Exploring Pokhara - last days in Nepal

We arrived in Pokhara in the afternoon and checked in at the Hotel Splendid View. It's not a very appropriately named hotel - the view we had was of a building being constructed - but it was a nice place to stay in the Lakeside part of Pokhara.

We walked around Lakeside and looked at the shops and lake. It seemed to get hotter and hotter as the afternoon progressed.

We stopped and had some mo mo's - these were cooked in a tandoori oven. They were really good.








We then found this shop that Melisa read about online that sells pashmina and cashmere. She spent a long time looking at everything there. The salesmen were pretty nice guys. And they should be pretty happy after our business.








They recommended a restaurant for us to eat at, so we went there for dinner and had more Nepali food.

















One of the popular activities in Pokhara is to get up before the sun does to see it rise over the city. We left our hotel at 4:30am and drove up into the hills above the city. Then we hiked up another hill to see the sun rise at 5:30.









It was really underwhelming because of the clouds. No mountain views and no sun, but it was a great view of Pokhara. And Melisa was attacked by leeches. She somehow managed to get one on each foot.

We then visited the Pokhara temple, a gorge where the water had cut away the rock, and a water fall called Devi's falls. The story at the waterfall was that a Swiss woman, Mrs. Davis, was bathing here and was swept away and killed by the falls. Every since it has been called Devi's Falls. I'm not sure why it isn't called Davis' Falls.

















We went out on the lake in the afternoon and saw some birds and enjoyed the lake in general.



































It started to rain when we came in so we had a cup of coffee and wrote some postcards. We went to the Lonely Planet guide and they recommended a Thai restaurant around the lake. It was about a 3 mike walk and we walked out there and took a cab back. It was really nice to get out and walk and the rain cooled everything down.

Dinner at Kristna's restaurant was worth the walk. We started with spring rolls.








Red Curry








Vegetable noodles and white tea.








Pokhra was a great city and a nice contrast to Kathmandu. I'm sure a visit not during Monsoon season would produce stunning views of the Himalayas.

We left Pokhara at 8am and didn't have any issues with traffic driving back to Kathmandu. It took about 5 hours.

Prakash did a good job getting us back safely. We stopped for some smoke breaks for him and lunch. Eating lunch I was stung by a bee.








Prakash is a man of very few words, but he took his driving seriously. He's not afraid to use the horn.








We arrived back at the Hotel Friends Home and had one last Nepali dinner.








Mint lemonade and unsweetened iced tea (first time I found this in Nepal).








One last trek through the hectic streets.