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Pokharan Recuperation
Entry 2 of 6 | show all | print this entry |
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We've reached a pleasant lull in the trip, enjoying sleeping, lake views and drinking tea at the numerous tourist restaurants here in Pokhara.
This had seemed rather natural after the sensory excesses of India, and has also been necessitated by waiting for my body to get rid of the illegal bacterial immigrant from India stowed-away somewhere in my colon! In actual fact my body's defences haven't been up to the task so I've succumbed to the antibiotics brought over from home, with almost instant results!
We have managed to do a few things in between doing nothing, however...
The World Peace Pagoda is an impressive building - as its grandiose name suggests - built on a hill high above Pokhara.
It seems to have a mainly symbolic purpose, and we couldn't even get in due to repair work, but the walk there and back was good training for trekking! The path was reached by getting a boat to the other side of Phewa Lake and walking up steeply through Chestnut forests.
PHOTO_ID_L=the-pagoda-up-close.jpg]
The view from the Pagoda would have been incredible had it been clear, but unfortunately the haze that has enveloped the town since we arrive persisted.
The walk down was easier and more sedate and brought us out in a new part of town away from the tourist activity of 'Lakeside', showing us a more real side to life here with men working the paddy fields and plenty of laundry being done in the river!
The afternoon was spent at the International Mountain Museum: $5 well spend, if only for the sheer volume of content to take in, including a 20 foot high scale model of a nearby mountain peak and countless photographs of famous mountaineering expeditions to the 8000 metre-plus peaks, many of which are in Nepal (including Annapurna I which we hope to see while trekking!).
Yesterday morning was spent checking out the island temple in the nearby Phewa Lake. It turned out to be a great day to go as it was a hive of activity with scores of locals dressed up in their equivalent of Sunday Best offering all sorts of things from coconuts to flowers to pigeons and goats
to the Hindu gods. A very spiritual atmosphere,
although the plumes of holy insence smoke made me eventually feel pretty sick; but perhaps that's just my aetheism talking!
Next week we hope to start some volunteering work at a local school. Will keep you updated!
Where I stayed:
Hotel Lake Diamond
Latest Comments (1)
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Indian Nortons (reply)
Mar 4, 2008 22:36 EST by andrebburn
Very interesting and vividly written. Re Indian Nortons a diesel engine was developed about 15 years ago to provide cheap reliable transport for India with incredible m.p.g. I actaully looked at buying the Norton spares business but decided against it as it seemed to be very much for an enthusiast and probably to the exclusion of all else.
Your blogs are very stimulating for the armchai... show all
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