Nepal expert Patti Shales Lefkos goes off the beaten track to explore Kathmandu's backstreet district of Thamel, a place that's been described as a dizzying square kilometre.

Contributor Patti Shales Lefkos gathers up enough courage to take a public bath in Nepal.

Desperate for a deep inhalation of oxygen, I forced myself to put one boot in front of the other to continue up the rocky incline. The sooner we reached the top of the pass, the sooner we could lose altitude on the other side.

Patti Shales Lefkos and her husband Barry Hodgins, inspired by Hugh Conway's novel, trek through Nepal looking for the real Shangri-La.

HONG KONG - A kaleidoscope of vibrantly hued rhododendron and azalea bushes crawl up through the densely forested emerald hills rising on our left.

UPPER MUSTANG, NEPAL - King Angun Tenzing Trandul’s eyes are clouded by cataracts, perhaps from spending much of his 79 years in dim kerosene-smoked rooms. But those eyes, which have witnessed countless changes during his reign, flicker with warmth when his interpreter tells him we are from Canada.