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Published: October 31st 2010
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Pokhara
Of Nepal's two main tourist towns, Pokhara is by far the more pleasant place to stay. Unlike Kathmandu it has no problems with noise, overcrowding, hassle or pollution, but also unlike Kathmandu it lacks any significant history, or at least significant historical sights. Whereas Kathmandu would be a far less attractive proposition without its Durbar Square or Boudnath, Pokhara's appeal could only be diminished if the Himalaya themselves were to suddenly disappear. Pokhara is in the enviable position of being able to successfully market itself as a premier tourist destination, without having a single tourist attraction of note. The big draw in Pokhara is not its history, its buildings, culture or shops, but in the countryside which surrounds it. People come to Kathmandu to stay; they come to Pokhara to leave.
Pokhara serves as an international clearing house for people either on their way to, or just returning from, the mountains. A place where they can load up on carbs, grab a celebratory beer, buy a new fake North Face jacket or organise their next Himalayan adventure. Compared with the old world dignity of Kathmandu, Pokhara is a clumsy teen that wears its cap on backwards, has shiny
white trainers and sports expensively ripped jeans, but despite these youthful aberrations of taste, it has clearly learnt a little from its elders as, though brash and eager to please, Pokhara is a polite, friendly and genuine place to stay. We used Pokhara as our base for almost a week, returning after each activity to warm up, recharge and relax, we enjoyed it so much that when we found ourselves with a couple of free days, we spent them exploring Pokhara and its environs. This blog is about those places.
Phewa Tal
The main conglomeration of tourist shops, restaurants and accommodation is crammed onto the single road that runs along the east shore of Phewa Tal, the large reservoir that, along with the sharks tooth peak of Machhapuchhre , is so emblematic of Pokhara. Indeed, the two seem to belong very much together, as on the warm, clear and still days that so characterise this time of year, the latter can often be seen caught in the arms of the former, gently rippled by the wind or cut and distorted by a passing sail boat. Standing on the east shore with your back to the main drag, it
is possible to look out over the calm waters of Phewa Tal and see nothing much at all except mountains. Very few houses, barely a couple of hotels and a solitary white Pagoda. I assume that to stand on the west shore and face east is a less pleasurable experience.
We enjoyed our time beside, above, on and in Phewa Tal immensely, especially the in. On one of our spare days we hired ourselves a little paddle boat and took to the waters of the lake with a bottle of Khukuri Rum for company. The Rum was a necessary companion, as without it I would not have followed Anny into the water. I was glad I did though, because to float on my back looking backwards, over my forehead and towards the upside down mountains that were now a perfect reflection of their twins that hung pooled and rippled in the watery heavens, was a surreal and beautiful experience. Even when not flipping the world on its head, viewing the mountains from the lake was a special experience indeed, so special that Anny rated it as one of her favourite swims ever; though I think that may have been
the rum talking.
Begnas Tal and Rupa Tal
Begnas and Rupa are two lakes, brothers if you like; Begnas being the larger and Rupa the smaller. They live next to each other in an area of gorgeous hills only an hours drive east of Pokhara, yet receive only a fraction of the tourists that normally head further north, desirous of a close encounter with the likes of Annapurna and Machhapuchhre . To be honest, they may all be wasting both their time and their energy as, from atop the ridge that separates one Tal from the other, we could view a perfect panorama of Himalayan peaks that stretched across the entire horizon. Unlike the neon-clad trekkers who spend a week in purgatory to "reward" themselves with a congratulatory up close view of a Himalayan peak, we were able, after a pleasant three hour stroll, to view the very same peaks from our tea-house's balcony, cup of Nepali black tea in hand, with the added bonus of having the serenely stunning Begnas Tal and its surrounding green slopes as a gorgeous foreground that served as a soft counterpoint to the mountains' severe grandeur.
We first visited the more
remote Rupa Tal by following a path down to it from the small village of Pachabhaiya. By the time we made it to its grassy, reedy shores, the sun was already very low in the sky, causing the near-harvest paddy that surrounded it to glow a fiery orange and to pick out in brilliant silver the small flies that bobbed and weaved in the late evening's hazy-gold, oblique light. It was an incredibly tranquil place in which to lay down our bones for a few hours, with nothing to do except sit on the bank to watch fishing eagles turn lazy circles in the heavy air and listen to the occasional plop of a kingfisher diving for its dinner. Due to its soporific ambience, we left Rupa Tal later than planned and had only just completed the climb back up to the ridge that separated the lakes, when the sun finally dropped below the horizon. We were only just in time to watch the Himalaya turn from pure white, to golden to a perfectly poised pink.
(Miss) World Peace Pagoda
This pure white Pagoda, built by Japanese Buddhist monks to promote World peace, is perched on the top
of a forested ridge overlooking Phewa Tal. The three hour walk from Lakeside winds slowly upwards through the pleasant shade of a towering Sal forest, before breaking into the light a couple of hundred meters from the Pagoda. The views from the top are simply stunning and the Pagoda itself makes for a lovely foreground, with its startlingly bright white walls contrasting beautifully with the deep blue Himalayan skies. If you manage to get to the top early enough to beat the crowds, then the serenity of the Pagoda and the magnificence of the views may well be enough to turn even the most bloodthirsty of dictators away from their megalomaniacal plans and towards the propagation of World peace, but if arriving later in the day then the boisterous crowds of Japanese tourists, who wield there meter long telephoto lenses like weapons, may just prove to be the proverbial straw that finally sends them over the edge.
Paragliding
This was an activity that was supposed to happen this morning but, due to the first day of cloud in two weeks, has had to be postponed till tomorrow morning. If the weather is still bad in the morning we
will have to cancel as we only have four days left on our Nepal Visa and a 16 hour bus to catch to get us to Bardia National Park, where we will have a solitary day in which to try and see a tiger. It will be a shame to not go paragliding, but more of one to fail to exit the country on time. Having said that, we are still not sure if we will be allowed to re-enter India, as the Visa stipulates that at least two months should elapse between leaving India and returning. I have some documentation that I have downloaded from the web and filled in, I have confirmed flight tickets out of India and I have booked trains so as to provide them with a realistic itinerary for our final two weeks in India; in short I intend to blind them with science, and to this end we are purposely exiting Nepal and entering India at one of the lesser used border crossings, as I hope that if my stack of documentation fails to impress them, then my pocket full of backsheesh will. After all, in India everything is possible. But before then, tigers.
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Brenda Smales
non-member comment
Beyond Belief
I've had so much pleasure from reading your blogs and cannot thank you enough for including me on the list. I really think they should be published as a book if and when you decide to come back!