In the early 19th century, Rana Prime Minister Juddha Shumsher built a road in central Kathmandu and named it the New Road.
     But there is nothing new about the road or its array of uninspiring, box-shaped buildings anymore.
     Instead, the New Road today is the epitome of Kathmandu's unplanned, congested urbanization.
     But the locality, the oldest and until today the busiest business hub in the city, also offers a heady mix of centuries of history and 21st century commerce, more than enough to transfix a person for a day.
     From New Road gate that stands next to the Nepal Airlines Corp. headquarters, one can either head a 100 meters west to Hanumandhoka where history has been carefully preserved, or about 100 meters north to Mahaboudha, which has ''graduated'' today into China's dumping ground for fakes bearing names of the world's best brands.
     Both areas attract visitors equally, but for different reasons, and both are worth a visit.
     But since authenticity is always preferable to fake, let's first head west.
     After barely five minutes walk from the gate, arriving ion Hanumandhoka is a relief for a pedestrian, especially in midday.
     The short walk can be taxing given the dense crowd, narrow sidewalk and vehicle operators who aren't particularly sympathetic to pedestrians.
     But once you enter the stone-paved Hanumandhoka area, history envelopes you and the cacophony of city noises slowly dies down.
     Traffic rules allow only limited vehicles in the area, so you don't have to worry about horn-honking drivers.
     The five-acre Hanumandhoka area is home to what used to be Nepal's royal palace until 1896; the Nasal Courtyard where Nepal's royals used to hold important functions such as coronations; the Basantapur Courtyard that has 18th century wood carvings and Mughal style roofs; and the 16th century Taleju temple that now serves as the foundation of the living goddess tradition.
     A stroll west of Hanumandhoka takes one to old Kathmandu where time hasn't moved since the houses of mud-bricks and wooden pillars, roofed with mud-tiles, were built in the 19th century.
     In old Kathmandu live Kathmandu's ethnic Newari people who are predominantly farmers and traders.
     They boast of a rich culture, the richest array of cultural dishes and drinks, and the highest number of festivals among any ethnic group in an ethnically diverse Nepal.
     To the south of Hanumandhoka is Freak Street, made famous by the hippies who spent months here in the 1960s and 70s seeking Nirvana, until a government crackdown against the hippie movement reduced the street to a regular tourist center.
     Hanumandhoka is also home to Nepal's street children.
     Dozens of them spend the days offering marijuana and heroin to prospective customers, and nights under the roof of temples in the area, trying to forget their sorrows by inhaling their own brand of mind-altering substance -- dendrite.
     For those who love handicrafts, the Indigenous Handicrafts Cooperative shop offers a variety that no other shop does here -- Buddha statues, candle stands, incense sticks, traditional Nepali knives called khukuri, Buddhist prayer wheels, masks, jute slippers, and cashmere shawls.
     ''But the most popular item is the singing bowl,'' says Anita Pujari, a 19-year-old salesgirl.
     The singing bowl is a bronze bowl that comes in various sizes, but in an identical shape. Place it on a fully spread-out left palm and rub the outer brim of the bowl with an artistically made wooden stick in slow, circular movements and the bowl gives out a tranquil, prolonged echo of ''Aum,'' the sacred syllable of the Hindu religion that is believed to cleanse the soul.
     ''A lot of foreigners and Nepalese visitors buy the singing bowl,'' Pujari said.
     The bowls cost $5 to $25.
     A trip to New Road will never be complete without visiting Mahaboudha, the shopping paradise for middle and lower class Kathmandu citizens whose dreams to consume are always frustrated by the size of their pockets.
     For them, Mahaboudha offers the answers with Chinese-made fake iPhones, Sony cameras, Levi's trousers, Nike shoes and Ray Ban sunglasses.
     Here, a ''Nokia'' E71 costs just 5,000 rupees ($64), a ''Sony'' car stereo system costs Rs 4,000 and, ''Levi's'' trousers and ''Adidas'' sports shoes cost Rs 400 each.
     The cellphones, shoes and trousers may not attract Kathmandu's elite, but pirated DVDs do.
     In Mahaboudha, a collection of 60 movies that won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival in the past 60 years cost just Rs 1,500.
     ''Other items sold in this market may be inferior in quality to the originals, but the movies aren't,'' claimed Anil Shrestha, who sells pirated DVDs in Mahaboudha.
     Mahaboudha's piracy industry even has international clientele as exemplified by an American couple's recent bargain-shopping at Shrestha's shop where movies dating back to the black-and-white era through Japanese filmmaker Yojiro Takita's Oscar-winning ''Departures,'' and Quentin Tarantino's recently released ''Inglorious Basterds'' are on sale.
     With per capita income barely topping $473, Nepalese hardly mind picking up the DVDs or pirated installation CDs of Windows Vista Ultimate for Rs 30 apiece.
     Even for those who cannot live with a guilty conscience, a visit to Mahaboudha and inquiry into prices of the fakes and pirated stuff is a thrill in itself.
     Some of the fakes are so flawless a visitor can sometimes end up wondering if the cellphone he bought from an authorized showroom at 10 times the price is really genuine.
==Kyodo