I wanted to go to Pokhara on the 26th, but the rain that started the day before continued till late afternoon that day, more than 24 hours of rain. And by rain I don’t mean a light drizzle, but a heavy downpour that didn’t calm down a minute! Anyway, I stayed in the hotel till the rain stopped.

Late in the afternoon, I went out to visit Swayambhu or as tourists call it, the Monkey Temple, at the top of a hill. I don’t think the temple has anything to do with monkeys, but it is called so due to the abundance of monkeys over there (though there are loads of dogs and pigeons there too). The temple is one of the most sacred Buddhist sites in the country and it has a large stupa on top of it.

Over there I met a local girl called Martha. She was doing her everyday walk to the top and back down to her place. She kindly offered to give me a tour of the temple and other nearby temples, which I gladly accepted. That’s why I love traveling; to meet nice and friendly people!

The next day early in the morning, I departed to Pokhara by a “Tourist Bus”, which is supposed to be of a higher standard, but it wasn’t. Pokhara is one of the most important cities in Nepal, and I was assuming that the road between the two cities should be a highway. But instead, it was a mountain road of a very low quality. The road was FULL of holes and ditches filled with water, and this went for the whole road. I can certainly say that there was no single 10 meters without a hole. So the trip was a constant vertical vibration, perfect for testing any equipment against random vibrations! We stopped for breakfast and lunch, and we arrived around 2 PM.

In the bus terminal, a guy was waiting for me from Miracle Hotel, the place that was arranged for me by the manager of the hotel in Kathmandu. It was a short ride to the hotel and quite expectedly, contrary to what was claimed by the manager of the hotel in Kathmandu, it was not situated beside the lake. But it was within a short walking distance to the lake, and the rooms were nice, much nicer than the hotel in Kathmandu. I got a room for $10 per night.

At first glance, Pokhara was MUCH cleaner and calmer than Kathmandu, with a beautiful nature. After taking some rest, I headed out to the lakeside. Over there, it again started to rain heavily. I took shelter close to a shop, where I saw the shopkeeper outside. He didn’t look Nepali, but looked more like Iranians. I asked where he is from and he said Kashmir. When he understood I’m from Iran, he greeted me very warmly and invited me to his shop.

His name was Soheil, a Persian name, and we talked a lot about Iran and Kashmir, finding a lot of common things. He encouraged me a lot to visit Kashmir, saying that it’s the most beautiful and serene. Afterwards, I met another Kashmiri shopkeeper, called Seyed Zohour-Hossein, and he also greeted me very warmly and told me that I should visit Kashmir. Soheil told me that if I go to Kashmir, his friend will be more than happy to help me and show me around. As I love to meet nice and friendly people, and apparently the Kashmiris are so, I might change my plan and visit Kashmir.

When he found out I just came to Pokhara, he suggested me to take a taxi and visit all major touristic spots in half a day. The most important highlight of Pokhara is Sarangkot. Sarangkot is a small mountain, which from the top, one has a magnificent view of Annapurna range (+8000 peaks). The best time to go is the sunrise, when it has the most beautiful view.

One small anecdote here: Contrary to what you might think, viewing Himalaya is not straightforward. There are so many smaller peaks in the way (3000-4000 meter), and so much cloud, that in very few places you get a nice view. For better views, one should do a multiple-day trek to some of those smaller peaks. For example for Sarangkot, one should hike to the top the day before, and stay overnight to be able to watch the sunrise. But the lazy tourist, like me :D, can take an early taxi to go up!

Moreover, as the public transportation is not very good and widely accessible, to go to other places I needed a taxi. So Soheil called his friend who owned a taxi, and asked him how much he gets for it, considering that I was his friend. He said 3500 NRP, which is almost 40 sfr. Knowing that I should haggle (In Nepal and India, you should ALWAYS haggle!), I said it’s too much. The guy said he will come to discuss about it. He came and finally we agreed on 2500, which is almost 30 sfr. This was the beginning of a MOST MEMORABLE day for me, which I write about it in a separate post.

Side note:

  • My toothache continued, and I had to take heavy doses of Ibuprofen to kill the pain. After a couple of days, now it’s much better, so much so that I did not take any medicine today. I hope it stays this way until I come back!