Pokhara and my Childhood

Pokhara is my most favorite place in Nepal. I spent four of my earliest school years in Pokhara and let me tell you, it was awesome. I don't remember all the little things when I used to live there but I remember that I had the most fun in Pokhara than anywhere else in Nepal. Later when I moved to Kathmandu, I used to go to Pokhara time to time because I missed it so much. Now that I am here in Canada, I miss it more than ever before.

Pokhara and the Mountains

Pokhara Valley ocupies a central location in Nepal and is dominated by the peaks of the Annapurna range. Annapurna range is a part of the Himalayas and consists of Mt. Annapurna (one of the 14 mountains that are over 8,000 meters high in altitude). The uniqueness of Pokhara lies here because Pokhara, 931 meters high, is only fifty kilometres away from Mt. Annapurna, 8,091 meters high. There is a decline of six thousand meters in altitude within a distance of only twenty-nine kilometers, thereby providing with drastic contrastic in landscape.

From Pokhara, you can see so many mountain peaks at one glance, starting from east, Annapurna South (7,219m.), Varaha Shikhar (7,647m.), Annapurna I(8,091m.), Khangsar Kang(7,485m.), Tarke Kang(7,193m.), Gangapurna(7,455m.), Annapurna III(7,555m.), Machhapuchhre(6,997m.) - Mt. Fishtail, the most popular mountain, Annapurna IV, Annapurna II, and Lamjung Himal. They are all in one range and line while another peak Dhaulagiri lies to the north-west and Manaslu and Himalchuli to the north-east.

Pokhara also serves as a base for all treks to Annapurna region or several mini-treks can also be organized. The hill near Pokhara, Sarangkot, offers an excellent bird's eye view of Phewa Lake, the entire Annapurna range, Seti river, and the awesome village of Hyangja.

Pokhara and the Lakes

Pokhara is full of lakes. The most popular is the Phewa Lake. Out of other lakes, Lake Rupa and Lake Begnas come second and third, then come Khaste, Dipang, and Maidi that are a little smaller in size and popularity. On Phewa Lake one can go canoeing or fishing. Boats are cheap to rent. There is a small island in the middle of Phewa Lake and it has the popular Varahi Temple and around it is a picnic and swimming spot.

Other things about Pokhara

Other than the mountains and the lakes, Pokhara has a lot to offer to an individual. The climate of Pokhara is the best, it is the place where it rains the most in Nepal, but amazingly, once it rains very hard, if you look outside in five minutes, you will see no sign of water. The soil takes it all and it's not even muddy anymore. The climate is humid subtropical. It never snows there. Pokhara probably has the best hotels and lodges of the whole country. Numerous flights are scheduled everyday to many destinations inside the country. Other major interests in Pokhara valley are the Mahendra Cave (a huge cave where one can take a guided paid tour from a guide), the Davis Falls (also called Patle Chhango in Nepali) where cascading water vanishes underground, the Seti River Gorge, one of the deepest gorges in the world, where the Seti River flows some ninety-one meters below ground level.