Pokhara: small town by the lake

• Yvonneandnathan's Profile
• About this blog
• Entry from Pokhara

Trip Start Oct 15, 2010 Previous
Entry Trip End Jan 11, 2011 Next
Entry

  Pokhara, Nepal
Friday, October 22, 2010

We woke up early and our helpful host took us to the tourist bus stop and found our coach for us. The drive out of Kathmandu was surprisingly quick – we have heard of people being stuck in traffic for two to three hours just to get out of town! Our route, the Prithvi Highway, followed what I believe is the Mahesh Khola and Seti rivers. Nathan and I agreed that the rivers themselves looked like they could be in New Zealand, but what was behind and in front of the rivers was like nothing we had seen before. In the background we could see the foothills of the Himalaya that we were driving through, and very occasionally we even caught a glimpse of the mountains themselves through the low cloud. This side of the road was lined with shacks of all shapes and sizes that clearly served as intergenerational homes. Some of them were as small as a garden shed. Occasionally we passed through a village and the road was lined with colourful houses and shop fronts. There were people everywhere, men hanging out in large groups, mothers and grandmothers looking after young children and taking care of domestic duties, people selling things everywhere, and many many hoards of children entertaining themselves.

The lonely planet describes the bus journey as a potential 'trip from hell' and many of the accounts I had read confirmed this. I have to say though, that either we struck it very lucky with a sensible driver and good traffic, or we are just more used to roads with steep drops on one side than travellers from other countries. And while the traffic here operates on completely different rules it is by no means without a system. Vehicles freely overtake those that are travelling slower, tooting loudly to alert everyone that they are coming through. Trucks and buses are often fitted with customised horns that announce their presence with a cheerful tune. It seems like every action requires a kind of amicable negotiation with the other vehicles/people/animals using the roads.

Our bus trip took about seven hours, quite possibly a record time. We were unable to stay in the guesthouse we had booked for the first night as they had given away our rooms. We were instead sent to alternative accommodation for the first evening, and promised a room the next day. I was a little irritated, as this was also the company with which we had booked our trek, and we had paid a large deposit for the whole package. However, in the end I realised it didn’t really matter and there was no use getting upset about it. We spent the evening with a Dutch girl who was at the very end of her trip. She had used the same agency as us for her trek, and only had good things to report, which restored my faith in the organisation.

We spent the following day wandering around Pokhara and getting organised for our trek. Pokhara is a lovely little town on the edge of a lake. It’s funny that you can picture a place for such a long time, see so many photographs and still end up being completely surprised by the reality of it. The lake is much smaller than I imagined, as is the town itself. The tourist strip is mainly one street that runs along the side of the lake. The town is larger than this – we haven’t had time to explore the local area but we came through it from the bus stop – and even so it’s quite small. Pokhara really is a tourist hub, kind of a Nepali version of Queenstown (although the comparison is a big stretch in a cultural sense). The Lonely Planet says that ‘Despite what Kiwis will tell you, Nepal is probably the word’s greatest outdoors destination.’ While this is not welcome news to our ears, there certainly are similarities in the activities on offer, including rafting, kayaking, paragliding, canyoning, mountain biking, climbing and of course trekking. We are to primarily take part in the last of this list, and are in fact this morning setting off to trek to the Annapurna Sanctuary, also known as Annapurna Base Camp. As a result you won’t hear from us for the next twelve days or so, but I will provide an update shortly after we return.

Slideshow Share

Post your own travel photos for friends and family More Pictures

On the road to Pokhara	On the road to Pokhara	On the road to Pokhara	On the road to Pokhara
On the road to Pokhara	Pokhara	Pokhara	Pokhara

Previous Entry Next Entry