Pokhara Valley
Pokhara, at an altitude of 827m from the sea level and 200 km west of Kathmandu, is a remarkable place of natural beauty. The city is the starting point for most popular trekking and rafting destinations and has several beautiful lakes and offers panaromic views of the magnificient Himalayan peaks. The peaks visible from the city are Annapurna I to IV, Fishtail, and others like Himchuli, Varahashikhar, Gangapurna. The daytime temperature hovers around 15 degrees Celsius in winter and 35 degrees in summer. During monsoon from mid-June to mid-September, Pokhara actually records the highest rainfall in the country. October through April is considered the best time to visit Pokhara. Lakeside, where most of the hotels and restaurants are located, is the most touristic part of the city.
Places of Interest in Pokhara:
Pokhara is also known as the city of Lakes, the most popular one being Fewa Lake. It is the second largest lake in the nation where you can rent wooden boats and sailboats for boating. There are countless hotels, lodges, restaurants, bookshops and souvenir shops on the eastern shore. Almost in the middle of this lake is the two storied pagoda style Barahi Temple where hindu devotees sacrifice animals and fowls to the deity. On the southern hilltop of this lake is the pagoda Buddhist stupa,World Peace Pagoda. You can cross the lake and hike up to this shrine which offers spectacular views of the Annapurna range and Pokhara city. Begnas and Rupa lakes, which are 15 km from Pokhara and divided by a forested hillock, offer the perfect nature retreat because of their relative seclusion and are perfect for peaceful boating and fishing. Another interesting creation of nature in Pokhara is theSeti Gandaki river that flows right through the city. This amazing river, that appears to be hardly 2m wide and over 20m wide at places, runs completely underground! Devi's Fall, on the other hand is an awesome waterfall, that flows right into a massive hole in the ground. A modern legend says that a foreigner named David was swimming in the Pardi river when the floodgates of the Fewa dam were opened, sweeping him into this underground passage beneath the fall, never to be seen again. Right across this Fall is the Gupteswar Cave which is almost 3 km long, holds Hindu religious values and has some big hall-size rooms. But at some points, the passages are so narrow that you have to crawl. But more popular cave in Pokhara is the large limestone cave, Mahendra Cave, also known as House of Bats. Bindhabasini Temple, located in the Old bazaar of Pokhara, is another attraction and is dedicated to Hindu goddess Bhagwati. One can also visitPokhara Museum which holds antiques and traditional display of some of Nepal’s ethnic groups and Annapurna Museum that has an exceptional collection of butterflies, insects, birds, and models of wildlife as well as samples of various precious and semi-precious stones and volcanic rocks.
