Exploring Pohkara, Nepal!
Last spring, I interviewed the Mitrata children to update their biographies. In response to the question “What is your favorite place to visit?” about 80% of them said “Pokhara.” Of course, they had never visited Pokhara, but they hoped to do so someday.
Well, I had the opportunity to see Pokhara this week, and I understand why the children spoke so highly of this place! It is very different than Kathmandu: quieter, cleaner, more developed as a tourist town. There are sidewalks and paved streets and restaurants opening onto a lake view!
We began our morning by visiting the Mountain Museum that displayed the customs and history of the Himalayan Mountain people. I found the map of the Nepali ethnic groups especially interesting, as I recognized many of the surnames of our children: Tamang, Gurung, Magar, etc. The section on climate change and air pollution was especially disturbing. Like everywhere else in the world, the Himalayan people are seeing changes in climate patterns, such as the length of the seasons, the severity of the monsoon rains, and the melting glaciers leading to flooding. The changing climate has also led to an explosion of people moving to urban areas. An aerial map of Kathmandu illustrates how the city has grown, its size increasing 15x from 1960 to 2011.
While visiting the museum, we also encountered several students. School field trips are universal! The students were so excited to see an American that they gathered around us, taking selfies and group pictures. We probably spent a good 15 minutes posing for pictures with them before we said goodbye amidst smiles and laughter.
After the museum, we took a canoe ride on Lake Phewa, one of the main attractions in Pokhara. Our boat “driver” spoke English and, like everyone we encountered, was eager to be of service. He even negotiated a quick stop on the island in the center of the lake; the island was temporarily “closed” for the visit of the President of Bangladesh.
After some shopping and lunch, several of us treated ourselves to a massage; it was delightful and relaxing, especially after having hiked the steep inclines to and from Australian Camp! We ended our evening with a delicious meal and, after a good night’s sleep, arose to a beautiful sunrise surrounded by the mountains of the Annapurna range.
While waiting for our flight back to Kathmandu, some of us joked about wanting to lose our passports because we didn’t want to leave Pokhara! We agree with the Mitrata children: Pokhara is a favorite place to visit!
— Pam Hughes, Sponsorship Committee Chair and sponsor
