Pottering around Pokhara

We have very much enjoyed the softer, gentler demeanour of the Nepali's. While in Dhaka you need to scratch below the surface a little to find this, the Nepali's welcoming, open smiles bring a real friendliness to the streets. It may be partly a result of the huge tourist industry over here. And Pokhara, where we are based at the moment, is the next biggest tourist destination after Kathmandu, offering majestic views of the Himalayas. Dhaka on the other hand, has barely dipped it's toe into the tourist industry - one of the biggest differences we have noticed during our travels... I guess that might sound obvious!!?? An enterprising young Bengali, who joined us for dinner on our first night, assured us that there were plenty of wonderful tourist experiences to be had in Bangladesh and that there was no need for us to go to India (where we had planned to travel at that stage). I like the lack of pretentiousness of Dhaka and it's ability to simply be itself.
     We have spent the last couple of days pottering around Pokhara. We took a mammoth walk yesterday up to the Bhuddist World Peace Pagoda - the tall dome at the top can be seen just above the treetops at the top of a mountain from the main street of Pokhara. The walk was pretty much a climb vertically straight up some stone steps (the scenic route, as our hotel manager had described it!!)... Jeff and I heaved and huffed our way up cursing our lack of fitness the whole way and doubting our ability to make it.

With great celebration we made it to the top, and were not disappointed with the views we got of the mountain peaks, the lake and the much-larger-than-anticipated district of wider Pokhara - it's hard to believe there can possibly be so much "development" this high up with so few resources!!

We enjoyed the earlier part of the walk, wandering through a more normal suburb of Pokhara where there were less tourists and more people just going about there business - old women climbing down the mountain with huge baskets of collected wares on their back, parents bathing their children in the front yard, men sitting outside their small general stores watching the world go by... it is these experiences that I most enjoy about travel. We have enjoyed some delicious food in local restaurants, our favourite called "My Favourite Cafe"(the name says it all!!) on the lake with open doors all around, an open fire (particularly attractive on our first day here which started out with drizzle and freezing cold!!), a deck to sit at and watch the activity on the lake and a cat to curl up on the seat beside you in the sun (when if finally came out!).

We also enjoyed some beautiful clear skies yesterday and some brilliant views of the Himalayas at sunset from the roof of our hotel... the stuff of documentaries that makes you pinch yourself to check that you really are in fact experiencing it. It really is a different experience in the flesh!!