Nepal - Nov-2023 -5- Pokhara

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Nepal Tour - Nov-2023

Day-4 & 6: Pokhara

Lumbini to Pokhara:

Next four days are going to be very hectic.

In the itinerary, day-4 and day-6 were for Pokhara and day-5 was for Muktinath.





Day-4:

Wake-up call at 5.00 am, tea at 5.45, check-out and start at 6 am. Packed breakfast. Tea break on the way.

Lumbini to Pokhara is 200 Km and takes 7½ hrs. Reached at 1.30 just in time for lunch.

Pokhara is the second largest city of Nepal with population of around 5 lacs. It is one of the best scenic places in Nepal. Pokhara is also considered to be the best hill station in Nepal although only at an elevation of 822 m (2700 ft).

Searching the internet, there are many places to be seen, visited in Pokhara. However, in our itinerary sight-seeing was possible only on two afternoons. We visited Phewa Lake, Barahi Temple, Bindyabasini temple and Devis Water-fall. Other places include (but not covered in our tour) Shanti Stupa, Gorkha Museum, Gupteshwar Caves (now closed), Bat Caves and Sarangkot. There were many (valid) reasons for skipping these places but anyone would really have enjoyed the views of Annapurna, Dhaulagiri and Manaslu mountain ranges from Sarangkot – a place about 13 Km from Pokhra. Generally, it is not possible to visit every place on a multi-destination tour like this and some compromise has to be made.

Pokhara has added attractions of para-gliding and micro-lite plane ride. Micro-lite plane ride was offered at an extra cost of INR 11,000 pp for 10-12 min ride and INR 17,000 for 30 min ride.

Micro-lite aircrafts are small engine powered 1- or 2-seater planes (in this case 2-seater) – a pilot and a rider. Apart from wearing helmet, only other safety feature is that if engine fails, it can glide and land. Those who opted it had to start for airport (International Airport as it is called!) at 2.30 to return by 4.30-5.00. Rs. 1000 per minute of ride – we didn’t take it.

Evening (4 pm-6 pm) sightseeing (for all) included a boat-ride in Phewa lake (walking distance from our hotel). There we had a long waiting time and light was already fading when our turn came. Else, it would have been much more fun. In the middle of the lake is a temple – Barahi temple – on an island. There we can stop for 15-20 min. Overall experience was good, except for poor light. At 5.30, it was totally dark.

Back to hotel for evening tea.





Day-6:

We returned from Muktinath at around 10 am. The morning was kept free out of compulsion (reason for which I will explain in the Muktinath-blog). But it was one of the best morning hours we had on this tour (another will be at Kathmandu). We enjoyed the mild sun in the hotel garden and collected some Vitamin-D.

Afternoon:

Devis water-fall – not so picturesque – except in monsoon. The waterfall is on the outflow stream of the Phewa lake when it overflows.

Followed by free time for shopping. Most items imported from India and China.

Followed by visit to Bindyabasi temple – three temples on top of a small hill. Good view of Pokhara city from there.





Next blog: Day-5: Muktinath.

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