POKHARA (NEPAL) – AN ENCHANTING NATURAL AMPHITHEATER

The Phewa Lake

The bustling lakeside town of Pokhara still offers haven of beauty and serenity for the adventurous backpacker or curious tourist. Famous for one of the largest and most picturesque alpine lakes in the Himalaya, the Pokhara valley attracts a large number of visitors every year to its magical environs.

The 124-sq ft valley is home to a number of lakes including the beautiful Phewa Lake. Phewa Lake is by far the largest of these, stretching out majestically for three kilometers, nestled amidst lush green hills, with vertical snow cliffs of the Annapurna mountain range and the striking formed pinnacle of Mt Machhapuchhre (fishtail) towering above it to the north.

The Seti Gandaki River flows through the valley, often disappearing underground into the soft limestone subsoil, cutting deep underground canyons in its wake. The water of the Phewa Lake travels underground and flows out at Devi’s fall situated half a kilometer away from the lake. This canyon is a nice example of the underground drainage of the area. It is truly an awe inspiring sight to watch huge gushes of water disappearing straight down into a dark and narrow to explore.

Historically, the Pokhara valley was part of a once vibrant caravan route between Jumla and Kathmandu and the one extending between India and Tibet. Each winter long trains of mule caravans arrived from the north, laden with bags of salt and wood from the Tibetan Plateau. These were exchanged in Pokhara for grain and goods carried in from Butwal in the south by porters.

The advent of modern roads and transportation in the early 1970s saw this trading town develop into a lucrative tourist destination. With the establishment of trekking routes for the Annapurna circuit, which marked Pokhara as the ideal place to begin a trek, combined with its legendary natural scenic beauty. Pokhara was soon set firmly on world trekking maps. Today, Pokhara is the biggest tourist destination in Nepal outside the Kathmandu Valley.

As the starting point for trekking routes in the Annapurna region, Pokhara town is a good place to relax and get in the mood for exploring the mountains. Beautiful cafes and diners situated on the lakefront are a good meeting place for travelers and trekkers to mingle and exchange stories about the trail and to swap information about the best trekking routes and guides and porters to hire for a trek.

Local inhabitants are a storehouse of practical information about the area, and are always willing to help you make an informed decision about hotel accommodation, trekking guide or permit money. You also get an insight into how to reduce the price on almost anything for sale in the many antique and curio shops dotted around the lake.

A typical day here greets you with spectacular vistas of the lake and hills and mountains mirrored in it. If you’re staying on the southern shore of the lake, the view is unmatched as the entire range of the Annapurna, Dhaulagiri, and Ganesh Himal are visible. Most enchanting is the single distinctive monolith of Machhapuchhre, soaring into the sky.

Boating on the lake is a lovely way to spend time here. The boats are simple wooden structures made of strong sal wood, and care easy to maneuver. You can choose to have a boatman with you for a price and allow him to row you around the lake close to its hilly shores or do it all by yourself.

The boatmen are generally friendly inhabitants of Pokhara, and have a lot of inhabitants of Pokhara, and have a lot of amusing stories about travelers and how storms on th lakes can be exciting and dangerous. Boating is a favorite leisure activity of residence and visitors alike, and on a typical afternoon, the placid lake is dotted with boats circling the Barahi Temple in middle, or just paddling around. Smiling faces and happy greetings are the norm here as are the melodies boatman tunes that linger long after one leaves the shores of Phewa.

If you can tear yourself away from the lake, there are other sights to explore around the area and other activities to indulge yourself in. One activity for the brave is paragliding, which involves taking a leap off Sarankot, the highest hilltop around Phewa Lake. It’s a tow-hour walk to the top, but the view is worth it. You can, of course, also hire a vehicle to get you there.

The companies offering paragliding here consist of experienced professionals who have mastered the alpine wind currents. They are one of the few paragliding groups in the world to use birds of foray like falcons and eagles to track air currents. The birds are tame and fly above and ahead of the gliders, catching th e rising thermals. The sheer power of these birds is a joy to watch as is the wonderful communication between the glider instructors and the birds as they work together to offer you an awesome experience of flying high like a bird against a backdrop of beautiful snow capped mountains and the pristine lake below.

Another airborne option is to hire a microlight aircraft and have the pilot take you up to 11,000 ft – close to the mountains. The tiny craft flies easily and is a great vantage point for photography as there are no windows. Watching the mountains up close in the light of the setting sun is an unforgettable experience, which is proven by the number of people who take this mountain flight more then just once.

The peace pagoda, a distinctive structure built on the top of the southern shore of Phewa, epitomizes the gentle beauty of the lake an lofty mountains mirrored in it. Its stark whiteness and domed shape are a strong symbol for peace in the valley. The stupa can be reached after a 20-minute walk, and offers a breathtaking view of the lake and the hills and mountains surrounding it. It is a nice spot for meditation and relaxation, very quiet and beautiful.

Sunset on the lake is often a spectacular event with the water birds skimming the lake surface, trailing spray as they head home to roost. Evening also sees the local fishermen set out their net to catch tasty lake fish. They are restricted to the western shore of the lake, however, as boats can get entangled in the nets.

There are many interesting restaurants along the lakefront that offer all kinds of food and entertainment. Many have live bands, consisting f local talent, which is surprisingly good considering that they play trendy English songs. Some restaurants also have live Nepali music and dance, very energetic and colorful. And, of course, there are discotheques that play western club or western music, mostly enjoyed by younger travelers or triumphant trekkers, who have just completed the Annapurna Circuit.

A few years ago Pokhara was host to a rash of open-air, lakeside raves, usually on the full moon of every month, which saw a boom in the boat ferry and mineral water business. Sadly, deteriorating political conditions and the alarming rate of erosion as a result of the continuous stomping of the hillside put an untimely end to this interesting phenomenon. The legends remain however, alive in boatman lore and deserted neon-painted resorts along the lake.

The famous charm and mystique of Pokhara has to be experienced to be believed. The place has a simple natural serenity that affects you at the very first glance. And Phewa Lake has often been described as being hypnotically beautiful. Pokhara, valley seems to retain an ancient grandeur of the mingling of elements; the lake – mountains, valley and large open skies. This natural peace is reflected in the people and lush flora and fauna of he valley. From secluded Shangri-La to kitschy tourist hub, Pokhara has come a long way from being a remote, albeit beautiful trading post. Indeed, the inclusion of Pokhara on the world travelers’ maps has been a blessing to the true explorers of the natural wonders and mysteries of this world.