September 18, 2009 – Day 267 – Pokhara, Nepal

The day was hazy blue-white with the heat hanging stiffly in the air. Sitting atop the World Peace pagoda with our shoes waiting patiently at the bottom of the stairs, we surveyed tiny scale Lakeside and Lake Phewa below us. The hills are lush and green, the flowers are bright and the buzzing of unnamed bugs are all the noise pollution we endure at this height.

On the hike up to the stupa

We started our day with a hearty breakfast and a walk through town passing a man fishing who wanted to be our guide to the pagoda, a group of schoolgirls eager to practice their English, and a few mischievous young boys jumping into the river for a cool swim. The hike up was not too difficult but took our time anyway, wanting to enjoy the silence in the hills. The pagoda itself is nice but it is the view that is truly stunning.

The Pagoda

and the view

On the way back down, we met a young woman who taught us some useful Nepali words and who knew just how to throw rocks at the herds of fickle and overly aggressive water buffalo. Back on the edge of town we stopped into Devi’s Falls and learned the unhappy story behind the falls’ namesake.

The Falls

Apparently, sometime around the early 1900s a Swiss woman was bathing in the stream by the falls and was swept away and drowned by the rushing water and down into the cave into which the stream cascades. It was a small, simple park but entrance is pretty steep: $0.25—ouch! If you can afford it, it is a nice visit if for nothing more than the cool spray bouncing off the rocks to cool your face from the Nepali sun.