It was a 6 hour bus journey from Kathmandu to Pokhara which we slept most of the way thanks to Gravol! We did manage to catch some of the scenery, lush green rice fields and mountains, there were a lot of young trees on top of the hills which they must have planted quite recently, and the monsoon rains have come early making everything so green.
Our hotel, called the Sacred Valley Inn is located beside Lake Phewa in Pokhara near the tourist strip, there is a lovely Bougainvillea tree with white and pink flowers which shades the veranda of the hotel. The room itself is very basic with a bed and a bathroom, but serves its purpose for $18 per night...yay to clean rooms, hot water, no bedbugs and wireless internet and safety! (might consider Sacred Valley Inn in KTM).
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| Pat enjoying WiFi on his iPhone! |
We have walked along the tourist strip which reminds me of a more open and cleaner Thamel (what do you think Gloria?). This time of the year there are less tourists, so the streets, restaurants, and shops are not busy at all. I mean REALLY not busy, that the waiters don't come to give you the menu for about 5-10 minutes, and there was no shopkeeper at the tea shop we went into (so we decided to come back, which then it was closed!!!! They really don't seem to want our business! :p). It's the "bisthare" (slow) kind of life... especially in the heat... we saw this guy taking a nap on a tree branch while we were walking along the lakeside back to our hotel (I thought he was part of the branch at first!).
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| The World Peace Pagoda (left). |
On our first day here, we took a day hike (well about 2 hours total) to the World Peace Pagoda built by a specific Japanese Buddhist sect to spread the word of Buddhism and Peace. We took a guide since the guidebook and the innkeeper said that there have been robberies in the forest. His name was Hari, a courteous quiet guy. He took us through the forest and along the mountain ridge to the Pagoda...the hike itself was not that hard (although, being out of shape I could feel my heart pounding in my throat!), but the heat and humidity was incredible!!! We were dripping with sweat and we both drank so much water but didn't have to pee for the whole time!
The pagoda was nice and breezy, and we got to see the whole Pokhara Valley which is quite large and has a population of 3 million people! It was a cloudy day so we didn't get to see the mountains unfortunately.
At the pagoda, Pat discovered a little black but plump leech that had burrowed through his sock and was enjoying its blood meal on Pat's ankle, and another one attached to his shoe...thank God it was not me!!!! And it bled for quite sometime after.
During our descent from the pagoda it rained which cooled us down, however made going down the stone steps deathly (OK, I'm exaggerating... slippery is what Pat says)... Oh did I mention that our guide Hari was wearing sandals and had no trouble flying down the stairs in the rain?
We stopped by a peaceful resting place shaded by a big Bodhi tree which overlooked the other side of the Pokhara valley. After our descent we headed to the Gupteshwor Cave which is a naturally formed cave which serves as a temple for Shiva (a Hindu God), interesting but really dark and crowded with Indian tourists in their pretty saris and their slippery shoes (not so good in a wet cave...). Again garbage in these caves as well...
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| Inside the Cavern, I think the other side is the Davis Falls. |
Across from the cave we also visited Devi's Falls...apparently named after Mrs. Davis who died whilst skinnydipping near the falls with her husband in 1961- she fell I think. So it's meant to be Davis Falls...not too much to see as the water levels were still quite low.
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| Papaya smoothie! |
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It was too hot and humid to take any pictures yesterday, and today we have decided to stay in away from the heat, and close to the bathroom...it seems that my stomach doesn't like eating Indian food in Nepal.... We miss our fresh green salads... although the banana pancake and eggs bennys were decent this morning :)
A friendly dog decided to join us for breakfast, and waited patiently watching us eat...the waiter said that it was OK to feed him so he got 1 piece of toast and half a banana pancake. He was cute but suffering from some type of skin disease...like all the dogs here.
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| View of the lake from the restaurant. |
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Tomorrow, we fly back to Kathmandu, when we hope to get a glimpse of the Himalayas from the plane... then on Thursday, it's off to Dhaka (Bangladesh) to visit Pat's friend Aabed!
Our hotel, called the Sacred Valley Inn is located beside Lake Phewa in Pokhara near the tourist strip, there is a lovely Bougainvillea tree with white and pink flowers which shades the veranda of the hotel. The room itself is very basic with a bed and a bathroom, but serves its purpose for $18 per night...yay to clean rooms, hot water, no bedbugs and wireless internet and safety! (might consider Sacred Valley Inn in KTM).
We have walked along the tourist strip which reminds me of a more open and cleaner Thamel (what do you think Gloria?). This time of the year there are less tourists, so the streets, restaurants, and shops are not busy at all. I mean REALLY not busy, that the waiters don't come to give you the menu for about 5-10 minutes, and there was no shopkeeper at the tea shop we went into (so we decided to come back, which then it was closed!!!! They really don't seem to want our business! :p). It's the "bisthare" (slow) kind of life... especially in the heat... we saw this guy taking a nap on a tree branch while we were walking along the lakeside back to our hotel (I thought he was part of the branch at first!).
On our first day here, we took a day hike (well about 2 hours total) to the World Peace Pagoda built by a specific Japanese Buddhist sect to spread the word of Buddhism and Peace. We took a guide since the guidebook and the innkeeper said that there have been robberies in the forest. His name was Hari, a courteous quiet guy. He took us through the forest and along the mountain ridge to the Pagoda...the hike itself was not that hard (although, being out of shape I could feel my heart pounding in my throat!), but the heat and humidity was incredible!!! We were dripping with sweat and we both drank so much water but didn't have to pee for the whole time!
During our descent from the pagoda it rained which cooled us down, however made going down the stone steps deathly (OK, I'm exaggerating... slippery is what Pat says)... Oh did I mention that our guide Hari was wearing sandals and had no trouble flying down the stairs in the rain?
We stopped by a peaceful resting place shaded by a big Bodhi tree which overlooked the other side of the Pokhara valley. After our descent we headed to the Gupteshwor Cave which is a naturally formed cave which serves as a temple for Shiva (a Hindu God), interesting but really dark and crowded with Indian tourists in their pretty saris and their slippery shoes (not so good in a wet cave...). Again garbage in these caves as well...
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