Nepal Tourism Directory - Adventures in Pokhara

Shopping
Shopping is still a mainly outdoor activity in Lakeside and Damside, where laid-back curio stalls make a welcome change from the hard-driving salesmen of Kathmandu, even if their prices

and selection don't quite compare. Local specialities include batiks , wooden flasks , dolls in ethnic dress and fossil-bearing shaligram stones from the Kali Gandaki. Hand-stitched wall hangings in simple Tibetan designs have been produced for the tourist market, but are attractive nonetheless. Persuasive Tibetans peddle their wares in Lakeside's caf?s, but these aren't produced locally, and carpets are best purchased at the Tibetan villages. Hand-knitted woollen sweaters, socks and such aren't of very good quality here, but may fit the bill for trekking. Kashmiris have colonized Lakeside, as they have Thamel, with boutiques touting "Asian" art: mainly high-priced carpets and cheap papier-m?ch? and soapstone widgets. Other than that, you'll find the usual range of tourist bait, most of it imported from Kathmandu: ritual masks, thangka, embroidered T-shirts (wear that trek!), cloth bags and hippie clothes. Stalls along the strip opposite the palace are extremely competitive.

The bookshops and stalls around Lakeside and Damside are individually small, but collectively they can muster a good selection. Pokhara's second-hand market is very good.

Ultra Light:
Ultra-light Aircraft is operated from Pokhara Valley, the major tourist destination in Nepal,

famous for the Phewa Lake and the foothills of the Annapurna mountain range. It provides a unique sight seeing experience that enables the passengers to catch a bird's eye view of the Pokhara Valley and the Annapurna mountain range. The exception of flying in the aircraft is that there is only one passenger flying with one of the experienced pilot. (Please note that the passenger is not flying the aircraft by himself, he/she is just a passenger and experienced pilots fly the ultra light, passenger sits behind the pilot).

This aircraft is open and you can feel the breeze of the air, and make beautiful photographs, as there are no windows.

Information about the Aircraft
Air Safety: The operational speed ranges from 50 km/h to 130 km/h. The aircraft can fly for four hours and reach the height of 5000 meter and fly 300 km at a stretch. Its high aerodynamic qualities allow this delta wing aircraft to perform long flights with the engine turned off. The aircraft is uniquely designed and filled with a ballistic parachute system, which will enable the aircraft to land safely during emergencies.

Operation time
Flights are operated at Pokhara airport from September till June from sunrise to 12 pm and 3 pm to sunset and there are three different routes:

1. Fly for fun
Flight duration    15 minutes
Covered Area    Pokhara city, Phewa Lake, Sarangkot hill, with speed of 50 km/h to 90 km/h and climb to 5000 ft. of altitude.

2. Fish Tail Peak
Flight duration    30 minutes
Covered Area    This flight takes the passenger as close as possible to Fish Tail Peak with speed of 90 km/h and reach 9000 ft. of altitude.

3. Mountain Sky Trek
Flight duration    1 hour
Covered Area    All Annapurna ranges at 12000 ft of altitude with a speed of 90-130 km/h.

Lakes:
Lakes with crystal clear water are the other objects of attraction. The name "Pokhara" meaning the valley of the lakes is itself derived from "Pokhari" which literally means a lake. There are eight lakes namely Phewa, Begnas, Rupa, Maidi, Khaste, Gunde, Dipang and Kamal Pokhari - inside the valley. Phewa, Begnas and Rupa are three lakes worth visiting. The following is the list of major lakes.

Lakes	Area	Orientation
Phewa Lake	4.43 sq.km	NW-SE
Begnas Lake	3.00 sq.km	NE-SE
Rupa Lake	1.02 sq.km	NE-SE
Deepang Lake	0.64 sq.km	NE-SE
Maidi Tal	0.64 sq.km	NE-SE

Phewa Lake:
Phewa lake is the second largest lake of Nepal and the largest lake of Pokhara Valley. IT is situated at an altitude of 784m at the western edge of Pokhara city near Baidam. It covers an area of about 4.43 sq km with an average depth of about 8.6m, maximum water depth is 19m.
The maximum water capacity of the lake is estimated to be 46 million cubic meters. It lies in the valley of Harpan Khola which feeds the lake. On the southern mouth of the lake, at the crown of Pardi River, a dam is built which has nearly

doubled the water level. The water of the lake is used for irrigation and electricity generation.

The lake is surrounded by Sarangkot and Kaskikot hills on the northern side. The hill running along the lake is Raniban (Queen of Forests) which is very rich in flora and fauna. Mammals like Common leopard, Bengal fox and Barking deer are common in this forest. It is a home of abundant avifauna also.

The first main attraction is the pagoda style temple in the lake which is the shrine of Barahi (Water Goddess). The next main attraction is the mirror image of mount Machhapuchhre and Annapurna range on the crystal clear water of the lake. The south - eastern side of the lake offers the best view. THere is facility of canoeing and fishing.

Phewa originally used to cover an area of 9 sq km but now has been reduced to 4.43 sq. km. Geologically the rocks of either side of Phewa are slate and quartzite and make anticline structure along the axis of the lake.

The lake is the home of 17 species of native fish and 4 exotic species. The forest and lake is the habitat of 6 species of amphibians, 14 species of reptiles, 34 species of mammals and 104 species of birds. Out of 104 species of birds, 14 are migratory species.The lake is linked with pitched vehicle road and boating facility is available.

Begnas Lake:
Begnas Lake, the second largest lake of Pokhara Valley is situated at an altitude of 650m. It is located in the Siswa village on the eastern part of Pokhara and is 13 km away from the Pokhara city. It covers an area of 3 sq. km. Average water depth of the lake is 9.37 and the maximum water depth is 13.84m. The capacity of the lake is 29.05 million cubic meter. It is comparatively deeper in the northern and western part in the comparision to eastern and southern part. The lake water is drained out by Khudi Khola from the western part.

Geologically the area is composed of slate and phyllite zone with beds of calcareous conglomerate and gravel deposits. The vegetation here is quite different than in other parts of Pokhara because here the major species on the southern aspect of the hills on the northern part of the lake is Shorea robuista whereas the major species of the forest on the northern aspect of the hill lying on the southern part of the lake is Schima-Castonopsis. The forest is very dense on the northern and southern part of the lake whereas there is cultivation on the eastern part and fishery project on the western part.

The forest is very rich in flora and fauna. The forest surrounding the lake is the habitat of more than 150 species of other birds. The northern part of the lake is best site for observing water fowls. The forest is also rich in mammals where abundant leoparts roam majestically. The pride of this forest is that it is the home of some endangered flora and fauna. You can enjoy boating and fishing in this lake. You can travel to the nearby villages by hiring the boat all the day.

Rupa Lake:
Rupa Lake is separated by the Pachabhaiya ridge from Begnas Tal, hence, these two lakes are often called the twin lakes. Rupa Lake is situated at an altitude of about 600m and covers an area of 1.12 sq km running along from north to south. The average depth of the lake is 3.0m and maximum water depth is 4.79m. Its water holding capacity is 3.1 million cubic meter.

Caves:
Mahendra Cave :

Mahendra Cave resides in Batulechaur. Its a 10 minute drive from chipledhunga the central market place of the Pokhara city. Mahendra cave has been named as per the Late King Mahendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev. This is also one of the most demanding tourist attraction center here in pokhara. It resides in the northern settlements of the valley.

Mahendra cave is rich for its rock types and different stones that glitters when a beam of light is striked in it. This natural formation is to see not to strike with sharp digging objects.

Bat Cave (Chamera Gupha) :
This cave is located a little far form the Mahendra cave in the west .This cave was also discovered by the owner of the land ? a farmer in the year 2040.Though the entrance is quite narrow but the inner part of the cave is wide enough. The images of the elephant tusk, gods and goddess have been craved on the inner walls of the cave.

This cave is 150 meter long , 25feet high and of the shape of ?U?. This cave is famous for the bats and gives shelter to more than 15 thousand bats of different species. This cave needs to be advertised more for its development . It can be a nice picnic spot.

Gupteswar Cave (Gupha) :

Gupteswar Gupha is a sacred cave, lies 2 km from Pokhara airport on the Siddhartha Highway leading southwest from the city. The entrance is right across from Devi's Fall and the cave is almost 3 km long. It has some big hall-size rooms and some passages where you have to crawl on all fours. This cave holds special value for Hindus since a phallic symbol of Lord Shiva is preserved here in the condition it was discovered. An entrance fee of Rs. 5 is charged and taking pictures inside the cave is prohibited.

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