April
20 2006
Updated July 2006
Trekking
to Sarangkot
in Pokhara Nepal
Part
2
I
walked back to the terminal parking lot and one of
the tour guides pulled me aside and said that it was
impossible to find a taxi outside because there was
a strike today, no taxi and no buses. There was only
transportation arranged especially for tourists. Without
much choice in the matter, I took one of the pre-arranged
minibuses that was waiting outside the terminal to
Lakeside Pokhara and asked to be dropped at Hotel
Fewa.
The
feel of Pokhara is so much nicer than Katmandu. The
town, or at least the tourist part of the town, is
located on the banks of Fewa Lake. The air and streets
are cleaner in Pokhara, there are fewer people and
the pace of life is slower. What it lacks in historical
temples, it makes up for with natural sights. The
town is surrounded by mountains and the Himalayan
snow-capped peaks are visible on the horizon.
Hotel
Fewa is also home to Mike's restaurant and has a one
of the best scenic spots, right on the lakeside. Mike
is an American that first achieved notoriety with
a popular restaurant in Katmandu and then branched
out to Pokhara. By backpacking standards it is fairly
expensive. I paid 15 USD a night for a single room,
while other rooms out on the road could have been
had for a lot less (You can get a room for as little
as 2 USD).
Hotel
Fewa is down an alley off the main road in an enclosed
compound. The nicest rooms are traditional stone and
rough-hewn wood, two-storey cottages right in front
of the lake. When I first arrived at the hotel, there
were soldiers with guns outside the compound, a cause
of some concern. I later learned that one of the senior
officers enjoyed having lunch by the peaceful lakeside
location. Since it was off the road I suppose it a
defensible position. Any intruders would have to drive
all the way down the long alley and the compound itself
only had one small entrance. Inadvertently, Mike had
made his hotel an area of protection, an unintentional
fortress.
Lake Fewa |
Page
3
