation for herself.It took nearly 60 years, but Harman went to Kenya and back again -- three times since 1981. From her home in New Windsor, she also has traveled to Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Swaziland and Tanzania, all nations that had not been born when Becky Harman was growing up on a farm in Frederick County.At 80, Harman has just earned a berth in the Travelers Century Club, whose 1,200 members have visited 100 countries.