Pokhora - Lake and mountain views

Namaste! Sanchhai Chha? (How are you?)

Pokhora is the nearest Nepal gets to a seaside city. It is set beside a large lake and holiday makers can sit on sun loungers at the lakeside bars. The path beside the lake is crowded with tourists enjoying a pleasant stroll and enjoying the views.  What views? You may well ask.

Phew taal, the lake itself, is picturesque in a Lake District sort of way.  Boats can be hired to cross the lake or just to paddle around in, and even pedaloes are available.

On a small island in the lake is a temple, and early in the morning people take a boat to visit and make an offering at the temple.  The boats are rowed as no power-boats are allowed to disturb the tranquillity of the lake. 

The temple on the island Tal Barahi

Ring the bells to alert the gods to your prayers

Having crossed the lake, a stiff uphill walk of about 50 minutes, takes you to the World Peace Stupa.  Perched on top of the hill, with tranquil attractive gardens surrounding it, the white stupa was built and is maintained by a Japanese Buddhist organisation who run a nearby monastery.

                         

However the best thing about this site is the panoramic views of the mountains 25 kilometres away. On a clear day some of the most impressive of the worlds highest mountains can be seen along the northern horizon.

Sadly the clouds obscured some of the mountains whilst we were on top, but the sheer height we could see was still impressive.
More impressive still was the panorama of the Annapurna Range that we were treated to, from a hotel garden beside the lake, just as the sun set that day. The mountains glowed golden in the evening light, and people near us just stood and stared at the beauty.

                                                                 

What a wonderful spectacle!

The trouble with being granted such views is that you then thirst for more! Our final morning in Pokhora we rode by taxi as high as we could towards a popular viewpoint for the mountains. A 30 minute uphill walk brought us to the top, to a viewing platform with a telescope! How close the mountains seemed through that; cliffs, glaciers, boulder-fields, seracs and snowfields felt almost close enough to touch. 

However the following photographs were not taken through the telescope but by my small point-and-shoot camera.

I can't wait to travel amongst these monsters, but don't think I'll be climbing them.

Ta ta. pheri bheTaulaa (see you again)