Pokhara

Last weekend, I went to Pokhara, a lakeside city in West Nepal. Pokhara is the second largest city in terms of tourism in Nepal, after Kathmandu. Come to think about it, it's kinda like Kuala Lumpur and Penang in Malaysia (and they have the same initials too). Pokhara is a 4-5 hour drive from Kathmandu, just like the distance from KL to Penang.

Also, both KL & Kathmandu are valleys while both Penang & Pokhara are surrounded by waters... Okay well I admit I'm obsessed over finding similarities & connections... :P

A fisherman caught a fish!

One of the villages

Slightly blurry

The beautiful Fewa lake... I can just sit here for a long time & take pictures

During the tourist season from November - April, Pokhara is packed with tourists hoping to catch a glance of the stunning Annapurna circuit and Mount Everest. Flocks of people choose Pokhara as their base before setting off to conquer the tallest mountain in the world... But June, the start of the monsoon, is a low season. There were hardly tourists anywhere - in fact, we kept on seeing the same faces again and again. Although we didn't get to see the majestic peaks because of the clouds, Pokhara's tranquility was a great break from the polluted and crowded Kathmandu.

We went hiking in the rain. Terrified of the cliff experience from Monday, I was a bit hesitant but I was so glad I went along - the view was majestic! Here are some photos:

Devi's Fall, before the hike

View from mid-way uphill. Raining!!

World Peace Pagoda :)))

On the bus ride from KTM to PKR, I sat next to S, a Nepali friend. He taught me some Nepali vocab, and I slowly repeated those words to myself. As I speak some Intermediate Japanese, I found myself getting confused between the two languages, especially that their grammar is pretty similar... >.< Ah, foreign language problems!!

So in Pokhara, I randomly bumped into two guys - a Japanese who spoke little English, and a Nepali who spoke almost no Japanese. And there was I, slightly confused between both language but trying to translate. Haha, it was kinda fun though.

I also met a comedian who tells jokes in different hill communities surrounding the area, who can mimic several animal noises (he did horse and elephant in front of me), whose jokes are aired (and quite popular) in China, and claims that he was interviewed by the BBC. He's also a linguist - knows a bit of many languages, and speak several rather fluently.

Pokhara was certainly very peaceful. I especially liked the lakes. I wished it didn't rain so we could have gone to Sarangkot for more hikes... The one thing I really disliked about Pokhara was how commercialized the place was. Almost every one there was a tourist. Prices for boating are written in two languages: the price in English was almost twice the price in Nepali. And the food... wasn't great, and pretty overpriced.

I will come back though. This time with a deeper understanding of the language and culture, and definitely in a different season.

Dreamy Pokhara