Pokin' around in Pokhara

I will get a decently sized story along with five photos for this clip, one of my bigger ones so far...

I got to write a tourism travel log for the KTM Post while I traveled to Pokhara, Nepal. It is the second largest tourist town in Nepal and I can see why. It is set on the second largest lake in Nepal called the Phewa Tal, with fun shops and restaurants and most importantly CLEAN AIR! The backdrop is the Annapurna Mountain Range, the second largest in the country after Everest of course, which gets the trekkers coming to the town. You see either hippies, trekkers, or do-gooder's for the country, along with natives for the most part.

In order to do a tourism log, I had to be the ultimate tourist. I took a pony trek up the World Peace Pagoda, which was cool; you go through the jungle and then up to the hillside where Buddha apparently found his enlightenment. I felt like a lazy American though, sitting high on a horse, named "King" because he was the biggest on the farm, but I thought he was actually pretty skinny... while leeches sucked at his hooves (without horse shoes :( ... ) and my guides ankles. Ugh. Nice views at the top of the Pokhara Valley though. I tipped the guide way too much probably, but hey I'm a guide and now what its like to take tourists on a river, so maybe its good guide karma?

I also visited a cave called Mahendra Cave, named after an ancient Nepali king. It was cool, you walk inside about 100 yards into the earth, but that's about it. I took a rain check on the bat cave nearby though.

One of the best times I had while in Pokhara was visiting an orphanage called the Kopila House, or Sam's House. I met a guy on the plane over here, from Minnesota no less, who started a children's house with his wife a few years ago. This visit inspired me to begin a personal project on Nepal's orphanages and their usually poor conditions. This one however was super nice. There are about 20 kids, they all have their own beds with clean sheets and are probably more responsible and mature than your average college kid. I was pretty happy with some of the photos I made. They do all their own chores, help cook/clean etc. I was beyond impressed; unfortunately this is a rare case in Nepal. More to come on that project later.

Besides shopping, eating, and getting over a nasty cold, I also went to a Yoga and Meditation retreat center for a day/night. A couple owns this resort, that is still being built called the Sadhana Yoga Center (if you're ever in the area ;) They offer yoga three times a day, along with meditation and chanting and serve all organic vegetarian meals from food grown in their garden. You also get a mud or steam bath, yogic body clensings, which cured my head cold. All this is included with your room for $20. Cheap cheap.

I took a bus there and back which was an interesting experience in itself. Imagine the Greyhound, but Nepali style. Then picture that on a bumpy road, over a 400 ft river gorge below, a single lane highway passing other buses and trucks. Sound like fun yet? Then add in a traffic jam that took 3 hours to go about a mile.

ps : THERE IS NOTHING BETTER THAN TRAVEL COUNTING AS WORK OR INTERNSHIP HOURS!!!