The One With Fish Tail - Pokhara, Nepal
Pokhara, Nepal
We were greeted in Pokhara by the most spectacular views of the himalayas. Go figure, whenever went in search of the mountains it was cloudy but when we came back down to a valley there they were, breathtaking. When we reached Pokhara we checked into the hotel then went to visit the International Mountain museum. I am really not a museum person but I enjoyed this one. They had an exhibit on the different native ethnic groups Nepal one on the geological make up of the mountains and one about mountain expeditions around the world. It highlighted the sherpas that guided the climbers. One of the more famous is Tenzing Norgay who was the Nepalese mountaineer on the first Everest expedition with John Hunt and Edmund Hillary. Another notable person from the exhibit was a Japanese man who had climbed the 14 tallest peaks as well as traveled to the north and south poles. Outside the museum was a climbable model of Machapuchare (Fish Tail) mountain of the Annapurna range that can could be seen from Pokhara. That night we went to Fish Tail lodge for dinner. It is a fancy that presidents and dignitaries stay at hotel across the lake. To reach the hotel you have to take a raft that is on a track and pulled across by a rope. We arrived too early for dinner so we had appetizers including paneer momos that were to die for. We got there in time to see the sun setting over the mountains, it was beautiful. The next day we went to a waterfall. We are a bit fuzzy on the actual name, The hotel called it David's falls. The actual falls were called Davis falls and the internet called it Devi's falls. The story about what also happened differed between the guide book and the actual site. The actual falls (Davis falls) said they were' named for a women who died in the falls after bathing nearby. The guidebook said that both the women and her boyfriend died after falling into falls. I thought it was interesting that no one could seem to agree on the name and story of site as simple as a waterfall. In any case they were beautiful. We then headed up to the World Peace Pagoda. It was a gorgeous morning we took a car part way and then walked up about 20 million stairs to the top. The views were incredible. I was so wrapped up in looking at the scenery I can't really tell you much about the actual pagoda. It was white. Later that day we visited a Tibetan refugee village. We watched women turning wool into thread. At the village they make crafts and carpets. It was amazing seeing the women working at the looms. So much work goes into each one. There was a bigger settlement that I wanted to visit but it was too far from the other things we were doing that day. I guess I will just have to go back. I loved Pokhara for the views and the cleaner air and the lack of traffic. It was so nice being able to see the mountains and the lake was beautiful. It is very much a tourist town and the place we stayed was very similar to Thamel but all on one long road. We hadn't had the best of luck seeing the mountains in the past, We thought we would give it another chance and head to Sarangkot which a town high above the Pokhara valley.