"Pokhara" a Pokhara Travel Page by onuk

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Pokhara Lake

Pokhara is a remarkable place of natural beauty. Situated at an altitude of 827m from the sea level and 200km west of Kathmandu valley, the city is known as a center of adventure. The enchanting city with a population of around 95,000 has several beautiful lakes and offers stunning panaromic views of Himalayan

Pokhara peaks. The serenity of lakes and the magnificence of the Himalayas rising behind them create an ambience of peace and magic. So today the city has not only become the starting point for most popular trekking and rafting destinations but also a place to relax and enjoy the beauty of nature.

Pokhara is part of a once vibrant trade route extending between India and Tibet. To this day, mule trains can be seen camped on the outskirts of the town, bringing goods to trade from remote regions of the Himalaya. This is the land of Magars and Gurungs, hardworking farmers and valorous warriors who have earned worldwide fame as Gurkha soldiers. The Thakalis, another important ethnic group here, are known for their entrepreneurship.

The climate of Pokhara is slightly warmer than Kathmandu with daytime temperature hovering around 15 degrees Celsius in winter and 35 degrees in summer. The monsoon season which lasts from mid-June to mid-September is very wet; in fact Pokhara records the
highest rainfall in the country. Best time to visit is between October and April.

The activities of foreign visitors to Pokhara focus around two districts known as Damside and Lakeside (or Pardi and Baidam, in Nepali, respectively). These two areas, with their strips of hotels and restaurants, are a few kilometers south-west of the main Pokhara bazaar.

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View to Pokhara Town and the Himalayas

Getting There

Pokhara has good bus and air links to other parts of the country, but overland routes are often affected by the security situation. Night bus services only run during lulls in violence between Maoist rebels and the government. Check locally before making any long journeys by bus.

Royal Nepal Airlines Corporation (RNAC; tel: 521021) and several private airlines offer regular daily shuttle flights between Kathmandu and Pokhara (20min). RNAC and Gorkha Airlines (tel: 525971) offer flights to Jomsom (20min), on the Annapurna Circuit trail. RNAC also has a flight to Manang (25min) but you can only visit with a permit from Kathmandu. The only flights to the Terai are four weekly RNAC shuttle flights to Bharatpur (20min).

All the airlines have offices opposite the airport near Mustang Chowk, but it's usually easier to get one of the travel agents in Lakeside to do the running around for a ticket.

There are three bus stations in Pokhara. The dusty and chaotic main public bus stand at the northeast end of the Pokhara airstrip has buses to Kathmandu and towns in the Terai.

Tourist buses to Kathmandu (6-8hr) and Royal Chitwan National Park leave from the smaller Mustang bus stand at Mustang Chowk, while buses to the trailheads for the Annapurna Conservation Area leave from the Baglung bus park at Bhairab Tole, about 2km (1.2mi) north of the centre on the main highway. One important exception is the Annapurna Circuit trek, which normally starts at Besisahar.

You can pick up faster minibuses to Kathmandu (Kalanki) on the highway in front of the public bus stand.

Greenline (tel: 531472; www.catmando.com/greenline) has a daily air-con bus to Thamel at 07:30 from its depot in Lakeside South. Golden Travels (tel: 523096) has a similar service to Durbar Marg in central Kathmandu, leaving from the Mustang bus stand at 07:30 . Greenline also has a daily deluxe air-con bus to Chitrasali at 07:30 from its depot.

The closest Indian border crossing from Pokhara is Sunauli, just south of the town of Bhairawa, but you can also cross at Mahendranagar, Nepalganj, Birganj and Kakarbhitta.

Pokhara travel agents may try to tempt you with the offer of tourist buses to the border and direct buses to towns in India. Don't be fooled - there are no tourist buses to Sunauli and no through-buses to India; without exception, you must change buses at the border.

From the main public bus stand, there are nearly 20 buses daily for Bhairawa (8hr), where you can pick up a local bus to the border post at Sunauli. There are also day and night buses to Birganj (9hr) and Nepalganj (12hr), Mahendranagar (16hr) and Kakarbhitta (13hr).

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Pokhara Town

Getting Around

There are lots of places to rent bicycles, motorbikes and scooters in Lakeside.

Boatman at Lakeside offer shuttle services around the lake. Small local buses run between Lakeside, the airport, the public bus stand and Mahendrapul but routes are erratic and there isn't much space for baggage. Local buses to Pame Bazaar and other places on the north shore of Phewa Tal leave Camping Chowk every hour or so until mid-afternoon.

Taxis meet tourist buses at the Mustang Chowk bus stand, but you can expect a hotel tout to come along for the ride. Insist on being taken where you want to go.