Foreigner Land

Traveling from Kathmandu to Pokhara was exceptionally beautiful, and restored my vision that environmental, natural, unpolluted beauty thrives in Nepal. Unpolluted is naive, but passing through terraced paddy fields among the Himalayan foothills, and nestled alongside white capped rapids was refreshing and restoring. I was eternally grateful to get out of the bustle and noise of Kathmandu, even if that meant being cramped in a microbus next to a scratchy speaker blaring Nepali pop.

Pokhara is the tourist capital of Nepal, as it huddles along the Annapurna Himalayan hiking trail and has picturesque views of the mountains from across Phewa Tal.

The atmosphere is much quieter and more comfortable for a Western crowd than Kathmandu, but there is a surplus of tourist accommodations compared to the number of tourists. In the 60’s there was an over investment in the tourist and trekking market, which slowed considerably due to political upheaval. When the area became dangerous due to Maoist insurgency, foreingers were scarce and their numbers haven’t regained since. This makes businesses desperate, as their prices are too high to cater to Nepalis, so the few tourists present in Pokharas streets are bombarded. Walking without Prakash, and sometimes with him, brings waves of voices beckoning to try this restaurant, buy this pashmina, or take this taxi.