(From top): Players tee off at the Gokarna Golf Resort; a view of the Himalayas; a sadhu at Swayambhunath; Durbar Square in Kathmandu; devotees throng the Pashupatinath temple

You know about the ancient temples and you’ve even tried your hand at the modern-day casinos. You’ve worried about the Maoist insurgency that’s making the countryside no-go territory. But did you ever think of Nepal as a golfing holiday destination? And, remember that golfing can be combined with casinos, ancient temples et al. An additional point: travelling to Nepal is cheaper than it’s ever been.

So, here I am tramping about the Gokarna Forest Golf Resort on the outskirts of Kathmandu. The rolling greens are cut through a 470-acre forest that was once the private hunting grounds of the Nepalese kings. There are 16 cottages set inside the forest and the hunting lodge built in the traditional Malla and Rana Period styles has facilities like a reception and a bar.

We were just in time to catch the last few strokes of the second day’s play of the Surya Nepal Masters 2005. But once the golfers had packed away their clubs, what caught my attention were the high peaks in the distance. After all, how many golf courses have snow-capped Himalayan peaks in the background?

The newspapers fill column inches with stories about Maoists and that the Nepalese government’s writ does not run outside the cities. But at the Gokarna course all that seems like another world. Here the aim is to blend golf with luxury spa facilities. So, you could finish a hard day of tramping about the courses and then relax in the massage rooms ? there’s a choice, for instance, of a Swedish massage or an Ayurvedic massage. Get back to your room and there are huge square bathtubs and orchids in the bathroom to remind guests that there’s more to the world than just golf. You can chill out in the indoor swimming pool, which by the way is heated and has a mini bar next to it.

Around 1918, according to local legend, a Nepali delegation returned from Scotland with a few sets of clubs and began playing on one of the country’s first golf courses. The course had to be abandoned a few years later when a nearby airport was extended for larger more modern planes. In the 1920s, a few tournaments teed off. More recently, in 1993, the Surya Nepal Open was started at the Royal Nepal Golf Course. Six years ago the Gokarna course was upgraded and the Surya Open is now played there.

Nepal has five golf courses open to the public. There’s the Gokarna Forest Golf Resort and the Royal Nepal Golf Course in Kathmandu, Then, there are the Himalayan Golf Club and Fulbari Resort Golf Course in Pokhara and the Nirvana Country Club in Dharan. It’s best to visit Kathmandu between October and March.

Is golfing in Kathmandu expensive compared to other countries? A special golf package at Gokarna which includes three nights and four days costs $269 per person on twin-sharing basis and $393 for a single person. This includes airport transfers and also a guided nature forest walk through the Gokarna Forest.

Also thrown in are a half-day sight-seeing trip to Kathmandu and a visit to the Swayambhunath Stupa. Monument entrance fees are also included in the package. One extra is airport tax, which is Rs 847 per head for departure to SAARC (South Asian) countries and Rs 1,059 to other international destinations. Hiring clubs and shoes cost $10.50 and $5.25 respectively. The caddy fee is $3.15 and you can hire a ball boy for $2.10.

Since the golf tournament was over for the day, we headed out to get a taste of Kathmandu’s nightlife. Our first stop is the Jazz Upstairs bar in the city’s Lazenpat district. What’s the quality of jazz in a hick town like Kathmandu? The answer is pretty good. The Jazz Upstairs bar consists of two rooms on the first floor of an old house. A local band performs here every Wednesday and Saturday. Seating is on the floor ? that ensures a youthful audience if nothing else ? and there are only a few tables and chairs. We gorged on hot, sumptuous momos here.

By the time we left Jazz Upstairs, the casino capital of South Asia had come to life and our car headed towards Casino Times at the Everest Hotel. While my friends lost a lot of money in gambling, I tucked into vegetable sizzlers and mocktails. In the background, there were live performances by Nepalese artistes who belted out ghazals and one Bollywood number after another.

The great thing about modern-day Kathmandu is that you can have first world pleasures like playing golf on exquisite rolling greens, shop in well-stocked supermarkets and also see the quaint sights in and around the city. For shopping, we stopped at places like Bhat Bhateni, China Bazaar and Babar Mahal Revisited. Bhat Bhateni, for instance has everything from food to gadgets and gifts. The rule in all these places is, of course, don’t forget to bargain. Also, remember this is one of the few places in the world where Indians can watch their rupee travel further than it does at home. The Indian rupee is much stronger currently than its Nepalese counterpart.

If you’re a golfing type, how about taking your chances at the other clubs. In Kathmandu, there’s the Royal Nepal Golf Course. This has a 5,355-yard golf course with 67 par and hosts many golf tournaments annually. It is often described by professionals as a highly challenging but fair course with a fantastic view of the Himalayas.

Your golfing adventure in Nepal would be incomplete without a visit to The Himalayan Golf course, in the beautiful lake town of Pokhara. It is just 7km from downtown Pokhara and is framed by the towering Annapurna range. This 6,900-yard, 9-hole, par 73 course wanders through aerial cliff drops of hundreds of feet, down to the island hole within the raging Bijaypure River. Also located on a plateau in the southern part of the Pokhara Valley, on the edge of the Seti river gorge, is the 9-hole, 5,800-yard Yeti’s Golf course.

There are flights to Kathmandu from Delhi, Bombay, Calcutta, Patna and Varanasi. The one-hour Delhi-to-Kathmandu flight on either Indian Airlines or Royal Nepal Airlines costs around $145. In fact, you can get a one-way air ticket from Delhi to Kathmandu for as little as Rs 2,200. Even a one-way Business Class fare from Delhi to Kathmandu by Jet Airways costs about Rs 5,535. The prices right now are enticing and when you get there, so is the country.