What a beautiful city
Pokhara! About six hours drive from Kathmandu with its own Domestic Airport,
Pokhara International Airport being under construction and to be completed in a
couple of years, it’s the place to de-stress and connect with the nature. Many
charms to this city and my favorite to start off with is the lake, Fewa or
Phewa in the Pokhara valley. I feel it is not only calming and inspiring but
also is maintained neatly by the boaters who believe it brings them tourists
and earns them a living! Fewa is totally and completely enveloped with dense greenery!
Bikes that you can
rent to drive around and the breath taking view of the mountains makes it one
of the number one destinations of South East Asia. “Dal bhat power 24 hours” and many world cuisines being served in the
beautiful restaurants surrounding the lake reminds me of Wagga Wagga and Lorne
small towns in Victoria, Aus. Pokhara has the same feel and the fresh look like
Lorne and has just the ideal weather around this time which is April, May,
June. Everything green as far as your eyes can look!
Lots of tourists visit
this part of Nepal for adventure sports. Popular amongst them is Rafting,
Paragliding and Trekking. I however tried Paragliding and my heart almost
glided out of my body :) I was so nervous! Also with someone who has motion
sickness I wanted to surely and definitely try it once, when the time came I
was more than ready to give up at the time of take off if not for a friend of
my pilot who held my hand and saw me off the cliff….now I am glad I didn’t give
up! My pilot during the flight, made me pose in different directions to click
pictures and trust me got me so sick! Having said that it was truly an
experience of a lifetime, gliding through the air...FLYING more like a baby
bird... So I recommend a couple of antacid and anti-vomit pills before the
flight would tremendously help for people with motion sickness like me.
The Nepalese being
familiar and speaking in Hindi makes it quiet comfortable for us as foreigners
and many of them do speak English, French and Spanish as well. Cycling or
riding a bike against the fresh air is definitely a yes - yes for me. It’s not
only refreshing but also helps you explore areas that can’t be approached by
public transport.
Most of the
restaurants serve continental, India, Nepalese and Chinese cuisines. If you wish to eat authentic Chinese food, there is plenty of choice as they are owned by Chinese people who cook in the Chinese style. But the usual Nepali Thali is quite an experience, including Rice, Dal, two types of
vegetables sauteed to perfection, tomato schezwan chutney yum, papadum, salad.
If you wish to have chicken or meat, then one of the vegetable is replaced with
it. I love the freshness of the vegetables there that actually nurture with natural spring water, so green and so lightly
tossed with lots of garlic to perfection.
The supermarkets are
designed and arranged for the tourists so you could easily find your own
personal brand of food. I found ostrich meat not that I like it or have ever tasted it but
just the fact that it’s available, is amusing! Including some products that are
not so easily available in India, were present in these super markets, making
shopping an utter delight!
On the way to Pokhara
is a famous temple called ‘Manokamna Devi’, which is frequented by foreigners
as well as localites and has sky way access. Close by is a few night getaway
for rafting, which is again a popular sport for the tourist.
You can enjoy the
natural waterfalls and fresh trout fish on the way to Pokhara. Within Pokhara you
have Devils cave, boating in Fewa lake, paragliding, walking aimlessly and
checking the many shops, is my favorite recreation. I bet no
other place in the world can offer a cheaper, cleaner and such an awesome
getaway. I promise to go back there every summer and stay for a month in a
serviced apartment hire a maid and relax!
If you wish to travel
faster from Kathmandu then a 30 min flight to Pokhara is an easy option. For
people residing in India, this is the best getaway from scorching summer to go
up to the mountains and enjoy this scenic view. Least to say, Hashish, polland,
grass which I don’t know much about are sourced after here. I usually get
passed off as an European so you can imagine the number of localities chasing
after me to sell hash! ;)
If you are looking for
the finest pashmina, Nepal is the place. However, you must know
how to identify pure pashmina and bargain the right price or you pay triple as
much. Yak wool is also a popular winters commodity here if you wish to buy and
save for winters, available in wholesale for as less as 150 NR- 300 NR. For the
pashmina of the thinnest quality you shell out 800 NR as a minimum. The
souvenir T-shirts you could spend anything starting from 300 NR on wards, based
on the cloth and the design.
Nepal is the place for healing, from singing bowls, hashish, yoga, meditation to any number of
spiritual ways- Reiki, chakra healing, gems, stones, crystals, beads and
bracelets it surely is a treasure of the mystique that magnetizes people from
all walks of life from around the world.
http://myexperiencesofnepal.blogspot.in/2017/04/nepal-kathmandu.html
http://bangkoktheplacetobe.blogspot.in/2017/04/my-favorite-city-bangkok.html
http://myexperiencesinvaranasi.blogspot.in/2017/04/kashi-or-banaras-or-varanasi.html
