Manakamana to Pokhara

Nepal is unlike any other country we’ve visited or read about. The link between the people and their various religious beliefs pulsates, almost as if alive. Daily observances of pilgrims and like-minded people visiting their holy shrines coupled with a rich tradition of belief in peace and calmness makes the nation of Nepal a fun and enlightening place to visit. The real world examples of people just living to get by while enjoying life can often outnumber any sadness or grief we have seen on this journey.

At the bottom of Manakamana cable car, waiting for a bus

We awoke in Manakamana, relieved that there were not any more pigeons roosting in our room, groggy and tired we got dressed, brushed our teeth and crept downstairs to see what was on the menu for breakfast. Well, remember how we said that Manakamana is very remote and hard to get to? The remoteness does tend to have an impact on the food that is available. Knowing this we decided to order simple items. We then enjoyed a lovely breakfast together before cleaning up our room and heading back down via cable-car to catch a bus to Pokhara.

Half way through the loading of the potatoes

Since there is only one road leading from Kathmandu to Pokhara, the choice of transportation from Manakamana is somewhat limited; this was evident when we got on to a small local bus that was decorated with bright and beautiful colours and had loud Nepali music blasting away at our eardrums for the entire trip. They threw our bags on the roof without even tying them down and then proceeded to hurtle through the twisting and turning roads that were often on the edge of a great precipice. We stopped to pick up passengers, twenty four large sacks of potatoes, and for a bathroom break. After riding on this bus I am no longer afraid of anything and I can say with confidence that our driver should become a race car driver, he was just that good.


By some miracle we made it to Pokhara intact, with our bags still in our possession, and avoided the onslaught of hotel and taxi touts trying to get a few rupees for leading us to a certain taxi or hotel. We walked a few blocks from the bus “station” (a random spot on the highway where a bunch of colourful small busses were pulled over) and got a taxi for Lakeside, where there is a long string of hostels, hotels, shops, and restaurants facing the lake, with the Annapurna mountain range overlooking. We chose the first hostel we looked at, Lakeview Resort, which offered free wi-fi, hot showers, and cosy rooms with nightly Nepali entertainment.


After a long and frightening bus ride, we were happy for a chance to enjoy a delicious dinner and walk the calm lakeside street shopping for souvenirs and gifts. After some skilful bargaining with shopkeepers we decided that it was time for some sleep. We fell asleep only to dream of tigers and kittens.

The Peace Pagoda (23 December)


We started our day with a wonderful hot shower! Nepal is a fairly cold place with no heating, and so far we have not had much luck with showers or hot water in our hostels. All clean, we headed out to find a scenic route to our destination for today, the World Peace Pagoda, built 1100 meters up and overlooking the lake and Pokhara city, by a devout Japanese Buddhist who wanted to spread a message of peace across the world by building a hundred of these pagodas.

The Buddha when he reached enlightenment

We found a route that sounded nice in our Lonely Planet Guidebook, but after detouring to pet some moo-cows and stopping for delicious fresh juices, we forgot the way and got lost in a small farming village. Some very kind little boys decided to help us get to the Peace Pagoda and guided us up a dirt path through a peaceful forest. Along the way we met some village women collecting firewood and saw some farmers tending their goats, but we did not see any more tourists or hikers. Finally we were within view of the shining white and gold pagoda. At the top of the path there was a small shop selling snacks and drinks, and we bought our little guides each a Coke and gave them a few rupees for their help. We met a local teen who chatted with us about the problems with Nepali schools and told us that he was attending a boarding college so that he could do all his lessons in English, in the hopes of some day attending Oxford and immigrating to Canada.

The view of Pokhara from World Peace Pagoda

From the Pagoda there is an amazing view of the farms and villages down one side of the mountain and the lake and Pokhara down the other side, with the Annapurna range in the background. The pagoda is decorated with golden statues of the Buddha in his four important locations. A local gentlemen told us about the Buddha’s life, as pictured in the golden scenes on the pagoda. The pagoda and the views were breathtaking and totally worth the two-hour hike.

The old man rowing the boat and Katt enjoying the leisurely ride

We came down the fast path and got a rowboat with an old man rowing (he told us he was an old man of 62) to take us back to Pokhara. We found ourselves not far from the hotel and made our way back, stopping at the same restaurant as the evening before for another delicious meal and delicious masala tea, yum! We are going to buy a LOT of masala tea to take back to Qatar with us.





- P.S. – We were hoping to see a Yeti in the hillsides of Nepal but to no avail. We will keep trying! We thought we were on the trail of one today but it might have also been a moo cow! :)