Nepal Diaries #1 - Roadtrip To The City of Lakes

This past weekend, I took a little trip with my family to the city of lakes called Pokhara, which is the second largest city in Nepal after it's capital city of Kathmandu. By car, the journey takes around 5 hours and the trip is filled with some of the best sights that nature has to offer.

As you may know, Kathmandu city is a valley. So, to go outside of it, you have to make your way through the numerous hills surrounding this city. This means a lot of breathtaking views from elevations as high as 4200 feet above sea level.

Take this photo for example. I took this from inside the car and it just gives you a sense of perspective about your place in relation to the creations of mother nature. We are just tiny specs or a piece of puzzle in her grand design.

For several kilometers, this river flows adjacent to the road and it is a view to die for. I know the photo doesn't even come close to doing justice to the real thing. Throughout the river, people can be seen rafting in the fast currents, having an awesome time.

One thing that I came across a lot on this trip was abandoned vehicles. I mean really dingy, old cars and bikes that were just left for good. I wonder why. Anyways, I saw this as a chance to click some good shots.

Another view of the one of the several hills that one crosses in the journey from Kathmandu to Pokhara.



Road trips are always fun. Even in movies it is something that the characters do to bond with each other and have the pleasures of traveling at the same time. I think I needed the same with my family after having lived away for so long. Suffice it to say, it was really refreshing.

Even though deforestation is rampant in many parts of the country, I am glad that most of the hills on the way were full of vegetation like this. As soon as one leaves the city, the very 'feel' of the air is different. It is so soothing to the lungs and you really can tell the difference.

Here is a photo of my sister @aishwarya who is always ready to strike a pose :P

As we were getting closer to Pokhara, the weather was getting more and more stormy. I simply love this kind of weather where the wind blows and the rain falls down hard and you are there inside the car rocking to some great tunes :)

As soon as we entered the city, this was the view that greeted us. It is of the mountain "Machapuchre" or Fish-tail mountain. It is a sacred peak for Hindus as it is associated with the Hindu god of destruction, "Shiva". The image quality is a bit low on this one as I had to zoom 10X to get this.

Here is another shot of the mountain which looked 100 times cooler in real life. The menacing weather made it that much more dramatic.

So, we finally arrived at our hotel which is situated in the lake side area, which is THE tourist place for anyone visiting Pokhara. Basically the lake side surrounds almost the entirety of the Phewa Lake, which is the lake the whole city was built around.

This was the view from my hotel room. I was really loving the cold winds that were blowing and the slight rainfall that accompanied it. Couldn't wait to have my hands around a cup of tea!

This is the Phewa lake that I mentioned above. I will be posting aerial shots of this lake in tomorrow's post. It is an absolute stunner with amazing views all around. You just have to be there to really appreciate the immense beauty surrounding the place.

The lakeside has loads of shops, restaurants, cafes, hotels, spa centers, etc. Many of these buildings are made mimicking ancient structures which really gives a great ambience to the location in general.

This is the lake side market which stretches for many kilometers on end. We tried to make it all the way through but had to give up midway as it was just never ending! haha.

It was night time by the time we finished with our dinner (which was really amazing), and I thought of testing the night time photography of my phone. I am quite happy with the results.

This is another photo I took and I was really impressed by the quality of it.

This was a cool little projection on the road of a restaurant. A nice way to grab the attention of passerby.

As I mentioned earlier, the buildings in the lake side have some amazing architecture. Take this resort building for example. The lighting really adds to the 'feel' of the place.

I called it a day in the way I always like it. With a cup of tea and great conversations with the people you love. I couldn't wait for the next day to start as many adventures were lined up!