boats on the Phewa Tal


on the Phewa Tal


Phewa Tal, Pokhara


above Pokhara


World Peace Pagoda, above Pokhara

I arrived in Pokhara yesterday after a long, nauseating bus ride from Kathmandu. Out of courtesy, Nepal arranges "tourist" buses between Pokhara and Kathmandu that make regular pit stops at western-friendly restaurants, where all the white passengers wearing Gortex pile out, looking pale and shaken. I found a really nice, quiet hotel in Pokhara down a side street. It has a soft bed, hot shower, and clean tiles--wow.

On my first full day in Pokhara, I took the 'scenic' route up to the World Peace Pagoda. It's evidently not called that in Nepal, because when I kept asking directions, no one knew what I was talking about. I had to just point upward, and they knew where I was going. The scenic trail was a little too scenic, and after encountering some obstinate cows in the road, I lost the trail and found myself in very dense forest looking directly up at the pagoda with no trail in front of me. Pulling giant spiderwebs off of myself, I backtracked and backtracked and found a small trail which eventually met up with the main trail up to the pagoda. I thought at the time that I had just trekked through Nepal for 16 days, and then I was going to get lost in the middle of Pokhara trying to find my way to the biggest tourist attraction in town! Anyway, the pagoda was beautiful and I took the shorter route across the lake back into town. I was a little too late in the morning for clear views of the Annapurnas but that seems to be my luck.


above Pokhara


Annapurna range, behind Pokhara


cow in Pokhara (there are cows everywhere, unattended, like stray dogs but more holy)