The mornings in the mountains are always beautiful. Every single leaf, petal and stone seem to rejoice in the morning light. The morning over the misty Phewa lake will transport you to a dreamland. We had our breakfast in the hotel dinning hall, which is built to face the lake and the snowy mountain range. Our luck was out that morning. The mountains were still out of sight. But that did not bother us much as we had planned to spend the day touring Pokhara.
Our first stop was the Peace Pagoda set on a hill overlooking lake Phewa and boasts an excellent view of the snow-capped mountains beyond. Our car dropped us a few meters below the top, as the road to the Peace Pagoda was still under construction. We had to climb a few meters to gain access to the small praying building abutting the Peace Pagoda. A few meters beyond the path there is a small tea-shop selling. We stopped there to admire the view and for a much needed cup of tea. The lady (most of the mountain shops are run by ladies) running the told me that the mountains have remained hidden for the past few days. Our hopes for tomorrow's sunrise slip down a few notches. We thanked the lady and proceeded to climb the Pagoda.
The Pagoda is a start white dome with three golden Budda statues embedded on its sides. Under each statue there is brief description. There is a small green lawn in front of the Pagoda. From here we took some photos of the Pokhara city stretched along the bank of the Phewa lake and came back to the car.
Our next stop was the David's falls and the Gupteswas Guha. David's fall is a beautiful waterfall, but to be honest, I would give it a rating of 2 in a scale of 6, as far as spendour is concerned.
The Guha or cave is another matter. As you go down the damp steps into the bowels of earth, you cannot avoid the chill that goes down your back. I will never want to get stuck there. The cave is surprisingly flat and the Shiv Lingam is surely a natural marvel. After paying our respects at the small shrine, we climbed further down to get a glimpse of the David's falls from the bottom of the cave. In my opinion, this was nothing short of an adventure
Our next stop was a surprise. We asked our driver to take us to an off-beat spot. He suggested a hanging bridge. This handging bridge is very much like Laxman Jhula in India, but much less used. It runs across the Seti Gandaki river and connects two mountains. Before the bridge was built, people had to travel all the way down to the river, and then climb up after crossing the river.
The bridge can be crossed only by foot, but in the 15 minutes that we spent there, we saw school kids, farmers, traders and numerous others cross the bridge with goods on their heads and bicycles. I can imagine the distance they had to cover before the bridge was built.
As you walk across the bridge, you will feel it sinking under your weight. When you look down, you can see the river as a arrow strip, flowing far below. It's a scary experience, but well worth the view.
We spent rest of the day scanning the sky. It rained in the night, giving us high hopes for a clear sky and spectacular sunrise tomorrow.
Our first stop was the Peace Pagoda set on a hill overlooking lake Phewa and boasts an excellent view of the snow-capped mountains beyond. Our car dropped us a few meters below the top, as the road to the Peace Pagoda was still under construction. We had to climb a few meters to gain access to the small praying building abutting the Peace Pagoda. A few meters beyond the path there is a small tea-shop selling. We stopped there to admire the view and for a much needed cup of tea. The lady (most of the mountain shops are run by ladies) running the told me that the mountains have remained hidden for the past few days. Our hopes for tomorrow's sunrise slip down a few notches. We thanked the lady and proceeded to climb the Pagoda.
 |
| Peace Pagoda in Pokhara Copyright©2008 Indranil Banerjee |
The Pagoda is a start white dome with three golden Budda statues embedded on its sides. Under each statue there is brief description. There is a small green lawn in front of the Pagoda. From here we took some photos of the Pokhara city stretched along the bank of the Phewa lake and came back to the car.
 |
| Phewa Lake from the Pagoda Copyright©2008 Indranil Banerjee |
 |
| David's Fall Copyright©2008 Indranil Banerjee |
 |
| David's Fall from the Guha Copyright©2008 Indranil Banerjee |
 |
| The wire bridge at Pokhara Copyright©2008 Indranil Banerjee |
The bridge can be crossed only by foot, but in the 15 minutes that we spent there, we saw school kids, farmers, traders and numerous others cross the bridge with goods on their heads and bicycles. I can imagine the distance they had to cover before the bridge was built.
As you walk across the bridge, you will feel it sinking under your weight. When you look down, you can see the river as a arrow strip, flowing far below. It's a scary experience, but well worth the view.
 |
| Seti Gandaki Copyright©2008 Indranil Banerjee |
No comments:
Post a Comment