POKHARA

I spent almost 10 days in this beautiful town on the shore of Phewa Tal (Lake). Some of you may call it a very touristic modern mountain resort, when you see the central lakeside area and walk along the main street, full of trekking shops, internet cafes, souvenir shops and western cuisine restaurants. But even this touristic atmosphere can ruin its magical beauty. I don’t know how many times I walked along the main street per day or how many hours I spent, drinking my tea and looking at the lake.



As in the case of Kathmandu or we can say for all Nepal, Pokhara had been discovered by the hippies during 1970s; and it took just 10 years for it to become a popular holiday resort for both locals and foreign tourists.

I was unlucky in my first 6 days, before I started trekking in Annapurna Circuit, since I couldn’t enjoy the view of Annapurna Range and its reflection on the lake; but after I had returned, I couldn’t take my eyes looking at 8.000m peaks.

My advise would be that stay in the peaceful north side of the lake, just 10 min. walk from the centre. Bishnu Lodge is a good place to stay, which is ran by a very friendly family. They have a good restaurant also, Evergreen Rest., in which you can enjoy the great view of the lake while reading your book. And don’t forget to have a boat ride around the lake! In 6 hours, you can visit all sides of Phewa Tal, including having a lunch of delicious bicket fish and a tea stop in a Nepali house on the south shore while looking at the town.


Evergreen Rest.

ANNAPURNA CIRCUIT / DAY 15 - 18

DAY 16 ( Marpha – 2.670m to Ghasa 2.010m )
We should have started very early in the morning, as we planned to get close to the hot springs of Tatopeni (literally hot springs) as much as possible. I must say that neither of us had expected such a exhausting day, although we had been too lazy during the past 3 days.

We said a warm ‘Good bye’ to Mila after having a quick breakfast with her and kept on trekking. Tukuche was the first town of the day, once the custom point where Tibetan and Nepali traders exchanged salt with grain. We spent some time walking along the streets of the village, which was full of houses that were built in classic Thakali style flat roofed with carved windows, balconies and courtyard at the centre. After Tukuche, the landscape started to change as the desert hills turned into green trees.

After almost walking for 7 hours, including a short tea break in Kobang, we arrived at Kalopeni to have a lunch. The views of the eastern flank of Dhaulagiri (8.167m) and Annapurna I (8.091m) was beautiful, unfortunately I could not say the same thing for Kalopeni as it was just full of hotels. Prefer to stop in Lete, which is few min. after Kalopeni.

As the lunch break finished, we continued our way to Ghasa. A steep descent after Lete made us remember the old days:). It took us 2 hours to get down to the last town of the day, accompanied with the heroic view of Annapurna I and the bright moon over it.



Walking almost 9 hours had really made us exhausted. We found ourselves looking at the Nepali tv channel in the dining room of our hotel for a while after putting our backpacks inside the rooms. But still we had the intention to climb to Poon Hill (3.210m) to view the sunrise (very recommended) after going down to 1.190m in Tatopeni.

DAY 17 ( Ghasa – 2.010m to Tatopeni – 1.190m )
I joined Julian and Renata as I woke up around 08:00 AM. We were very spiritless all through the day. The only thing that kept us walking was the dream of entering inside the hot springs.



We arrived at Tatopeni around 02:00 PM. Used our last drops of energy for finding a good place to stay for 2 days. Luckily, we found one lodge which was very close to the hot springs, Trekkers’ Lodge/Inn. The decision had already been given, when we sat around the table: no climbing again, which meant no Poon Hill:)

DAY 18 ( Tatopeni – 1.190m )
I was in the small pool with few Nepalis at 07:00 AM; didn’t want to have the risk of sharing the springs with lots of trekkers. I enjoyed the hot water for a hour, before having a sunbath on the rocks.

The rest of the day had almost passed on the table in the hotel, with eating and drinking. We had completed our journey in the mountains very successfully. Only thing we had to do was to catch a jeep from Tiblyang to Beni (200 Rp./person) after 2 hours walk and to have a 4-5 hour bus ride to Pokhara. That was the thing we exactly did the next day.